The meanings of scientific progress in the history of International Relations – selected cases

This article aims at reconstructing and interpreting the meanings of scientific progress present in selected important works within the discipline of International Relations (IR). This research objective stems from the gap in the literature concerning scientific progress in IR, as it is mostly concerned with the evaluation of the progressiveness of particular approaches, paradigms within the discipline. The reconstruction of meanings given by particular IR scholars to scientific progress is conducted only as far as its instrumental for the critique of their approaches and making room for the approaches of the critics. My objective is different – using a method inspired by the history of ideas and the research technique of qualitative content analysis, I will attempt to answer the following research questions: Q1 – How is the category of scientific progress of IR understood by particular scholars? Q2 – What are the contexts of its usage? Q3 – How can we interpret the rationale behind the employment of particular meanings in particular contexts? Q4 – How, on the basis of all cases, can we depict the flow of ideas of scientific progress through the history of IR? The cases selected span the development of IR from World War II to the early 2000s: Edward Carr’s The Twenty Years’ Crisis; Morton Kaplan’s texts from the early phase of the second great debate; John Vasquez’s The Power of Power Politics; and Miriam and Colin Elman’s Progress in International Relations Theory. On the basis of these cases I will argue that the notion of scientific progress in IR is an essentially contested concept within the discipline. Despite certain similarities in the meaning of the term among the cases – a cumulative notion of scientific progress – all of them are used in a way that is intended to legitimize the approach of a particular author as ‘properly scientific’. Another conclusion drawn is that although differing in kind, all of the cases consider important historical events that do not shape the meanings of progress themselves, but instead create a window of opportunity for particular meanings, as their context.

Temporal Flaps in Head and Neck Reconstructive Surgery: A Systematic Review of Surgical Techniques

The temporal region is a great source of vascularized flap, providing extremely variable and versatile options for reconstruction in head and neck surgery. Its popularity has led to the conception of a large variety of different flaps, in terms of contents and design. Temporal flaps are highly pliable and flexible, providing adequate bulk to obliterate dead spaces and improving engraftment, thus facilitating wound healing. The need to access different anatomical compartments, often far from the original flap anatomical site, has led surgeons to develop techniques to enlarge pedicles and bulk, by reverting and splitting flaps' contents, as well as through partial mandibular and zygomatic resection. To further increase versatility, a multilayered combination of different regional tissues and muscle segmentation techniques has been described. Historically, each flap has had its own proponents and opponents, but a pointy review systematizing techniques and comparatively analyzing different flaps was still missing in the literature. The field of use of some flaps has been progressively limited by the increasing relevance of free tissue transfers, which nowadays may provide success rates up to 95% with a constrained morbidity, thus offering an effective alternative, when available. Given the wide range of reconstructive strategies based on temporal flaps, there is still a great debate on nomenclature and surgical techniques. The present study systematizes the topic, classifying regional flaps according to contents and indications. Harvesting techniques are described stepwise and schematically illustrated, thus offering an indispensable tool to the armamentarium of reconstructive surgeons.

Sustainable Impact of Organic Farming: A Social Constructivist Perspective

The bottom-line for businesses is to earn profit or maximize the wealth of its shareholders. It is a matter of great debate, who comes across that slogan. Sampran Riverside, however, has been a successful business model for Thailand, which has been known as the maximizer of its customers’ wealth as well as health, by an extensive production of organic products through organic farming and food, subsequently spreading it through cultural and tourism activities. Present study is a qualitative case study that describes how the Sampran riverside grew into an environment- friendly model from a conventional business entity. The study revealed how the business transformed and reached success through the constructive learning process. A detailed study showed that organic farming helps society to grow healthy and also creates economic opportunities for the people. Site visits of the business and organic fields, as well visit of organic markets and interviews with the farmers, customers and the CEO of the Sampran Riverside, concluded that organic farming serves the society in a holistic way by providing social, environmental, economic and health benefits at one platform, eventually, contributing in community and societal development. The study also concluded that through this development, the Riverside contributes in meeting some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopting this model may pave the way for sustainable development in the society which will help country in long run. Key Words: Community development, constructive learning, organic farming, SDGs, societal benefits.

Infants Learn to Follow Gaze in Stages: Evidence Confirming a Robotic Prediction

Gaze following is an early-emerging skill in infancy argued to be fundamental to joint attention and later language development. However, how gaze following emerges is a topic of great debate. Representational theories assume that in order to follow adults’ gaze, infants must have a rich sensitivity to adults’ communicative intention from birth. In contrast, learning-based theories hold that infants may learn to gaze follow based on low-level social reinforcement, without the need to understand others’ mental states. Nagai et al. (2006) successfully taught a robot to gaze follow through social reinforcement and found that the robot learned in stages: first in the horizontal plane, and later in the vertical plane—a prediction that does not follow from representational theories. In the current study, we tested this prediction in an eye-tracking paradigm. Six-month-olds did not follow gaze in either the horizontal or vertical plane, whereas 12-month-olds and 18-month-olds only followed gaze in the horizontal plane. These results confirm the core prediction of the robot model, suggesting that children may also learn to gaze follow through social reinforcement coupled with a structured learning environment.

HOW ARE PUBLIC SPHERES TRANSNATIONAL? COMPARING NEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS DURING THE MADRID CLIMATE TALKS

In this study, we explore two parallel but related networks of discourse that arose during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations of 2019 in Madrid: one produced by news media coverage of the talks; the other by Twitter users who shared news content about the talks. As these networks disseminated information about the UNFCCC’s 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25), we see them as key channels of communication for a potentially transnational public sphere of dialogue and dissent, even if the existence or efficacy of such a transnational sphere is a matter of great debate (Fraser, 2007). Our aim is to compare the internal (within network) and external (across networks) homogeneity and homogeneity of these two networks in terms of structure (e.g., language, geographic groups, etc.), dominant topics, and sentiments. We find that a potential for the emergence of transnational public spheres lies in contradictory currents of homogeneity and heterogeneity in transnational networks related to 1) the social capital of certain actors; 2) institutional infrastructures such as U.N. processes; 3) media ownership structures; 4) different cultural practices.

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE (SANDF) DROPS CHARGES AGAINST HIJAB-WEARING OFFICER: CASE IN POINT SOUTH AFRICA

Over the last few decades, a piece of fabric has become a powerful and divisive symbol worldwide. Since the tragic events of 9/11, this piece of fabric has become a topic of great debate, at local, national, regional and international level. The veil as worn by some Muslim women has assumed iconic proportions around the globe. To some it symbolizes piety to others, oppression. To some it is a rejection of Western morality to others, a rejection of modernity. To some, it is a religious statement supporting Islam as a way of living; to others, a political statement supporting violent Islamists. These disparate attributions exemplify the power of nonverbal communication and support the maxim that words and objects contain no inherent meaning; only people assigned meaning. This article discusses the status of religious rights and freedoms under the South African Constitution. One aspect of this change is the change that has affected the various religions, cultures, and customs in South Africa. It is therefore, viewed by many as a constitution for the people of South Africa which includes a Bill of Rights. Historically speaking, for the very first time since colonialism, all religions were guaranteed the of religion. Furthermore, religions, cultures and languages are deep-rooted in the various constitutional provisions, namely, sections 9(3), 15(1) to (3), 30, 31, 185 and 234 respectively. These constitutional provisions are solidified by section 7 which obliges the state to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the provisions set forth in the Bill of Rights. The article concludes with an argument for the recognition of plurality of religions and religious legal systems in South Africa.