On the final (im-)possibility of resistance, progress and avant-garde

The category of political resp. artistic avant-garde – as being progressive, sectarian and dogmatic – is under assault. However, there is no emancipatory politics feasible without any Jacobin element. In order to develop a post-avant-garde (as opposed to both avant-garde and non-avant-garde) democratic strategy everything depends on our ability to establish the paradoxes of a non-teleological progressivism, an empty and relative universalism and an asymmetric particularism. This search for a political stand, which has not yet lost any idea of the New as the empty signifier of (Non-)Order, may lead us to what Laclau and Mouffe have called »radical and plural democracy«. Such hegemonic pluralism might be the alternative to muddy strategical pragma (Lenin), clean messianic theory (popularized Derrida) and po-mo happy dispersion (Lyotard, et alii).The category of political resp. artistic avant-garde – as being progressive, sectarian and dogmatic – is under assault. However, there is no emancipatory politics feasible without any Jacobin element. In order to develop a post-avant-garde (as opposed to both avant-garde and non-avant-garde) democratic strategy everything depends on our ability to establish the paradoxes of a non-teleological progressivism, an empty and relative universalism and an asymmetric particularism. This search for a political stand, which has not yet lost any idea of the New as the empty signifier of (Non-)Order, may lead us to what Laclau and Mouffe have called »radical and plural democracy«. Such hegemonic pluralism might be the alternative to muddy strategical pragma (Lenin), clean messianic theory (popularized Derrida) and po-mo happy dispersion (Lyotard, et alii)

Imagining Populism Differently. Notes on the Proposal of a Feminist, International, Republican Populism

In the article I briefly discuss four important interventions from Biglieri and Cadahia’s Seven Essays on Populism: (a) against anti-institutionalist readings of populism, they make a plea for a ‘populist institutionality’; (b) they defend a plebeian version of republicanism; (c) they seek to rehabilitate the nation-form while, at the same time, arguing for a transnational populism, and (d) they argue in favour of the feminization of populism and an ‘antagonism of care’. However, while it is argued in the article that their main intervention, i.e., their ontological claim about the intrinsically emancipatory nature of all populism, remains ultimately unconvincing, it could be interpreted as a productive political incantation to make use of the human faculty of imagination and start imagining populism differently

Unmittelbarkeit und Widerspruch

Die vorliegende Arbeit unternimmt einen eigenständigen Interpretationsversuch der Widerspruchskategorie im Prozess der „Reflexionsbestimmung“ in Hegels Wissenschaft der Logik, sowie der Rahmenbedingungen der spekulativen Dialektik als eines semantisch geschlossenen Systems, das die Kategorie in einer selbstbezüglichen Weise der Formbestimmung thematisierbar macht. Das Vorfeld der Textanalyse bietet eine Untersuchung von Problemstellungen im Zusammenhang mit der Kantischen Urteilsform, der Typentheorie, des semantischen Wahrheitskriteriums bei Tarski und dem Begründungsdilemma logischer Prinzipien. Diese erschweren, so meine These, eine Lektüre der Hegelschen Logik auf dem Stand der westlichen Theoriebildung des 20. Jahrhunderts, da sie Voraussetzungen in sich bergen, die den Reflexionsgrad, den der spekulative Gegenstand als ‚Einheit von Gedanke und Sache‘ erfordert, sowie die Radikalität der spekulativen Dialektik hinsichtlich ihrer Suspension sowohl des ‚unmittelbar Gegebenen‘ als auch des ‚Unerkennbaren‘ ab ovo unzugänglich werden lassen. Semiotische Aspekte bieten bei der Textanalyse einen Ausblick auf eine konstruktive Relektüre.In the present thesis I attempt an independent interpretation of the category of contradiction in the process of “determination of reflection” in Hegels Science of Logic as well as of the framework conditions of speculative dialectics as a semantic closed system, which enables the category to be topic of thought in a self-referential determination of form. Prior to the text analysis I will explore certain issues in the context of the Kantian form of judgement, the Theory of Types, Tarskis semantic conception of truth and the dilemma of justification of logic principles which, as I claim, imply presuppositions of the 20th century’s education to a reading of Hegelian Logic. The limitations at issue put up boundaries to the possibility of understanding the actual degree of reflectivity that the matter ‘unity of thought and matter’ requires and the radicalness of the speculative dialectics in terms of its suspension of the ‘immediately given’ as well as the ‘unknowable’. In the process of text analysis semiotic aspects provide prospects for a constructive re-reading

The role of proteomics in progressing insights into plant secondary metabolism

The development of omics has enabled the genome-wide exploration of all kinds of biological processes at the molecular level. Almost every field of plant biology has been analyzed at the genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic level. Here we focus on the particular contribution that proteomic technologies have made in progressing knowledge and characterising plant secondary metabolism (SM) pathways since early expectations were created 15 years ago. We analyzed how three major issues in the proteomic analysis of plant SM have been implemented in various research studies. These issues are: (i) the selection of a suitable plant material rich in secondary metabolites of interest, such as specialized tissues and organs, and in vitro cell cultures; (ii) the proteomic strategy to access target proteins, either a comprehensive or a differential analysis; (iii) the proteomic approach, represented by the hypothesis-free discovery proteomics and the hypothesis-driven targeted proteomics. We also examine to what extent the most-advanced technologies have been incorporated into proteomic research in plant SM and highlight some cutting edge techniques that would strongly benefit the progress made in this field.This work has been supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (BIO2011-29856-C02-02; BIO2014-51861-R), European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER) and Conselleria d’Educacio, Cultura i Sport de la Generalitat Valenciana (FPA/2013/A/074). JM-C acknowledges a postdoctoral and research grants from SENESCYT GOVERNMENT OF ECUADOR (006-IECE-SMG5-GPLR-2012 and Programa1_Senescyt_2014) and a grant from UTEQ (UTEQ-Ambiental-9-FCAmb-IFOR-2014-FOCICYT002)

Namen der Geschichte – Politik des Namens: Historische Benennungskraft und die politische Theorie des Postfundamentalismus (Rancière, Laclau, Agamben, Brossat)

In this article, it is argued that Rancière’s theory of history should be located in the eld of political theory rather than historiography. To substantiate this claim, the historico-political function of naming (of the people) or self-naming (by the people), as presented by Rancière in the Names of History, is discussed and compared to the explicitly political role attributed to naming by Ernesto Laclau in On Populist Reason. It is argued that in both cases an inner dialectic can be observed between plebs and populus (or demos) which also gures in the theories of Giorgio Agamben and Alain Brossat. However, in Agamben and Brossat the plebs is presented in such messianic or insurrectionist terms that any connection to the world of real politics or to the category of the political is lost. On this account, Rancière’s and Laclau’s theories fare better, but, conversely, suffer from what can be described as a normative deficit. As a remedy, a post-foundational theory of democracy is proposed in which the ethical and the political are seen as two separate but intersecting dimensions of democracy.In this article, it is argued that Rancière’s theory of history should be located in the eld of political theory rather than historiography. To substantiate this claim, the historico-political function of naming (of the people) or self-naming (by the people), as presented by Rancière in the Names of History, is discussed and compared to the explicitly political role attributed to naming by Ernesto Laclau in On Populist Reason. It is argued that in both cases an inner dialectic can be observed between plebs and populus (or demos) which also gures in the theories of Giorgio Agamben and Alain Brossat. However, in Agamben and Brossat the plebs is presented in such messianic or insurrectionist terms that any connection to the world of real politics or to the category of the political is lost. On this account, Rancière’s and Laclau’s theories fare better, but, conversely, suffer from what can be described as a normative deficit. As a remedy, a post-foundational theory of democracy is proposed in which the ethical and the political are seen as two separate but intersecting dimensions of democracy

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of Chinese medical herbs for the prevention and therapy of acute myocardial infarction and diabetes

Die anfallenden Kosten des Gesundheitssystems sind kaum noch zu tragen. Speziell altersbedingte Erkrankungen kosten dem Staat viel Geld. Um diese gefährlichen Erkrankungen zu bekämpfen sind Prävention, frühe Diagnosen, Entwicklung von Medikamenten und gezielte Therapien notwendig. Diese Diplomarbeit befasst sich mit der Qualitätskontrolle von chinesischen medizinischen Kräutern, welche zur Prävention und Therapie von altersbedingten Erkrankungen eingesetzt werden könnten. Sinitang ist in der Traditionellen Chinesischen Medizin eine sehr bekannte Kräuterrezeptur und hat eine lange Tradition bei der Behandlung von kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen.Age related diseases have a dramatic impact on the health care budgets in developing countries. Early diagnosis, development of drugs and device therapies are worldwide efforts the fight those killing diseases. This thesis aims to contribute to the quality control of traditional Chinese medical herbs, which could be used for prevention and therapy of age related diseases. Sinitang is a very famous Chinese herbal formula in TCM and has a long tradition to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases

Die Prekarisierungsgesellschaft. Prekäre Proteste. Politik und Ökonomie im Zeichen der Prekarisierung

Gesellschaft erscheint uns heute im flackernden Licht der Verunsicherung. Nicht erst seit der Finanzkrise erweisen sich stabil geglaubte Arbeits- und Lebensverhältnisse als prekär. Der Autor stellt die wichtigsten ökonomischen und soziologischen Theorien der Prekarisierung vor und zeigt: Prekarität hat die Gesellschaft in ihrer Gesamtheit erfasst. Wir leben in der Prekarisierungsgesellschaft. Aber was ist daraus zu schließen? Marchart beschreibt die gegenwärtigen Sozialproteste und ihre Forderungen. Er untersucht ihre demokratiepolitischen Implikationen und führt hin zu einer Gesellschaftstheorie des Konflikts und der Kontingenz.Society appears to us today in the flickering light of instability. It has not just been since the financial crisis that matters related to working and living conditions have proved themselves to be precarious. The author introduces the most important economic and sociological theories of precarization, and demonstrates that precarity has seized society in its entirety. We live in the society of precarity. But what can be drawn from this? Marchart describes contemporary social protests and their demands. He investigates their democratic and political implications and works towards a social theory of the conflict and of its contingencies

A Dige proteomic analysis of weat flag lea treated with terra-sorb foliar, a free amino acid high content biostimulator

Comunicaciones a congreso