scholarly journals Anthropocene Conjunctures

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-50
Author(s):  
C. Parker Krieg ◽  
Paola Minoia
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Anthropogenic Change ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter contextualizes the rise of Anthropocene discourse across academic disciplines and provides critical examples from think tanks and Indigenous strategies of political ecology. It illustrates the pitfalls and potential offered by this new periodization of anthropogenic change, and the definition of the anthropos that the term calls into question.

scholarly journals Beyond General Pronouncements: A Judicial Approach to Section 27 of the Charter (forthcoming)

1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 551
Author(s):  
Vern W. DaRe
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Current Treatment ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Liberal Theory ◽  
Canadian Society ◽  
Federal Policies ◽  
Collective Rights ◽  
Negative Role ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Canadian Multiculturalism

The author provides a thorough synthesis and evaluation of the multicultural provision in the Charter. He begins by exploring possible definitions of multiculturalism, deriving his concept from various academic disciplines as well as federal policies. The difficulty on settling for a comprehensive definition of multiculturalism is manifest in the mixed signals within both the federal government's Multiculturalism Policy of 1971 and the subsequent legislation, the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. He then selectively surveys the judicial approaches taken to s. 27. Current treatment is sparse and any discussion of the multicultural section is largely subsumed in a general discussion of other sections of the Charter such as ss. 1 and 2. Through this survey, he demonstrates the limited, restricted reading of s. 27 accorded by the judiciary. Finally, the author considers the inherent limits of the section; he compares it to a similar provision in Quebec's human rights legislation, general liberal theory and possible conflicts between s. 27 and other precepts of Canadian society, specifically bilingualism. He concludes that s. 27 must be expanded within its negative role, protecting individual communities and individuals from the acts of others rather than being used as a tool to entrench positive or collective rights of ethnic groups.

Ambivalent Humanitarian Crises and Complex Emergencies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Dijkzeul ◽  
Diana Griesinger
Keyword(s):  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Humanitarian Crises ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Definition Of

The term “humanitarian crisis” combines two words of controversial meaning and definitions that are often used in very different situations. For example, there is no official definition of “humanitarian crisis” in international humanitarian law. Although some academic disciplines have developed ways of collecting and analyzing data on (potential) crises, all of them have difficulties understanding, defining, and even identifying humanitarian crises. Following an overview of the use of the compound noun “humanitarian crisis,” three perspectives from respectively the disciplines International Humanitarian Law, Public Health, and Humanitarian Studies are discussed in order to explore their different but partly overlapping approaches to (incompletely) defining, representing, and negotiating humanitarian crises. These disciplinary perspectives often paint an incomplete and technocratic picture of crises that is rarely contextualized and, thus, fails to reflect adequately the political causes of crises and the roles of local actors. They center more on defining humanitarian action than on humanitarian crises. They also show four different types of humanitarian action, namely radical, traditional Dunantist, multimandate, and resilience humanitarianism. These humanitarianisms have different strengths and weaknesses in different types of crisis, but none comprehensively and successfully defines humanitarian crises. Finally, a multiperspective and power-sensitive definition of crises, and a more fine-grained language for comprehending the diversity of crises will do more justice to the complexity and longevity of crises and the persons who are surviving—or attempting to survive—them.

scholarly journals Criminological and Criminalistic Problems of Overcoming the Counteraction to Criminal Prosecution

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-470
Author(s):  
Yury Garmaev ◽  
Kim Dmitry
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Present Condition ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Judicial Process ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Subjective Confidence ◽  
Business Structures ◽  
Definition Of

The authors analyze the history of the emergence and development of the corresponding criminological research and special criminalistic theory of overcoming the counteraction to criminal prosecution (preliminary investigation) to research its present condition, examine its potential for improving the effectiveness of fighting crime while strictly observing the rights and lawful interests of citizens. The authors use systemic, interdisciplinary and situational approaches, the methods of comparative jurisprudence and a number of sociology methods to update the current (to speak conventionally, accusatory) paradigm of the theory. The essence of this update (the new concept) is to ensure the adversarial nature of the judicial process, as well as in other types of court procedures, for the prosecution and the defense. The presented theory concept includes the idea that counteraction to prosecution could be not only unlawful and amoral, but also lawful and ethically admissible. The motives of persons involved in this counteraction could include their subjective confidence in their total or partial innocence, as well as the unlawful and (or) amoral, in that persons opinion, actions of some law enforcement employees. These clauses are developed through the authors own definition of counteraction and the classification of its acts. They have formulated six theses that form the basis of the updated paradigm of the theory. The authors conclude that the presented research approach, the concept reflected in the didactics of university law schools, could instill in students and practitioners a deep and stable personal motivation to study not only the corresponding academic disciplines, but the whole criminalistics and criminology as well as other theories and disciplines of the anti-criminal cycle. The suggested approach and the practical recommendations based on it could be used in the conceptually new syllabus (and subjects) already taught in the leading Russian universities, like «Counteracting Crime», «Criminalistic Support of Business Security», «Tactics of Protection against Unlawful Actions of Government Employees», «Tactics of Interaction between Business Structures and Controlling Bodies».

scholarly journals Think Tanks and Policymaking

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartwig Pautz
Keyword(s):  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship

The study of think tanks brings together a range of academic disciplines and allows for multifaceted analyses, encompassing the concepts of ideas, institutions, influence, interests, and power. The literature on think tanks addresses a ubiquitous policy actor as think tanks have been around for a long time, especially in advanced liberal democracies. However, they have also become established actors in authoritarian regimes and in the developing world. Nowhere is their influence on policymaking or the public debate easy to pinpoint. The definition of a think tank has been contested ever since the study of think tanks took off in the 1980s and 1990s. Some scholars have devised typologies around organizational form and output, with a focus on whether think tanks are openly partisan or rather emphasize their political and ideological neutrality; others propose that the think tank is not so much a clearly discernible organizational entity but rather should be seen as a set of activities that can be conducted by a broad range of organizations; others again see think tanks as hybrid boundary organizations operating at the interstices of different societal fields. What most scholars will agree on is that policy expertise is think tanks’ main output, that they seek to influence policymakers and the wider public, and that they try to do so via informal and formal channels and by making use of their well-connected position in often transnational policy networks encompassing political parties, interest groups, corporations, international organizations, civil society organizations, and civil service bureaucracies. Think tanks’ main output, policy expertise either in the form of concrete proposals or “blue-skies thinking,” is underpinned by claims that it is “evidence-based.” The widely used positivist notion of “evidence-based policymaking” has been of benefit to think tanks as organizations that claim to “speak truth to power” by producing easily digestible outputs aimed at policymakers who profess to want evidence to make policy “that works.” Think tanks are active at different “moments” in the policymaking process. John Kingdon’s agenda-setting theory of the multiple streams framework helps us understand think tanks as “policy entrepreneurs” who are most likely to have influence during the moments of problem framing, the search for policy solutions, and the promotion of specific solutions to policymakers and the public. Think tank studies should take into account the relationship between the media and think tanks, and how this relationship impacts on whether think tanks succeed in agenda-setting and, thereby, influence policymaking. The relationship is symbiotic: journalists use think tanks to inform their work or welcome their contribution in the form of an opinion piece, while think tanks use the media to air their ideas. This relationship is not without problems, as some think tanks are in privileged positions with regards to media access while others barely ever cross the media threshold. Think tanks are, in the 21st century, challenged by an “epistemic crisis.” This crisis consists of a loss of faith in experts and of information pollution and information overload. This development is both a risk and an opportunity for think tanks. Concerning the latter, policymakers increasingly need curators, arbiters, or filters to help them decide which information, data, and policy expertise to use in their decision-making processes.

scholarly journals Ways to Improve the Content in the Context of Linguistic and Methodological Competence Development in Future Foreign Language Teachers

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-34
Author(s):  
Tetiana Koknova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Competence Development ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
General Training ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Pedagogical Research

The problem of the content of linguistic-and-methodological training is vital in the context of a competence-based approach. The purpose of the given study is to test the ways of effective linguistic-and-methodological competence development in the course of professional training of prospective foreign language teachers at content level. The methods of research involve theoretical methods of pedagogical research (analysis and synthesis, comparison, generalization, induction and deduction, abstraction and concretization) as well as practical methods, such as diagnostics: interviews (oral interviews, conversations), questionnaires and testing. The article presents the definition of linguistic and methodological competence, traces its connection with the competence-based approach in education. Three structural components of linguistic and methodological competence (linguistic-subject, didactic-methodical and scientific-research) are distinguished, and the competencies that are a part of each of them are given. A detailed analysis of the content of academic disciplines is presented, and the disciplines that promote the development of linguistic and methodological competence of prospective foreign language teachers, both from the cycle of humanities and general training, are singled out. The main ways of improvement and enrichment of the content of disciplines from the cycle of humanities Master’s program focused on the development of linguistic and methodological competence (due to the topics of specific disciplines or additionally introduced special courses) are outlined.

scholarly journals Interpretation of the teaching of cultural disciplines in the recent period of historical development

2021 ◽  
pp. 287-295
Author(s):  
Т.С. Карандаева
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Historical Anthropology ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Subject Field ◽  
Internet Resources ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Educated Person

В России периодически появляются публикации, посвященные определению предметного поля культурологии, ее междисциплинарным связям, нерешенным проблемам научного становления культурологии. Новые способы интерпретации истории, которые предложили французские исследователи, сначала вызвали почти паническое утверждение о том, что как наука «история исчезает», но впоследствии пришли к переходу от «истории-события» к «истории-проблеме», к появлению и успешному развитию истории ментальности, микроистории, исторической антропологии, истории повседневной жизни и др. История мировой художественной культуры, история искусств, история художественной культуры, история мировых религий как учебные дисциплины сегодня в России сохраняются только на узкоспециализированных факультетах. На протяжении нескольких десятилетий кардинально изменился сам характер общекультурной эрудиции более или менее образованного человека. Традиционная устоявшаяся совокупность знаний, которая была обязательной для гуманитария или негуманитария, существенно трансформировалась за счет сокращения собственно гуманитарной, художественной сферы. Хотя ради справедливости стоит заметить, что современные технологии значительно упростили доступ к культурным достижениям. Каждый раз увеличивается и количество, и качество интернет-ресурсов мировых музеев, библиотек, архивов. В последнее время начали проводить конференции и публиковать итоговые коллективные монографии, цель которых – практически продемонстрировать современный профессиональный уровень культурологических исследований. Одним из последних примеров является коллективная монография (скорее сборник статей) 2019 г. «Наука о культуре: культурология, культуроведение, Cultural Studies, culturology». Безусловно, в сборнике есть хорошие, профессиональные научные публикации, которые заслуживают отдельного обстоятельного рецензирования. In Russia, there are periodically published publications devoted to the definition of the subject field of cultural studies, its interdisciplinary connections, and unresolved problems of the scientific formation of cultural studies. The new ways of interpreting history proposed by the French researchers first caused an almost panicked statement that as a science "history disappears", but later came to the transition from "history-event" to "history-problem", to the emergence and successful development of the history of mentality, microhistory, historical anthropology, the history of everyday life, etc. The history of world art culture, the history of art, the history of art culture, the history of world religions as academic disciplines today in Russia are preserved only in highly specialized faculties. Over the course of several decades, the very nature of the general cultural erudition of a more or less educated person has changed dramatically. The traditional, well-established body of knowledge, which was mandatory for the humanities or non-humanitarians, was significantly transformed by reducing the actual humanitarian, artistic sphere. Although for the sake of justice, it is worth noting that modern technologies have greatly simplified access to cultural achievements. Each time, the number and quality of Internet resources of world museums, libraries, and archives increases. Recently, we have started to hold conferences and publish final collective monographs, the purpose of which is to practically demonstrate the modern professional level of cultural studies. One recent example is a collective monograph (rather a collection of articles) two thousand nineteen "The science of culture: cultural Studies, cultural Studies, cultural Studies". Of course, there are good, professional scientific publications in the collection that deserve a separate thorough review.

scholarly journals From colonial forestry to 'community-based fire management': the political ecology of fire in Belize's coastal savannas, 1920 to present

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Smith
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
International Development ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Fire Use ◽  
Official Policy ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
Conservation Organizations ◽  
Definition Of

This article examines the past century of fire management of the coastal pine savanna in Belize, drawing on archival evidence,interviews, and ethnographic enquiry into an international development project in Belize. It considers contemporary approaches that seek to use prescribed fire with the participation of local communities in relation to past practices. The Belizean savanna has long been shaped by human fire use. Its flora is ecologically adapted to fire. Yet fire has been repeatedly cast as a problem, from c. 1920, by British colonial and, later, USA foresters, and, most recently, by international and local non-governmental nature conservation organizations. Informed by different schools of thought, each of these organizations has designed programs of fire management aiming to reduce wildfire frequency. Yet little has changed; Belize's diverse and growing rural population has continued to use fire, and the savannas burn, year upon year. While the planned aims and methods differed, each program of fire management has, in practice, been similarly structured and constrained by its genesis within colonial or international development. Funding and leadership for fire management has been inconsistent. Each program has been shaped by a specifically Belizean ecology and politics, in excess of its definition of the fire 'problem' and 'solutions' to it. Powerful political elites and fire users in Belize have not seen clear incentives for the fire management supported by official policy. This analysis highlights that contemporary efforts to build more ecologically and environmentally just forms of fire management must be understood in the context of broader political struggles over land and resources.

In defence of fuzziness

Target ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nike K. Pokorn
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
High Time ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Translation Research ◽  
Definition Of

In Translation Studies the definitions of the concepts native speaker and mother tongue have been uncritically adopted from linguistics and are regarded as defined and clarified as far as their meaning is concerned, despite the fact that neither linguistics nor translation theory can offer an objective and water-tight definition of the terms. A similar desire for univocal terms can also be detected in the claims for the need of one, universally accepted term for the same phenomenon where various competing terms already exist and are in use. Although some linguists have already expressed their doubts in the justification of some of the fundamental linguistic concepts, as Rajogopalan has observed, a lot of them are still happy working with such discreet entities thus making linguistics perhaps the most “19th century” of the academic disciplines taught in universities today. Unfortunately, this could also be stated for some currents in Translation Studies, despite the fact that translation research can and should provide the most suitable field where such axiomatic truths are challenged. The article questions this desire for the univocal and argues that it is high time we all learn to live with more fuzzy definitions.

scholarly journals Civil Society and Professions: US Civic and Politicized Lawyering

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Flam
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
Professional Life ◽  
Standard Definition ◽  
Sociology Of Professions ◽  
Citizen Initiatives ◽  
Definition Of

It is important to include civil society in the purview of the sociology of professions because many professionals and professions interact not just with the state and the market but also with civil society actors. Moreover, members of professions engage in civic action and political activism not just as citizens or single professionals but also as the (founding or regular) members of their professional associations. They also establish think-tanks, research and counseling centres, consortia, and on occasion even citizen initiatives or social movements. Professional life can be explored more comprehensively when these professional interactions and activities are included in the analysis. The text provides a standard definition of professions, argues for considering professions’ role in civil society, defines civil society, and draws on US research on civic and political lawyering to buttress its arguments. Some examples from other professions are also offered.

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