MIRADA Y MEMORIA EN LA MINIFICCIÓN DE JULIA OTXOA. LA EXTRAÑEZA AL SERVICIO DEL COMPROMISO

El objetivo de este artículo es identificar los pilares que sustentan la minificción de Julia Otxoa y esclarecer sus claves interpretativas. Se reconocen la mirada y la memoria como los cimientos esenciales de su producción; se estudian las conexiones entre lo insólito (en concreto lo distópico) y el espíritu ético que vertebra su obra; y se analizan los procedimientos formales más habituales. Aunque se toma como corpus principal el volumen de minificción Confesiones de una mosca (2018), no se soslayan los oportunos enlaces con todo el entramado global que constituye la obra de Julia Otxoa. Abstract: The aim of this article is to identify the pillars that support Julia Otxoa’s microfiction and to clarify its interpretative keys. Gaze and memory are recognized as the essential foundations of her production; the connections between the unusual (specifically the dystopian) and the ethical spirit in her work are studied; and the most common formal procedures are analyzed. Although the volume of the microfiction Confesiones de una mosca [Confessions of a fly] (2018) is taken as the main corpus, we do not overlook the relevant links with the rest of Julia Otxoa’s work.

Company top-managers’ ideologies as a mental protection from environmental uncertainty

Introduction. At the beginning, entrepreneur creates his own concept of organization – value-cognitive-actional pattern, which is socialized, coming into conflict with CEOs’ individual interests. For this purpose, they use various distortion styles of organizational reality in their interpretations of values, cognitions and actions, thereby destroying organizational productivity. Aim. We have aim to explore wide-spread distortion styles in interpretations of organizational reality (CEO). We obtained 95 organizational self-descriptions of companies (from 50-1500 individuals) and classified them (key topics, actors, intention). Then we discovered interpretation styles and have grouped them according to a specially developed hierarchical model of organizational self-descriptions on several levels (formal: procedures and rules of behavior; content (statics: objects, agents and their attributes; dynamics: processes, algorithms and technologies); sense-logical: purposes, causes, values and beliefs). Results. We identified the following distortion styles of the entrepreneur’s value- cognitive-actional pattern: procedural (formal) - formal following of rules, norms, and instructions; personnel follow formal rules. Authoritarian (static) – the power of guarantor, authority and enactor of rules; personnel are obedient and loyal; participative (dynamic) – interaction, rules and hierarchies are the result of negotiations; the head of organization is a moderator; personnel are a part in negotiations. Conclusions. Destructive distortion styles lead organizations to: moral disengagement – avoidance of values in relationships, decisions and actions; guilt instead of responsibility – feeling guilt or self-justification; narrow-mindedness – insisting on one’s own vision and ignoring feedback.

Co-creating Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions for Guests and Citizens: The Experience in the Elba Island

This chapter illustrates a co-creation approach engaging stakeholders and citizens to develop a shared agenda of sustainable transport solutions, responding to travel needs which are qualitatively and quantitatively different for residents and tourists. The chapter is articulated in three sections. The first section illustrates the co-creation approach and the topics addressed in all six DESTINATIONS demonstration sites where this approach has been used to a greater or lesser extent. The second section describes more extensively the application of the co-creation approach in the Elba island case, illustrating the process and its main outcomes, including the definition of a strategic agenda of goals and actions included in a draft Sustainable Mobility Plan for the whole Elba island, and a hypothesis of new bus services operating in the high season co-created with the engagement of managers from the regional Public Transport Authority (Osservatorio della Mobilità—Provincia di Livorno) and from the Transport Operator (CTT-Nord). The third section discusses some lessons that can be drawn from the successes and failures of the co-creation approach in the Elba case. The application has demonstrated the feasibility and suitability of the co-creation process to effectively engage stakeholders and groups of visionary citizens (the “change agents”) in the formulation of sustainable mobility plans and agendas. On the other hand, follow-up was lacking—no formal procedures to implement decisions based on the shared agenda were initiated—and the concluding section of the chapter discusses some reasons for this failure, and possible remedies for better anchoring the co-creation approach in future policymaking

The crisis of the classical concept of liberal democracy in the context of modern challenges

The main aim of this paper is to examine the problem of the crisis of liberal democracy in the modern world, referring to the phenomenon of a loss of balance between social and personal good in a pluralistic society. There are several concepts of democracy in political science, including the classic liberal concept, which sees its core priorities collide with recent global challenges. Thus, the relevance of this problem refers to the recent disappointment in the idea of liberal democracy, which shows disillusionment in democracy as such. In response to this trend, some hybrid regimes offer an alternative in the form of so-called democracies with illiberal approaches. From the other side, the liberal democratic platforms are used by populist political forces, which results in dividing democratic societies about the questions hard to finally solve. The Brexit problem – the process of British exit from the European Union – shows recent examples of long-lasting social effects derived from the crisis of liberal democratic concept. The author of the article has come to the conclusion that when it comes to modern democratic processes, classic liberal approach brings the populism threat back to the table. When there is no balance between the totally free civil society with its direct democratic influences and the state structure with formal procedures aimed at total good of beneficial functioning, the liberal instruments would be used by populists. Populism can create severe divisions within liberal democratic societies providing dilemmas, such as Brexit, which are difficult to solve with the same liberal democratic procedures. This means that liberal democratic approach undermines itself with the very fact of the existing tendency to lose balance between the ideal personal freedom (that includes satisfying every citizen’s choice) and public good.

The role of clearinghouses in promoting transparent research: A methodological study of transparency practices for preventive interventions

Objective. Transparency of research methods is vital to science, though incentives are variable, with only some journals and funders adopting transparency policies. Clearinghouses are also important stakeholders; however, to date none have implemented formal procedures that facilitate transparent research. Using data from the longest standing clearinghouse, we examine transparency practices for preventive interventions to explore the role of online clearinghouses in incentivizing researchers to make their research more transparent. Methods. We conducted a descriptive analysis of 88 evaluation reports reviewed in 2018-19 by Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development, when the clearinghouse began checking for trial registrations, and expanded on these efforts by applying broader transparency standards to interventions eligible for an endorsement on the Blueprints website during the study period. Reports were recent, with 84% published between 2010 and 2019. Results. We found few reports had data, code, or research materials that were publicly available. Meanwhile, 40% had protocols that were registered, but only 8% were registered prospectively, while one-quarter were registered before conducting analyses. About one-third included details in a registered protocol describing the treatment contrast and planned inclusions, and less than 5% had a registered statistical analysis plan (e.g., planned analytical methods, pre-specified covariates, etc.). Confirmatory research was distinguished from exploratory work in roughly 40% of reports. Reports published more recently (after 2015) had higher rates of transparency. Conclusions. Preventive intervention research needs to be more transparent. Since clearinghouses rely on robust findings to make well-informed decisions and researchers are incentivized to meet clearinghouse standards, clearinghouses should consider policies that encourage transparency to improve the credibility of evidence-based interventions.

Continuity of Carolingian Judicial Institutions in Ottonian Lotharingia

The institution of the scabini, men from the pagus who served as legal fact finders in comital courts, was established by Charlemagne in the later eighth century and has received considerable attention from scholars for well over a century. Much of the early debate about the scabini focused on the origins of the institution, and whether Charlemagne was successful in replacing the previous ad hoc administration of justice with more formal procedures that followed more closely on the dictates of the royal court. A second important element in the historiography has focused on the fate of the institution of the scabini following the end of Charlemagne’s reign, and particularly after the division of the unitary empire following the death of Louis the Pious in 840. Many scholars, following the lead of F.L. Ganshof, have argued that the institution of the scabini, and governmental courts more generally, ceased to function at some point in the later ninth century, to be replaced by so-called feudal courts. The following study challenges this latter model by examining the institution of the scabini under the later Carolingians and their Ottonian successors in the region of Lotharingia, which gained a long-standing political coherence following the brief reign of King Lothair II (854–869). This region was the scene of intense political and military conflict throughout much of the period from the later ninth through the early eleventh century. Nevertheless, numerous private and royal charters of the Carolingians and Ottonians, as well as ostensibly prescriptive texts included in royal capitularies, point to the continuity of the institution of the scabini during the entirety of the Ottonian period from ca. 919–1024.

Loan Recovery Procedures in Tanzania: A Case of Selected Microfinance Institutions in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

The study aimed to determine the procedures employed by MFIs, specifically in loan recovery in Tanzania. Loan recovery has been a difficult task for many financial institutions but becomes more challenging to microfinance institutions due to the nature and processes they employ. The study examined the loan recovery procedures at NFBS, SMF and AML found in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. The researcher employed a mixed- case study design, which involved 50 credit officer respondents obtained under the purposive sampling. The study used semi-structured questionnaires to gather primary data and also secondary data from documents available at NFBS, SMF and AML. Data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics with percentages and frequencies for quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The study found that NFBS, SMF and AML used loan recovery procedures such as direct contact, friendly reminder, and issuance of final demand notice. Another procedure is to inform the local government on property selling and using a debt collection agency. The study recommends for MFIs to establish and prefer formal procedures that can be used for loan recovery because the use of informal procedures creates room for conflict and leads to ineffectiveness of recovering loans.

Teaching mathematics as a way of thinking – not calculating

Important aspects of mathematical thinking are exploring, questioning, working systematically, visualizing, conjecturing, explaining, generalizing, justifying, and proving (but excluding the execution of formal procedures either done by machines or viewed as a “lower-level”, mechanical activity). See, for example, Stacey (2006); Devlin (2012a,b,c); Singh et al. (2018); NRICH (2020).Mathematical thinking is what this essay is about. But before I start, it should be noted that I write from the perspective of a career that spanned both academic research in pure mathematics and the world of applied mathematics, where I worked on a wide range of real-life problems for private industry and government.

Review of Islamic Law Against Execution of Collateral Auctions on Islamic Banking Institutions in Aceh, Indonesia

This article review Islamic law quoted from jurists’ opinion and legal experts on the use of auction trading theory in the collateral sale. Every financial transaction in Islamic banking required a guarantee. It is intended to save bank funds if the customer defaults. Based on constitutional act Number 4 of 1996 of mortgage rights, Islamic banks have the right to confiscate the asset (guarantees) of a customer who has reached the due date without intention to pay. However, the bank cannot carry out unilateral execution to make direct sales. The formal procedures which banks must follow to disburse funds from customer guarantees are usually long and often meet various obstacles. This article analyzes normatively and empirically the bail auction guarantees implementation on Islamic banking in Aceh based on the Islamic law concept from the al Quran, Hadith, and the scholars’ Ijma’. Although conventional law is still used in the auction rules, the implementation of guarantees as applied to Islamic banking has adopted many Islamic laws. However, in the practice, there are still many problems that arise from the Islamic law scope which uphold the philosophy of maslahah and the concept of justice. The paper, therefore, employs qualitative approach and secondary date to investigate Shariah perspective against execution of collateral auctions on Islamic banking institutions in Aceh, Indonesia.

Integration als betriebliche Routine. Organisationssoziologische Perspektiven auf alltägliche Integrationsprozesse

Zusammenfassung Arbeitsmarkt(re)integration von gesundheitlich eingeschränkten Mitarbeiter*innen findet hauptsächlich in Betrieben statt. Allerdings nimmt die Stay at- und Return to Work-Forschung die spezifischen Strukturen von betrieblicher Wiedereingliederung nur randständig in den Blick. Fokussiert werden hauptsächlich formale Verfahren wie das betriebliche Wiedereingliederungsmanagement und schematisch beschriebene Akteurskonstellationen. Kurzfristige Absprachen im Arbeitsalltag, Koordination außerhalb von eingefahrenen Pro­zeduren und bewusstes Abweichen von Vorschriften werden so außer Acht gelassen. Daher bleiben auschlaggebende Gelingensbedingungen betrieblicher Wiedereingliederung unerkannt. Wir adressieren diese Forschungslücke und plädieren für eine genuin organisationsoziologische Perspektive auf betriebliche Arbeitsmarkt(re)integration. Wir nutzen das theoretische Konzept der organisationalen Routinen und können so ein Ablaufmodell gelingender Integrationsroutinen entwickeln. Abstract: Integration as an Organizational Routines Labor market (re)integration of employees with reduced earning capacity mainly takes place in companies. Nevertheless, previous research has disregarded companies as specific environments for reintegration. The research focus stays on formal cooperate health care procedures and schematically described actor constellations. Deliberate deviations from these formal procedures and the complex informal coordination of integration in everyday working life, as well as their success conditions, thus remain hidden. To address this unsolved task, we argue for a genuine organizational-sociological perspective on company-based labor market (re)integration. Subsequently, we introduce a model of successful integration processes based on the concept of organizational routines.