Social democracy, embeddedness and decommodification: On the conceptual innovations and intellectual affiliations of Karl Polanyi

Of the several debates that revolve around the work of the economic historian and political economist Karl Polanyi, one that continues to exercise minds concerns his analysis of, and political attitudes toward, post-war capitalism and the welfare state. Simplified a little, it is a debate with two sides. To borrow Iván Szelényi's terms, one side constructs a ‘hard’ Karl Polanyi, the other a ‘soft’ one. The former advocated a socialist mixed economy dominated by redistributive mechanisms. He was a radical socialist for whom the market should never be the dominant mechanism of economic coordination. His ‘soft’ alter ego insisted that the market system remain essentially intact but be complemented by redistributive mechanisms. The ‘double movement’ – the central thesis of his ‘Great Transformation’ – acts, in this reading, as a self-correcting mechanism that moderates the excesses of market fundamentalism; its author was positioned within the social-democratic mainstream for which the only realistic desirable goal is a regulated form of capitalism. In terms of textual evidence there is much to be said for both interpretations. In this article I suggest a different approach, one that focuses upon the meaning of Polanyi's concepts in relation to their socio-political and intellectual environment

Investigating the Effect of Conflicting Goals and Transparency on Trust and Collaboration in Multi-Team Systems

In Air Traffic Management (ATM) multiple teams have to collaborate to achieve efficient and safe operation. Multiple-team operations rely on communication and information sharing between the team members. In this field, multi-team systems (MTSs) are the most common form of organization. The interface between the organizations involved (e.g. air traffic control, cockpit crews, airports) is of central importance. Apart from a common goal, different stakeholders may pursue individual goals governed by their own company culture or policies. Therefore, simply sharing all available information may not be enough to ensure safe and efficient operation. As part of the project ITC (Inter-Team Collaboration), an experimental study with 48 teams of three (n=144) has just started to investigate the impact that conflicting goals have on communication and collaboration. Additionally, it examines whether and how transparency in roles, processes, and goals can affect performance, communication, and trust in multi-team systems. In the synthetic task environment (STE) ConCenT (Control Center Task Environment), teams of three have to collaborate to detect system failures in time, determine their causes, and decide on a solution in order to ensure successful production processes. Measurements of performance, perceived trust, communication, and gaze data will be analyzed to examine and compare different coordination and communication patterns on a group level. Results of the study will identify factors that may facilitate or hinder collaborative work processes in an MTS, thus enabling the validation of an approach to improve collaboration through transparency and mutual trust

Morphological comparison of colonies of the local bee in Lower Saxony with typical A m carnica and A m mellifera

The current "Landrasse" (the common honeybee) of Apis mellifera in Lower Saxony (Germany) is a product of = 40 yr of upgrading A m mellifera with A m carnica. The object of this study was to make a comparison by morphometric analysis of "Landrasse" colonies with typical colonies of A m mellifera and A m carnica. A sample of 4 853 bees from 99 colonies was taken in Lower Saxony during April 1988. Thirty-three apiaries contributed 3 colonies per apiary. Five measurements were taken from each colony: - average of cubital index (MCI); - proportion of bees with cubital index 1 (Varimax-rotated). After discriminant analysis, 10 "Landrasse" colonies were classified as A m carnica (table III). Mahalanobis-distances between groups are shown in table IV (quadratic and linear). In conclusion, it can be stated that the "Landrasse" is much more influenced by A m carnica than by A m mellifera in spite of clear crossbreeding characteristics such as long hair, showing the gene contribution of the native population