L’orologio e il calendario

This article aims at reflecting on the political significance of distinct conceptions of temporality and their symbolic representation in the work of Walter Benjamin. In particular, the “clock” and the “calendar” will be addressed as symbols of, respectively, a linear and homogeneous conception of time and of a cyclical, uneven – and potentially revolutionary – temporality. The conception of time symbolized by clocks is criticized by Benjamin as a bourgeois understanding of progress, which inhibits revolutionary tensions in society by shifting the political focus on future, on the inevitability of progress and growth; on the other hand, calendars’ and ancient cyclical festivals’ temporality constantly looks at the past, celebrating and re-actualizing the memory of previous revolutionary attempts. In the last section, the article will consider the role of symbols and allegories in Benjamin’s philosophical writing, casting new light on the previous discussion.

Bilderbuch als Klangmedium

Artikelbeginn:[English title and abstract below] Musik und Klang können auf unterschiedliche Weise Eingang in ein Bilderbuch finden. Aus methodischer Sicht lassen sich auf der einen Seite außermusikalische Inhalte (v. a. Texte und Bilder) musikalisch darstellen (Verklanglichung, Vertonung), und auf der anderen Seite besteht die Möglichkeit, Musik in andere Medien zu transformieren (Bild und Visualisierung, Bewegung und Verkörperung, Text und Versprachlichung). Diese Interdependenzen finden sich auch in Gattungen und Kompositionstechniken, wie z. B. Oper und Programmmusik, in denen sich Handlung, Text und Musik wechselseitig beeinflussen und überlagern. The Picture Book as a Sound MediumAesthetic, Scientific and Artistic Perspectives This article is an overview of the relevance of sound and music in picturebooks. Various possible relationships between images, words and sounds are shown, and different formats and historical developments are discussed. A focus is placed on the dimensions of the narrative context and the relevance of different types of media. Traditionally, the relation between music, words and images included setting picturebooks to music. In the last few years, electronic book media such as e-books, enhanced books and picturebook apps, which offer a combined, multimedial listening, reading and viewing experience, present new perspectives for intermedial picturebook research. The article details strategies for analysing the picturebook as a sound medium, using methods and concepts from film analysis, aesthetic transformation and the concept of aurality to show how the medium of sound is an open, ambiguous aesthetic quality that enriches picturebooks with its contingent possibilities for symbolic representation.

The concept of “adult-child communication” in the perspective of future female educators and teachers

The article tackles the issue of defining the concept of “adult-child communication” from the point of view of female students of pedagogy, future teachers and educators. The introduction explains the issue of symbolic representation of real and imagined objects, events, and situations by means of concepts and their definitions. The next part of the article describes the results of a study carried out in the group of 255 female students, who were asked to define the concept of “adult-child communication”. The study yielded a description of the concepts used to describe the defined concept and the signs of evaluation contained in the definitions. The final part of the article identifies and outlines four categories of the “adult-child communication” concept and discusses three types of definitions created by the respondents. The following types were distinguished: definitions similar to professional ones in terms of content and form, common definitions regarding the child-adult relationship with elements of professional vocabulary, common definitions and puerile definitions.

An Application of the Theory of Representative Bureaucracy, Gender Concordance, and Symbolic Representation in the Health Care Context

Although the United States spends more on health care than comparable nations, many Americans suffer from poor health. Many factors are emphasized as being important for improved health outcomes, including social and economic indicators, living and working conditions, and individual-level behavior. However, I argue the overwhelming attention to male health outcomes—compared to female health outcomes—and focus on factors that are “traditionally understood” as important in shaping health are two limitations of existing health-related research. I adopt an innovative approach that combines the theory of representative bureaucracy, gender concordance, and symbolic representation to argue that increase in female physicians contribute to improved female health outcomes. Using an originally collected dataset that contains information on female physicians, health outcomes, and state and individual-level factors, I study how female physicians influence the health outcomes of non-Hispanic White women, non-Hispanic Black women, and Latinas in the United States from 2000 to 2012. The findings suggest female physicians contribute to improved health outcomes for non-Hispanic White women and non-Hispanic Black women, but not Latinas. Supplemental Analysis bolsters confidence that the findings are not the result of increased access to health care professionals. This study highlights the importance of applying the theory of representative bureaucracy and symbolic representation to health care, the promise of greater female representation in health, and the insight gleaned from incorporating intersectionality in public administration research.

Female Politicians in Chile: Unfolding the Meanings and Implications for Chilean Politics in the Twenty First Century

<p>The aim of this thesis is to unfold the meanings and implications of female politicians in Chile in the twenty-first century. Based on interviews with Chilean politicians and employing a methodology based on Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology and relational ontology, I unpack the complex relationships between gender and political power. My central claim is that the way in which female politicians are perceived by themselves and by male politicians, and how female politicians might affect views on political behaviour, is something widely influenced by the history and trajectory of Chilean politics. I explore issues of representation in politics and democracy and reassess the relevancy of the concept of representation for elaborating the meanings and implications of increased numbers of female politicians in Chile. Highlighting the strategic character of political practices, I analyse symbolic representation by looking at it from political representatives’ points of view. I problematize the complex relationships between democracy, representation, and economic development in the context of neoliberal globalization, in which the place of women in politics remains both promising and uncertain. I analyse interview data collected by integrating ‘conceptual blending theory’, critical discourse analysis and Bourdieu’s theory. From this integral perspective, I analyse political practices as both embodied experience and as a reflection of socio-political reality. Through a socio-historical journey, I explore the foundations of Chilean democracy, political participation, and representation. I argue that the main milestone which affects the meanings and implications can be found in Chile’s late granting of women’s suffrage (1949) and in the democratic breakdown during Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990). I argue that Chilean political institutions of formal representation impede women’s descriptive, substantive, and symbolic representation from fully taking place in the Chilean political system. Interview analysis demonstrated that political institutional design is an expression and reflection of the shortcomings of Chilean political culture. This was found to prevent the furthering of a democracy in which female politicians are central actors. This political context sheds light on Michelle Bachelet’s presidential triumph in 2006, which represented a push for a more democratic and egalitarian society, as well as the political strategy by the weakened ruling coalition who sought to remain in power. Finally, I explore the temporal dimension of the meanings and implications of female politicians in Chile. By looking at the temporality of political processes, practices and institutions, I return to the symbolic dimension of representation. I demonstrate that the states of uncertainty and crises of politics offer contested spaces for political power distribution and for further elaboration on the private and public division of social life. The temporality of politics as social practice reflects its deeply gendered nature, as well as the arbitrariness of political power.</p>

Female Politicians in Chile: Unfolding the Meanings and Implications for Chilean Politics in the Twenty First Century

<p>The aim of this thesis is to unfold the meanings and implications of female politicians in Chile in the twenty-first century. Based on interviews with Chilean politicians and employing a methodology based on Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology and relational ontology, I unpack the complex relationships between gender and political power. My central claim is that the way in which female politicians are perceived by themselves and by male politicians, and how female politicians might affect views on political behaviour, is something widely influenced by the history and trajectory of Chilean politics. I explore issues of representation in politics and democracy and reassess the relevancy of the concept of representation for elaborating the meanings and implications of increased numbers of female politicians in Chile. Highlighting the strategic character of political practices, I analyse symbolic representation by looking at it from political representatives’ points of view. I problematize the complex relationships between democracy, representation, and economic development in the context of neoliberal globalization, in which the place of women in politics remains both promising and uncertain. I analyse interview data collected by integrating ‘conceptual blending theory’, critical discourse analysis and Bourdieu’s theory. From this integral perspective, I analyse political practices as both embodied experience and as a reflection of socio-political reality. Through a socio-historical journey, I explore the foundations of Chilean democracy, political participation, and representation. I argue that the main milestone which affects the meanings and implications can be found in Chile’s late granting of women’s suffrage (1949) and in the democratic breakdown during Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990). I argue that Chilean political institutions of formal representation impede women’s descriptive, substantive, and symbolic representation from fully taking place in the Chilean political system. Interview analysis demonstrated that political institutional design is an expression and reflection of the shortcomings of Chilean political culture. This was found to prevent the furthering of a democracy in which female politicians are central actors. This political context sheds light on Michelle Bachelet’s presidential triumph in 2006, which represented a push for a more democratic and egalitarian society, as well as the political strategy by the weakened ruling coalition who sought to remain in power. Finally, I explore the temporal dimension of the meanings and implications of female politicians in Chile. By looking at the temporality of political processes, practices and institutions, I return to the symbolic dimension of representation. I demonstrate that the states of uncertainty and crises of politics offer contested spaces for political power distribution and for further elaboration on the private and public division of social life. The temporality of politics as social practice reflects its deeply gendered nature, as well as the arbitrariness of political power.</p>

Complex systems are always correlated but rarely information processing

`Complex systems are information processors' is a statement that is frequently made. Here we argue for the distinction between information processing -- in the sense of encoding and transmitting a symbolic representation -- and the formation of correlations (pattern formation / self-organisation). The study of both uses tools from information theory, but the purpose is very different in each case: explaining the mechanisms and understanding the purpose or function in the first case, versus data analysis and correlation extraction in the latter. We give examples of both and discuss some open questions. The distinction helps focus research efforts on the relevant questions in each case.