Weniger sind mehr : der Soziologe Hondrich entdramatisiert den Geburtenrückgang ; [Rezension]

Rezension zu: Karl Otto Hondrich : Weniger sind mehr. Warum der Geburtenrückgang ein Glücksfall für unsere Gesellschaft ist. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38270-8, 280 Seiten, 19,90 Euro

Als Porträtist des eigenen Entwurfs: Gelegenheit beim Schopf ergreifen : zur Ambivalenz zwischen der "Personalisierung" des Haars und seiner artifiziellen Umformung

Das Haar ist mehr als nur profane Pracht oder Ausdruck des modischen Wandels. Mit dem Haupthaar definiert sich das Individuum selbst, gleichzeitig nehmen andere es wahr und verbinden damit ihre Einschätzung der Person. Wie Haut, Gestik und Mimik ist das Haar gleichermaßen natürlich wie kulturell domestiziert. Gestaltete Haare als Ort der Kommunikation – eine wahrhaft andere Perspektive auf das millionenfach in der Kopfhaut verwurzelte "fadenförmige Oberhautgebilde", eben eine soziologische, die Alltagsphänomene der Gegenwartsgesellschaft wissenschaftlich ergründet. Danach übernimmt die Frisur die Aufgabe, das Identitätsprojekt einer Person zu adeln, zu verklären und zu akzentuieren – das Individuum macht sich so gleichsam zum Porträtisten des eigenen Entwurfs

MICROBIOME ANALYSIS OF TWO SYMPATRIC FUNGUS-GARDENING ANTS, TRACHYMYRMEX SEPTENTRIONALIS AND TRACHYMYRMEX TURRIFEX

The fungus gardening-ant system is considered a complex, multi-tiered symbiosis between the ants, their fungus, and their corresponding microbes. We examine the bacterial microbiome of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis and Trachymyrmex turrifex ants and their corresponding fungus, using 16S rRNA, over a large geographical region to determine if horizontal transmission was occurring. The goals of this study was to determine how the ant microbiome was transmitted and how the fungus microbiome was transmitted. We determined that the microbiomes of T. septentrionalis and T. turrifex ants were different because of the species, while the microbiomes of T. septentrionalis and T. turrifex fungi were spatially structured and were not determined by the species of ant growing them but the region in which the fungus resided. The most abundant bacterial orders found with T. septentrionalis ants were Actinomycetales, Soilrubrobacterales, Xanthomonadales, and Burkholderiales. In T. turrifex ants the most abundant bacteria found were Actinomycetales, Entomoplasmatales, and Burkholderiales. The most abundant bacteria associated with the Central Texas fungus gardens, regardless of the ant species growing it, were Entomoplasmatales, Streptophta, and Enterobacteriales. The most abundant bacterial orders in East Texas fungus was Entomoplasmatales and Streptophta

Modeling coherent social systems for learning

[no abstract

Design as critical engagement in and for education

This paper aims to outline an approach of critical engagement in educational research that moves beyond traditional formats of academic critique. The aim of our contribution is to explore the critical dimension of reflexive design for education and contrast it with recently advocated notions of design-based research. Rather than providing a full-fledged methodology, our intent is to motivate more critical design efforts in education and provide examples on how this could be done. Towards this end we outline a framework of critical research questions for design-based research and provide examples of how critical design could be practiced in education. &nbsp

Conceptualizing the Role of Individual Agency in Mobility Transitions: Avenues for the Integration of Sociological and Psychological Perspectives

With the release of the latest IPCC report, the urgency to steer the transport sector toward ecological sustainability has been recognized more and more broadly. To better understand, the prerequisites for a transition to sustainable mobility, we argue that interdisciplinary mobility research needs to revisit the interaction between social structures and individual agency by focusing on social norms. While critical sociological approaches stress the structural barriers to sustainable mobility, political discourse over sustainable mobility is still largely dominated by overly individualistic approaches, which focus on individual behavior change neglecting its social embeddedness. With discursive struggles over sustainable mobility intensifying, it becomes more urgent to better understand how structural contexts condition individual travel behavior, while at the same time showing how individuals engage in processes of social change. Against this backdrop, the article seeks to deepen the cooperation between sociological and psychological research in mobility transitions research. Building on a broad body of literature, we revisit recent theoretical approaches, which conceptualize the role of individual agency in sustainability transitions. On this basis, we highlight the role of social norms in mobility transitions as a key concept bridging individual behavior and social structures. Using Strong Structuration Theory as an integrative framework, we focus on the role of individual agency in processes of re-negotiation of social norms. Our main hypothesis is that individuals can contribute to mobility transitions by influencing and re-negotiating social norms, especially in the context of windows of opportunity. We analyze how focusing on the dynamic and conflicted nature of social norms can help to illustrate leverage points for a mobility transition as well as inspire future empirical research in the field. This includes that individuals can influence social norms through changing their own travel behavior as well as through engaging in discourse on transport policies