A test for a young democracy: How the RAF challenged the German Rechtsstaat

When Edward Snowden revealed to which extent modern surveillance systems control the world, this provoked a massive outcry among politicians and citizens. The National Security Agency's (NSA) programme, exposed by Snowden, is probably one of the biggest programmes collecting data of foreign and domestic citizens in the world. However, as terrorism has already existed before the 21st century, also counter-terrorist measures have a long tradition. The method of collecting data by using computerized systems has its beginnings in the second half of the 20th century. This new "computational security" is widely regarded as the beginning of "new surveillance" One of the countries which first made use of new surveillance methods was West-Germany, having to deal with left-wing extremism in the 1970s and 80s. It is, therefore, of particular interest to investigate to what extent Germany could cope with the new challenges and keep its democratic legitimacy as a Rechtsstaat, in particular in view of its fragility as a young and politically divided democracy. The Rechtsstaat is here defined as "a state in which the rule of law prevails". This paper examines to what extent the new surveillance and security methods, introduced by the German government against the RAF, led to a transformation of the understanding of the Rechtsstaat. To elaborate on this question, the first part touches upon the evolvement of the RAF. Furthermore, it introduces the criminologist Horst Herold, the main "hunter" of the RAF in more detail, and the creation of dragnet investigation. The second part outlines the concept of new surveillance using literature by Gary Marx and David Lyon, and examines to what extent "new surveillance" theory can be linked to the events in Germany. The third part explores the workings of the legislative and executive powers of the time by illustrating how they were threatening to undermine the Rechtsstaat in the attempt to establish security. The paper concludes by arguing that to counter the radical left-wing movement of the 1970s and the RAF, the German government implemented a number of policies and new processes, which challenged some of the basic principles of the Rechtsstaat, and thereby jeopardized the political and judicial foundations of this young democracy

The moral branding of Fairtrade: Opportunities and pitfalls of visual representations in the Fairtrade system – empirical insights on the perspectives of German consumers

The Fairtrade system can be considered as one of the most successful real-world experiments of alternative economies. However, Fairtrade more than other alternative economic approaches relies on mass market mechanisms and the sale of its products via conventional distribution channels and retail outlets. To gradually transform the ‘unfair’ mechanisms of world trade and to achieve its social and environmental goals, Fairtrade requires a constant growth in sales. This also means that the marketing of Fairtrade goods in the consumer countries is subject to established capitalist mechanisms of advertising and demand creation. Although Fairtrade’s brand building aims at differentiation through alternative values of cooperation, trust, and fairness, it also works within the constraints of simplified and abridged advertising messages. More often than not, contrasts and stereotypes are over-emphasized – a phenomenon that critics call the ‘exploitation of difference’. In this way, new forms of ‘distancing’ and ‘othering’ are constantly built up and reinforced. Individuals, livelihoods, production practices, and entire landscapes in the Global South become commodified and are used for brand development and sales promotion. This paper examines these issues based on interviews and a questionnaire survey among German consumers. Our empirical insights indicate that the visual language used for Fairtrade marketing has to be targeted to critical consumers, who are increasingly skeptical of overly moralizing and simplified images with exaggerated contrasts between the ‘different worlds’ of producers in the South and consumers in the North. However, it should also be noted that Fairtrade Germany is increasingly aware of challenges in its visual communication and is intensively reflecting on its visual language

Le premier écrit scientifique cistercien : le De natura corporis de Guillaume de Saint-Thierry (†1148)

Au début des années 1140, le cistercien Guillaume de Saint-Thierry achève un traité De natura corporis et animae tout à fait singulier dans la production monastique de l’époque. La première partie est en effet une physique du corps qui puise dans le savoir naturaliste accessible grâce à la traduction depuis l’arabe du Liber Pantegni par Constantin l’Africain. Dans cet écrit scientifique sur le corps, Guillaume cherche à concilier un nouvel esprit issu des sciences de l’observation et l’héritage des Pères catholiques. Dans le même temps, il répond au maître de l’école de Chartres, Guillaume de Conches, qu’il accuse de chercher à rendre autonome la scientia naturalis, au mépris des autorités scripturaires et patristiques.At the beginning of the years 1140, the cistercian Guillaume of Saint-Thierry completed one of the most singular treaty in the monastic production of the century, the De natura corporis et animae. The first part is about physics of the body, native to naturalist knowledge and accessible thanks to the translation from arabic language of the Liber Pantegni by Constantine the African. In this scientific work on the body, Guillaume tries to accomodate a new scientific view, born from sighting sciences and the Fathers of the Church. Within the same while, he answers to the Master of the Chartres School, Guillaume of Conches, where he charges him to make a try in a way to give his autonomy to the scientia naturalis, in contempt to scriptural and patristics authorities.Gegen 1140 veröffentlicht der Zisterziensermönch Guillaume de Saint-Thierry sein Traktat De natura corporis et animae, ein absolut einzigartiges Projekt in der monastischen Tradition dieser Zeit. Der erste Teil ist dabei ein Lehrwerk über die Anatomie des Körpers, welches mit den neuesten naturwissenschaftlichen, aus dem Arabischen überlieferten, Erkenntnissen arbeitet, vor allem mit dem Liber Pantegni von Constantinus Africanus. In diesem wissenschaftlichen Werk über den Körper versucht Guillaume de Saint-Thierry den neuen Geist der Zeit, der sich immer mehr auf naturwissenschaftliche Beobachtungen stützt, mit dem Erbe der Kirchenväter zu vereinen. Zu gleicher Zeit antwortet er mit diesem Traktat auf einen Lehrer der Ecole de Chartres, Guillaume de Conches, den er bezichtigt, die neue scientia naturalis zum Nachteil der kirchlichen Autoritäten zu einer neuen Selbstständigkeit bringen zu wollen

Complete genome sequence of Frog virus 3, isolated from a strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) imported from Nicaragua into the Netherlands

Frog virus 3 was isolated from a strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) imported from Nicaragua via Germany to the Netherlands, and its complete genome sequence was determined. Frog virus 3 isolate Op/2015/Netherlands/UU3150324001 is 107,183 bp long and has a nucleotide similarity of 98.26% to the reference Frog virus 3 isolate

Biomechanical and biochemical properties of the thoracic aorta in warmblood horses, Friesian horses, and Friesians with aortic rupture

Background: Thoracic aortic rupture and aortopulmonary fistulation are rare conditions in horses. It mainly affects Friesian horses. Intrinsic differences in biomechanical properties of the aortic wall might predispose this breed. The biomechanical and biochemical properties of the thoracic aorta were characterized in warmblood horses, unaffected Friesian horses and Friesians with aortic rupture in an attempt to unravel the underlying pathogenesis of aortic rupture in Friesian horses. Samples of the thoracic aorta at the ligamentum arteriosum (LA), mid thoracic aorta (T1) and distal thoracic aorta (T2) were obtained from Friesian horses with aortic rupture (A), nonaffected Friesian (NA) and warmblood horses (WB). The biomechanical properties of these samples were determined using uniaxial tensile and rupture assays. The percentages of collagen and elastin (mg/mg dry weight) were quantified. Results: Data revealed no significant biomechanical nor biochemical differences among the different groups of horses. The distal thoracic aorta displayed an increased stiffness associated with a higher collagen percentage in this area and a higher load-bearing capacity compared to the more proximal segments. Conclusions: Our findings match reported findings in other animal species. Study results did not provide evidence that the predisposition of the Friesian horse breed for aortic rupture can be attributed to altered biomechanical properties of the aortic wall

Dialog als literarische Strategie: zum Sammelband ‚Inszenierte Gespräche‘

Matthias Hausmann und Marita Liebermann, Hrsg., Inszenierte Gespräche: zum Dialog als Gattung und Argumentationsmodus in der Romania vom Mittelalter bis zur Aufklärung, Internationale Forschungen zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft 173 (Berlin: Weidler, 2014), 273 S.</p