2,143 research outputs found
Modeling two-language competition dynamics
During the last decade, much attention has been paid to language competition
in the complex systems community, that is, how the fractions of speakers of
several competing languages evolve in time. In this paper we review recent
advances in this direction and focus on three aspects. First we consider the
shift from two-state models to three state models that include the possibility
of bilingual individuals. The understanding of the role played by bilingualism
is essential in sociolinguistics. In particular, the question addressed is
whether bilingualism facilitates the coexistence of languages. Second, we will
analyze the effect of social interaction networks and physical barriers.
Finally, we will show how to analyze the issue of bilingualism from a game
theoretical perspective.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures; published in the Special Issue of Advances in
Complex Systems "Language Dynamics
The Urban Political Ecology of Post-industrial Scottish Towns: Examining Greengairs and Ravenscraig
Urban ecological politics is shaped by both moments of concerted action and more silent perceptions and responses. Instead of only being evident in situations of organised protest, the politics of urban ecology is also manifested, in material and symbolic terms, in the daily life of the residents. The fragmentation of urban political ecology turns out to be an important element in the affirmation of post-political forms of urban governance. Those issues were the object of fieldwork research carried out in Greengairs and Ravenscraig, two towns in North Lanarkshire, near Glasgow, with the goal of unravelling the understanding and the coping mechanisms of environmentally deprived residents. The towns are permeated by a widespread, often dissimulated, political ecology that is nonetheless always present. Empirical results demonstrate that a more comprehensive handling of the political ecology of the urban is crucial in order to halt the sources of marginalisation and ecological degradation
New times, new politics: history and memory during the final years of the CPGB
This article examines the relationship between collective memory, historical interpretation and political identity. It focuses on the dissolution of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) as constructed through collective narrative memory, and on Marxist interpretations of history. The divisions within the party and the wider Marxist community, stretching from 1956 until 1991, were often framed around questions of historical interpretation. The events of 1989â1991 created an historical and mnemonic crisis for CPGB members who struggled to reconcile their past identities with their present situation. Unlike the outward-facing revisionism of other political parties, this was an intensely personal affair. The solution for many was to emphasise the need to find new ways to progress socialist aims, without relying on a discredited grand narrative. In contrast, other Communist parties, such as the Communist Party of Britain, which had been established (or âre-establishedâ) in 1988, fared rather better. By adhering to the international party line of renewal and continued struggle, the party was able to hold its narrative together, condemning the excesses of totalitarian regimes, while reaffirming the need for international class struggle
Scotland, Catalonia and the ârightâ to self-determination: a comment suggested by Kathryn Crameriâs âDo Catalans Have the Right to Decide?
No abstract available
The private military industry and neoliberal imperialism: Mapping the terrain
Despite the international reach, and increasing global importance, of the free market provision of military and security servicesâwhich we label the Private Security Industry (PSI)âmanagement and organization studies has yet to pay significant attention to this industry. Taking up Greyâs (2009) call for scholarship at the boundaries between security studies and organization studies and building on Banerjeeâs (2008) treatment of the PSI as a key element in necrocapitalism, in this article we aim to trace the long history of the PSI and argue that it has re-emerged over the last two decades against, and as a result of, a very specific politico-economic backdrop. We then suggest that the PSI operates as a mechanism for neoliberal imperialism; demonstrate its substitution for and supplementing of the state; and count some of the costs of this privatization of war. Finally, we take seriously Hughesâs (2007) thesis of the growth of a new security-industrial complex, and of the intersecting elites who benefit from this phenomenon
An anarchy of cultures: aesthetics and the changing school
It is the contention of this paper that schools are currently sandwiched between demands of the economy on one side and increasingly fundamentalist communities on the other; that schools need some degree of autonomy from each; that the greatest challenge of the century is how we can live together despite our differences; and that the only way of successfully meeting this challenge is for schools to put social justice at the heart of their activities, activities that are best informed by the cultivation of reasoned imagination – that is, by an aesthetic approach to the development of intellectual, social, cultural, economic and personal identities
Autobiography as unconventional history: Constructing the author
The experience of historians as autobiographers has led them to reconsider the nature of historical knowledge and the function of the historian as an intermediary between the past and present. In the new theoretical context of the social sciences and historiography, we can take this proposal further and consider autobiography as a valid form of historyâor, at least, as âunconventional historyâ, understood as negotiations with history that transcend or subvert traditional chronological monographs, posit the âsubjectiveâ as a useful form of knowledge, and engage the constructed nature of the text. Taking this hypothesis as a starting point, this article reads historians' autobiographical texts to explore if we can/should continue to defend the classic distinction between subject and object, historian scientist and historian author. In this article I compare the work of several historian autobiographers that permit us to identify different methodologies in approaching the story of the self that also reflects different theoretical conceptions of history. I argue that historians that may be considered âconstructionistâ, such as Fernand Braudel, Annie Kriegel, George Duby, and Eric Hobsbawm, design their autobiographies in the same way they articulate their historical texts: by foregrounding objectivity and establishing critical distance between the subjectâthe historian who narrates the storyâand the objectâone's own life. Unconventional or experimental approaches, such as those espoused by Robert Rosenstone, Dominick LaCapra, or Clifford Geertz, result in more self-conscious autobiographies, which are, paradoxically, often more realistic and more revealing of the epistemological nature of life writing. ----------------- La experiencia de los historiadores como autobiĂłgrafos les ha llevado a reconsiderar la naturaleza del conocimiento histĂłrico y la funciĂłn del historiador como un intermediario entre el pasado y el presente. En el nuevo contexto teĂłrico de las ciencias sociales y la historiografĂa podemos tomar esta propuesta mĂĄs allĂĄ y considerar la autobiografĂa como una forma vĂĄlida de historia-o, al menos, de historia âpoco convencionalâ-, entendida como negociaciones con la historia que trascienden o subvierten las tradicionales monografĂas cronolĂłgicas, plantean lo "subjetivo" como una forma Ăștil de conocimiento y participan de la naturaleza construida del texto. Tomando esta hipĂłtesis como punto de partida, este artĂculo lee los textos autobiogrĂĄficos de los historiadores para explorar si se puede / debe seguir defendiendo la clĂĄsica distinciĂłn entre sujeto y objeto, historiador cientĂfico e historiador escritor. En este artĂculo comparo el trabajo de varios historiadores autobiĂłgrafos que nos permiten identificar las diferentes metodologĂas para acercarse a la historia del yo y que tambiĂ©n reflejan las diferentes concepciones teĂłricas de la historia. Sostengo que los historiadores que pueden considerarse "constructivistas", como Fernand Braudel, Annie Kriegel, George Duby y Eric Hobsbawm, diseñan sus autobiografĂas de la misma forma que articulan sus textos histĂłricos: poniendo en primer plano la objetividad y estableciendo una distancia crĂtica entre el sujeto -el historiador que narra la historia-y el objeto- la vida de cada uno. Enfoques no convencionales o experimentales, como los expuestos por Robert Rosenstone, Dominick LaCapra, o Clifford Geertz, resultan autobiografĂas mĂĄs autoconscientes, que son, paradĂłjicamente, a menudo mĂĄs realistas y mĂĄs reveladoras de la naturaleza epistemolĂłgica de la escritura de la vida
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From Stalingrad to Grozny: Patriotism, political pressure, and literature in the war reporting of Vassily Grossman and Anna Politkovskaya
Comparing the work of the 20th century Soviet journalist and writer, Vassily Grossman, with that of his compatriot, Anna Politkovskaya, almost half a century later, this article examines the two journalistsâ writing for what it tells us about the changing nature of Russian journalism, and reporter involvement in the coverage of war. Grossman was reporting on his countryâs fight for survival in a war with Nazi Germany; Politkovskaya had no peer in her coverage of the bloodiest consequence of the collapse of that country, the Soviet Union: the wars in Chechnya. It also considers the literary nature of Grossman and Politkovskayaâs reporting. The article argues that the two journalistsâ work has significance far beyond the time when they were reporting, and should therefore be more widely read and studied for what it tells us about covering conflict, and especially civilian suffering and, in the case of Politkovskaya, counter-insurgency
Canonical Generations and the British Left: The Narrative Construction of the Minersâ Strike 1984â85
âGenerationsâ have been invoked to describe a variety of social and cultural relationships, and to understand the development of self-conscious group identity. Equally, the term can be an applied label and politically useful construct; generations can be retrospectively produced. Drawing on the concept of âcanonical generationsâ â those whose experiences come to epitomise an event of historic and symbolic importance â this article examines the narrative creation and functions of âgenerationsâ as collective memory shapes and re-shapes the desire for social change. Building a case study of the canonical role of the minersâ strike of 1984â85 in the narrative history of the British left, it examines the selective appropriation and transmission of the past in the development of political consciousness. It foregrounds the autobiographical narratives of activists who, in examining and legitimising their own actions and prospects, (re)produce a âgenerationâ in order to create a relatable and useful historical understanding
Anti-Nirvana: crime, culture and instrumentalism in the age of insecurity
âAnti-Nirvanaâ explores the relationship between consumer culture, media and criminal motivations. It has appeared consistently on the list of the top-ten most-read articles in this award-winning international journal, and it mounts a serious neo-Freudian challenge to the predominant naturalistic notion of âresistanceâ at the heart of liberal criminology and media studies. It is also cited in the Oxford Handbook of Criminology and other criminology texts as a persuasive argument in support of the theory that criminality amongst young people is strongly linked to the acquisitive values of consumerism and the images of possessive individualism that dominate mass media
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