Towards a transnational civil society: actors and concepts in Europe from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century

"Since late eighteenth-century Enlightenment, the concept of civil society has increasingly assumed a transnational dimension that has given rise to political debates and attracted scholarly interest. This paper provides a research report and a historical overview of the emergence and transformation of civil society organizations that have transcended national borders and cultural boundaries, especially International Non-Governmental Organizations. Based on deliberations about the definition and conceptualization of 'transnational civil society', the investigation concentrates on the abolitionists, the workers' organizations as well as on peace and on women's movements. The authors suggest that further historical studies of transnational civil society should relate its groups and activists to specific contexts and conditions. They also argue that further research should pay particular attention to the actors of transnational civil society, their performance and representations. Overall, static conceptions of transnational civil society have ignored its flexibility and changeability over the course of the last two centuries." (author's abstract)"Seit der Aufklärung im späten 18. Jahrhundert hat der Begriff Zivilgesellschaft eine zunehmend transnationale Dimension erreicht, die insbesondere politische Diskussionen und wissenschaftliches Interesse auslöste. Das vorliegende Diskussionspapier lässt sich als Forschungsbericht verstehen, der einen historischen Überblick über Auftreten und Transformation zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationen gibt, die insbesondere national und kulturell grenzüberschreitend institutionalisiert sind, wie beispielsweise internationale Nichtregierungsorganisationen. Auf der Grundlage einer sorgfältigen Analyse von Definition und Konzeption 'transnationaler Zivilgesellschaft', konzentriert sich die Untersuchung vor allem auf die Gegner der Todesstrafe, aber auch Gewerkschaften sowie Friedens- und Frauenbewegungen. Beide Autoren plädieren für eine Auseinandersetzung mit der Thematik aus historischer Perspektive, um insbesondere bestimmte Gruppen und Aktivisten in direkten Bezug zu ihrem historischen Kontext und Vorbedingungen zu stellen. Darüber hinaus heben sie hervor, dass daran anknüpfende Studien gerade den Akteuren, ihrem Auftreten und ihrer Präsentation gewidmet werden sollen. Im Gesamtzusammenhang lässt sich festhalten, dass die bisher eher statisch geprägten Untersuchungen zum Forschungsschwerpunkt 'transnationale Zivilgesellschaft' insbesondere die Flexibilität und Unbeständigkeit derselbigen in den letzten beiden Jahrhunderten nicht berücksichtigten." (Autorenreferat

Weathering:Ecologies of Exposure

Weathering is atmospheric, geological, temporal, transformative. It implies exposure to the elements and processes of wearing down, disintegration, or accrued patina. Weathering can also denote the ways in which subjects and objects resist and pass through storms and adversity. This volume contemplates weathering across many fields and disciplines; its contributions examine various surfaces, environments, scales, temporalities, and vulnerabilities. What does it mean to weather or withstand? Who or what is able to pass through safely? What is lost or gained in the process

Errans:Going Astray, Being Adrift, Coming to Nothing

Today’s critical discourses and theorizing vanguards agree on the importance of getting lost, of failure, of erring — as do life coaches and business gurus. The taste for a departure from progress and other teleologies, the fascination with disorder, unfocused modes of attention, or improvisational performances cut across wide swaths of scholarly and activist discourses, practices in the arts, but also in business, warfare, and politics. Yet often the laudible failures are only those that are redeemed by subsequent successes. What could it mean to think errancy beyond such restrictions? And what would a radical critique of productivity, success, and fixed determination look like that doesn’t collapse into the infamous ‘I would prefer not to’? This volume looks for an answer in the complicated word field branching and stretching from the Latin errāre. Its contributions explore the implications of embracing error, randomness, failure, non-teleological temporalities across different disciplines, discourses, and practices, with critical attention to the ambivalences such an impossible embrace generates.‘Submit Your References’: Introduction | ARND WEDEMEYER | 1–18The Punakawans Make an Untimely Appearance: In Praise of Caves, Shadows, and Fire (or A Response to Plato’s Doctrine of Truth) | PRECIOSA DE JOYA | 19–47The Animal That Laughs at Itself: False False Alarms about the End of ‘Man’ | JAMES BURTON | 49–74Not Yet: Duration as Detour in Emmanuelle Demoris’s Mafrouza Cycle | ROSA BAROTSI | 75–92Incomplete and Self-Dismantling Structures: The Built Space, the Text, the Body | ANTONIO CASTORE | 93–112Camera Fog; or, The Pendulum of Austerity in Contemporary Portugal | MARIA JOSÉ DE ABREU | 113–40Rinko Kawauchi: Imperfect Photographs | CLARA MASNATTA | 141–58Inbuilt Errans: What Is and Is Not ‘Radical Indifference’ | ZAIRONG XIANG | 159–75Errant Counterpublics: ‘Solidarność’ and the Politics of the Weak | EWA MAJEWSKA | 177–99‘The Exile from the Law’: Keeping and Transgressing the Limits in Jewish Law | FEDERICO DAL BO | 201–31Errans: Going Astray, Being Adrift, Coming to Nothing, ed. by Christoph F. E. Holzhey and Arnd Wedemeyer, Cultural Inquiry, 24 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2022) <https://doi.org/10.37050/ci-24

Preface

Arnd Wedemeyer and Christoph F. E. Holzhey, ‘Preface’, in Re-: An Errant Glossary, ed. by Christoph F. E. Holzhey and Arnd Wedemeyer, Cultural Inquiry, 15 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2019), p. vii-xv <https://doi.org/10.25620/ci-15_01

Re-:An Errant Glossary

What’s in a prefix? How to read a prefix as short as ‘re-’? Does ‘re-’ really signify? Can it point into a specific direction? Can it reverse? Can it become the shibboleth of a ‘postcritical’ reboot? At first glance transparent and directional, ‘re-’ complicates the linear and teleological models commonly accepted as structuring the relations between past, present, and future, opening onto errant temporalities

Neural networks for impact parameter determination

Accurate impact parameter determination in a heavy-ion collision is crucial for almost all further analysis. We investigate the capabilities of an artificial neural network in that respect. First results show that the neural network is capable of improving the accuracy of the impact parameter determination based on observables such as the flow angle, the average directed inplane transverse momentum and the difference between transverse and longitudinal momenta. However, further investigations are necessary to discover the full potential of the neural network approach

Oral voclosporin: novel calcineurin inhibitor for treatment of noninfectious uveitis

Voclosporin, a novel immunomodulatory drug inhibiting the calcineurin enzyme, was developed to prevent organ graft rejection and to treat autoimmune diseases. The chemical structure of voclosporin is similar to that of cyclosporine A, with a difference in one amino acid, leading to superior calcineurin inhibition and less variability in plasma concentration. Compared with placebo, voclosporin may significantly reduce inflammation and prevent recurrences of inflammation in patients with noninfectious uveitis. Future studies have to show if these advantages are accompanied by greater clinical efficacy and fewer side effects compared with the classic calcineurin inhibitors

Isometric points in lateral ankle ligament reconstruction: A three-dimensional kinematic study

BACKGROUND To optimize the biomechanical outcomes in lateral ankle ligament reconstruction, avoid stiffness or residual laxity, aiming for an isometric reconstruction of the anterior lateral talofibular ligament (ATFL) and the calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) is mandatory. However, the localization of the optimal ligament insertion remains challenging to assess intraoperatively. METHOD Three-dimensional (3D) surface models from 10 healthy ankles were generated. 30 insertion points of the CFL were defined on the lateral side of the calcaneus each 10% of its total length in the dorsal-to-ventral and proximal-to-distal plane. 6 insertion points were defined at the ventral ridge of fibula from the malleolar tip and 5 insertions were defined along the lateral talar process. The ligament length variation of ATFL and CFL was assessed after a simulation of the flexion/extension around a simulated tibiotalar axis and inversion/eversion around a simulated subtalar axis in 36 different positions. RESULTS The isometric point of CFL on the calcaneus is located at about 60% along the dorsal-to-ventral and between 60% and 70% along the proximal-to-distal plane. From maximal extension to flexion, these points present respectively a length variation of - 0.8 to - 1.1 mm (p = 0.46) and - 1.1 to - 0.8 mm (p = 0.56). A fibular insertion at 5 mm proximal to the malleolar tip present a length variation ranging from - 0.1-1 mm (p < 0.001) for ATFL and from - 0.7-0.5 mm (p < 0.001) for CFL. A talar insertion point of the ATFL located 5 mm proximal to the subtalar joint present the lowest variation, ranging from - 1.1-0.7 mm (p < 0.001), however an insertion at 20- or 25-mm present isometry (+0.1 to +0.9 mm p = 0.1, and +0.4 to +0.4 mm p = 1 respectively) if the fibular insertion is located at 5 mm proximal to the malleolar tip. CONCLUSION This study provides anatomical references which are reproducible in daily practice. These insertion points allow to achieve a stable reconstruction while maintaining a tension-free mobilization of the ankle