Evaluating environmental mediation: mediation in the waste management programme of Neuss county, Germany; results of a participant survey

"Little empirically based social scientific research has been carried out with the aim of evaluating mediation procedures. Generally, such procedures are evaluated retrospectively and on the basis of very general criteria (Was an agreement achieved?). The Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB) is conducting a research project into mediation procedures in the field of environmental protection, the central object of study being the mediation procedure undertaken to resolve the dispute over the waste management programme of Neuss County in Germany. This paper presents some results of the accompanying social scientific research, with the aim of evaluating the success of the mediation. It begins by describing the problems underlying the mediation procedure in Neuss, the procedure itself and the results achieved. There then follows an evaluation of this procedure, based on 18 key procedural and results-related criteria for evaluating the success of the mediation. The analysis shows that the evaluation of mediation procedures is a highly complex affair, and that this is reflected in the evaluations made by the participants themselves." (author's abstract)"Zur Evaluation von Mediationsverfahren in der Umweltpolitik gibt es bisher kaum empirisch fundierte sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungsergebnisse. In vielen Fällen werden Mediationsverfahren aus der Rückschau und auf der Basis sehr allgemeiner Fragestellungen (Wurde eine Einigung erzielt?) bewertet. Das Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) führt ein Forschungsprojekt zu Mediationsverfahren in der Umweltpolitik durch, dessen Hauptgegenstand eine Mediation zum Abfallwirtschaftskonzept des Kreises Neuss, Nordrhein-Westfalen, war. Im vorliegenden Papier werden einige Ergebnisse der sozialwissenschaftlichen Begleitforschung zusammengestellt, die es erlauben, den Erfolg dieses Verfahrens differenziert zu beurteilen. Im ersten Schritt wird der dem Mediationsverfahren zugrunde liegende Konflikt, das Verfahren und seine Ergebnisse dargestellt. Daran schließt sich eine Bewertung der Mediation an, wobei 18 zentrale verfahrens- und ergebnisorientierte Evaluationskriterien herangezogen werden. Die Analyse zeigt, daß die Evaluierung eines Mediationsverfahrens eine recht komplexe Angelegenheit ist und daß sich dies auch in den Bewertungen der Teilnehmer widerspiegelt." (Autorenreferat

Competition, cooperation and communication: a theoretical analysis of different sources of environmental policy convergence and their interaction

'Vergleichende Studien zu Politiktransfer und Politikdiffusion haben für viele Bereiche eine beträchtliche Konvergenz von Politiken festgestellt. Das gilt insbesondere für die Umweltpolitik. Es ist jedoch noch wenig über die Mechanismen bekannt, die dieses Phänomen verursachen. In diesem theoretischen Beitrag werden drei Faktoren analysiert, die als wichtige internationale Antriebskräfte der zwischenstaatlichen Politikkonvergenz gelten: Regulierungswettbewerb, internationale Kooperation und Harmonisierung sowie transnationale Kommunikation und Policy-Lernen. Wir betrachten dabei nicht nur die jeweiligen isolierten Wirkungen der einzelnen Faktoren, sondern auch die Effekte ihrer Interaktion. Es wird gezeigt, dass die empirisch recht wahrscheinliche Interaktion dieser Mechanismen eine plausible Erklärung bietet für die Kluft zwischen der theoretischen Vorhersage eines 'race to the bottom' der umweltpolitischen Standards und dem Mangel an empirischen Belegen für ein solches Ergebnis.' (Autorenreferat)'Comparative studies on cross-national policy transfer and diffusion emphasize an impressing degree of policy convergence in many areas. This holds true, in particular, for the environmental field. However, we are still confronted with limited knowledge about the mechanisms accounting for this phenomenon. Against this backdrop, we theoretically investigate the impact of three different convergence mechanisms that are generally seen as central sources of cross-national policy convergence: regulatory competition, international cooperation and transnational communication. We focus not only on the isolated effects of each mechanism, but also on the effects of their interaction. As will be shown, the empirically rather likely interaction of different mechanisms constitutes a plausible explanation for the still puzzling gap between the theoretical prediction of a race to the bottom through regulatory competition and the lacking empirical support for this hypothesis.' (author's abstract)

Explaining the Constitutional Integration and Resurgence of Traditional Political Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Social scientists have recently observed a “resurgence” of traditional political institutions on the constitutional level in Sub-Sahara Africa. Yet, the scope and causes of the resurgence remain unclear. We base our analysis on original data on the degree of constitutional integration of traditional institutions and on their constitutional resurgence since 1990 in 45 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. We test six theoretical explanations for constitutionalization: former colonial rule, democratization, state capacity, economic development, foreign aid and settlement patterns. First, we verify the broad resurgence of traditional political institutions on a constitutional level. Second, our analysis suggests that, particularly in former British colonies, traditional leaders were able to translate the arrangements of British colonial rule as well as the advantages of a country’s deconcentrated settlement pattern into greater constitutional status. Third, settlement patterns proved important for traditional leaders to gain or increase constitutional status – leading to a constitutional resurgence of traditional institutions

Linguistic Diversity as a Challenge for Street-Level Bureaucrats in a Monolingually-Oriented Organisation

Migration-induced diversity has led to the global emergence of multilingual life worlds in which language regimes are particularly intertwined with labour markets. Thus, state institutions such as national unemployment services must fulfil a special role in society. In a qualitative research project (2019–2021), we interviewed employees at the Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) at multiple organisational levels. The results demonstrate diverging and (apparently) contradicting approaches and strategies throughout the organisation concerning the appropriateness of using German exclusively during interactions with clients. This is illustrated along a continuum, ranging from a reflective, critical approach towards linguistic diversity that is at least partly based on ideas promoting the value of multilingualism to frequently encountered notions of the need for monolingualism. Such a framework must be understood by considering the coexistence of diverging ideas and ideologies surrounding multilingualism, as well as a neoliberal working context characterised by new public management and activation policy

Das Neusser Mediationsverfahren im politischen Umfeld: Befragungsergebnisse und -methodik

"Im Rahmen eines teilweise (1991-1994) vom Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF) geförderten Forschungsprojekts analysiert eine multidisziplinäre Forschergruppe der Abteilung 'Normbildung und Umwelt' des WZB in- und ausländische Mediationsfälle im Umweltschutz. Zentraler Untersuchungsgegenstand war das Mediationsverfahren zum Abfallwirtschaftskonzept des Kreises Neuss. In der vorliegenden Studie werden die Ergebnisse der mündlichen Befragung vorgestellt. Vor, während und nach der Mediation wurden mit den Mediationsteilnehmern und weiteren relevanten Akteursgruppen insgesamt 93 qualitative Interviews geführt. Die Befragung zielte zum einen auf zusätzliche Informationen zum besseren Verständnis des Neusser Mediationsverfahrens, die sich auf die Konfliktgeschichte und Konfliktkonstellation, auf die politischen Prozesse im Umfeld der Mediation und auf die politische Weiterentwicklung nach der Mediation beziehen. Zum anderen wurden Daten zu politikwissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen erhoben, die das Verhältnis von Mediationsverfahren und politisch-institutioneller Umwelt zum Gegenstand haben. Sie umfassen das Beteiligungskonzept, die Rolle der Medien, Rückkoppelungsprozesse zwischen Mediationsteilnehmern und ihren Herkunftsorganisationen und Veränderungen in der Netzwerkstruktur." (Autorenreferat)"In a research project partially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology (BMBF) from 1991 to 1994, a multidisciplinary research group from the section 'Standard Setting and Environment' of the Science Center Berlin for Social Research (WZB) analyzed a series of domestic and foreign environmental mediation cases. The main object of the research was the mediation procedure over the waste management concept for the district of Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany. In this paper, the authors present the results of an oral survey. Before, during, and after the procedure, 93 qualitative interviews were conducted with participants in the mediation and other relevant actor groups. The aim of this survey was in part to obtain additional information to better understand what went on in Neuss in terms of conflict history, conflict constellation, the political processes surrounding the Neuss mediation, and further political developments following this event. The survey data also cover research questions exploring the relationship between mediation procedures and their political-institutional environments. In particular, the authors consider the concept of participation, the role of the media, feedback processes between participants in a mediation and the organizations or businesses they represent, and changes in the network structure." (author's abstract

Confronting Racialised Power Asymmetries in the Interview Setting: Positioning Strategies of Highly Qualified Migrants

Based on our longitudinal, in‐depth qualitative research focusing on the social construction of deskilling among highly educated migrants from Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states of the European Union, we will discuss in this article the positioning of the interview partners within the interview situation as interrelated to societal racialised power asymmetries. In this contribution, we exemplify that critical migration research can only be carried out when we reflect on our methods accordingly. To do so, we discuss actual evidence from this ongoing research project: While we see that many of our interview partners from new EU member states are reluctant to point to negative experiences in our conversations, we want to highlight that the potentiality of discrimination is part of the interview setting in our research and thus co‐constructs the empirical data. By analysing a variety of discursive positioning strategies employed by our interview partners that can be understood as strategies to avoid anticipated discrimination, we aim to fulfil the promise of methodological reflexivity and thus contribute to the quality of interview research in the context of migration studies. The aim of this contribution is thus twofold: We want to contribute to methodological discussions as well as refine current research focussing on the racist experiences of CEE migrants

SFTA2 - a novel secretory peptide highly expressed in the lung - is modulated by lipopolysaccharide but not hyperoxia

Tissue-specific transcripts are likely to be of importance for the corresponding organ. While attempting to define the specific transcriptome of the human lung, we identified the transcript of a yet uncharacterized protein, SFTA2. In silico analyses, biochemical methods, fluorescence imaging and animal challenge experiments were employed to characterize SFTA2. Human SFTA2 is located on Chr. 6p21.33, a disease-susceptibility locus for diffuse panbronchiolitis. RT-PCR verified the abundance of SFTA2-specific transcripts in human and mouse lung. SFTA2 is synthesized as a hydrophilic precursor releasing a 59 amino acid mature peptide after cleavage of an N-terminal secretory signal. SFTA2 has no recognizable homology to other proteins while orthologues are present in all mammals. SFTA2 is a glycosylated protein and specifically expressed in nonciliated bronchiolar epithelium and type II pneumocytes. In accordance with other hydrophilic surfactant proteins, SFTA2 did not colocalize with lamellar bodies but colocalized with golgin97 and clathrin-labelled vesicles, suggesting a classical secretory pathway for its expression and secretion. In the mouse lung, Sfta2 was significantly downregulated after induction of an inflammatory reaction by intratracheal lipopolysaccharides paralleling surfactant proteins B and C but not D. Hyperoxia, however, did not alter SFTA2 mRNA levels. We have characterized SFTA2 and present it as a novel unique secretory peptide highly expressed in the lung