bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Ways of Analyzing Sound Change
Authors: Solé Maria-Josep
Published: November 2010

Abstract. Synchronic and diachronic sound change may involve (1) the phonologization of an effect of phonetic implementation, or (2) the lexicalization of phonetic or phonogical processes. This paper seeks to determine the phonologization and lexicalization of phonetic and phonological effects on the basis of their behaviour across different speaking rates. To illustrate the phonologization of phonetic effects, cross-linguistic data on aspiration and vowel nasalization across different speech rates are presented. The data show that phonological effects adjust to variations in speech rate, so as to keep a constant perceptual distance across rates, whereas phonetic effects, which originate at a lower level, remain constant across rates or present rate-correlated changes which can be accounted for by the general principles of speech motor control. Speech rate might also allow us to distinguish between phonetic effects which do not involve a change in the underlying representation, and effects which have been lexicalized. Connected speech processes, such as assimilation, are known to depend on factors such as speaking rate and speaking style. Consequently, low level assimilatory processes are expected to show continuous variation with changes in rate, as a result of increased gestural overlap. On the contrary, if assimilatory processes have been lexicalized as a distinct lexical representation or as an alternative style-dependent form, then the lexicalized form will exhibit a rate-invariant pattern. A variety of experimental data which provide support for this new way of analyzing sound change is presented. It is argued that part of the synchronic variation in present-day speakers is due to sound change, i.e. a discrete, categorical change in the speaker's grammar.
Reconstructed Sound Change and Phonetic Plausibility
Authors: Stuart-Smith Jane
Published: November 2010

Abstract. A basic assumption of phonological reconstruction is that plausible processes of change connect reconstructed sounds with the reflexes on which they are based. It is not clear, however, how this plausibility is assessed. The decisions seem to be made on the basis of intuitive feelings about how languages change, from observations of language change and general phonetics. Problems arise when two competing explanations for a reconstructed sound change are offered: each may be as plausible as the other, and yet there must, in theory, be one explanation which is nearer the "truth". A more systematic analysis of the phonetics of sounds and their diachronic behaviour is needed if we are to offer the most phonetically plausible explanations. The development of the PIE voiced aspirates in Italic is a typical case of a reconstructed sound change whose mechanics are obscure and much debated. The development is evaluated here using two complementary approaches: an examination of the phonetic characteristics of voiced aspirates (breathy voiced stops) within the framework of Ohala's theory of sound change, and a comparison of predictions thus made with attested parallel developments. On this basis, a new explanation is proposed.
Spirantization and the 7-to-5 Vowel Merger in Bantu
Authors: Schadeberg Thilo C.
Published: November 2010

Abstract. Many Bantu languages have the balanced seven-vowel system i i e a c u u. It is the system that one would, on internal evidence, reconstruct for proto-Bantu. Many other Bantu languages have a reduced five-vowel system i e a c u. The five-vowel systems are historically almost always the result of a merger of the two highest front and back vowels, respectively; i.e., the result of a merger of *i /*i and of *u/*u ("7>5"). Another widespread sound change occurring in Bantu is the one here called "Spirantization". It occurs in seven-vowel languages and affects obstruents in the environment preceding the high vowels i and u (not i and v). It typically creates strident fricatives (s, f...) not formerly present in the system. Some remarkable observations can be made concerning the historical co-occurrence of the two sound shifts. Spirantization and 7>5: (i) No language has undergone 7>5 but not Spirantization; (ii) Only few languages have undergone Spirantization but not 7>5. (iii) In languages which have undergone both sound shifts, Spirantization always preceded 7>5. In this contribution I try to "explain" these patterns of co-occurrence without appeal to structuralist chain analyses. I consider both changes as being independently well motivated, and while admitting the possibility that the phonological system as such may favour or disfavour certain changes I argue that areal norm and areal spread are the major reasons for the widespread combined occurrence of Spirantization and 7>5, in that (apparent) order.
The Role of Bilingualism in Nilotic Sound Change
Authors: Dimmendaal Gerrit J.
Published: November 2010

Abstract. The Nilotic family, a group of languages spoken in East Africa allows a uniform subgrouping on the basis of Neogrammarian principles of shared innovations. Nevertheless, there is also evidence for wave-like innovations cutting across intragenetic boundaries. For example, the original contrast between implosive and plosive stops, only retained in three Nilotic languages synchronically, must have been lost independently in different subgroups. Interestingly, implosion has been retained as a distinctive feature in Nilotic languages bordering on other languages where this feature also occurs. This distributional fact suggests that language contact and bilingualism favoured not only the innovation but also the retention of certain phonetic properties of sound systems. A more speculative aspect of the present contribution concerns sound change in expressive words. There is some evidence that separate mechanisms may be operative in such words.
Language Contact
Authors: Nagy Naomi
Published: November 2010

Abstract. Faetar, an isolated dialect of Francoprovençal spoken in one village in southern Italy, shows clear evidence of Italian influence due to extended contact. One indication that Italian has influenced this dialect is the presence of geminates, as Gallic Francoprovençal had lost all length distinctions by the fourteenth century, when Faeto was founded. I discuss the results of production experiments and describe the phonetics, phonology, and morphology of the consonant length distinction in this non-written language. A medial-position consonant length distinction is evident, suggesting Italian influence, but there is no phonetic support for borrowing of the Italian raddoppiamento sintattico pattern of initial-position length distinction. Kattenbusch (1982: 169) claims that single and geminate forms in initial position are allophonic variants, conditioned by the preceding segment. However, his transcriptions include many cases of transcribed geminate and single consonants appearing in identical environments. Acoustic analysis reveals no consistent lexical length distinction in such pairs. I examine historical sources to see if there is a pattern either in Francoprovençal or in Italian which surfaces systematically as a consonant length distinction in Faetar. For this purpose, a comparison of Francoprovençal cognates to Faetar words containing geminates is made. Neither this nor a comparison to Italian cognates provides a satisfactory explanation of the source of gemination in Faetar.
A Phonetic Study of Voice - and Segment - Quality Changes during Second Language Acquisition
Authors: Bruyninckx Marielle , Harmegnies Bernard
Published: November 2010

Abstract. In this paper, we study the productions of twelve French-speaking Belgian subjects who attended a first-year Russian course with the aim of becoming translators or interpreters. A perceptual analysis, conducted by experts of Russian pronunciation, enabled us to define each learner's acquisition profile, and led to the choice of three subjects who had the most contrasted acquisition profiles in the sample. Segmental analysis was used in order to capture some specific phonetic processes involved in the acquisition of Russian. A comparison was made with speech samples drawn from the productions of a native speaker of Russian. Using Long Term Average Spectra as acoustic cues to voice quality, we were able to qualify the subjects' productions in a global and measurable way. This quantititative approach confirmed the results of perceptual and segmental analysis.
Sound Change in Aphasic Speech
Authors: Simons Berthold
Published: November 2010

Abstract. In this study, the speech of a Wernicke aphasic is analyzed in terms of sound change and not with reference to models of language production. The speech of aphasic patients is characterized by numerous grammatical aberrations. Moreover, the patient TeeBee, whose speech is under consideration, produced a lot of phonemic aberrations. The aberrant phones in the words, and the words as a whole, are considered here not to be "just paraphasic", but are considered as possible functional elements (PFEs). In this view, the point is made that PFEs, though being deviant from the norm, still carry a great deal of semiotic value for the hearer. It will be shown by the data presented that phonic aberrations move within certain borders, even in this case of highly aberrant speech. The German phonemic system is substituted by a floating phonemic parasystem with considerable instability in all elements. The distinctive value of German phonemes is disordered by the production of low-functional elements. With regard to these findings, some differences between sound change in language history and sound change in aphasic speech are discussed.
Monismus und Dualismus in Platons Prinzipienlehre
Authors: Halfwassen Jens
Published: November 2010

Abstract
One of the main problems of Plato's unwritten doctrine has to do with whether his theory of principles has a strictly dualistic or rather a more monistic character. The thesis of this essay is that Plato combines monism and dualism in a particular fashion. Both the dialogues and the testimony of the unwritten doctrine reveal that in Plato's metaphysics the One is the genuinely absolute principle; Plato's second principle, the Many, is not a second absolute - otherwise it would dissolve the very concept of the absolute. Instead, Plato conceives the principle of multiplicity itself as a unity, therefore as in some - in any event ineffable - way as being derived or having emanated from the absolute One. The One itself is wholly transcendent and thus ineffable, knowable neither by reason nor by intellective intuition. Nonetheless, being and knowledge are constituted by the coordination of the One and the Many, for which reason the latter is a principle. Hence, Plato's metaphysics combine a monistic ascent to the absolute with a dualistic derivation of being, a combination made necessary because the One transcends not only all being, but also all knowledge.
Die Konsistenz der Notwendigkeitsschlüsse des Aristoteles
Authors: Schmidt Klaus J.
Published: November 2010

Abstract
Aristotle axiomatically divides the 28 syllogisms of necessity of Anal, prior. I 9-11 into two classes: those with a necessary conclusion and those with a non-necessary conclusion. The fact that Aristotle axiomatically comprehends only 24 syllogisms of necessity, however, raises two questions: 1. What method does he use to decide about the remaining four syllogisms? 2. Is this method consistent with the initial one? This essay pursues the answers to these questions first by means of semantic analysis, showing that Aristotle ultimately considers assertoric propositions to be possible and therewith non-necessary propositions. Aristotle employs this approach, developed within the axiomatic, to the four syllogisms in question, thereby integrating them into the axiomatic. Finally, this essay answers the question of consistency by way of a formalization of the syllogisms of necessity.
Natur als Metapher
Authors: Kreuzer Johann
Published: November 2010

Abstract
The first part of this essay treats Eriugena's concept of theophany. Because nature is to be understood as theophany, every visible and invisible creature is a divina apparitio. The second part explains that appearing nature is the metaphor of a creative principle. Metaphor is the inner structure of nature as a process of appearance and the inner structure of our speaking about nature as metaphor. The third part infers that the recognition of nature as metaphor is based upon the thinking of appearance. To understand the cause through which every phenomenon of nature becomes a metaphor means to understand the dialectic of appearing nature: it means to understand nature as apparitio non apparentis. The fourth part concludes that in moments of beauty we recognize the nature of metaphor and nature as metaphor. Beauty is the givenness of what we think as the vivid cause of appearing nature. Its cause - and beauty fundamentally - is the self-consciousness of nature as appearance. Both nature as well as beauty are nonmetaphorical metaphors of themselves.
The Theory of Intellectual Construction in Theodoric of Freiberg
Authors: Mojsisch Burkhard
Published: November 2010

Abstract
In his Treatise on Categorially Determined Reality, Theodoric of Freiberg addresses the issue of the theoretical status of the categories, rejecting the merely passive-apprehensive function of the theoretical intellect in favor of its constitutive activity in the knowledge of natural things. Thereby, he takes a decisive step beyond Averroes. Proceeding on the basis of the Aristotelian theory of causation, emphasizing in particular that all natural movement and change presuppose an effective cause, Theodoric maintains - in distinction from Albert the Great - that every object receives its peculiar determination, or quiddity, through the actualized possible intellect, for which differentiation and effectuation are one. Nonetheless, Theodoric qualifies the radicality of this position by setting up alongside the causality of the intellect that of the first cause and that of nature, thus allowing for the independence of theology and natural science.
Thomismus, Skotismus und Albertismus. Das Entstehen und die Bedeutung von philosophischen Schulen iM späten Mittelalter
Authors: Hoenen Maarten J.F.M.
Published: November 2010

Abstract
Late medieval thinking is characterized by the emergence of antagonistic schools of thought such as Albertism, Thomism and Scotism. These schools share the explicit appeal to the authority of a school leader (Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus) and the support of characteristic philosophical doctrines and methods. Initially, in the period between 1277 and 1330, they were rooted in and developed out of the debates between the religious orders (Dominicans and Franciscans). Later, in the fifteenth century, the educational structure of the universities was the decisive factor in their growth, especially the existence of the bursae. This essay explores characteristics of late medieval schools of thought, their emergence, development and significance. It also treats different philosophical approaches in logic and physics apparent in two examination compendia of the University of Cologne, the Promptuarium argumentorum (1492) and the Reparationes librorum totius naturalis philosophiae (1494). As these treatises reveal, already in the first years of their university education students had to study and repeat the different arguments of the different schools. This contributed to the consolidation of the schools as they became an active part of the educational system able to dominate the intellectual climate well into the early modern period.
Vorsokratische Philosophie als Seelentherapie? Das Beispiel Heraklit
Authors: Stemich Huber Martina
Published: November 2010

Abstract
A series of writings describes Hellenistic philosophy as spiritual guidance. Starting from a selection of Heraclitean fragments, this essay considers whether it is possible to read pre-Socratic philosophy as spiritual guidance. Its conclusion is that one cannot talk about spiritual guidance in the case of Heraclitus since he does not accompany the scholar in his search for understanding and because his teachings are not meant to be followed strictly and diligently. Finally, Heraclitus sets the impersonal Logos as a teacher; he himself does not accept any human teachings. The only accepted learning comes through one's own experience; no-one can pass his wisdom on to anyone else. Moreover, the teachings of Heraclitus do not soothe man's grief or offer any eschatol-ogy; on the contrary, they are meant to deprive his listeners of all security. His teaching goes no further than to encourage the scholar in his own search for understanding. Only insofar as Heraclitus' teachings lead to psychic autonomy can we call them therapeutic.
Logos and Pistme
Authors: Mojsisch Burkhard
Published: November 2010

Abstract
This essay first differentiates the various meanings of the term  as it appears in Plato's dialogues Theaetetus and The Sophist. These are: the colloquy of the soul with itself, a single sentence, a proposing aloud, the enumeration of the constitutive elements of a whole and the giving of a specific difference; further, opinion and imagination. These meanings are then related to Plato's determination of knowledge (episteme) and therewith truth and falsity. One can be said to possess knowledge only when the universal contents of thought - dialogical thought - are set in relation to the perceivable, imagination or opinion. Reflections on the principle significance of possibility as such - a thematic not addressed by Plato - conclude the essay.
Philosophie als Transzendieren. Der Aufstieg zum höchsten Prinzip bei Platon und Plotin
Authors: Halfwassen Jens
Published: November 2010

Abstract
Transcendent thinking as a basic feature of metaphysical philosophy has always claimed to be more than a mere cognition of reality in terms of its phenomena. Transcendent philosophy intends to consider reality from the perspective of a fundamental ground transcending the reality ordered by that ground. Plato, who created the very notion of philosophy, described the love of wisdom as an ascent to the absolutely transcendent One and Good, which he believed to be the principle and source of all being. Plotinus both took over and renewed the Platonic view of philosophy as transcendent thinking. In his view, the philosopher can only relate to that principle which transcends even thinking itself by practicing a mystical philosophy and thereby leaving behind his own dialectical thinking.
Allgegenwart und Unendlichkeit Gottes in der lateinischen Patristik sowie im philosophischen und theologischen Denken des frühen Mittelalters
Authors: Enders Markus
Published: November 2010

Abstract
This essay intends to contribute to the history of the ideas of omnipresence and infinity as two related attributes of God in the theology of the Latin Church Fathers and in the philosophical and theological thinking of the early Middle Ages. The classical Christian doctrine of the infinite presence of God was developed within the early Latin context by Hilarius of Poitiers and foremost by Augustine, who set forth the unique omnipresence of God through the formula that God is «wholly everywhere in himself» (in se ipso ubique totus). Gregory the Great expanded upon this formula and passed it on to the early Middle Ages. Boethius comprehended the omnipresence of God primarily as his omniscience and defined his timeless presence - his eternity - as the simultaneously entire and perfect possession of unlimited life. While Eriugena's comprehension of the omnipresence of God is mostly rooted in Maximus Confessor's doctrine of God's omnipresence, his teaching of the essential infinity of God is quite original. The clearly most important contribution to the history of the omnipresence and infinity of God in the early Middle Ages was made by Anselm of Canterbury in chapters 20-24 of his Monologion, in chapters 13,18 and 19 of his Proslogion and in his famous reply to Gaunilo.
Quelques problèmes théologiques discutés par Gilles d'Orléans et la censure de 1277
Authors: Kuksewicz Zdzisław
Published: November 2010

Abstract
Giles of Orleans' philosophy evolved from an orthodox Christian interpretation of Aristotle to an Averroism; and his successive commentaries testify to this evolution: De generatione version I, De generatione version II, Physics version I and Physics version II. The first work presents orthodox Christian solutions, the second and the third testify to some Averroistic influences and the last is a clearly Averroistic commentary. Giles did not obey the regulation of 1272 which forbade the masters of the facilitas artium to discuss theological problems. De generatione I discusses the question of world history as a chain of eternal reversions and solves it according to Christian orthodoxy. De generatione II and Physics I put forward the question whether accidents can exist without substance. The first work cites amply the Aristotelian solution and tries to reconcile it with a Christian understanding of the problem, whereas the second commentary accepts the opinion of Thomas Aquinas. In De generatione II and Physics II, Giles inquires whether an annihilated substance can reappear. The first commentary cites  arguments for the negative answer, but it also gives a short declaratio fidei. The second commentary cites an  and an orthodox solution, stating that one can solve the problem on two different planes - Christian or philosophical, both offering a different solution and unable to be reconciled. All three questions are listed in Tempier's Condemnation of 1277 - propositions 92, 196 and 215 - censuring heterodox answers.
Himmlische Sätze
Authors: Lenz Martin
Published: November 2010

Abstract
In reply to the question whether articles of faith can be demonstrated, William of Ockham articulated a peculiar thesis: Even though it is impossible to prove articles of faith in this life, the blessed in heaven could demonstrate our creditive propositions. In contrast to traditional views, William held that both conclusions drawn in heaven and conclusions drawn in this life are subject to the same criteria. This assumption led to a controversy between William's contemporaries, namely, Walter Chatton and Adam Wodeham, who discussed whether theories of propositions are applicable to articles of faith. This essay tries to explain why the problem of demonstrating creditive propositions arose and in what way William's answer gave a new meaning to the dispute.
Plato's Meno and the Possibility of Inquiry in the Absence of Knowledge
Authors: Grgic Filip
Published: November 2010

Abstract

In Meno 80d5-e5, we find two sets of objections concerning the possibility of inquiry in the absence of knowledge: the so-called Meno's paradox and the eristic arguments. This essay first shows that the eristic argument is not simply a restatement of Meno's paradox, but instead an objection of a completely different kind: Meno's paradox concerns not inquiry as such, but rather Socrates' inquiry into virtue as is pursued in the first part of the Meno, whereas the eristic argument indicates a manner in which Meno's paradox can be generalized. This implies that they cannot be resolved by the same argument. It is then argued that the theory of recollection, as presented in Socrates' experiment with the slave, cannot resolve Meno's paradox, its target being only the eristic argument. Only the hypothetical method of inquiry is the effective answer to Meno's paradox. Finally, this essay contends that, contrary to what the text might suggest, Socrates, by introducing the hypothetical method, does not abandon his principle that knowing what something is precedes knowing what something is like.
Der Dialog als sechste wichtigste Gattung in Platons Sophistes
Authors: Mojsisch Burkhard
Published: November 2010

Abstract

In his late dialogue The Sophist, Plato intends to show that the universal contents mo-tion, rest, being, identity and difference differ from and yet intermingle with each other. Plato develops this theory using the universal content motion as an example, whereas the present essay concentrates on dialogue as a further universal content linked with all the other contents. It thereby aims to deepen the understanding of Plato's late theory of ideas, arriving at the conclusion that for Plato the possibility of philosophy is due to the possibility of the relational community of the universal contents. Plato, however, does not investigate the possibility of possibility itself - an issue which can indeed be seen as the principle of the very possibility of universal contents and their relation.
Lux Regiomontana. Der kategorische Imperativ in Ciceros De officiis
Authors: Glei Reinhold F.
Published: November 2010

Abstract

Interpretation of Cicero's De officiis mostly focuses on questions of traditional Quellen-forschung, especially on its relationship with the lost works of Panaetius, Posidonius and Hecato. This essay, on the contrary, tries to illuminate Cicero's work by confronting a pivotal passage of De off. (3, 19-32) with Kant's famous categorical imperative. Cicero's invention of a formula to decide moral dilemmas as well as its anthropological grounds and socio-political implications foreshadow the Kantian concept in the Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten. This suggests that there may even be a direct influence of Cicero on Kant.
The University of Pennsylvania's Center for Community Partnerships as an Organizational Innovation for Advancing Action Research
Authors: Harkavy Ira , Johnston Francis E. , Puckett John
Published: November 2010

The article describes the Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania as an organizational innovation designed to mobilize the range of university resources to solve the strategic problem of creating democratic, local cosmopolitan communities. We identify the Center's approach to this problem as helping to develop university-assisted community schools, schools transformed to function as centers and catalysts for community revitalization with ongoing support from an institution of higher education. We argue that communal action research, in which scholarly attention is focused upon the university's local geographic area in a continuous comprehensive partnership with the community studied, is a particularly promising approach for revitalizing communities, advancing knowledge, and integrating the university's missions of research, teaching, and service. We describe the Turner Nutritional Awareness Project (TNAP), which works to alleviate nutrition problems in a university-assisted community school, as an example of communal action research conducted by all participants in a common project. We conclude by describing the structure and operation of the Center for Community Partnerships, claiming that the Center itself is part of a broader organizational change occurring throughout the American academy as urban universities, in particular, respond to severe external crises as well as internal difficulties resulting from the separation of service from teaching and research.
Post-search Follow-up
Authors: Babüroğlu Oğuz N. , Topkaya Seref , Ates Özgür
Published: November 2010

The search conference has come to be regarded as a critical intervention strategy within interorganizational domains. Yet the existing literature focuses more on the search conference as an event and less on what happens after the event. This paper focuses on post-search conference strategies in interorganizational domains. Four follow-up strategies — abort, fizzle-out, sustain, and diffuse and dissipate — emerge in the assessment of two search conference-based interventions in two different industries in Turkey. The paper shows that these strategies are co-produced in two dimensions: dialogue conditions among the stakeholders in the domain and the leadership strength of the referent organization.
Is Action Research Really 'Research1?
Authors: Toulmin Stephen
Published: November 2010

The case of Action Research drives a wedge between two opposite views of research methodology: an 'exclusive ' (Platonic/theoretical) one which insists that only objective and quantitative inquiries (as in physics) are genuine scientific research, and an 'inclusive ' (Aristotelian/practical) one that recognizes a need to adapt the research methods of different inquiries to the nature of their problems. The latter approach involves seeing issues of methodology as dependent on half-a-dozen contextual factors, which are crucial to Action Research, yet which the former approach ignores.
Is Theory Useful?
Authors: Gustavsen Bjørn
Published: November 2010

The point about a 'Scientific theorY' has traditionally been that it provides a 'guarantee of truth.' While it has, on the one hand, proved difficult to establish such theory within fields like work, organization and leadership, the growing competition and complexity facing most modern organizations makes for an increase in the demand for theory. The purpose of this contribution is to explore what functions theory can play in a context where people are looking for help to unravel complexity, give meaning to experience, make ordered comparisons possible and provide reference points for learning. When these become the primary functions, what happens to 'theory'?
Cognition in Practice
Authors: Quéré Louis
Published: November 2010

How may we conceive of cognition in practice? What kind of thinking and reflection animate the accomplishment of action? These problems are usually settled by an intellectualist argument: to perform an action is mainly to execute decisions, to carry out plans or intentions, or to follow instructions. According to that view, cognition produces action, but it does not take place in the accomplishment of action itself Such an intellectualist view has been taken up again and developed by recent trends in cognitive science. Why focus on such a view? Because, by its systematizing of current assumptions in most of (he theories of action, it makes the conceptual framework of those theories very clear and allows one to see the inconsistencies of its underpinning. The alternative view outlined in this paper is based on an externalist and pragmatic conception of mind. It considers cognition as a social process and reintegrates it into the performance of situated actions. To do so, it grasps performance as a genuine praxis and specifies the thinking and reflection which animate it in relation to the phenomenon of 'embodied agency.'
Significance of Megatrends in the Economy
Authors: Petrella Riccardo
Published: November 2010

Globalization as a new phenomenon is structurally different from internationalization and multinationalization. It takes multiple forms and encompasses several processes. Four new specific features are discussed: (a) the shift from the history of 'the wealth of the nations' to the history of 'the wealth of the world'; (b) the notion that globalization implies the end of 'nation capitalism' and the gradual emergence of a 'global capitalism'; (c) instead of a truly genuine globalization, one sees a process of 'triadization' of the economy on a world level; and (d) the emergence of the enterprise as the most powerful player. The multiplicity of aspects and novelty of globalization means that there is a need for a 'theory' of globalization. To that end a brief systematic assessment of various major implications and consequences of today's globalization is presented. The fundamental weakness of present globalization is the growing dissociation between economic power organized on a world basis by global networks of enterprises and political power which remains organized at the national level.
Counting on the Dialogue
Authors: Mikkelsen Lars Normann
Published: November 2010

This interview highlights important features in an improvement used by a Norwegian owned supplier to the international motor vehicle industry. This company sees the road to continuous improvements in terms of customer focusing, broad employee participation and cultivation of dialogues.
The Influence of Culture in Search Conferences
Authors: Emery Merrelyn
Published: November 2010

This paper analyses an outbreak of fight/flight in a Search Conference. Knowledge ofBion's work, neglected of late because of an expedient belief in our poor communication skills, is essential for Search designers and managers. His basic group assumptions rarely appear in the Search Conference today because it is specifically designed and managed to prevent them. However, cases, commonly of fight/flight, can still occur. They usually involve mistakes in either design or management. This case also involved culture which has also been a relatively neglected dimension of Search Conference theory. Two cultural factors affected the progress of this Search. The first is a trend towards dissociation in the USA and the West generally, and the second is the culture of educated elites, including consultants and academics. Its lesson is that culture should be considered in design.
Action Research and Trade Unions
Authors: Gregory Denis
Published: November 2010

This article presents three cases: (I) the employment development and assistance program (EDAP) at the Ford Motor Company; (2) participation and change at 3M's Gorseinon production plant; and (3) confronting change at the Yorkshire Water Company. The cases provide an illustration of the action research involvement of the Trade Union Research Unit (TURU) at Ruskin College, Oxford. In particular they show the importance of understanding the contextual forces shaping the action research space in the realpolitik of industrial relations. The critical importance of taking 'the question ' and not a theory as point of departure come to the fore. The studies point to the primacy of dialogue for building the understanding necessary for effective joint action.
The Integration of Ethnic Minorities in Organizations
Authors: Meerman Martha , van der Vlist René
Published: November 2010

The acceptance and integration of ethnic minorities in organizations is a serious problem in most Western countries. With the increase in the numbers of immigrants and refugees in these countries, while at the same time general unemployment is also tending to increase, unemployment among immigrants is becoming a serious problem. In most Western countries this has led to special regulations. In the Netherlands it has led to legislation which puts pressure on the employer to develop policies aiming at integration. As yet, this law has not been very successful.
The municipality of the Hague (500,000 inhabitants, about 10,000 civil servants) approached the department of Social and Organizational Psychology of Leiden University for help. Diagnostic research was conducted in two departments of the municipality in such a way that the research itself would contribute to the solution of the problem. Preliminary steps in this process aimed at mobilizing positive attitudes among employees towards integration.
Articulating Practices: Methods and Experiences
Authors: Shotter John , Katz Arlene M.
Published: November 2010

In this article we describe a set of methods — which we call a 'social poetics ' —for use by a group of practitioners in coming to a more articulate grasp of their own practices, thus to develop them. Crucially influenced by Wittgenstein 's (1953) claims — that "Nothing is hidden" from us in our conduct of our practices, and that "the origin and primitive form of the language-game is a reaction " — we show how the methods of philosophical investigation he outlines can also be used to great effect in our everyday affairs. They work, not in terms of concepts or theories worked out ahead of time in committee rooms or research laboratories by experts, but in terms of certain practical uses of language, at crucial points within the ongoing conduct of a practice, by those involved in it. Crucially, they lead us to focus on novelties, on new but unnoticed possibilities for 'going on' available to us in our present circumstances, but present to us usually in only fleeting moments. If we can allow ourselves to be 'struck by' these novelties, then we can often go on, not to solve what had been seen as a problem, but to develop new ways forward, in which the old problems become irrelevant.
Articulating Practices: Methods and Experiences
Authors: Katz Arlene M. , Shotter John
Published: November 2010

In this article we describe an experimental mentoring program conducted in a major medical school in the Northeast of the United States. In it, primary care physicians mentored medical students in the course of conducting their daily practices. All involved were trained in a special reflecting practice that led them to focus on, and to discuss, concrete events occurring during the day. We illustrate how, both in pairs and in larger meetings, in discussing events within their practice together that they were 'struck by', student-mentees not only came to a more practical grasp of the medical knowledge of the classroom and textbook, but that all involved in the program came to create between them a resourceful community. At work within this program was a practice that functioned, not only to help the students, but the whole ongoing practice: for within it, besides moments of teaching, where other kinds of shared moments to do with the details of clinical practice, ethical issues, administrative problems, and so on — with all involved helping each other with what we have called the appreciative evaluation and elaboration of their practices.
Articulating Practices: Methods and Experiences
Authors: Josefson Ingela
Published: November 2010

Traditional medical education focuses on scientific knowledge, it concentrates on the technical aspects of diseases not on the sick person. In a study with three different groups of doctors an attempt has been made to start reflecting with the dilemmas in practical work as a point of departure. Perspectives from the field of the humanities have been used in order to offer other ways of looking at problems with which the doctors are familiar in their daily work.
Self Action Research
Authors: Raffaelli Derek N. , Harrow J. Alan
Published: November 2010

The Scottish Institute of Human Relations, a psychoanalytically based training/therapeutic organization undertakes to "action research" itself. The need for this study comes at a time of rapid expansion and development which coincides with the death of its founder, J.D. Sutherland. Uncertain about the appropriateness of involving the total institution from the beginning (e.g. a search conference), the researchers begin by setting up and working with an incipient research group (IRG) which represents the Institute. How an Institution manages this phase in the change process is here described, with a particular emphasis on understanding the psycho-dynamics of the process of containment.
Action Research and Epistemology
Authors: Johannessen Kjell S.
Published: November 2010

It is argued that more attention should be paid to the epistemological foundations of action research. Doing this from a pragmatic point of view, the author points to the decisive role of human practices regarding such fundamental issues as the constitution of meaningful signs, the application of concepts as rule-following, the contextuality of knowledge, and the marginal relevance of theory. The concept of practice not only points to the ways in which our concepts are established, it also comprises the skills involved in handling the conceptualized phenomena, our pre-reflective familiarity with them, expressed in the sureness of our behavior towards them, and the discernment exercised in applying or withholding a given concept on a particular occasion. These factors are all relevant to the establishment of knowledge, but they cannot themselves be fully and straightforwardly articulated by verbal means. Nevertheless, they represent what we go by when we apply concepts and other types of rules.
Towards a Social Global Contract
Authors: Petrella Riccardo
Published: November 2010

An analysis of six possible alternative world scenarios, which might characterize the evolution of our societies in the four decades to come, reveals the need for the development of a Social Global Contract. The most important policy goal does not relate to higher competitiveness in the global economic wars, but should be concerned with creating more common wealth to satisfy the material and immaterial needs of the world's population. The Social Global Contract means the start of a process that favors the establishment of a cooperative system of global governance. To that end a set of practical tasks to be implemented within the framework of four major global contracts are identified and discussed.
From Practice to Practice
Authors: Lundberg Max , Tell Joakim
Published: November 2010

Small and medium sized enterprises are an important feature of the Swedish industrial infrastructure. The formation of collaborative networks is seen as an important means for dealing with a shortage of financial, technical and other resources. This article deals with the start up and development of two networks involving managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and researchers from the Centre for Working Life Research and Development of Halmstad University. The striking features of the various phases of the development of the networks, as well as of those of the role of the researchers, are presented and discussed. Some important recent developments, such as connections between networks and community-based relationships, are also revealed.
Participation
Authors: Fricke Werner
Published: November 2010

Workers' participation can contribute to industrial democracy in Germany -this was one of the conceptual cornerstones of the state-financed German humanization program in its early phase (1976-1980). Experiences from that period are discussed in the light of the concept of reflective modernization and under current conditions of mass unemployment and economic crisis: What are the perspectives of participation in this socio-economic context? What might social science research contribute?
Getting a Glimpse of the Otherness of the Other
Authors: Ljungberg van Beinum Ingrid
Published: November 2010

Discussions between women and men about men and women form the focus of this article, These discussions took place in the context of an inter-organizational action research project. The position of women in organizations and the subordination of women in general is seen as a relational phenomenon. The relationship between women and men is considered paradigmatic and therefore constitutes the critical unit of analysis as well as the strategic unit of action in this study. The participating organizations had no difficulty in initiating collaboration between women and men and to get them to engage in a joint action to develop a program aimed at improving gender relationships. However, ambiguity emerges as the basic characteristic of gender relationships in view of the fundamental otherness of the other. Dialogue between men and women is not only shaped by the relationship between women and men, but is also forming and transforming it. Dialogue is both means and end, it is the subject as well as the context. Therefore, the criteria for an ethics of mediation, necessary for managing the inevitable ambiguity in the relationship between women and men through mutual respect for their differences, have to come from within the dialogue.
Gandhi's Philosophy of Work and Its Contemporary Relevance
Authors: Prabhu Joseph
Published: November 2010

There is a crisis of work in contemporary technological society. Afunctional definition of work feeds, and is fed by, an economico-technological ideology that valorizes the cult of productivity and of "total work". This in turn reflects a utilitarian conception of the human being, whose worth is now measured in terms of his or her contribution to total "output". Gandhi was one of the sharpest critics of this notion of man and society; he sees it as materialistic, soulless and fundamentally violent. In its place he proposes a moral conception of work that reflects his spiritual view of the human person. E.F. Schumacher takes Gandhi's ideas further in terms of an organization of economic life that promotes simplicity, beauty, social responsibility and ecological sustainability. The phenomenon of globalization heightens the stark contrast between the world-views of Gandhi and Schumacher on the one hand, and that of global capitalism on the other.
Towards a Two-Tier Society?
Authors: Wielers Rudi , van der Meer Peter
Published: November 2010

The labor market has a crucial distribution function in Western welfare societies and is therefore a major source of social conflict. Our main argument is that a two-tier society develops as a consequence of the development of the labor market. Because labor costs increase relative to those of capital, selection devices in the labor market change. Level of education and health become more important, whereas the significance of gender decreases. The social consequences of these selection processes are analyzed as a process of spatial and mental segregation between participants and non-participants in the labor market. The social security system is an especially important new locus of social conflict. We conclude that the neo-liberal solution of reducing social security benefits will have the perverse effect of calling into existence an underclass, which threatens the property rights of the participants.
Towards a Logic of Hypotheses
Authors: Emery Fred , Emery Merrelyn
Published: November 2010

Charles Peirce's 'retroduction' is a form of hypothesis generation that takes its place alongside deduction and induction as forms of enquiry and logical inference. It is the only one of the three that can generate innovation and advance knowledge. It is fundamentally tied to open systems theory and the world hypothesis of contextualism. In particular, retroduction is founded in ecological learning, our ability to directly extract meaningful knowledge about our world. Ecological learning and retroduction define the logic of discovery. This ability arises from adaptation through a process of coevolution rather than natural selection. The implication of this adaptation is that no firm barriers can be drawn between common sense and scholarly knowledge, nor between researcher and researched when the researched are human systems. There are three choices of relationship between action researchers and their researched human systems, only one of which - collaboration - respects the intrinsic nature of the people involved.