«Общества позднего времени» в перспективе социологического анализа Милослава Петрусека

The article makes a preliminary attempt to analyze some key ideas of famous Czech sociologist Miloslav Petrusek (1936—2012), and, first of all, his ideas of the specific nature of the latest stage of social development and shaping of the so-called ‘societies of the latest times’ coming into being at the turn of the XXI century. The author examines in detail some concrete aspects of Petrusek’s views in the discussion on the relevant theoretical and conceptual descriptions, used in the world sociology as means of scientific interpretation of the phenomena of modernity/post-modernity.В статье предпринята предварительная попытка анализа некоторых ключевых идей известного чешского социолога Милослава Петрусека (1936—2012), и, прежде всего, его представлений о специфике новейшего этапа социального развития и формирующихся в конце XX — начале XXI в. очертаний т.н. «обществ позднего времени». Подробно рассматриваются конкретные аспекты позиции Петрусека в дискуссии о релевантных теоретических и понятийных описаниях, используемых в мировой социологии в качестве средств научной интерпретации феноменов современности/постсовременности

Systematic study of Mn-doping trends in optical properties of (Ga,Mn)As

We report on a systematic study of optical properties of (Ga,Mn)As epilayers spanning the wide range of accessible substitutional Mn_Ga dopings. The growth and post-growth annealing procedures were optimized for each nominal Mn doping in order to obtain films which are as close as possible to uniform uncompensated (Ga,Mn)As mixed crystals. We observe a broad maximum in the mid-infrared absorption spectra whose position exhibits a prevailing blue-shift for increasing Mn-doping. In the visible range, a peak in the magnetic circular dichroism blue shifts with increasing Mn-doping. These observed trends confirm that disorder-broadened valence band states provide a better one-particle representation for the electronic structure of high-doped (Ga,Mn)As with metallic conduction than an energy spectrum assuming the Fermi level pinned in a narrow impurity band.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figure

Direct measurement of the three dimensional magnetization vector trajectory in GaMnAs by a magneto-optical pump-and-probe method

We report on a quantitative experimental determination of the three-dimensional magnetization vector trajectory in GaMnAs by means of the static and time-resolved pump-and-probe magneto-optical measurements. The experiments are performed in a normal incidence geometry and the time evolution of the magnetization vector is obtained without any numerical modeling of magnetization dynamics. Our experimental method utilizes different polarization dependences of the polar Kerr effect and magnetic linear dichroism to disentangle the pump-induced out-of-plane and in-plane motions of magnetization, respectively. We demonstrate that the method is sensitive enough to allow for the determination of small angle excitations of the magnetization in GaMnAs. The method is readily applicable to other magnetic materials with sufficiently strong circular and linear magneto-optical effects.Comment: main paper: 7 pages, 3 figures; supplementary information: 11 pages, 6 figure

Mechanochemical Synthesis of Visible Light Sensitive Titanium Dioxide Photocatalyst

Phase transition of anatase nanoparticles into the phases TiO2-II and rutile under grinding was studied. The addition of ammonium carbamate to the reaction mixture inhibits the phase conversion and the cold welding of particles. The UV-visible absorption spectrum showed narrowing the band gap width after grinding with an ammonium carbamate additive resulting in shift of the light absorption of the ground sample towards the visible region. By EPR, intensive formation of OH• radical at irradiation of the sample with both UV (λ > 300 nm) and visible (λ > 435 nm) light was observed. High photocatalytic activity of the ground sample in visible light region was demonstrated also by measurement of kinetics of the photocatalytic decomposition of 4-chlorophenol

Memory and History: Some considerations on antinomies and paradoxes

Collective memory does not retain the memories of the past as historical events really happened, but as they are remembered in the present. Memory includes only elements of the past, not the past as a whole. Theoretical thinking about memory has been shaped by opinions often arising from very different starting points. This article outlines ten antinomies characterised by the following terms: individual and collective memory, spirit and matter, saving and deleting, irrevocable and revocable history, spontaneous and purposeful memory, myth and science, rationality and irrationality. The text explains that memory works in a selective way and the contents which are stored in it have no permanent form, but change over time according to the needs of the specific present. Human memory does not work as a rational machine, but rather is prone to distortions and errors. An important role in shaping collective memory is played by ideological influence and deep-rooted historical myths

CLAUDE LÉVI-STRAUSS ON THE PROBLEM OF “SYNCHRONIC” TIME

Human society exists in two temporal measurements. Astronomical time is uniform, homogenous, quantitative and continuous. Social time cannot be described in the same way for there are days for special functions, periods of time with specific features due to the activities, meanings and associations with them, and critical dates breaking the continuity of time. Social time has a qualitative character, a nonuniform flow - it can slow down, speed up and even stop, and it cannot be arbitrarily divided into parts. The concept of social time suggests that time is a human creation, social life produces different temporal structures of social phenomena together with the tools and units to measure time. Despite the duration and thematic richness, the debates on social time unfairly ignore C. Levi-Strauss’s theory of synchronic time. The article considers its prerequisites, criticism and main ideas, in particular, the famous typology of “hot” and “cold” societies distinguished by the criterion of time as manifested differently in different types of social systems and having different meanings. Societies with the same perception of historical time as our society today, i.e. considering time as a huge folder where historical events are systematized not to be forgotten, are called hot (and emphasize one’s historicity). Cold societies’ basic cognitive systems try to be static and indifferent to changes, i.e. strive to ignore historicity and externalize it as alien to them. The author emphasizes that when speaking of cold societies as not taking time and historicity into account Levi-Strauss does not want to rewrite the laws of logic or physics and just attempts to see the world through the eyes of another culture

The monastery as a pattern for the management of time: a contribution to the historical sociology of modernization processes

The article examines the role of monasteries in the development of civilization, especially at the onset of modernization. Particular attention is focused on the development of scheduling and time management, in which they played an important part, and contributed to the promotion of a rationalization that has found application in various areas of modern society (production, military, education, medicine, etc.) Life in monasteries became an inspiration not only for practice but also for many utopian projects of social reform

Individualism versus Holism: An Attempt to Overcome Theoretical Dualism

The article deals with one of the key theoretical dilemmas of contemporary sociology: the dualism of the individualistic and holistic approaches. One of the most famous attempts to overcome this dualism is Anthony Giddens’ structuring theory, alongside with the conception of critical realism of Roy Bhaskar and Margaret Archer. Their efforts are focused on bringing together the individualistic and holistic approaches, as well as on the alternation of both perspectives within a single explanatory model. The author of this article believes that this problem can be solved exclusively if both perspectives are “blended” in their theoretical explanation demonstrating that the concepts which we use in sociological theory — the actor, action, and structure — are inherently dualistic, in other words, they are “duplexes”