Quo Vadis, Slovenia? Between Framework Conditions and Internal Capabilities

We consider the new EU member states as semi-peripheral countries standing at the development crossroads. We emphasize the sociocultural factors of development, present a model for bringing together several cultural and social influences, and test its validity by applying a fuzzy-set methodology, a rather novel approach in social sciences. We augment our analysis of internal socio-cultural factors by considering the likely changes in the external framework conditions. Focusing on demography, technology, and global economic and political structures, we outline possible scenarios for European development that will certainly affect the chances of individual countries. As our contribution, we discuss the interplay between such framework conditions and internal development capabilities and draw some implication for the case of Slovenia.development, socio-cultural factors of development, long-run scenarios

Cognition, innovations and knowledge spillovers

Recognition of the importance of social processes has formed the basis of much theorising surrounding the underlying factors that influence regional competitiveness and innovative performance. Social dynamics, for instance, are central to such concepts as innovative milieu and industrial districts as well as regional clusters and regional innovation systems. Much of this work has focused on the role of social networks and institutions. More recent discussions of the nature of regional innovation, however, have continued the quest to understand the social processes that underpin economic relations in terms of territorial knowledge networks, regional knowledge spillovers and knowledge domains. While research on institutions and social networks is very advanced at this stage, sociological research on cognitive processes in their social context is still in its infancy, with only a handful of attempts at systematic cognitive sociology. In this paper, we reflect on these ideas and explore the relevance and usefulness of recent sociological approaches to the innovative economy based on the concepts of cognitive frames and social fields. In particular, we develop theoretical model of cognition in social innovative processes, which explains, firstly, the role of cognition in social dynamics on micro, meso and macro level, secondly, the actual mechanisms behind the knowledge spillovers, thirdly, the mechanisms behind the bounded rationality that is hindering radical innovation, and finally, the relationship between developmental trajectories that lead to path-dependent lock-in and deliberative action leading to path-changing innovations

Sport as a complex adaptive system for place-based leadership: Comparing five European cities with different administrative and socio-cultural traditions

This paper compares place-based leadership patterns of five European cities that have different administrative and socio-cultural traditions in order to understand the role that context plays in shaping city leadership patterns in the policy domain of sport. This paper uses an exploratory approach to analyse the city as a complex adaptive system. In pursuing this research, we investigate the main actors, structures, processes and followership patterns across different forms of city leadership (political, managerial, business and civic). Our findings show the similarities and the differences across the five cities that lead us to a two-part conclusion. First, context may or may not influence city leadership patterns but it remains an essential parameter in comparative analysis. Second, the main challenges for place-based leadership in the policy domain of sport appear generalisable and specifically we observe that civic leadership as praxis can reinforce the transformative nature of place-based leadership in developing and sustaining socio-economic resilience