Neoliberal capitalism, the modern state and the governance of education

The fundamental argument of this paper is, in a nutshell, that the discourse and institutions of modernity are no longer the best possible shell for the current phase of neoliberal globalisation, and that this has a number of implications for education as a sector in advanced capitalist countries. In the first section of the paper [the author] elaborates very briefly on the nature and consequences of neoliberal globalisation and some of the ways that it relates to education. [He] discusses further the tools of modernity, why they are not adequate to comprehend the current phase, and especially how they frame the changes we are currently witnessing. Following that, [he] briefly discusses existing conceptualisations of education as a sector, before concluding the paper with a discussion of possible changes to the education sector and their consequences for generating new forms of governance and subjectivity in education. (DIPF/Orig.).Der Beitrag befasst sich in einer Mehrebenenbetrachtung (space, scale und territory) mit der EU-Politik. Es geht dem Autor um eine Systematisierung der Konsequenzen des Wandels in der Beziehung zwischen modernem Nationalstaat und neoliberalem Kapitalismus für die Governance des Bildungs- und Erziehungssystems. Den Ausgangspunkt seiner Überlegungen bildet der hier bereits angesprochene Zusammenhang, der im Staat eine für die Beziehung zwischen sozialer Regulierung und Emanzipation konstitutive Schlüsselinstitution der Moderne identifiziert. Im neoliberalen Projekt, so der Autor, werde Regulierung an den freien Markt delegiert und Emanzipation beschränke sich auf Marktfreiheit. Sei früher die Beziehung Bildung - Staat sowohl mit Blick auf die kapitalistische Produktionsweise als auch in Bezug auf das emanzipatorische Projekt der Moderne als staatliche Aufgabe definiert worden, so setze sich mit dem Neoliberalismus die Auffassung durch, dass viele ehemals staatliche Aufgaben in Form von Dienstleistungen durch private Anbieter zu erbringen und zu organisieren seien, was sowohl den Staatsausgaben als auch der Qualität der erbrachten Leistungen zugute käme. Die neoliberale Herangehensweisen implizierten eine bedeutende Transformation des Staates, dies impliziere die Unbrauchbarkeit der \u27tools of modernity\u27 für die Analyse und Bearbeitung der Probleme der Postmoderne. Der Autor plädiert dafür, "to make the state explanans rather than explanandum in our analyses". (DIPF/Orig.)

Market-transit shrink and post-transit feedlot performance of weanling feeder steers

The objectives of this study were to determine effects of year, breed, farm of origin, feeder-calf grade, and calf size and shape indexes on market-transit shrink, feedlot performance, morbidity patterns, and carcass traits of stressed feeder steers. Indexes of calf size and shape were the result of principal-component analysis. The data were obtained on 458 steer calves, weighing 137 to 296 kg, purchased in the falls of 1976 and 1977 from 21 Tennessee farms of origin. Thirty days prior to marketing, all calves were weighed and measured at the farm of origin. The body measurements taken were height, length, depth, width, and back fat over the 12th rib. These weights and body measurements were used in a principal-component analysis to determine weighting factors for calculating individual calf size and shape indexes. Each year all calves were transported 40 to 100 km on the same day to the auction barn where purchase weights were taken. Feeder-calf grades were assigned by 2 Tennessee State Department of Agriculture feeder-calf graders. During the first 24 hr in the barn, auction-barn burn environment was duplicated by keeping calves in close confinement without feed and water. Calves were reweighed at the end of the auction barn phase. Order-buyer-barn environment was duplicated during the last 72 hrs in the barn by allowing steers 1.8 to 2.3 m2 each access to feed and water. After the order-buyer-barn phase, the calves were weighed and transported by truck 1,600 km to the USDA Southwestern Great Plains Research Center at Bushland, Texas. Immediately after unloading at the feedlot, calves were weighed, branded, and assigned to pens. All calves were given free access to a 50%-concentrate starter diet. In addition, grass hay was provided at a level of .9 kg/steer/day for two days. One-half of the pens received a B-vitamin supplement in the starter ration for the first 14 days post arrival. On feedlot day 15, the ration was changed to a 75%-concentrate ration, and on feedlot day 25, the ration was changed to a 90%-concentrate finishing ration. Farm of origin was a major factor affecting (P\u3c .01) market-transit weight change and post-transit performance. Percentage of calves sick ranged from 19.6 in calves from farm 13 to 87.1 in calves from farm 3. Large-framed, heavy calves lost more (P\u3c .01) weight in the auction barn and during the total market-transit scheme, but had a smaller percentage sick, were sick fewer total days, had a lower effective sickness index, and gained faster in the feedlot than small-framed, light calves. Tall, thin calves lost more weight in market-transit, were sick longer, and had a higher effective sickness index, but gained faster in the feedlot, than short, fat calves. Angus (A) calves had a lower percentage sick (33.8) and effective sickness index (2.11) than Hereford (H) (70.1 and 5.82, respectively) and crossbred calves other than A-H (55.7 and 4.53, respectively). Good-grade steers gained more weight than prime-, choice-, or X-grade steers in the order-buyer-barn and at all phases in the feedlot. The prime steers tended to have a higher percentage sick. The grading system used by the Tennessee State Department of Agriculture separated the calves into groups by frame size and thickness. Calves shipped in 1977 lost more (P\u3c .01) weight in the auction barn and during the total market-transit scheme but gained more in the order-buyer-barn than those shipped in 1976, the mean weight changes (kg) being -16.38, -27,42, 6.48, and -10.99, -22.69, 4.50 in 1977 and 1976, respectively

Völlig Losgelöst!? Bodies, Space and Digital Games

In digitalen Spielen geht es mehr als nur darum, Helden aufzubauen und Monster zu erschießen. Spieler sitzen zudem nicht einfach passiv tagelang vor einem Bildschirm. Build ‘em Up – Shoot ‘em Down untersucht in der Folge die Rolle des Körpers innerhalb und außerhalb digitaler Spiele; er präsentiert 18 Beiträge in deutscher und englischer Sprache und deckt Themen wie Identität, Interface, Gender und Tod in digitalen Spielen ab. Die Beiträge erörtern verschiedene Forschungsmethodologien, Spielgenres und Kontexte aus je unterschiedlichen Disziplinen und Perspektiven. Sie bieten dabei nicht nur komplexe Antworten auf Fragen der Körperlichkeit in digitalen Spielen, sondern decken auch weitere Forschungsfelder auf. Letztlich zeigen sie, mit welcher Komplexität und Vielfältigkeit digitale Spiele Körperlichkeit einbeziehen, um erfolgreich zu sein.Digital games involve more than building up heroes and shooting down monsters. And gamers do not simply sit passively in front of a screen for hours or days on end. Build ‘em Up – Shoot ‘em Down explores the role of the human body, both within and in front of digital games. This anthology includes eighteen essays in both English and German that cover topics such as identity, interfaces, gender, and death in games. The essays offer various methodologies of exploration, analyses of multiple game genres and different contexts of use from numerous disciplinary fields and perspectives. They produce not only a number of insights into questions of corporeality in games, but also uncover further questions for future research. Finally, they reveal the profuse and complex ways digital games induce the human body to states of play

An assessment of the risk mapping system for the use of managing loblolly pine decline sites within red-cockaded woodpecker habitat

A decline of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), characterized by expanding areas of declining and dead trees, has become prevalent at Fort Benning, Georgia. A 3 year study was conducted to determine the kinds of fungi, insects, and site disturbances associated with this problem. The insects Dendroctonus terebrans, Hylastes salebrosus, Hylastes tenuis, Pachylobius picivorus and Hylobius pales were significantly more abundant in symptomatic than in asymptomatic loblolly pine plots. These root and lower stem-infesting insects consistently carried the fungi Leptographium terebrantis, L. procerum, and L. serpens. Root sampling revealed high levels of root damage and mortality, staining and infection with Leptographium species. This below-ground damage and mortality preceded the expression of above-ground symptoms, such as short chlorotic needles, sparse crowns, and reduced radial growth. A sequence of interactions among this complex of organisms and abiotic factors is proposed as the cause of ‘loblolly pine decline.’ This study confirms the findings for loblolly pine decline at other geographic locations and validates the Loblolly Pine Decline Risk Map as described by Eckhardt (2003)