Political narratives / narrations of the political: an introduction

This introductory essay outlines a perspective on political narratives that moves beyond a narrow understanding and highlights the reception of political narratives in everyday contexts and conceptualizations of political spheres in everyday narratives of the political. It offers distinct perspectives of (1) narrative as practice and ontology, that is, the view that telling and receiving stories are universal modes of mediating (political) views; (2) narrative as strategy, that is, the intentional or automatic use of narrative to further relatively specific goals; and (3) narrative as method, that is, as an analytic approach to sociopolitical realities in academia. The essays in this issue show how political narratives are interpreted, modified, and coconstructed in everyday stories and as part of popular narratives, and how political processes and structures are framed in everyday narratives

Negotiating Tradition - The pragmatics of international deliberations on Cultural Property

Communicative interactions in international negotiations on cultural property not only provide information about the emergence and proliferation of arguments, rhetorics, and registers, but also permit valuable insights into actors’ positions, strategies and alliances. They significantly influence local and national practices and views related to cultural property debates. What can be gained from a deep analysis of the communicative patterns and strategies that actors engage in – the entailing text and talk of negotiations – is a better understanding of the process itself: how do different actors argue, what kind of strategies and rhetorics do they use, to which instruments and institutions do they refer, and in what way do actors react to each other? An analysis of communicative interactions contributes to the question of how international negotiations work. The analytic inclusion of sociolinguistic practices allows insights into positions, strategies, and perspectives pertaining to cultural property. By looking at not only what actors say, but also at how and in what contexts they do so, it is possible to make more accurate statements about their positions and perceptions in cultural property debates. As these communicative interactions influence outcomes considerably, an approach from linguistic anthropology is not only beneficial for an understanding of specific negotiations, but also for the analysis of broader cultural property issues.Communicative interactions in international negotiations on cultural property not only provide information about the emergence and proliferation of arguments, rhetorics, and registers, but also permit valuable insights into actors’ positions, strategies and alliances. They significantly influence local and national practices and views related to cultural property debates. What can be gained from a deep analysis of the communicative patterns and strategies that actors engage in – the entailing text and talk of negotiations – is a better understanding of the process itself: how do different actors argue, what kind of strategies and rhetorics do they use, to which instruments and institutions do they refer, and in what way do actors react to each other? An analysis of communicative interactions contributes to the question of how international negotiations work. The analytic inclusion of sociolinguistic practices allows insights into positions, strategies, and perspectives pertaining to cultural property. By looking at not only what actors say, but also at how and in what contexts they do so, it is possible to make more accurate statements about their positions and perceptions in cultural property debates. As these communicative interactions influence outcomes considerably, an approach from linguistic anthropology is not only beneficial for an understanding of specific negotiations, but also for the analysis of broader cultural property issues

Negotiating Tradition - The pragmatics of international deliberations on Cultural Property

Communicative interactions in international negotiations on cultural property not only provide information about the emergence and proliferation of arguments, rhetorics, and registers, but also permit valuable insights into actors’ positions, strategies and alliances. They significantly influence local and national practices and views related to cultural property debates. What can be gained from a deep analysis of the communicative patterns and strategies that actors engage in – the entailing text and talk of negotiations – is a better understanding of the process itself: how do different actors argue, what kind of strategies and rhetorics do they use, to which instruments and institutions do they refer, and in what way do actors react to each other? An analysis of communicative interactions contributes to the question of how international negotiations work. The analytic inclusion of sociolinguistic practices allows insights into positions, strategies, and perspectives pertaining to cultural property. By looking at not only what actors say, but also at how and in what contexts they do so, it is possible to make more accurate statements about their positions and perceptions in cultural property debates. As these communicative interactions influence outcomes considerably, an approach from linguistic anthropology is not only beneficial for an understanding of specific negotiations, but also for the analysis of broader cultural property issues

Sensing Athletes: Sensory Dimensions of Recreational Endurance Sports

Sport has become increasingly popular with recreational athletes over the last couple of decades. This has only gained minimal attention so far from scholars interested in the relations between recreational sports and everyday culture. With this paper, we seek to contribute to this field by scrutinising the sensory dimensions of recreational sport. Rather than probing into or highlighting isolated senses, we look at sensory dimensions understood as a combination of different, non-separable sensory experiences featured in recreational endurance sports. We are interested in how senses play a role for recreational endurance athletes in running, triathlon and cycling both in training and competition. We start by examining how cultural and social dimensions are inextricably linked to doing sports. Secondly, we show how different configurations of the senses and their communicative mediation are contingent on sport disciplines, specific settings, technology, development and change as sensory careers over time. Thirdly, we discuss the kinaesthetic dimensions of doing sports in relation to the senses and the role of atmospheres. We conclude by arguing that highlighting specific senses by athletes is a cultural practice that calls for a holistic analysis of senses in sport, and outline some methodological implications for research on the senses

Ambient new particle formation parameter indicates potential rise in future events

Atmospheric new particle formation is a general phenomenon observed over coniferous forests. So far nucleation is described as a function of gaseous sulfuric acid concentration only, which is unable to explain the observed seasonality of nucleation events at different measurement sites. Here we introduce a new nucleation parameter including ozone and water vapor concentrations as well as UV-B radiation as a proxy for OH radical formation. Applying this new parameter to field studies conducted at Finnish and German measurement sites it is found capable to predict the occurrence of nucleation events and their seasonal and annual variation indicating a significant role of organics. Extrapolation to possible future conditions of ozone, water vapor and organic concentrations leads to a significant potential increase in nucleation event number

A new parametrization for ambient particle formation over coniferous forests and its potential implications for the future

Atmospheric new particle formation is a general phenomenon observed over coniferous forests. So far nucleation is either parameterised as a function of gaseous sulphuric acid concentration only, which is unable to explain the observed seasonality of nucleation events at different measurement sites, or as a function of sulphuric acid and organic molecules. Here we introduce different nucleation parameters based on the interaction of sulphuric acid and terpene oxidation products and elucidate the individual importance. They include basic trace gas and meteorological measurements such as ozone and water vapour concentrations, temperature (for terpene emission) and UV B radiation as a proxy for OH radical formation. We apply these new parameters to field studies conducted at conducted at Finnish and German measurement sites and compare these to nucleation observations on a daily and annual scale. General agreement was found, although the specific compounds responsible for the nucleation process remain speculative. This can be interpreted as follows: During cooler seasons the emission of biogenic terpenes and the OH availability limits the new particle formation while towards warmer seasons the ratio of ozone and water vapour concentration seems to dominate the general behaviour. Therefore, organics seem to support ambient nucleation besides sulphuric acid or an OH-related compound. Using these nucleation parameters to extrapolate the current conditions to prognosed future concentrations of ozone, water vapour and organic concentrations leads to a significant potential increase in the nucleation event number

Mitte und Mittelmass: zwischen privilegierter Gleichheit und kompetitiver Differenz

Appartenir à la moyenne ne va plus de soi : il s’agit d’un acquis que l’on doit atteindre et maintenir. Mais avec quelles capacités ? Et en concurrence avec qui ? Ces questions dépassent les indicateurs socio-économiques de la classe moyenne et nécessitent un regard sur les négociations quotidiennes dans lesquelles sont produites les représentations du milieu entre différenciation et égalité. Ce qui est compris par la moyenne, individuellement ou dans des domaines spécifiques, est susceptible d’évoluer et résulte des réalités du contexte en question. La compréhension de la classe moyenne dépend des niveaux d’expérience et de carrière individuels, ainsi que de l’évolution du marché du travail et de l’entreprise. Le revenu qui est positivement considéré comme « moyen » aujourd’hui peut soudainement être trop bas demain. Par conséquent, la moyenne est une constante mise en corrélation. En tant que différence compétitive, une valeur moyenne marque la limite inférieure, en tant qu’égalité privilégiée elle représente un équilibre entre vie professionnelle et vie privée; en même temps elle est un moyen de justifier sa propre position qui n’est que moyenne – et en fin de compte, la tentative d’être dans la moyenne produit toujours simultanément de l’égalité et de l’inégalité

Einfache Formen, komplexe Prozesse: Sprichwörter und Redewendungen in multilateralen Verhandlungen

Sprichwörter und Redewendungen dienen in multilateralen Verhandlungen und anderen politischen Kontexten der Verstärkung und Legitimierung von Aussagen. Als Anspielungsformeln eignen sie sich zur impliziten Kommunikation, bei der keine direkten Anschuldigungen oder Forderungen erhoben werden und die für viele politische Kontexte typisch sind. Der Beitrag beleuchtet unterschiedliche Funktionen von Sprichwörtern und Redewendungen als Teil von kommunikativen Strategien in multilateralen Verhandlungen und fragt nach kontextuellen Faktoren, die bei ihrer Analyse Berücksichtigung finden müssen

Optimierung bis zur Mitte. Selbstoptimierung als Konstellation und relationale Subjektivierung

Der Beitrag argumentiert für die Analyse von spezifischen Konstellationen der Selbstoptimierung, in denen nicht grundsätzliche Gesellschaftsdiagnosen, sondern Akteure und ihre Deutungen im Mittelpunkt stehen. Damit wird eine Perspektive auf Selbstoptimierung als Konstellation entwickelt, bei der relationale Kriterien wirkmächtig sind. An Beispielen aus dem Breitensport und dem Arbeitsleben wird diskutiert, wie solche Konstellationen Orientierungen an der Mitte begünstigen können. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, welche Aspekte und Faktoren in diesem Zusammenhang beachtet werden müssen und wo Probleme und Grenzen des Begriffes der Selbstoptimierung liegen