scholarly journals The promise of endogenous potential in times of crisis

REGION ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-120
Author(s):  
Anna Herzog ◽  
Marieke Vomberg

The measures against the spread of the Covid-19 virus have massive effects on local economies. By means of an explorative qualitative case study in deprived neighbourhoods in the Middle Lower Rhine region of Germany, this paper explicitly aims at examining the Corona pandemic’s impact on their endogenous potential. In this context, the focus is on organisations whose main contribution lies in the fulfilment of the function of integration and communication. The analysis is based on theoretical concepts of the local economy, but it also refers to crisis as well as transition research, especially the multilevel perspective framework. By means of desktop research, a focus group with multipliers involved in local economic contexts as well as thirteen guideline-based interviews with the heads of local organisations, the subsequent analysis reveals the partially counteracting effects of the Corona pandemic on the organisations’ socio-economic embeddedness. On the one hand, they are threatened by economic bottlenecks, by pending social consequences of a longer period without or with minimized offerings as well as by fear of contagion and exhaustion. While the organisation’s perceived level of urgency varies greatly, their level of uncertainty is generally high. On the other hand, organisations of the local economy benefit from a positive push in the areas of digitization and new life and working environments (home-based work), as well as from a strengthening of local solidarity and cohesion.

2008 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-42
Author(s):  
Marcin Zaremba

Almost seventy years now separate us from the outbreak of World War II. To date the most important trend in debates about the war’s consequences for Central Europe has focused on the interconnections between the social, political and economic changes occurring during the war, on the one hand, and the origins of the communist bloc in that part of Europe, on the other. This approach is overly narrow: it fails to take account of the importance of the psycho-social consequences of the war, which were incomparably broader, extending far beyond the political dimension. The author attempts to sketch out a systematic account of the sociological and psychological effects of this war, through an examination of the Polish case. His analysis draws upon two key theoretical concepts: Pitirim Sorokin’s sociology of catastrophes; and Piotr Sztompka’s sociology of trauma. Paraphrasing the title of Sztompka’s book (Trauma wielkiej zmiany. Społeczne koszty transformacji), we might call the Polish war experience “the trauma of the great war”. The article shows the sources, symptoms and cultural consequences of the trauma of war in Poland.


This chapter looks into horizontal issues in ICT advances and discusses how the factor of human performance could help in increasing the impact of eAccessibility and assistive technologies in the future. More specifically, it revisits some of the ideas presented in earlier chapters looking at them from a different angle. The one of maximizing the audience and target group for assistive technologies through the increase in human performance, issues related with exoskeletons for working environments and dual use of assistive technology, sports as a motivator, aesthetics and fashion of prosthetics are discussed from this same perspective. Human performance could be a critical factor for the future of assistive technologies, and today's people with disabilities could become tomorrow's people with super-abilities and leaders in human performance issues.


Author(s):  
Ali A. Alraouf

Qatar, while developing its vision for the future, decided to adopt the knowledge economy as the new pillar for its economy and development. The chapter focuses on examining the impact of the one of the main and iconic national mega project in the capital Doha, the project named Education City (EC). The chapter scrutinizes EC's contribution to a more resilient future for Qatar. The chapter assesses the relative roles of such an influential project in preparing or hindering Qatar's moving towards the post-carbon paradigm. The project is examined using multilayered criteria, which include achieving urban diversity, relevance to knowledge-based urban development, supporting the diversification of the local economy, and accommodating multicultural society. The chapter concludes that education city is the most crucial urban projects in Qatar geared towards sustaining the knowledge economy as it creates ripples of change, knowledge dissemination, and a culture of innovation and creativity within the city.


2010 ◽  
pp. 1346-1354
Author(s):  
Juha Kettunen ◽  
Ari Putkonen ◽  
Ursula Hyrkkänen

Working environments are changing from the traditional model. An increasing amount of work takes place in networked and virtual environments which are not tied to one place and time. The work environment is defined “virtual,” when the employee uses information and communication technology (ICT) for collaboration (Vartiainen, 2006). The planning of working conditions becomes challenging task for managers and ICT tool developers, because there is a lack of understanding the consequences of emerging virtual work. The capacity of workers to percept and process information is burdened with the complexity and high demands of working life. Knowledge of the complexity factors of the overall work system is essential for an in depth understanding of human working capabilities and limitations (Kleiner, 2006). The complexity of work is usually considered as a factor related to the task. At the one end the task is creative and demanding and at the other end it is simple and routine-like. The expanded complexity concept also takes into account the working environment that can be different combinations of physical, virtual, social and cultural spaces. The purpose of this article is to present a framework to analyse the complexity factors in networked and virtual working environments. The approach developed in this article is intended to be generic in order to be applicable to various kinds of organisations and networks for the purpose of management. It is important that the working conditions of workers can be planned in advance to provide workers with appropriate ICT tools and data networks to enable efficient cooperation in networks in a way that the workload can be limited to a sustainable level. The described framework is assessed using the case of the Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS).


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-234
Author(s):  
Caroline Cordeiro Viana e Silva ◽  
Alexsandro Eugenio Pereira

Abstract The expansion of the security agenda was at the basis of the emergence of new theoretical concepts in the field of studies on international security. One example is the concept of securitisation, developed by the Copenhagen School, which makes it possible to examine, on the one hand, new threats to the security of countries and, on the other hand, the policies through which they seek to address them. Based on this concept, the article argues that drug trafficking was securitised by the Brazilian government in the period of 2011-2016. From 2016, with the issue of Decree nº 8903, the matter returned to the stage of ‘politicisation’ as understood by the Copenhagen School. The decree marked, therefore, a process of desecuritisation of the issue in Brazil, since it revoked the Strategic Border Plan, resulting in the loss of the temporary and emergency nature of the ‘Ágata’ operations. This article analyses the development of Brazilian legislation since 1976 on this matter and carries out, for the period 2011 to 2016, content analysis of the narrative on securitisation. In addition, this work examines the guidelines and nature of the Brazilian government’s public policies aimed at combating drug trafficking.


Author(s):  
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed

This chapter introduces the social consequences of, on the one hand, inclusive interpretations and, on the other hand, exclusive (or, quite simply, homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic) interpretations of scripture, showing how queer Muslims in France, in Europe, and elsewhere position themselves in relation to the theoretical and theological debates in the Islamic world.


2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-127
Author(s):  
Caroline Piquet

For over a century in Egypt, the Suez Canal Company reflected the role of the concession in European economic expansion overseas. Concession was a European business practice widespread in Egypt; it was an institution inherited from a system of privileges for Europeans since the Middle Ages. It promised a way for Egypt to adopt modern infrastructures and receive needed European help for digging the canal. The results of the Suez Company are indisputable: the desert of the Suez Isthmus became a lively economic region with active ports, growing cities, and an expanding labor force. And the region was linked to the rest of the country by a new road network. At the same time, however, the concession system denied Egypt full benefit of this infrastructure. The canal served the financial and strategic interests of the company, not the interests of the local economy. This outcome embodied all the contradictions of the concession system: on the one hand, concessions were a necessity for modern infrastructure development in Egypt; on the other, they were a hindrance to further national economic development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben-Hur S. Neves ◽  
Caroline Altermann ◽  
Rithiele Gonçalves ◽  
Marcus Vinícius Lara ◽  
Pâmela B. Mello-Carpes

Different tools have been used to facilitate the teaching and learning process in different areas of knowledge. Practical activities represent a form of teaching in which students not only listen to theoretical concepts but are also able to link theory and practice, and their importance in the biological sciences is notable. Sometimes, however, there is neither the time nor the resources to promote laboratory practices in physiology classes. In this sense, home-based practical activities may be an interesting alternative. Here, different approaches of practical activities were used and students’ perceptions of the contributions of home-based practical activities (HBPA) and laboratory-based practical activities (LBPA) for physiology learning were collected. After each approach, the students evaluated the activities through an anonymous questionnaire. A total of 49 students completed the questionnaires, and the results demonstrate that both HBPA and LBPA were considered important contributors to physiology learning but that this contribution was more significant in the case of LBPA (χ2 = 4.356, P = 0.037).


Author(s):  
Antonia Apostolakou

This study investigates linguistic and scriptal variation in notary signatures found in late antique contracts from Egypt, seeking to identify and interpret the potential relationship between choices in language and script. To answer this, theoretical concepts and methods from sociolinguistics, social semiotics, and multilingual studies are used, with the objective of adding a new, more linguistically-oriented perspective to existing research on notarial signatures. On the one hand, this research demonstrates how the Latin script seems to restrict notaries, resulting in transliterated Greek signatures with very homogeneous content. The familiarity of notaries with the Greek language and writing is, on the other hand, reflected in signatures written in the Greek alphabet, which are much more diverse and at times adjusted to the circumstances under which specific documents were composed. Even if notaries seem to lack confidence in freely producing text in the Latin script, they choose to do so due to its functional values, which are conveyed and perceived visually. Latin letters create an association between signatories and Roman law, adding to the trustworthiness and prestige of the signatures. Differentiating between script and language allows us to understand how the Latin script maintained the connotations that formerly accompanied the Latin language, gradually replacing it in the form of transliterated passages, at a time when the language was disappearing from papyrological documentation. In this sense, sociolinguistics, and especially social semiotics, prove useful when dealing with visual aspects of language in papyri, as they prevent their functions and meanings from being overlooked.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-101
Author(s):  
Omar Samba ◽  
Ebrima Jatta

This paper aims at finding out the national interest of China in conducting economic cooperation with the Gambia from 2016. Relying on qualitative inquiry, this research is informed by the theoretical concepts from national interest. In terms of national interest, the political aspect of the national interest of Morgenthau and the economic aspect of Donald E. Nuechterlein is used to analyze the national interest of China in the Gambia. To answer the research question: What is China’s national interest in their economic cooperation with the Gambia? The research finds out that China has political and economic interests in the Gambia. Politically, China’s interest in the Gambia is clearly stated in the joint communique signed between China and the Gambia when they were resuming their diplomatic relations in 2016. As a form of this agreement, the Gambia is supporting the One-China principle by not opening official relations with Taiwan. Finally, China retains an economic interest to secure the Gambian market for Chinese products and natural resources for Chinese manufacturing industries. Most importantly, is the port of the Gambia which has a strategic location in the west Africa region and is crucial to the China’s belt and road initiative. China has become one of the major sources of financial support for the Gambia since resuming economic cooperation in 2016. This financial support includes giving loans, grants, aid, and trade. As can be seen from the analysis of the dependency perspective, this research shows that China uses its loans and grants to monopolized the Gambia market for Chinese goods and Chinese investment which likely creates contracts for Chinese companies and provide job opportunities for Chinese citizens. Keywords: national interest, China, The Gambia, economic cooperation, one-china principle.


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