scholarly journals The Indian behind the Artefact or Things behind the Process?: Humanism, Post-humanism and the Transition to the Neolithic

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-91
Author(s):  
Irene Garcia-Rovira

In recent years, traditional models produced to ac- count for the transition to the Neolithic have been challenged with the creation of narratives that seek to portray the character of this change in specific socio- historical milieus. At the other end of the spectrum, approaches influenced by the material turn have read- dressed this context, defining the Neolithic as a spe- cific horizon within an ever-increasing entanglement. Whilst these interpretive frameworks have yet not been challenged, they might gradually give rise to a new polarization in the debate about the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition. These approaches differ not only in that they operate at different scales of analysis (lived experience, macro-scale). They ultimately echo the humanist/post-humanist debate currently held in theoretical archaeology. In this article, I argue that neither of these ap- proaches is successful in revealing the complex set of forces that triggered the transition to the Neolithic. Drawing from this discussion, I suggest that a more comprehensive review of this context of change re- quires the fusion of elements discussed by these mod- els. This situation hastens new challenges to archaeo- logical practice, and it raises a series of questions on the current state of archaeological theory.

MediaTropes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. i-xvi
Author(s):  
Jordan Kinder ◽  
Lucie Stepanik

In this introduction to the special issue of MediaTropes on “Oil and Media, Oil as Media,” Jordan B. Kinder and Lucie Stepanik provide an account of the stakes and consequences of approaching oil as media as they situate it within the “material turn” of media studies and the broader project energy humanities. They argue that by critically approaching oil and its infrastructures as media, the contributions that comprise this issue puts forward one way to develop an account of oil that further refines the larger tasks and stakes implicit in the energy humanities. Together, these address the myriad ways in which oil mediates social, cultural, and ecological relations, on the one hand, and the ways in which it is mediated, on the other, while thinking through how such mediations might offer glimpses of a future beyond oil.


Author(s):  
Laura Hengehold

Most studies of Simone de Beauvoir situate her with respect to Hegel and the tradition of 20th-century phenomenology begun by Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. This book analyzes The Second Sex in light of the concepts of becoming, problematization, and the Other found in Gilles Deleuze. Reading Beauvoir through a Deleuzian lens allows more emphasis to be placed on Beauvoir's early interest in Bergson and Leibniz, and on the individuation of consciousness, a puzzle of continuing interest to both phenomenologists and Deleuzians. By engaging with the philosophical issues in her novels and student diaries, this book rethinks Beauvoir’s focus on recognition in The Second Sex in terms of women’s struggle to individuate themselves despite sexist forms of representation. It shows how specific forms of women’s “lived experience” can be understood as the result of habits conforming to and resisting this sexist “sense.” Later feminists put forward important criticisms regarding Beauvoir’s claims not to be a philosopher, as well as the value of sexual difference and the supposedly Eurocentric universalism of her thought. Deleuzians, on the other hand, might well object to her ideas about recognition. This book attempts to address those criticisms, while challenging the historicist assumptions behind many efforts to establish Beauvoir’s significance as a philosopher and feminist thinker. As a result, readers can establish a productive relationship between Beauvoir’s “problems” and those of women around the world who read her work under very different circumstances.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-311
Author(s):  
A. G. Desnitskiy

More than ten new species of colonial volvocine algae were described in world literature during recent years. In present review, the published data on taxonomy, geographical distribution and the species problem in this group of algae, mainly from the genera Gonium, Pandorina, Eudorina, and Volvox, are critically discussed. There are both cosmopolitan volvocalean species and species with local or disjunct distribution. On the other hand, the description of new cryptic taxa in some genera of the colonial family Volvocaceae, such as Pandorina and Volvox, complicates the preparation of a comprehensive review on their geography.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 496-517
Author(s):  
Yangcheng Liu ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Jiaqi Wang ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Changlan Chen ◽  
...  

Patrinia scabiosaefolia Fisch. Trev. and Patrinia villosa (Thunb.) Juss, are two species of Patrinia recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia with the same Chinese name “Baijiangcao” and similar therapeutic effect in traditional Chinese medicine. The present article is the first comprehensive review on the chemical composition and pharmacological activities of these herbs. In this review, data on chemical constituents and pharmacological profile of the two herbs are provided. This review discusses all the classes of the 223 compounds (phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, terpenes, saponins and volatile components, etc.) detected in the two herbs providing information on the current state of knowledge of the phytochemicals present in them. In the past three years, our research group has isolated and identified about more than 100 ingredients from the two herbs. Therefore, we published a systematic review of our research papers and studies on the two herbs were carried out using resources such as classic books about Chinese herbal medicine and scientific databases including Pubmed, Web of Science, SciFinder, CNKI. etc. The present review discusses the most thoroughly studied pharmacological activities (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antitumor and antiviral activities) of the two herbs. This comprehensive review will be informative for scientists searching for new properties of these herbs and will be important and significant for the discovery of bioactive compounds from the two herbs and in complete utilization of Patrinia scabiosaefolia Fisch. ex Trev. and Patrinia villosa (Thunb.) Juss.


2020 ◽  
pp. 107780042096247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette N. Markham ◽  
Anne Harris ◽  
Mary Elizabeth Luka

How does this pandemic moment help us to think about the relationships between self and other, or between humans and the planet? How are people making sense of COVID-19 in their everyday lives, both as a local and intimate occurrence with microscopic properties, and a planetary-scale event with potentially massive outcomes? In this paper we describe our approach to a large-scale, still-ongoing experiment involving more than 150 people from 26 countries. Grounded in autoethnography practice and critical pedagogy, we offered 21 days of self guided prompts to for us and the other participants to explore their own lived experience. Our project illustrates the power of applying a feminist perspective and an ethic of care to engage in open ended collaboration during times of globally-felt trauma.


Author(s):  
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger

AbstractHub Zwart’s article is about the idea—and the practice—of an embedded philosophy of science, that is, a philosophy participating in and at the same time reflecting about the current state of the sciences facing the Anthropocene, to which I am very sympathetic. There are, however, two caveats. The first is that participation is always in danger to end up in a more or less uncritical eulogy, in the present case of synthetic biology. The second is that I have doubts about packing the historical path of scientific development into the Procrustes bed of Hegelian dialectics. This usually leads to one or the other form of teleology.


Author(s):  
Alexander Diederich ◽  
Christophe Bastien ◽  
Karthikeyan Ekambaram ◽  
Alexis Wilson

The introduction of automated L5 driving technologies will revolutionise the design of vehicle interiors and seating configurations, improving occupant comfort and experience. It is foreseen that pre-crash emergency braking and swerving manoeuvres will affect occupant posture, which could lead to an interaction with a deploying airbag. This research addresses the urgent safety need of defining the occupant’s kinematics envelope during that pre-crash phase, considering rotated seat arrangements and different seatbelt configurations. The research used two different sets of volunteer tests experiencing L5 vehicle manoeuvres, based in the first instance on 22 50th percentile fit males wearing a lap-belt (OM4IS), while the other dataset is based on 87 volunteers with a BMI range of 19 to 67 kg/m2 wearing a 3-point belt (UMTRI). Unique biomechanics kinematics corridors were then defined, as a function of belt configuration and vehicle manoeuvre, to calibrate an Active Human Model (AHM) using a multi-objective optimisation coupled with a Correlation and Analysis (CORA) rating. The research improved the AHM omnidirectional kinematics response over current state of the art in a generic lap-belted environment. The AHM was then tested in a rotated seating arrangement under extreme braking, highlighting that maximum lateral and frontal motions are comparable, independent of the belt system, while the asymmetry of the 3-point belt increased the occupant’s motion towards the seatbelt buckle. It was observed that the frontal occupant kinematics decrease by 200 mm compared to a lap-belted configuration. This improved omnidirectional AHM is the first step towards designing safer future L5 vehicle interiors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-397
Author(s):  
Meghan J. Dudley ◽  
Jenna Domeischel

ABSTRACTAlthough we, as archaeologists, recognize the value in teaching nonprofessionals about our discipline and the knowledge it generates about the human condition, there are few of these specialists compared to the number of archaeologists practicing today. In this introductory article to the special section titled “Touching the Past to Learn the Past,” we suggest that, because of our unique training as anthropologists and archaeologists, each of us has the potential to contribute to public archaeology education. By remembering our archaeological theory, such as social memory, we can use the artifacts we engage with on a daily basis to bridge the disconnect between what the public hopes to gain from our interactions and what we want to teach them. In this article, we outline our perspective and present an overview of the other three articles in this section that apply this approach in their educational endeavors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6182
Author(s):  
Marijana Pantić ◽  
Saša Milijić

An agreement of cooperation and transmission of knowledge regarding the nomination for the European Green Capital Award (EGCA) was signed between the mayors of Belgrade and Ljubljana (EGCA 2016 winner) in September 2018. The candidacy of Belgrade was finally realized in October 2019. Great hope was placed in this endeavour because internationally recognized awards, such as the EGCA, represent enormous capital for both the city and the state. The EGCA requires serious preparation and significant fulfilment of preconditions. Many economically strong and environmentally responsible cities competed for the award, but did not win. On the other hand, the capital of Serbia does not appear to be an obvious winning candidate, especially as it is differentiated from the previous winners by being a non-EU city and by the fact that it is still undergoing an intense urban transformation, characteristic of transitional countries. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to present a review of the current state of Belgrade’s environmental qualities and its comparison with the EGCA criteria and with Grenoble as one of the winning competitors. The article gives a full overview of the EGCA requirements with certain details on required indicators, gives relevant insight into the procedure, which could be of use for any future candidacy, and discusses potential benefits for winners, losers and repeat candidacies.


Laws ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Esther Salmerón-Manzano

New technologies and so-called communication and information technologies are transforming our society, the way in which we relate to each other, and the way we understand the world. By a wider extension, they are also influencing the world of law. That is why technologies will have a huge impact on society in the coming years and will bring new challenges and legal challenges to the legal sector worldwide. On the other hand, the new communications era also brings many new legal issues such as those derived from e-commerce and payment services, intellectual property, or the problems derived from the use of new technologies by young people. This will undoubtedly affect the development, evolution, and understanding of law. This Special Issue has become this window into the new challenges of law in relation to new technologies.


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