Beyond the Science of 'Society'

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La cambiante economía de la industria del turismo

En este artículo se dirigirá la atención sobre algunos de los desarrollos recientes más evidentes en lo que en forma no estricta podemos llamar la cambiante economía política de la industria del turismo. La siguiente sección hace un breve recuento del concepto de bienes posicionales, el concepto económico más importante usado para expl icar la economía del turismo, antes de pasar a la cambiante industria turística del Reino Unido -señalando en particular sus tendencias a la globalización- y a los cambios más importantes en la economía política del turismo extranjero. &nbsp

La mirada del turista

El tema de este artículo pareciera no tener nada en absoluto que ver con el mundo serio de la medicina y con la contemplación médica que preocupa a Foucault. Este es un libro sobre el placer, sobre las vacaciones, el turismo y los viajes, sobre cómo y por qué por cortos períodos de tiempo la gente deja sus lugares normales de trabajo y residencia. Es sobre el consumo de bienes y servicios que son de alguna manera innecesarios. Son consumidos por que supuestamente generan experiencias de placer que son distintas de las que típicamente enfrentamos en la vida cotidiana. Y, sin embargo, por lo menos parte de esa experiencia es de contemplar o examinar un grupo de escenas diferentes, de paisajes naturales o citadinos que salen de lo ordinario. Cuando 'nos vamos' vemos el entorno con interés y curiosidad. Nos habla de maneras que apreciamos, o al menos anticipamos que eso es lo que hará. En otras palabras, contemplamos aquello a lo que nos enfrentamos. &nbsp

Low carbon innovation in Chinese urban mobility:prospects, politics and practices

China represents a test-case of global significance regarding the challenges of urban mobility transition to more sustainable models. On the one hand, transportation accounts for approximately one quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). China is globally central to 'greening' mobility as already the world's largest car market but with significant further growth predicted. On the other hand, the growth of (fossil-fuelled) urban mobility is a key feature of the immense changes that have occurred since 1978 in China. Yet in both respects, the need for a change in the model of urban mobility is increasingly urgent, as manifest in issues of emissions and air pollution, urban gridlock and its social costs, and intensifying unrest around urban mobility issues. China, however, is also the site of significant government and corporate innovation efforts focused on opportunities for 'catch-up' in a key industry of the twenty first century around the electric vehicle (EV). At the same time, the much lower-technology electric two-wheeler (E2W) has emerged as a global market entirely dominated by small Chinese firms and their Chinese customers. This is one of a series of four China low carbon reports outlining the STEPS Centre affiliate project 'Low Carbon Innovation in China: Prospects, Politics and Practice', led from Lancaster University. Taking a perspective that explores specific domains of low carbon innovation in China through the lens of changing power relations and associated social practices, this Working Paper provides an introduction to the e-mobility research package of the project, reviewing the relevant literature around urban electric mobility transitions in China and describing the project's research approach and potential contribution to knowledge in this area. It argues that, despite the disappointment to date regarding EVs, the evidence shows a highly dynamic and geographically diverse situation in China, but one in which a successful urban mobility transition as currently envisaged remains improbable

The Politics and Practices of Low-Carbon Urban Mobility in China:4 Future Scenarios

This CeMoRe Report sets out 4 scenarios for future Chinese urban e-mobility, drawing on qualitative evidence regarding changing practices and social power relations

Finding the rarest objects in the universe: A new, efficient method for discovering BL Lacertae objects

We present a new, efficient method for discovering new BL Lac Objects based upon the results of the Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS). We have found that all x-ray selected BL Lacs are radio emitters, and further, that in a 'color-color' diagram (radio/optical and optical/x-ray) the BL Lac Objects occupy an area distinct from both radio loud quasars and the radio quiet QSOs and Seyferts which dominate x-ray selected samples. After obtaining radio counterparts via VLA 'snapshot' observations of a large sample of unidentified x-ray sources, the list of candidates is reduced. These candidates then can be confirmed with optical spectroscopy and/or polarimetry. Since greater than 70 percent of these sources are expected to be BL Lacs, the optical observations are very efficient. We have tested this method using unidentified sources found in the Einstein Slew Survey. The 162 Slew Survey x-ray source positions were observed with the VLA in a mixed B/C configuration at 6 cm resulting in 60 detections within 1.5 position error circle radii. These x-ray/optical/radio sources were then plotted, and 40 BL Lac candidates were identified. To date, 10 candidates have been spectroscopically observed resulting in 10 new BL Lac objects! Radio flux, optical magnitude, and polarization statistics (obtained in white light with the Steward Observatory 2.3 m CCD polarimeter) for each are given

Global complexity: some remarks to the "Author meets critic session" at the DGS congress in 2004

Der Beitrag dokumentiert die Diskussion auf der "Author Meets Critic"-Veranstaltung zu John Urrys "Sociology Beyond Societies" auf dem 32. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (2004). Zunächst erläutert Urry den Grundgedanken seines Ansatzes, der auf eine Aufhebung der Trennung zwischen Naturwissenschaften und Gesellschaftswissenschaften hinausläuft. Unter dem Leitbild "Komplexität" wird die Analyse physischer und sozialer Welten integriert. Dabei werden auch Elemente von Hardt/Negris "Empire und Multitude"-Konzept aufgegriffen. Der Begriff der Globalen Komplexität steht auch im Mittelpunkt der Kommentare von Junge und Schwengel zu Urrys Buch. (ICE