Social representations theory and critical: Constructionism: Insights from Caillaud's article

he aim of this paper is to highlight therole that Social Representations Theory (SRT) could play in the debate on the criticalpotential of social constructionist perspectives. Wedraw upon some of the arguments raised by Caillaud (this issue), mainly concerning such a sensitive topic as environmental issues, to highlightsomecrucial points of that debate. As is well known, one of the goals of the social constructionist movement has been to takea more critical stance towards taken-for-granted knowledge (Gergen,1985; Burr,1995). It aimsto show that our understanding of the world is by no means neutral or value-free;it is instead the result of historical and cultural specificities, which operate ideologically. In this vein, the social constructionist approach raises the question of social transformation and emancipation, as well as the problems of power and social inequality, in close consonance with the scope of the more general critical approach in psychology (Tolman&Maiers, 1991)

FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDER contemporary issues of normative, factual and axiological elements

In this paper, the author deals with theoretical issues of international legal order and its structure in general. Actual issues of legal nature specificity, fundamental basis and normative-factual-axiological relationship of international legal order constitutive elements are discussed in this article. The author analyzes the most important understandings and conceptions in the theory of international law, which have an impact on the contemporary international legal trends, with a focus on contemporary problems in terms of implementation of international cogent norms, progressive development of international law and the scope of international legal order in general. On the other hand, the political processes and the actual practice of international actors, i.e. subjects of international law, in respect of normative framework and axiological values are particularly discussed in this paper. These issues provoked the author to try to offer a theoretical perspective towards conceptual solutions regarding the foundamental structure of international legal order.Keywords: international legal order, cogent norms, structuralism, legal objectivism, international voluntarism, international community

Limit theorems for general functionals of Brownian local times

In this paper, we present the asymptotic theory for integrated functions of increments of Brownian local times in space. Specifically, we determine their first-order limit, along with the asymptotic distribution of the fluctuations. Our key result establishes that a standardized version of our statistic converges stably in law towards a mixed normal distribution. Our contribution builds upon a series of prior works by S. Campese, X. Chen, Y. Hu, W.V. Li, M.B. Markus, D. Nualart and J. Rosen \cite{C17,CLMR10,HN09,HN10,MR08,R11,R11b}, which delved into special cases of the considered problem, such as quadratic, cubic and polynomial cases. We establish the limit theorem for general functions that satisfy mild smoothness and growth conditions. This extends the scope beyond the polynomial cases studied in previous works, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the asymptotic properties of the considered functionals

Power, Violence, Citizenship and Agency

Peace-building, state-building and democratisation efforts often focus strongly on the state, and follow the Weberian logic of states holding the monopoly of the legitimate use of violence. In doing so, they may be neglecting more recent and nuanced understandings of the nature of governance arrangements in fragile and conflict settings, and of the range and scope of citizen agency both in general and in such settings. This article presents a research programme on Power, Violence, Citizenship and Agency, which sets out to counter the state?heavy or at best ‘CSO?heavy’ approach of many aid agencies and peace?building change agents. Through a fresh look at relevant literature and theory and case studies in five settings marked by violent conflict, the programme seeks to construct the conceptual clarity and synergies that are needed to underpin shifts towards more citizen?centred perspectives among aid and change agents working in situations of chronic violence and fragility

RETRACTABLE MECHANISM OF FOLDABLE BAR STRUCTURE

Studying and evaluating retractable mechanism of foldable bar structure is the main focus in this project. This study has been narrowed down to studying theory of foldable bar structure using scissor hinge system. Scissor hinge system is a system which consists of rigid, flat plates, connected by joints, allows relative rotation about one axis. Perhaps, this system could solve the mystery towards convertible structures in Malaysia to suit Malaysia's wet and humid weather. Of course, engineering behaviours and other alternative application/structure would be the main tasks for this project and that will be explained further later in this paper. The main scope of study is study the system and evaluate. The methods of this study are firstly, to collect and read as many reading materials related to retractable structures as possible. Some methods have been modified to suit the progress of this project. This can be found later in methodology chapter. Afterwards, finding the alternative application to use the retractable mechanism onto other structure would be investigated. However, the scope of study may or may not extend to other deliverables, depending on time of progress. On chapter two (2) would tell the basic findings and general concept of the study. Some detail information on Hoberman's Angulated Element also being stated and discussed in this paper

Report from the research: "The factory of culture – paid and voluntary work at cultural festivals"

The research material is based on in-depth, partially structured interviews. However, the scope of topics was very wide and conversations mostly referred to: problems that the employees encountered at work, their motivation, expectations towards current work, as well as their future prospects. Answers that gradually appeared in the interviews have been then confronted with the analysis of data and documents that the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage made available. Budgets of particular festivals and general data on their financial support have also been confronted with the interviews. Such an analysis gave us a stronger, structural base for conclusions made over the interpretation of interviews. One question that surprised us, but also showed us the benefits of the grounded theory, was the fact that data obtained from interviews mirrored the data from the documents. In total there were 48 interviews with the employees, co-workers and volunteers who worked at 12 festivals financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage located in 6 different cities in Poland

Shifting Between Hegemony and Dominance? A Neo-Gramscian Analysis of the EU as a Structural Foreign Policy Actor: The Singular Case of the Cariforum-EU Economic Partnership Agreement. Bruges Regional Integration & Global Governance Paper 01/2014

The groundbreaking scope of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and Cariforum (CF) irrefutably marks a substantive shift in trade relations between the regions and also has far-reaching implications across several sectors and levels. Supplementing the framework of analysis of Structural Foreign Policy (SFP) with neo-Gramscian theory allows for a thorough investigation into the details of structural embeddedness based on the EU's historic directionality towards the Caribbean region; notably, encouraging integration into the global capitalist economy by adapting to and adopting the ideals of neoliberal economics. Whilst the Caribbean – as the first and only signatory of a ‘full’ EPA – may be considered the case par excellence of the success of the EPAs, this paper demonstrates that there is no cause-effect relationship between the singular case of the ‘full’ CF-EU EPA and the success of the EPA policy towards the ACP in general. The research detailed throughout this paper responds to two SFP-based questions: (1) To what extent is the EPA a SFP tool aimed at influencing and shaping the structures in the Caribbean? (2) To what extent is the internalisation of this process reflective of the EU as a hegemonic SFP actor vis-à-vis the Caribbean? This paper affirms both the role of the EU as a hegemonic SFP actor and the EPA as a hegemonic SFP tool. Research into the negotiation, agreement and controversy that surrounds every stage of the EPA confirmed that through modern diplomacy and an evolution in relations, consensus is at the fore of contemporary EU-Caribbean relations. Whilst at once dealing with the singular case of the Caribbean, the author offers a nuanced approach beyond 'EU navel-gazing' by incorporating an ‘outside-in’ perspective, which thereafter could be applied to EU-ACP relations and the North-South dialogue in general

Statistical Evidence Measured on a Properly Calibrated Scale Across Nested and Non-nested Hypothesis Comparisons

Statistical modeling is often used to measure the strength of evidence for or against hypotheses on given data. We have previously proposed an information-dynamic framework in support of a properly calibrated measurement scale for statistical evidence, borrowing some mathematics from thermodynamics, and showing how an evidential analogue of the ideal gas equation of state could be used to measure evidence for a one-sided binomial hypothesis comparison (coin is fair versus coin is biased towards heads). Here we take three important steps forward in generalizing the framework beyond this simple example. We (1) extend the scope of application to other forms of hypothesis comparison in the binomial setting; (2) show that doing so requires only the original ideal gas equation plus one simple extension, which has the form of the Van der Waals equation; (3) begin to develop the principles required to resolve a key constant, which enables us to calibrate the measurement scale across applications, and which we find to be related to the familiar statistical concept of degrees of freedom. This paper thus moves our information-dynamic theory substantially closer to the goal of producing a practical, properly calibrated measure of statistical evidence for use in general applications