bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE EU ACCESSION AND THE IMPACT ON ROMANIA’S FOREIGN TRADE AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
Authors: Negrea Adrian
Published: January 2018

Romania’s accession to the EU was a difficult task, but doable. However, the results of this accession are only now taking shape in the form of export orientation and competitiveness. This paper thoroughly analyses the aspects regarding Romania’s foreign trade, based on the classification used by Lall (2000), with the data provided by the National Institute of Statistics on the Combined Nomenclature XXII sections, covering the 1991 – 2012 period. Furthermore, the paper addresses the concept of comparative advantage based on the Lafay indicator of Romania’s foreign trade during 1991 - 2012. The indicator is calculated based on the statistical data offered by the National Institute of Statistics of the combined nomenclature with its XXII sections combined with Lall (2000) classification. The conclusions based on prior results try to assess whether the accession to the EU has had a beneficial or harmful effect on Romania’s international trade and its comparative advantages.
SUBSTANTIATING THE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES FOR TOURISM IN PROTECTED AREAS
Authors: Costencu Mirela , Dobrescu Claudia-Nicoleta
Published: January 2018

The protected natural areas, irrespective of their classification modality or the motivations they propose, have become more and more attractive for tourists. However, in time, the increasing touristic flows they attract, often developed in an uncontrolled manner, lead to the erosion of the space and the degradation of ecosystems. Developing tourism on sustainable principles, with the appropriate balance of the two functions of a protected area – the scientific and the touristic function – should start from the analysis of this form of tourism and of the development opportunities and limits regarded from the perspective of the external environment, and from the particularisation of the concept “site’s tourist reception capacity”. Destination areas should meet the economic, social and ecological requirements in competition, so that they observe the integrity of natural resources and of local communities. The upper limit of the number of visits allowed in a protected area is purposefully set at a level below the identified level of accepted use, so that, in the long run, the environment could be able to cover the possible increases occurred in the number of tourists, without subjecting the environment to further harm.
PROJECT MANAGER SKILLS, RISK MANAGEMENT TOOLS
Authors: Iacob Vladut
Published: January 2018

Although the projects are different from each other there are many common things that contribute to their success. Looked overall, the success of a project is the result of a multitude of factors. This person is considered the "engine" of the project. The man who makes the action set for the achievement of project objectives to be brought to an end. The project manager must have the technical knowledge and economic diverse. He should be able to choose a team and lead. You must be tenacious, combative, to know how to communicate both within the team and beyond. In a word, the project manager must have an impressive stock of knowledge, skills and abilities and appreciate as Peter Drucker, to "exist for the organization. To be its servant. Any management who forget this will only cause damage to the organization. "This study will focus on highlighting the skills of the project manager and their role in managing difficult situations or risk.
CIVIL AND CRIMINAL RULES OF THE BABYLONIAN LAW
Authors: Tutuianu Ion
Published: January 2018

By its age and principles, Babylonian law has drawn attention of all epochs, laying at the basis of scientific development of modern law. The regulation, more than 4000 years ago, of property, family, obligations, public administration, succession, probation principle, represents the proof that the institutions which today regulate these aspects, have been a preoccupation for mankind ever since its beginning. Even if penalties were distributed depending on social status, a progressive element is represented by the fact that the act could only be punished if it met the condition of intent. The legal monument of this system of law, Hammurabi Code, has an important signification by the fact that upon that date, the law and the judges aimed at ensuring life to citizens and to guarantee them certain rights, considerably more than other countries in the epoch. It is striking that in antiquity, the right of succession lies all the children regardless of the number of marriages and criminal aspect beyond class character, crimes regulation retained the substance, the changes incurred on penalties take into account the evolution of human rights, as how malpractice mutilation was replaced by pecuniary or administrative penalty.
E-BUSINESS - A CONTEMPORARY REALISTIC FORM OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
Authors: Turcu Ovidiu , Feraru Andreea
Published: January 2018

Nowadays, businesses are founded on the law of excluded middle and have to make a choice between two paths: they can either choose to evolve and keep pace with the technological trends, or to stagnate and wither just like a flower without water does, and so they become useless – both ways can be probable in the current economic context. Together with the technological evolution of the world, a new type of business has emerged on the business market, namely electronic business. Numerous websites and companies which deal with online sales are present on the market. Whether they organise online auctions or offer access to information pages or databases in exchange for payment, electronic businesses represent a new manner of doing business, a domain which is currently expanding.
STUDY REGARDING DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUDITOR’S MISSIONS
Authors: Botez Daniel
Published: January 2018

After the involvement of the audit profession in several financial scandals, the international body of the profession, International Federation of Accountants – IFAC, has developed and published a conceptual framework and reviewed most of the reference standards in auditing to provide references regarding the responsibility of the professionals and the extent of their missions. Thus was established the use of a general term for professionals, the “practitioner”, in the context of specific missions using the “auditor”, “practitioner” or “accountant”. On the other hand, have been revised professional standards establish insurance missions and non-insurance operations, with their specific missions that do not provide insurance, including the recoding. The use of these references by audit professionals constitutes one of the “keys” to their success.
THE ROLE OF SMALL BUSINESS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN ECONOMY
Authors: Stan Anca
Published: January 2018

Small businesses provide catalytic benefits to the economy. They contribute to national output, and to the society as a whole, beyond the spending and profit they generate. The role of SMEs is crucial for the European economic recovery – their number, employment capacity and value added constitute a large share of the European economy. Providing the right conditions in which SMEs can flourish is paramount for ensuring a sustained recovery and achieving prosperity for all EU citizens. There is no single agreed definition of an SME. Early definitions of ‘small’ businesses were largely qualitative. SMEs are generally considered to be non - subsidiary, independent firms which employ fewer than a given number of employees. For many small businesses, going global is no longer just an interesting to do – it is essential to the long – term health and performance of the company. Across the EU policies are being developed at regional, national and transnational government level that see SMEs as the only positive way of creating employment and generating increased local growth for the community.
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN DRAWING UP ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Authors: Botez Daniel
Published: January 2018

Subsequent events, called so because they are recorded after the closing date of financial year, must be recorded and taken into account in drawing up the financial statements. Some of them can fundamentally changing financial position of the entity or provide information to users absolutely necessary for their decisions. Accounting treatment in this situation is provided for by International Standard of Accounting ISA 10 “Events after the Reporting Period”, whose provisions are taken to a large extent in national accounting standards. For financial auditor, investigating how the subsequent events are presented in the financial statements shall constitute a procedural obligation. Auditor`s procedure is based on the provisions of an specific International Standard on Auditing, ISA 560 “Subsequent events”. He shall be required to satisfy itself that in the financial statements shall be presented all treatment and appropriate information concerning subsequent events.
INFORMATION TECHONOLOGY AND LIFELONG EDUCATION – IMPLICATIONS ON THE EU EMPLOYED POPULATION
Authors: Timiras Laura Catalina
Published: January 2018

The quality and the skills of human resources are important factors in the success of every organization wherever it act. Moreover this is really true in a very competitive market such as European Union. In the European Union the number of persons who are taking part in high education studies after the age of 25 years has seen an upward trend in recent years, increasing thus the share of employed graduates of tertiary education in total employment over 25 years. This increase is generated by the access to education forms adapted in terms of time and location of training. The appearance and development of these forms can be explained by the use of information technology (Internet access). Statistics show that in the EU, household access to the Internet and its frequency of use was also increasing, approximately 80% of all persons aged 16 to 74 years have ever used this information and communication tool.
EVOLUTION OF THE NATURAL GROWTH AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE SEASONALITY OF LIVE BIRTHS AND DEATHS FROM ROMANIA AND BACAU COUNTY IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS
Authors: Harja Eugenia , Stângaciu Oana-Ancuţa
Published: January 2018

Since 1992, Romania's population declined every year naturally, the number of deaths being higher than live births. If in Bacau until 2002 we had to deal with natural growth of the population, even if increasingly less, starting that year it emerged more and more the process of decline of the population. In both cases, the phenomenon is more pronounced in rural areas than in urban areas due to more pronounced aging of the rural population. Both in the case of live births and deaths it is observed the seasonal oscillation by the months of the year. If in the case of births they are more numerous in the summer months and in decrease in the winter months, the situation is exactly the opposite in the case of deaths. Thus from here we have the natural decrease of the population, which increases in the winter months and starts to decline or become slightly positive in July-September.
THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS
Authors: Danu Cornelia Marcela
Published: January 2018

In the present work I described the evolution of the main coordinates of the business environment in the countries of Europe. I examined the dynamics of economic growth, inflation, budget balance, current account balance, public debt for 41 European countries, taking into account their delimitation of regional groups. Analysis of the business environment in the countries of Europe using the indicators "assessment of the business climate" and "country risk" is aimed at identifying signals which are transmitted by the national economies, to the system of European economy, to the system of global economy but, in particular, the application optimal policies for improving the quality of the societal environment on the continent. I analyzed the impact of economic growth and inflation on business development, establishing relations between the rate of economic growth - the dynamics of the number of enterprises, the rate of inflation - the dynamics of the number of enterprises from 19 countries in Europe.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN ROMANIA WITHIN EUROPEAN CONTEXT
Authors: Danu Cornelia Marcela , Nedeff Valentin
Published: January 2018

In the present paper we have approached some conceptual and coordinated marks of the societal reality connected to the circular economy. Generated by „the limits of certainty” regarding the future of the world business, the operationalization of the circular economy has become a part of the EU strategies and started the various stages of implementation as an active process in all countries. We have highlighted the opportunities and the risks related to the circular economy, the European dimension and, in particular, the Romanian one of this process, the role of the triad: consumer-company-natural environment, while implementing the circular economy. Circular economy is both a new approach of the societal life, based on changing the mentalities of the individuals having the role of decision makers at the company level and public administration and the decision makers – consumers, as well as a policy meant to be made operational across all entities: governmental, entrepreneurial, individually – human.
THE SAVINGS-TRADE-FISCAL GAP MODEL: APPLICATION IN SELECTED WEST AFRICAN STATES
Authors: Obukohwo Efayena Oba , Ngozi Buzugbe Patricia
Published: January 2018

With most African economies experiencing adverse economic misalignment in recent times, the need of enhancing the growth process cannot be overemphasized. Using a typical Savings-Trade-Fiscal Gap Model, the paper employed panel data estimation method to examine the impact of savings, trade and fiscal gap on economic growth of 15 West African countries. The paper finds a negative relationship between net trade and economic growth, while savings and government expenditure impacts positively on economic performance. The paper thus, among recommended that it is appropriate for all countries to eliminate fiscal dominance from monetary policy-making, reduce public debt and establish institutions that promote and encourage counter-cyclical fiscal policy, develop their financial systems, establish credibility in fiscal and monetary policy-making as well as encourage trade.
MONETARY POLICY BEFORE AND AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. EVIDENCE FROM INFLATION TARGETING COUNTRIES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
Authors: Plescau Ioana
Published: January 2018

The aim of our study is to review the monetary framework and instruments adopted by the inflation-targeting countries in Central and Eastern Europe, from 2005-ownwards. We employ a qualitative approach and develop a comparative analysis of the changes that occurred in the conduct of monetary policy after the 2008 financial crisis. The results highlight that the central banks in our sample have adjusted their policy in order to counteract the effects of the financial crisis and adopt different instruments to fulfill this aim. The contribution of our study is twofold. First, we offer a review of the literature regarding the adjustments in the monetary policy after the crisis and their effectiveness. Second, we make a comparative analysis between countries with respect to the path of monetary policy from conventional to unconventional and assess the (potential) way back.
'An Alligator Got Betty': Dangerous Animals as Historical Agents
Authors: Maglen Krista
Published: January 2018

In 1932 four year old Betty Doherty was taken from the grasp of her older brother by a fourteen-foot crocodile in Far North Queensland. Through an examination of historical sources as well as the work of psychologists, cognitive scientists and zoologists, this paper explores the role ascribed to the crocodile as well as other 'dangerous' animals that have bitten, stung or consumed settlers across Australia, and asks whether and how they might 'act' or be given voices within our reading and understanding of the past. Animal historians have begun to ask questions about historical agency through analyses of domesticated or working animals, and interactions between people and wild mammals. Insects, fish and reptiles, however, remain anonymous and non-specific, disappearing back beneath the waves or into the dark holes from which they emerged, and yet they were often agents of great change in the human lives they encountered. This paper asks whether historical agency and intent can be found in these less sympathetic and less 'knowable' creatures, and examines how historians might conceive of watery predators or venomous creatures that disappeared from sight or perhaps were never seen at all.
'A River with a City Problem, not a City with a River Problem': Brisbane and its Flood-Prone River
Authors: Cook Margaret Helen
Published: January 2018

This article explores the relationship between the Brisbane River and its river-plain dwelling citizens between 1824 and 1900 through four distinctive narratives. The first is praise for the river for its economic and utilitarian potential until severe flooding in 1893 prompts a second response of incredulity, followed by a third viewpoint demanding engineering solutions to tame nature to prevent future floods. A fourth subordinate voice appeared as an undercurrent to the demands to control nature, reflecting a burgeoning realisation that human action had created the flood hazard. Settlers had created a problem for both the river and the city. I argue that despite the accumulation of flood experience and climatic knowledge, prospective actions have evolved little since the initial British settlement in 1824.
'Whaling and the Extermination of the Great Whale': Norwegian and British Debate about Whale Stocks in Antarctica, 1913-1939
Authors: Dyrdal Didrik
Published: January 2018

This article examines Norwegian and British investigations of the threat of Antarctic whale extinction in the interwar period. At the time, whaling fleets hunted populations of hundreds of thousands of whales into the remnants that exist today. From the perspective of scientists and observers at the time, however, it was less obvious that whale populations declined. The article investigates what experts and the public knew about the health of Antarctic whale stocks. It contributes to existing research about whale science and whaling diplomacy in two ways. First, it documents in more depth when and how a consensus about whale decline emerged. Secondly, it studies not only experts but also public discussion about the issue in the newspapers. It aims to understand the public assessment of whale stocks. The article finds that concern over Antarctic whaling surfaced in expert British circles from around 1913, but that it did not become a serious issue in Norway before the late 1920s. In the mid-1930s, accumulated statistics in conjunction with new methods created a rough consensus among experts that whale stocks had declined. From the late 1920s, there was intense Norwegian public interest in Antarctic whale stocks, which likewise moved to a consensus on decline around the mid-1930s. The media's attention to the whale stock issue, however, often depended on strong personalities and relied on different types of evidence.
Fertility from Urban Wastes? The Case for Composting in Great Britain, 1920s-1960s
Authors: Page Arnaud
Published: January 2018

This paper analyses the interest that developed in Great Britain around composting from the late 1920s. It argues that before the current vogue for composting, the technique attracted considerable attention in the middle of the twentieth century and that interest in this technology was not limited to a few 'mystical' members of the organic movement. This paper also analyses the role of an institution called the Natural Resources (Technical) Committee and attempts to show that opposition in Whitehall played a key role in the marginalisation of this technology. It thus suggests that the rise of the 'hegemony of disposal' in the twentieth century did not go uncontested and that it was not a purely technical and inexorable movement. The example of composting thus shows that the birth of a 'throwaway society' was not as consensual as usually described and rather than the result of a widespread aversion to refuse, it should be seen as the result of political decisions, themselves informed by a specific type of quantitative and reductionist type of expertise.
Effectiveness and Temporal Variation of a Full-Scale Horizontal Constructed Wetland in Reducing Nitrogen and Phosphorus from Domestic Wastewater
Authors: Mesquita Conceição , Albuquerque António , Amaral Leonor , Nogueira Regina
Published: January 2018

Cultural eutrophication stimulated by anthropogenic-derived nutrients represents one of most widespread water quality problems worldwide. Constructed wetlands (CWs) have emerged as an aesthetic, sustainable form of wastewater treatment, but, although they have shown adequate levels of organic matter removal in wastewaters, the effectiveness of nutrient removal has been less successful. An eleven-month monitoring program was undertaken in a horizontal subsurface flow CW (HSSF-CW) treating domestic wastewater from a village in Centre Region of Portugal, to evaluate the influence of climatic conditions (Continental-Mediterranean Climate region) and seasonal variations on removal. This CW uses gravel and sand as substrate and Phragmites australis as wetland plants. Samples were collected at the inlet and outlet from wetland bed and analyzed for pH, TN, Org-N, NH4+-N, NOx-N, TP and DP. The removal efficiencies (RE) of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds were relatively poor, but the results allow us to conclude that season had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the RE of TN, NH4+-N, NOx-N, TP and DP, with higher values in warmest period (10.4%, 10.4%, 3.4%, 27.5% and 26.1%, respectively) than in coldest period (0%, −7.7%, −9.8%, 12.9% and 0%, respectively). Although lower hydraulic loading rate (HLR) generally resulted in better RE of all N and P compounds analyzed, no significant linear relationship was observed between these two variables. TN and NH4+-N concentrations in the effluent tend to significantly (p < 0.05) decrease with increasing respective incoming mass load rates for whole monitoring period and during spring–summer period, while the correlation between outlet TP concentrations and the inlet loading rate are not significant. The results indicate that the system is not effective for removal of nutrients, probably because it operated on overload and with a low hydraulic retention time (HRT) (average = 2.4 days). The results also showed that the RE of N and P followed seasonal trends, with higher values during spring–summer period.
Photovoltaic and Wind Turbine Integration Applying Cuckoo Search for Probabilistic Reliable Optimal Placement
Authors: Swief R. , Abdel-Salam T. , El-Amary Noha
Published: January 2018

This paper presents an efficient Cuckoo Search Optimization technique to improve the reliability of electrical power systems. Various reliability objective indices such as Energy Not Supplied, System Average Interruption Frequency Index, System Average Interruption, and Duration Index are the main indices indicating reliability. The Cuckoo Search Optimization (CSO) technique is applied to optimally place the protection devices, install the distributed generators, and to determine the size of distributed generators in radial feeders for reliability improvement. Distributed generator affects reliability and system power losses and voltage profile. The volatility behaviour for both photovoltaic cells and the wind turbine farms affect the values and the selection of protection devices and distributed generators allocation. To improve reliability, the reconfiguration will take place before installing both protection devices and distributed generators. Assessment of consumer power system reliability is a vital part of distribution system behaviour and development. Distribution system reliability calculation will be relayed on probabilistic reliability indices, which can expect the disruption profile of a distribution system based on the volatility behaviour of added generators and load behaviour. The validity of the anticipated algorithm has been tested using a standard IEEE 69 bus system.
A Comparative Study of Poly(Azure A) Film-Modified Disposable Electrodes for Electrocatalytic Oxidation of H2O2: Effect of Doping Anion
Authors: Agrisuelas Jerónimo , González-Sánchez María-Isabel , Gómez-Monedero Beatriz , Valero Edelmira
Published: January 2018

In the present paper, poly(azure A) (PAA) films were electrosynthetized in the presence of different doping anions on disposable screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs). The anions used included inorganic monoatomic (chloride and fluoride), inorganic polyatomic (nitrate and sulfate) and organic polyatomic (dodecyl sulfate, DS) species. The coated electrodes thus obtained were characterized by electrochemical techniques and SEM. They showed improved electrocatalytic activities towards hydrogen peroxide oxidation compared to that of a bare SPCE. In particular, the insertion of DS anions inside PAA films provided a special sensitivity to the electrocatalysis of H2O2, which endowed these electrodes with promising analytical features for H2O2 quantification. We obtained a wide linear response for H2O2 within a range of 5 µM to 3 mM and a limit of detection of 1.43 ± 0.10 µM (signal-to-noise ratio of 3). Furthermore, sensitivity was 72.4 ± 0.49 nA·µM−1∙cm−2 at a relatively low electrocatalytic oxidation overpotential of 0.5 V vs. Ag. The applicability of this boosted system was tested by the analysis of H2O2 in commercial samples of a hair lightener and an antiseptic and was corroborated by spectrophotometric methods.
Greece’s Economic and Social Transformation 2008–2017
Authors: Mavridis Symeon
Published: January 2018

Greece has confronted serious financial problems since 2008 when the global financial crisis reached its peak. The disturbance in the markets led to an unprecedented local debt crisis, which has lasted till now. The scope of this research is to examine how the crisis affected the local transformation of the society from 2008 to 2017. For this purpose, the paper made secondary analysis of previous data, reports, articles, as well as other relevant information on basic economic and social factors such as GDP, income per capita, unemployment, social exclusion, poverty and homelessness. Despite the fact that three International Economic Programmes have been adopted by the Greek governments, the country still fights for its financial stability. Furthermore, the consequences of crisis were devastating in society. The state countermeasures have triggered a surge in unemployment, emigration, poverty and exclusion, especially among youngsters. In addition, major national economic and social indicators have significantly worsened.
Polarization spectroscopy methods in the determination of interactions of small molecules with nucleic acids – tutorial
Authors: Šmidlehner Tamara , Piantanida Ivo , Pescitelli Gennaro
Published: January 2018

The structural characterization of non-covalent complexes between nucleic acids and small molecules (ligands) is of a paramount significance to bioorganic research. Highly informative methods about nucleic acid/ligand complexes such as single crystal X-ray diffraction or NMR spectroscopy cannot be performed under biologically compatible conditions and are extensively time consuming. Therefore, in search for faster methods which can be applied to conditions that are at least similar to the naturally occurring ones, a set of polarization spectroscopy methods has shown highly promising results. Electronic circular dichroism (ECD) is the most commonly used method for the characterization of the helical structure of DNA and RNA and their complexes with ligands. Less common but complementary to ECD, is flow-oriented linear dichroism (LD). Other methods such as vibrational CD (VCD) and emission-based methods (FDCD, CPL), can also be used for suitable samples. Despite the popularity of polarization spectroscopy in biophysics, aside several highly focused reviews on the application of these methods to DNA/RNA research, there is no systematic tutorial covering all mentioned methods as a tool for the characterization of adducts between nucleic acids and small ligands. This tutorial aims to help researchers entering the research field to organize experiments accurately and to interpret the obtained data reliably.
Adverbs of Change, Aspect, and Underspecification
Authors: Koev Todor
Published: January 2018

Adverbs of change, such as quickly or slowly, are known to give rise to a number of interpretations. For example, Selena ran quickly says that the rate of running is high while Selena quickly noticed the plane implies that the distance between the event of noticing the plane and some previous event is short. Existing accounts (e.g. Cresswell 1978; Rawlins 2013) take rate readings as primary but struggle to derive additional interpretations. By contrast, I argue that adverbs of change measure the temporal distance between two salient events (or event parts) that are compositionally or contextually available. The main claim of the paper is that adverbs of change have a single if underspecified semantics and that the different interpretations arise through interaction with aspectual and discourse structure.
Demarcating Circulation Regimes of Synchronously Rotating Terrestrial Planets within the Habitable Zone
Authors: Haqq-Misra Jacob , Wolf Eric. T. , Joshi Manoj , Zhang Xi , Kopparapu Ravi Kumar
Published: January 2018

We investigate the atmospheric dynamics of terrestrial planets in synchronous rotation within the habitable zone of low-mass stars using the Community Atmosphere Model. The surface temperature contrast between the day and night hemispheres decreases with an increase in incident stellar flux, which is opposite the trend seen in gas giants. We define three dynamical regimes in terms of the equatorial Rossby deformation radius and the Rhines length. The slow rotation regime has a mean zonal circulation that spans from the day to the night sides, which occurs for planets around stars with effective temperatures of 3300–4500 K (rotation period

days), with both the Rossby deformation radius and the Rhines length exceeding the planetary radius. Rapid rotators have a mean zonal circulation that partially spans a hemisphere and with banded cloud formation beneath the substellar point, which occurs for planets orbiting stars with effective temperatures of less than 3000 K (rotation period

days), with the Rossby deformation radius less than the planetary radius. In between is the Rhines rotation regime, which retains a thermally direct circulation from the day side to the night side but also features midlatitude turbulence-driven zonal jets. Rhines rotators occur for planets around stars in the range of 3000–3300 K (rotation period ∼5–20 days), where the Rhines length is greater than the planetary radius but the Rossby deformation radius is less than the planetary radius. The dynamical state can be observationally inferred from a comparison of the morphologies of the thermal emission phase curves of synchronously rotating planets.
Fragmentation de l’Irak et droits des femmes : mobilisations des féministes et de la société civile
Authors: Ali Zahra
Published: January 2018

A travers une approche intersectionnelle et historique, cet article explore la dimension genrée de la fragmentation ethno-confessionnelle du contexte irakien actuel, en portant une attention particulière aux dynamiques sociales et politiques liées aux femmes et au genre depuis la chute du régime de Saddam Hussein en 2003. Il s’agit d’analyser les tentatives de confessionnalisation du régime des droits personnels, déterminant notamment les droits des femmes, à l’initiative des partis chiites islamistes conservateurs arrivés au pouvoir en 2003. Cet article souhaite aussi explorer les mobilisations des féministes irakiennes depuis 2003, plus particulièrement l’impact de leur « ONGisation » sur la nature de leurs revendications. En outre cet article propose une analyse imbriquée des questions de genre et de nation portant une réflexion sur le rôle de la violence militarisée dans l’évolution des représentations et pratiques genrées. Enfin, soucieux de garder une note favorable, cet article présente les mobilisations récentes des féministes et de la société civile irakienne autour des questions d’égalité sociale, économique, ethno-confessionnelle et politique.
Israéliennes et Palestiniennes pour la paix : un éternel recommencement ?
Authors: Pouzol Valérie
Published: January 2018

Dans l’histoire du conflit israélo-palestinien, les femmes sont régulièrement intervenues pour dire leur opposition à la guerre et faire entendre leurs voix dans le difficile processus de construction de la paix. Elles ont occupé le terrain de la contestation, sans pour autant parvenir à s’imposer lors des négociations officielles internationales. Ces groupes ont mis au point des techniques de résistance non-violente et produit des discours qui donnent de l’oppression une définition large reliant l’oppression nationale à l’oppression sociale, ethnique ou sexuelle. Ces groupes de femmes se sont renouvelés régulièrement et, depuis 2014, le groupe des Women Wage Peace ne cesse de monter en puissance. Par certains aspects, il s’inscrit dans la continuité des luttes de femmes mais en même temps renouvelle singulièrement le répertoire militant. Il parvient à mobiliser des effectifs importants tout en déclenchant de nombreuses critiques.
Que la terre te soit légère, Fadwa
Authors: Airoldi Serge
Published: January 2018

Le 17 août dernier, la comédienne et poétesse Fadwa Souleimane s’éteignait à l’âge de 45 ans, à Paris. Cette figure de la révolution syrienne, exilée en France en 2012 a payé au prix fort son engagement contre le régime d’Assad et contre toutes les formes de violence et d’idéologies mortifères qui ont abattu son pays et son peuple.
Le sheikh Yousef al-Qaradâwî et l’islam du « juste milieu » : Jalons critiques
Authors: Elias Amin
Published: January 2018

Imprégné par le parcours militant du fondateur des Frères musulmans Hassan al-Bannâ, le sheikhYousef al-Qaradâwî représente l’une des figures islamistes les plus controversées au monde. Ikhwaniste de toujours, Qaradâwî se présente en tant que le défenseur d’un islam « parfait et absolu », un islam qui « existe en soi » et qui constitue un « projet de civilisation global ». En effet Qaradâwî voudrait se dresser contre une tendance voulant redonner à l’islam sa dimension historique. Persuadé par l’idée du déterminisme de la solution islamique et de la nécessité d’établir un magistère indépendant de l’institution traditionnelle islamique, représentée par al-Azhar, et soutenu par le pouvoir qatari, Qaradâwî œuvre depuis les années soixante-dix afin de créer et de consolider l’Union internationale des savants musulmans (UISM) en tant que représentation magistérielle d’un islâm wasat (islam du juste milieu) capable de maintenir l’équilibre entre la « raison » et la « tradition », entre « le monde d’ici-bas » et le « monde de l’au-delà) et de s’engager dans la voie de la « modération » et de la « justice ». C’est ainsi, que l’islam, selon Qaradâwî serait capable de jouer non seulement le rôle d’intermédiaire entre la divinité et les êtres humains mais aussi de jouer un rôle civilisateur parmi les êtres humains et de représenter pour les hommes un « idéal de civilisation » ; un idéal qui va dans le contresens de l’idéal de civilisation que propose le modèle laïque occidental.
‘Ndrangheta et autres mafias italiennes : des influences culturelles balkaniques ?
Authors: Gjeloshaj Hysaj Kolë
Published: January 2018

Les organisations criminelles italiennes de type mafieux sont le produit de la culture, de l’histoire et des conditions économiques des lieux et des personnes qui les habitent. Parmi celles-ci, on retrouve les italiens d’origine albanaises (arbëresh) et grecques (locuteur du griko), émigrés dans la péninsule italienne particulièrement depuis la fin du moyen-âge. C’est dans les régions méridionales italiennes berceaux des plus puissantes et traditionnelles des mafias, qu’ils ont préservé de la manière la plus prégnante leurs cultures et langues. Les références explicites ou implicites à celles-ci, et à l’implication de personnes issues de ces groupes de population dans le contexte des mafias italiennes sont récurrentes. C’est particulièrement le cas, pour la ‘Ndrangheta en Calabre qui est réputée être actuellement l’organisation criminelle italienne la plus puissante.
epic love story of Sam and Dean": Supernatural, queer readings, and the romance of incestuous fan fiction
Authors: Tosenberger Catherine
Published: January 2018

This article examines incestuous slash fan fiction produced for the CW television series Supernatural. I argue that "Wincest" fan fiction is best understood not as perverse, oppositional resistance to a heterosexual, nonincestuous show, but an expression of readings that are suggested and supported by the text itself. I examine the literary, cultural, and folkloric discourses of incest and queerness invoked by the series, paying special attention to Romanticism, the Gothic, and horror as underliers to those discourses, and how those genres inform both the series and the fan fiction. I discuss a number of Wincest stories in detail, focusing upon how these stories build upon thematic elements within the series. In conclusion, I argue that the most resistive aspect of Wincest fan fiction is that it gives the main characters a lasting happiness that the series eternally defers.
Painful pleasures: Sacrifice, consent, and the resignification of BDSM symbolism in The Story of O and The Story of Obi
Authors: Kustritz Anne
Published: January 2018

This paper examines slash fan fiction's contributions to BDSM discourses and symbolism. BDSM is culturally delegitimated as a sexual pathology, and protest against it highlights broad concerns about sexual consent within patriarchy while also misdirecting unease about sexual coercion onto the ritualized and eroticized exchange of power rather than social systems of domination. Contrasting the BDSM classic The Story of O with The Story of Obi, a Star Wars–based slash rewrite, facilitates a conceptual separation between erotic domination and the historical and cultural contexts that give shape to individual enunciations of sexualized power exchange, particularly by shifting from a psychoanalytic paradigm to consideration of chivalric "suffering for love." By calling upon the extensive shared knowledge of fan readers and the symbolism attached to the sexual conjunction of two same-sexed bodies, authors of slash fan fiction produce a constantly proliferating array of BDSM representations that challenge the speciation of erotic domination as an inherently destructive, unidirectional deadlock. They thus create unique narrative and semiotic tools for rethinking erotic uses of power.
"Cyberspaces of their own: Female fandoms online," by Rhiannon Bury
Authors: Hjärpe Katarina Maria
Published: January 2018

Review of Rhiannon Bury. Cyberspaces of their own: Female fandoms online. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. Paperback, $29.95 (242p) ISBN 978-0-8204-7118-6.
"Fans: The mirror of consumption," by Cornel Sandvoss
Authors: Taggart Eve Marie
Published: January 2018

Review of Cornel Sandvoss. Fans: The mirror of consumption. Cambridge, MA: Polity, 2005. Hardcover, $59.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0745629728.
"Emotions-Only" versus "Special People": Genre in fan discourse
Authors: Stein Louisa Ellen
Published: January 2018

This essay looks at genre as a complex set of discursive threads running unevenly through production, TV text, and fan reception. Through a case study of the reception of fan favorite Roswell, this essay interrogates the role of genre in spectatorship. In its mixing of teen and science fiction elements, Roswell trod upon contested generic spaces, eliciting strong reaction from its viewers. Connections between genre and gender came to the fore, as producer commentary linked science fiction with male audiences and teen romance with female audiences. Fans responded with analyses that greatly complicated and at times overtly rejected industrial suppositions regarding the gendered work of genre. Through these fan conversations, we can witness the complexity of genre as discursive thread moving through not only TV texts but also multivariant fan responses. I intend this essay to work at two levels. My analysis of fan responses to Roswell models the possibilities of a close study of genre discourse. At the same time, my case study probes the nature of genre in fan engagement, as genre discourses intersect with other fan concerns such as character identification, perceptions of textual quality, and questions of gender representation. While we cannot necessarily look to fan accounts for proof of how viewers engage with genre, they do tell us how fans frame their engagement with genre, how they incorporate genre into their performance of fannishness, and how they perform and thus enact genre itself as a shared cultural process.
Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding
Authors: Coppa Francesca
Published: January 2018

This paper argues that the practices and aesthetics of vidding were structured by the relationship of Star Trek’s female fans to that particular televisual text. Star Trek fandom was the crucible within which vidding developed because Star Trek’s narrative impelled female fans to take on two positions often framed as contradictory in mainstream culture: the desiring body, and the controlling voice of technology. To make a vid, to edit footage to subtext-revealing music, is to unite these positions: to put technology at the service of desire. Although the conflict between desire and control was particularly thematized in Star Trek, most famously through the divided character of Spock, the practices of vidding are now applied to other visual texts. This essay examines the early history of vidding and demonstrates, through the close reading of particular vids made for Star Trek and Quantum Leap, how vidding heals the wounds created by the displacement and fragmentation of women on television.
Participatory democracy and Hillary Clinton's marginalized fandom
Authors: De Kosnik Abigail
Published: January 2018

After the drawn-out, heated contest for the Democratic Party presidential nomination and Senator Obama's victory over Senator Clinton, a segment of Clinton's supporters are threatening to leave the party rather than fall in line behind the nominee. This essay argues that the battle between Clinton's and Obama's followers is best understood as a war between fan bases, with Obama enthusiasts constituting as the dominant fandom and Clinton voters occupying the position of marginalized fandom. Marginalized fandoms tend to blame the opposing fan base, intermediaries, and The Powers That Be for their fan campaigns' losses, and Clinton's fans are adhering to this pattern. However, the Clinton marginalized fandom's complaints can be regarded as valuable critiques that, if noted rather than dismissed, could greatly strengthen participatory democracy in the United States.
On symposia: LiveJournal and the shape of fannish discourse
Authors: Busker Rebecca Lucy
Published: January 2018

Fandom has changed dramatically as the primary medium for fan discussion has shifted from mailing lists to LiveJournal. Decentralization and spaces focussed on individuals rather than topics have created changes such as a stronger knowledge in peripheral knowledge of fandoms, and an increase in multifandom and metafandom discussion.
And now, a word from the amateurs
Authors: Bode Dana L.
Published: January 2018

An examination of the rules of online engagement that have developed between fans, professional authors, fan writers, and academics.
"Teen television: Essays on programming and fandom," edited by Sharon Marie Ross and Louisa Ellen Stein
Authors: Dalton Mary
Published: January 2018

Review of Sharon Marie Ross and Louisa Ellen Stein, eds. Teen television: Essays on programming and fandom. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008. Paperback, $35 (259p) ISBN 978-0-78643-589-0.
Nothing but Net: When cultures collide
Authors: Cupitt Cathy
Published: January 2018

A brief overview of Web 2.0's convergence culture and its effects on fandom, including the beginnings of the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW).
Interview with Wu Ming
Authors: Sabucco Veruska
Published: January 2018

Interview with Wu Ming 1 conducted by Veruska Sabucco. Wu Ming is the collective pen name of five Italian authors who make their works available online through Creative Commons licences.
Interview with the Audre Lorde of the Rings
Authors: Editor TWC
Published: January 2018

Interview with Karen Tongson, Christine Balance, and Alexandra Vazquez on their unofficial intellectual collective Audre Lorde of the Rings, Oh! Industry, and their experience in academia.
Interview with Henry Jenkins
Authors: Editor TWC
Published: January 2018

An interview with Henry Jenkins focusing on Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC), the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), and Jenkins's academic research into fan and participatory cultures.
Transforming academic and fan cultures
Authors: Editor TWC
Published: January 2018

Editorial for Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 1 (2008).
"Once more a kingly quest": Fan games and the classic adventure genre
Authors: Salter Anastasia Marie
Published: January 2018

The classic adventure games—part of the earliest traditions of interactive narrative—have not disappeared, although they no longer occupy space on the shelves at the local computer store. Even as changing hardware and operating systems render these games of the 1980s and 1990s literally unplayable without emulating the computer systems of the past, fans are keeping these stories alive. Authorship of these games has changed hands: it is now under the control of the fans, the former and current players. Through the online sharing of fan-created game design tool sets and of the fan-created games themselves, these new coauthors create a haven to revisit these decades-old games using fresh eyes and fresh systems. The products of these folk art–reminiscent efforts also offer a venue to reconsider video game fandom in light of genres. They also allow us to understand these "personal games," productions of one or more people that are not intended for commercial sale, as carrying the heritage of the classic era forward into the next generation of gaming.
Maps of many worlds: Remembering computer game fandom in the 1980s
Authors: Brooker Will
Published: January 2018

The technology used to create early video games allowed only for simple graphic displays. However, gamers vividly experienced an immersion in a fictional world through an interpretation based on detailed cover art, familiar elements of storytelling, and the gamer’s own memories of similar landscapes, much as one interprets a poem.
Social dimensions of expertise in "World of Warcraft" players
Authors: Chen Mark
Published: January 2018

Expertise development in the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004) depends greatly on a player's use of social skills to gain access to expert player groups and accrue social and cultural capital. Drawn from ethnographic research, this paper maps out various forms of expert practice and highlights the social aspects of game play that often eclipse the importance of game-mechanics knowledge. At the time of this research, playing World of Warcraft and developing expertise in the game happened roughly within a two-stage process: (1) leveling up, or advancing one's character or avatar while learning the mechanics of the game, and (2) drawing on social capital gained during the first stage to join a group of up to 40 players to partake in high-end or endgame content.