bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
AUTO-HERMENÊUTICA EM ENTREVISTAS AUTOBIOGRÁFICAS
Authors: Costa Patrícia Claudia da
Published: August 2018

Este artigo analisa alguns “efeitos colaterais” provocados por entrevistas de natureza autobiográfica, tendo como base de dados 31 entrevistas, realizadas durante uma pesquisa sobre a trajetória de docentes universitários, e a “auto-hermenêutica” como noção norteadora. Trata-se de um tipo de processo reflexivo no qual o entrevistado elabora conteúdos que o levam a analisar sua trajetória, em uma dupla perspectiva: subjetivando as experiências que seleciona para relatar e objetivando a si próprio como sujeito socio-histórico. O resultado desse processo se manifesta na tomada de consciência sobre possibilidades e desafios – pessoais e profissionais, presentes ou previstos no porvir – o que, por sua vez, gera novas tomadas de posição do sujeito, enquanto agente social. O objetivo da análise, pautada na teoria bourdieusiana, é explicitar um dos aspectos da dimensão formativa das entrevistas, que se estruturam em temas essencialmente autobiográficos, no que tange à percepção dos entrevistados sobre fatos, valores, conhecimentos, experiências e sentidos, que afloram nos discursos em situação de entrevista. Conclui-se que o ato de falar de si corresponde a uma oportunidade epistêmica de feições hermenêuticas, à medida que o sujeito reconhece a própria capacidade de reelaborar alguns aspectos de sua trajetória, inclusive com vistas a reordenar seus rumos, com base na reflexão sobre as condições reconhecidas.
DO SUSSURRO AO GRITO: ESCRITOS AUTOBIOGRÁFICOS DE CAROLINA MARIA DE JESUS E MAURA LOPES CANÇADO
Authors: Da Silva Gislene Maria Barral Lima Felipe , Azeredo Mônica Horta
Published: August 2018

O naufrágio simbólico em vida pode representar o fim das esperanças. Mas tem, por vezes, o poder de materializar, de forma contundente e irrevogável, vozes até então silentes. Esse movimento é observado na produção autobiográfica das escritoras Carolina Maria de Jesus e Maura Lopes Cançado, autoras de Quarto de despejo – diário de uma favelada e Hospício é Deus, respectivamente. A partir da análise de suas obras, pode-se inferir que seus escritos, que vão do sussurro ao grito, têm a capacidade de empoderá-las, alçando-as de um espaço de dor e dando-lhes a possibilidade de ressignificar seus universos. Esta leitura parte do diálogo estabelecido entre os dois textos, valendo-se de teóricos como Mikhail Bakhtin e Phillipe Lejeune, dentre outros.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP DALAM PERSPEKTIF MAQASHID AL-SYARIAH
Authors: Fitria Anis
Published: August 2018

AbstrakSocial entrepreneurship adalah istilah baru di Indonesia, ini merupakan konsep yang menggabungkan permberdayaan sosial dan ilmu kewirausahaan. Konsep ini bisa menjadi alternatif dalam mengurangi permasalahan sosial maupun ekonomi yang ada di masyarakat Indonesia. Salah satu konsep baru yang ingin dikaji menggunakan fiqh sosial adalah social entrepreneurship. Meskipun masih tahap awal perkembangannya di Indonesia. Akan tetapi social entrepreneurship sudah mulai banyak digunakan di Indonesia. Social entrepreneurship menjadi salah satu alternative penyelesaian masalah social seperti masalah pengangguran, ekonomi, pendidikan, gender, kesehatan serta lingkungan hidup. Penulis mengkaji program Social entrepreneurship apakah selama dengan maqashid al-syariah.Keyword: Social entrepreneurship, Maqashid al-syariah AbstractSocial entrepreneurship is a new term in Indoneisa, it is a concept that combines social empowerment and entrepreneurship. This concept can be an alternative in reducing the social and economic problems that exist in Indonesian society. One new concept is to be examined using social fiqh is social entrepreneurship. Although it is still early stages of development in Indonesia. However, social entrepreneurship has been widely used in Indonesia. Social entrepreneurship becomes one alternative settlement of social problems such as unemployment, the economy, education, gender, health and the environment. The author examines whether the program Social entrepreneurship as long as the maqashid al-Sharia. Keywords: Social entrepreneurship, Maqashid al-syariah
MEMBANGUN KREATIVITAS ANAK DARI SEGI KOGNISI DAN AGAMA
Authors: Husni Dzatil
Published: August 2018

Abstrak Anak memiliki kecenderungan bakat dan minat tertentu, namun hendaknya orang tua tetap mengarahkan anak ke jalan yang benar menurut agama, karena dunia hanya tempat singgah sementara, ada kampung akhiratyang lebih abadi untuk ditinggali, kendatipun demikian manusia tidak bolehmelupakan nasibnya di dunia (QS. al-Qashash [28]: 77). Maka kewajiban orang tua menyiapkan anak untuk memiliki bekal menjadi manusia yang bermutu sesuai dengan kualifikasi mutu yang diminta dunia dan akhirat. Karena jika manusia ingin bahagia dunia akhirat hendak-lah ia menguasai ilmu mengenai keduanya. kreativitas bukanlah sesuatu yang  given, melainkan harus diupayakan untuk memilikinya, ada proses belajar yang harus dilewati, ada pengetahuan yang harus dikuasai sebagai basicdari kreativitas itu, juga kreativitas membutuhkankemauan/ desire. Kreativitas timbul sebagai usaha memahami dan men gatasi kesenjangan/ kesulitan hidup. Kreativitas berfungsi ketika manusia bertingkah laku berevolusi, menyesuaikan diri terhadap perubahan alam. Berarti dibutuhkan  will dalam mem-bangun kreativitas. Bisa dipahami juga bahwa kreativitas hanya bisa dimiliki oleh mereka yang mempunyai curiosity. Curiosityitu yang menjadi pendorong untuk bisa melakukan sesuatu demi mengatasi kondisi tertentu. Kata Kunci:membangun, kreativitas anak, kognisi, agama
PENINGKATKAN EFEKTIVITAS PEMBELAJARAN IPA BERVISI SETS DENGAN PENDEKATAN SAVI UNTUK PEMBENTUKAN KARAKTER PESERTA DIDIK SEKOLAH DASAR NEGERI SADENG 03
Authors: Wijayama Bayu
Published: August 2018

ne"> Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk meningkatkan efektifitas,karakter peduli lingkungan, rasa ingin tahu dan disiplin dalampembelajaran IPA bervisi SETS dengan pendekatan SAVI.Penelitian ini adalah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas yang dimulaidari 1) perencanaan tindakan (planning), 2) penerapantindakan (action), 3) pengamaatan (observing) 4) refleksimengevaluasi proses dan hasil tindakan (reflecting). Kegiatanpenelitian dilaksanakan dalam dua siklus. Perencanaanpembelajaran dimulai dengan membuat perangkat Silabus,RPP, LKPD dan soal. Hasil penelitian pembelajaran IPA bervisiSETS dengan pendekatan SAVI efektif dapat meningkatkanhasil belajar peserta didik secara klasikal pada materi sistempernafasan manusia. Data hasil penelitian menunjukkanpeningkatan prosentase dari kegiatan pra siklus 54,8%kemudian di siklus I menjadi 77,4% dan di siklus II prosentasesebesar 80,6%. Hasil analisis karakter peduli lingkungandengan skor 3,5, rasa ingin tahu dengan skor 3,44 dan karakterdisiplin dengan skor 3,5 sudah melebihi indikator keberhasilanpenelitian dengan Skor Akhir Sa 3,25< skor < 4 ketuntasanklasikal ≥75% pada kriteria membudaya (MK) dengandemikian penelitian berhasil meningkatkan karakter pedulilingkungan, rasa ingin tahu dan disiplin.
MEMBANGUN IKLIM BELAJAR EFEKTIF MELALUI METODE HYPNOTEACHING DI MADRASAH IBTIDAYAH
Authors: Taslim Syahlan Ma'as Shobirin,
Published: August 2018

Abstrak Efektivitas pembelajaran menjadi salah satu faktor penting dalam menciptakan keberhasilan proses pembelajaran, khususnya bagi peserta didik di Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI). Untuk mewujudkan hal tersebut, maka diperlukan beberapa upaya konkrit melalui penggunaan metode pembelajaran tertentu, salah satunya adalah  metode Hypnoteaching. Metode ini benar-benar mampu menumbuhkan semangat dan perhatian peserta didik dalam menciptakan suasana belajar efektif di kelas. Problematika yang terjadi di kelas akan dapat dipecahkan melalui penggunaan metode pembelajaran ini. Tujuan dalam penulisan artikel ini adalah untuk memahami hypnoteaching sebagai metode pembelajaran di MI, mengetahui faktor dan urgensi penggunaan metode hypnoteaching dalam pembelajaran serta penerapan metode ini dalam proses pembelajaran. Melalui tulisan ini, diharapkan mampu memberikan kontribusi positif bagi guru untuk mengembangkan kemampuan pedagogik dalam proses belajar mengajar. Selain itu, metode ini dapat mengubah interaksi pembelajaran dari yang pasif menjadi aktif dan meningkatkan kemampuan peserta didik di MI untuk memahami materi pembelajaran di kelas.Kata Kunci: Belajar, Efektif, Hypnoteaching Abstract Learning effectiveness becomes one of the siginificance factor in creating the success of learning process, especially for student of Mdarasah Ibtidaiyah. To realize it, it is needed some real efforts by using a certain learning methods. One of themis hypnoteaching method. This method is really be able to improve motivation and student’s attention to create leaning situation effectively in classroom. The problems which is happened in class can be solved by u using this method. The purposes of this writing are to understand hypnoteaching as learning method at Madrasah Ibtidayah, to know the factors and the significance of using hypnoteaching method in learning and implementation of this method in learning process. Through this writing, it is hoped be able to give possitive contribution for teacher to develop pedagogical competence in teaching learning process. In other side, this method is able to change learning interaction from passive to be active and increasing studnet’s ability at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah for understanding the learning material in classroom.Keyword: Learning, Effective, Hypnoteaching
NO-Dependent Akt Inactivation by S-Nitrosylation as a Possible Mechanism of STZ-Induced Neuronal Insulin Resistance
Authors: Crunfli Fernanda , Mazucanti Caio Henrique , de Moraes Ruan Carlos Macêdo , Costa Andressa Pereira , Rodrigues Alice Cristina , Scavone Cristoforo , Torrão Andréa da Silva
Published: August 2018

Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (sAD) is associated with energy metabolism deficiency and impairment of insulin receptor (IR) signaling in the brain. In this context, low doses of intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of streptozotocin (STZ) in rodents has been used as an experimental model of sAD which leads to an insulin-resistant brain state and neurodegeneration. However, the STZ effects on brain insulin signaling-related proteins it is not appropriately elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the beginning and progression of alterations in the brain IR pathway of rats after 1, 3, 5, and 7 days of STZ injection and investigate intracellular signaling involved on STZ induced insulin resistance. We observed that STZ injection causes cognitive impairment in the animals, a temporal variation of the insulin signaling-related proteins and apoptosis cell death in the hippocampus. We also have shown that STZ causes insulin resistance and impairment on phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activity in the Neuro-2a cells through protein kinase B (Akt) inactivation by S-nitrosylation, which could upregulate GSK3- β activity. STZ ability to cause an insulin-resistant neuron state involves NO production and ROS production which may play an important role in the mechanism linked to STZ-induced neurotoxicity. The icv injection of STZ model and STZ exposed Neuro-2a cells may be potential experimental models for assessing molecules related to the pathogenesis of sAD.
Statins and Brain Health: Alzheimer’s Disease and Cerebrovascular Disease Biomarkers in Older Adults
Authors: Ramanan Vijay K. , Przybelski Scott A. , Graff-Radford Jonathan , Castillo Anna M. , Lowe Val J. , Mielke Michelle M. , Roberts Rosebud O. , Reid Robert I. , Knopman David S. , Jack Clifford R. , Petersen Ronald C. , Vemuri Prashanthi
Published: August 2018

Background:

Statins have been proposed to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Objective:

Assess whether long-term statin use was associated with neuroimaging biomarkers of aging and dementia.

Methods:

Methods: We analyzed neuroimaging biomarkers in 1,160 individuals aged 65+ from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, a population-based prospective longitudinal study of cognitive aging.

Results:

Statin-treated (5+ years of therapy) individuals had greater burden of mid-and late-life cardiovascular disease ( p < 0.001) than statin-untreated (≤3 months) individuals. Lower fractional anisotropy in the genu of the corpus callosum, an early marker of cerebrovascular disease, was associated with long-term statin exposure ( p < 0.035). No significant associations were identified between long-term statin exposure and cerebral amyloid or tau burden, AD pattern neurodegeneration, or white matter hyperintensity burden.

Conclusions:

Long-term statin therapy was not associated with differences in AD biomarkers. Individuals with long-term statin exposure had worse white matter integrity in the genu of the corpus callosum, consistent with the coexistence of higher cerebrovascular risk factor burden in this group.
The Price of Stress: High Bedtime Salivary Cortisol Levels Are Associated with Brain Atrophy and Cognitive Decline in Stroke Survivors. Results from the TABASCO Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Tene Oren , Hallevi Hen , Korczyn Amos D. , Shopin Ludmila , Molad Jeremy , Kirschbaum Clemens , Bornstein Natan M. , Shenhar-Tsarfaty Shani , Kliper Efrat , Auriel Eitan , Usher Sali , Stalder Tobias , Ben Assayag Einor
Published: August 2018

Background and Objective:

Previous studies suggest that excessive cortisol levels after stroke are associated with cognitive dysfunction. However, limited data exist regarding associations between post-stroke cortisol levels, brain abnormalities, genetic factors, and cognitive outcome. We sought to study these issues in a longitudinal stroke survivors cohort.

Methods:

Data from 182 cognitively intact ischemic stroke patients from the TABASCO study were available. Saliva cortisol levels (bedtime and post-awakening) and cognitive assessments were obtained on admission, and 6, 12, and 24 months thereafter. During hospitalization, patients underwent 3T MRI scans and APOE genotyping.

Results:

Higher bedtime cortisol levels immediately post-stroke were associated with larger neurological deficits ( p < 0.001), brain atrophy ( p = 0.025), worse white matter integrity ( p = 0.003), and worse cognitive results up to 24 months post-stroke. These findings remained significant when adjusted for age, gender, education, smoking, stroke severity, apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) status, and body mass index. ApoE4 negatively modified the relation between cortisol and memory. As a group, participants who presented with high admission bedtime cortisol levels continued to present relatively elevated bedtime levels across all examined time-points, and this group had inferior memory and executive functioning scores compared to the lower cortisol group 24 months post-stroke ( p = 0.05, p = 0.035, respectively). Post-awakening cortisol levels were not associated with neuroimaging findings or cognitive scores.

Conclusions:

High bedtime salivary cortisol levels post-stroke may provide information about dysregulation of diurnal HPA-axis activity under acute challenge conditions, and predict worse cognitive outcome. ApoE4 genotype might modify this association. These findings call for specific stress management interventions in stroke survivors.
Relationship Between Amyloid-β Positivity and Progression to Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia over 8 Years in Cognitively Normal Older Adults
Authors: Dang Christa , Harrington Karra D. , Lim Yen Ying , Ames David , Hassenstab Jason , Laws Simon M. , Yassi Nawaf , Hickey Martha , Rainey-Smith Stephanie , Robertson Joanne , Sohrabi Hamid R. , Salvado Olivier , Weinborn Michael , Villemagne Victor L. , Rowe Christopher C. , Masters Colin L. , Maruff Paul ,   for the AIBL Research Group
Published: August 2018

Background:

Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is defined by cerebral amyloid-β positivity (Aβ+) in cognitively normal (CN) older adults.

Objective:

To estimate the risk of progression to the symptomatic stages of AD due to PET Aβ+ and the extent that progression was influenced by other demographic, genetic, and clinical characteristics in a large prospective study.

Methods:

Fine-Gray subdistribution modeling was used to examine the risk of progression from CN to MCI/dementia due to Aβ+, APOE ɛ4 carriage, and their interaction in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) flagship study of aging CN cohort ( n = 599) over 8 years.

Results:

17.7% Aβ+ and 8.1% Aβ–progressed over 8 years (OR: 2.43). Risk of progression for Aβ+ was 65–104% greater than Aβ–. Aβ+ APOE ɛ4 carriers were at 348% greater risk than all other participants. Significant risk factors of progression in Aβ+ were age (HR: 1.05), PET SUVR (HR: 2.49) and APOE ɛ4 carriage (HR: 2.63); only age was a significant risk factor in Aβ–(HR: 1.09). Aβ–progressors were not near the threshold for Aβ+. These relationships were not moderated by hypertension, diabetes, obesity, or stroke/TIA.

Conclusion:

Aβ+ is an important prognostic marker for progression from CN to MCI/dementia in older adults and APOE ɛ4 carriage provides further predictive value in the presence of Aβ+. These data suggest that Aβ-associated clinical progression is consistent with clinical-pathological models of AD, whereas progression in the absence of elevated Aβ deposition may be the result of neuropathological processes other than AD that accumulate with age.
Gastric lavage in babies born through meconium stained amniotic fluid in prevention of early feed intolerance: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Yadav S.K. , Venkatnarayan K. , Adhikari K.M. , Sinha R. , Mathai S.S.
Published: August 2018

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the efficacy of gastric lavage (GL) in preventing feed intolerance in babies born through Meconium stained amniotic fluid (MSAF).

STUDY DESIGN:

In this randomized trial conducted at a tertiary care hospital, neonates born of MSAF after 34 weeks period of gestation requiring routine care were randomly allocated to GL with 10 ml/kg of normal saline. The control group did not receive GL. The subjects were monitored for first 24 hours in predefined time epochs. The primary outcome was incidence of feed intolerance which was defined as vomiting or abdominal distension more than 2 cm from baseline measure. Babies were also monitored for potential adverse events due to GL and total duration of hospital stay.

RESULTS:

Baseline parameters were comparable. The incidence of feed intolerance was not significant in the GL group [4.6% vs 9.2%; RR 0.92 (0.29–3)]. There were no adverse events secondary to GL. The duration of hospital stay was comparable between groups.

CONCLUSION:

GL in neonates born of MSAF does not reduce feed intolerance.
Features of serial cranial ultrasound detected neuropathology in very preterm infants
Authors: Petrova A. , Karatas M. , Mehta R.
Published: August 2018

BACKGROUND:

The purpose of this study was to identify the pattern and factors associated with changes in cranial ultrasound (CUS) -detected findings in infants born at or less than 28 weeks of gestation.

METHODS:

We compared readings of CUS performed at the end of the first week of life and at 4–5 weeks of age. Alteration of CUS findings was classified as: (i) unchanged, if no deviation was detected (Group 1); (ii) worsening, if there were new findings (Group 2); and (iii) improvement, if there was normalization or reduction in severity (Group 3). Descriptive statistics, multivariate controlled logistic regression, and kappa (k) statistics with 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) were reported.

RESULTS:

Among 510 studied infants, 82.3% (95% CI 78.8–85.4) were in Group 1, 10.0% (95% CI 7.7–12.9) in Group 2, and 7.7% (95% CI 5.7–10.3) in Group 3. Overall agreement between the two scans was moderate (k 0.62; 95% CI 0.55–0.69). Worsening of CUS findings was associated with neonatal morbidities independently from gestational age and birth weight. The probability for worsening of CUS findings was higher in infants with an initial diagnosis of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) grade 2, than in those reported as no pathology/IVH grade 1 (Odds Ratio 5.79; 95% CI 2.42–13.91) or IVH grade 3–4 (Odds Ratio 3.81; 95% CI 1.10–13.21).

CONCLUSIONS:

In very preterm born infants, the initial CUS findings in combination with neonatal morbidities can help predict the brain lesions that are seen at the end of the first month of life and could be useful in their clinical management.
Development of pulse shape algorithms for discrimination between gamma and X-ray radiation pulses
Authors: El_Tokhy Mohamed S. , Mahmoud Imbaby I.
Published: August 2018

Influence of x-ray pulse generated from gamma spectrometers should be eliminated in applications, which typically uses pulse shape techniques between gamma and x-ray pulses. In this study, we proposed and tested several algorithms aiming to eliminate this influence. The algorithms are based on curve fitting (CF), artificial neural network (ANN), system identification, peak shape, amplitude search with curve fitting and pulse tracking methods. Gamma pulses and X-ray pulses are detected by NaI(TI) scintillator detector and Silicon lithium Si(Li) detector, respectively. The developed algorithms are tested using 32,000 total instantaneous detector events of acquired gamma pulses and 65,536 total instantaneous detector events of x-ray source. An algorithm using the least square curve fitting method is applied for differentiation between gamma and x-ray pulses. ANN is employed as a classifier for identification of extracted spectrum and Bispectrum features of gamma and x-ray pulses. A comparison between identification results due to extracted spectrum and Bispectrum features is established. System identification algorithm is then built to determine the detection system response of each radiation pulse, which includes various models to attain best fitting. These models are Auto-regressive model with external input (ARX), the linear parametric model (IV) and process models (P1D). The peak shape algorithm is also tried, which depends on the individual classification of pulse width. The amplitude search with curve fitting algorithm is implemented. Moreover, the pulse tracking algorithm is investigated for PSD between gamma and x-ray pulses. The maximum peak of contaminated pulse is tracked using a suggested peak search method. Then, pulse position is estimated using matrix method. Comparison between these algorithms is conducted based on the evaluation of light of residuals, fitting error and processing time. The results confirm that peak shape algorithm is the best one from computational speed point of view, while ANN algorithm using Bispectrum feature extraction method is the most appropriate one that yields 100% accuracy over noisy environment with longer processing time. In addition, the system identification algorithm is the optimal algorithm that achieves zero fitting error under clean environment. These proposed algorithms for PSD between gamma and x-ray pulses lead to design efficient spectrometers with optimal applicability in various environments.
Chinas Abgang von der Weltbühne
Authors: Armanski Gerhard
Published: August 2018

After having been one of the world’s most prosperous countries China fell back and into disarray in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century. The causes of this process are mostly interior, but exacerbated by the assault of Western and Japanese imperialism. It is before this background that the present regime is to be looked upon.
Die (Semi-)Peripherie ins Zentrum rücken
Authors: Sum Ngai-Ling , Lebhuhn Henrik
Published: August 2018

A cultural political economy (CPE) approach is adopted to examine the rise of discourses about the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies and about their implications for power shifts in the world system. Forces such as international investment banks, economic strategists, international organizations, national governments, business media, etc. contributed in constructing and circulating ‘BRIC’ as a new economic imaginary and investment form. These involved constructions of ‘hope’ and ‘strength’ over three overlapping stages: an investor story, an investor-consumer story, and now an investorconsumer- lender story. This amalgam of discourses and practices (which are subject to continuing renegotiation in response to changing circumstances and further shifts in the balance of forces) has facilitated the gradual sedimentation and naturalization of BRIC as a potential ‘group’ and has mediated particular power shifts in the global political economy. Specifically, this (trans-)national privileging and popularization of ‘BRIC’ is contributing to the (re-)making of investment patterns and neoliberal social relations.
Der Aufstieg Chinas und die neuen Kräftekonstellationen in Ostasien
Authors: Ten Brink Tobias
Published: August 2018

In the wake of the global slump, China emerged as a major „winner” of worldwide economic and political rebalancing. The paper tries to evaluate the effects of the ascent of China with special regard to current power relations in East Asia. Although China gains in importance and has spearheaded several of the steps toward regional cooperation, there will be no far-reaching political integration under the hegemonic leadership of Beijing in the foreseeable future. In a world marked by economic turbulence, nationalist backlash and American and Japanese challenges to „Sinocentered” Asian regionalism, disintegration tendencies and rivalries will not easily come to an end.
Afrika und die neuen asiatischen Wirtschaftsmächte
Authors: Goldberg Jörg
Published: August 2018

The increasing role of the emerging economies of Asia, particularly of China, has changed the economic and political environment of Africa. Data on trade, foreign investments and development cooperation indicate that Africa’s dependence on industrialised countries is decreasing. African countries prefer partnerships with China and India because these do not come with policy conditions imposing the cures of the Washington Consensus. At the same time, South-South Cooperation is a mechanism for increasing Africa’s bargaining power in global affairs. However, the current pattern of economic relations with Asia replicates the capitalist character of Africa’s trade with Europe, in which Africa exports commodities and imports manufactures. The regional diversification of economic relations and the increasing international importance of Asia open more policy space for African governments. But it depends on the capacity of African governments and civil society organisations to transfer these opportunities into development progress.
Eine Geschichte zweier Nationalismen
Authors: Harris Kevan , McHardy Julien
Published: August 2018

In contrast to simplified stories in Western media, the conflict between the Iranian government and the oppositional „green” movement is analyzed as a conflict between two „new” (i.e. post-revolutionary) classes. Both classes rely heavily on different kinds of nationalism.
Warum die NATO den Krieg in Afghanistan nicht gewinnen wird
Authors: Armanski Gerhard , Warburg Jens
Published: August 2018

By widening noticeably their frame of activities NATO troops have been intervening in the internal conflicts of Afghanistan for a decade, following geopolitical and economic interests. They have met enormous obstacles through guerilla warfare and the loose tribal and administrative structures of the country. The Taliban operate with national and religious motives and can count on considerable support from the population. Since no side will presumably score a decisive victory, the probable solution will be a compromise allowing the coexistence of the insurgents with the Kabul-administration, as well as being compatible with the interests of the adjacent states.
Die historische Dynamik des Kapitalismus und linke Strategien
Authors: Schlemermeyer Jan
Published: August 2018

As an answer to Alex Demirovic’s contribution this article argues that politics should rather be conceived as a social logic, an alienated form of rationality, which is necessarily bound to the overwhelming, historical dynamic of capitalism. This point also generates important implications for an analysis of the possibilities and constraints of a progressive practice, since it exceeds the traditional critique of class domination. Although there are (of course) crucial differences between different forms of the institutionalization of state power, and they do depend upon the balance of power in a society to a certain degree, even the most progressive form of political regulation is limited by the structural constraints of capitalist accumulation. Hence, the Left should search for alternative institutional forms and aim for a decomposition of the state rather than focusing too much on questions of an intrinsic political reform of capitalism.
Vom Krisenmanagement zur neuen Konsolidierungsagenda der EU
Authors: Bieling Hans-Jürgen
Published: August 2018

Over the past years the economic crisis has been sensibly displaced. Starting as a subprime crisis in the US, it soon unfolded as a global economic and financial crisis. European countries confronted the crisis with banking rescue packages, economic stimulus programmes, automatic stabilisers and a common emergency fund for endangered states of the Eurozone. Consequently, not only private, but also public debt increased. The crisis therefore evolved towards a fiscal crisis and moved into the political system. Against this background, the article investigates the articulation of political economic interests and initiatives in the European management of the debt crisis. It argues that the emergence of a new austerity oriented fiscal consolidation agenda reflects a strengthened position of creditors and owners of financial assets. However, given the unequal – European and domestic – distribution of the adjustment burden, the revitalisation of European financial market capitalism remains characterised by intensified social struggles.
Die Schuldenbremse als politisches Projekt
Authors: Eicker-Wolf Kai , Himpele Klemens
Published: August 2018

The German constitution has rules concerning public debt, and those rules changed a couple of years ago. Starting in 2016, new public debts are permitted up to a level of 0.35 percent of GDP for the German federation. The German states are not allowed net new borrowing at all, starting in 2020. This is a crucial change, given the old constitutional law, which allows debts for public investments. The following article deals with the question of whether the new law is used to „starve the beast”, in other words: to cutback public activities and authorise tax reductions. The article interprets the new dept regulations as a political project rather than an economical imperative.
Gutes Leben und gute Arbeit weggespart
Authors: Reiner Sabine
Published: August 2018

Increasing public debts during the crisis are now a justification for broad cuts in expenditure. However, in many countries public debt was critically debated before and irrespective of the crisis. Germany even discussed and in 2009 finally adopted a severe constitutional debt brake. The paper illustrates how a tax reduction policy of the German federal government drained public households and forced federal and regional authorities to cut public spending and benefits. The post-crisis cuts now are just an expression of an accelerated reduction of public welfare. Increasing public debt is only second best, the paper argues. The first choice to fight increasing debt would be a revised and just tax policy.
Das neue Elend der US-Städte
Authors: Mayer Margit
Published: August 2018

The recent financial and economic crisis had its origins in the subprime mortgage collapse that wreaked havoc across urban America, with exploding foreclosure and eviction rates confronting municipalities with entirely new challenges. On top of these housing market and vacancy problems, the financial crisis has squeezed municipal budgets so that local politicians have themselves resorted to risky fiscal innovations as well as to increasingly severe cuts in public sector and social programs, aggravating poverty, homelessness and the decay of public urban infrastructures. While these developments occur unevenly across different types of cities and regions, and state measures to deal with the accelerating social problems have also varied, trends of instrumentalizing the ‘budget crisis’ for consolidating class power can be identified. With the assault on public sector unions launched by a number of states and cities, some disparate protest and resistance movements have begun to emerge.
Revolutionäre ernten die Früchte selten
Authors: Alnasseri Sabah
Published: August 2018

To understand the current revolutionary situation in the Arab Middle East, the conditions of existence of state power have to be taken into account, i.e., neoliberal restructuring, restructuring of classes, transformations in the ruling parties, the imperialist embedding of the state, the brutal disorganization of the subordinate classes, and the shifts of weight among the state apparatuses. These developments have created new contradictions and conflicts of interest which erupted due to the accumulation of resistance on the one hand, and on the other, due to international and regional shifts (the geostrategic weakness of the U.S. and its allies in the region, economic crisis), and due to political mistakes of state parties, alienation of parts of the ruling classes and state actors. In times of global and national crises, and in the absence of a democratic socialist organization of the popular classes in the Arab region, fractions of the ruling classes and certain forces of the state apparatus with the assistance of international forces help promote the initiative for change. They appeal to the popular classes, who long engaged in multiple forms of resistance, in the struggle of these fractions against other dominant fractions in the power bloc.
Krieg gegen einen Integrationsunwilligen?
Authors: Solty Ingar
Published: August 2018

The article contextualizes the current NATO intervention into the Libyan civil war in the debates about the new imperialism and the crisis of global capitalism. It poses the question as to whether it can be interpreted as an act of militarily locking up an oil state which is immune to IMF/World Bank types of structural adjustment. Based on an analysis of the political economy of Libya from decolonization to the contemporary Gadhafi regime, it argues that the integration of Libya into the world order of global capitalism had already occurred as an act of free will. Therefore other reasons must have led to the hesitant decision to go to war. Denouncing the idea of humanitarian interventions, the article argues that in the context of the global crisis mainly three goals are being pursued: Guaranteeing the free flow of cheap oil; reestablishing control over a geopolitically essential region that as a result of the toppling of friendly dictators has been at the verge of slipping away; and reconstructing the indispensable ideology of „humanitarian interventions“ after their seeming demise in the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wer sieht das, was wir nicht sehen?
Authors: Bandelin Sebastian
Published: August 2018

The critique of ideology has often been criticised because it seems to imply a problematic gap between the perspective of the critical sociologist and that of the actor. The following article tries to show that the conception of the critique of ideology developed by Marx in his writings on the critique of political economy can avoid this problem insofar as the conception can be reconstructed as an instrument to explain the practical contradictions with which the actors are confronted in capitalist societies. The way in which these practical contradictions are explained shows also that the structures which first seemed to be natural preconditions for the actors are in fact the product of their actions.
Der ökonomische Determinismus – neu betrachtet
Authors: Jessop Bob , Kaufmann Stephan
Published: August 2018

This article revisits the claim that the social relations of production determine, at least in the last instance, the overall nature and dynamic of social formations. The claim in its original form is often misunderstood, its later justifications are generally weak, and efforts to improve it are mostly unconvincing. An alternative interpretation is presented that identifies four complementary meanings of economic determinism that are all consistent with historical materialism. The fourth meaning draws on the relatively new concept of ‘ecological dominance’ but it was anticipated, the author argues, in certain arguments of Marx and Engels themselves.
Paschukanis versus Bloch – Sozialutopie und Rechtsform
Authors: Fisahn Andreas
Published: August 2018

Bloch and Paschukanis have given a different answer to the question: What is law and what should happen to law in a socialist society? Paschukanis argues against Stalin’s order to create a specific socialist or soviet law and was killed for his dissident approach. He explained the thesis that law is a creation of exchange in capitalist societies, and that therefore socialist law, he declares, is an oxymoron. Forty years later Bloch came to an opposite result: to prevent servility and oppression in “socialist societies” of the eastern world the tradition of human rights should be conserved and developed, i.e. they should reflect the solidarity of the new post capitalist order. This debate is not only of historical interest, but represents a different approach to a theory of law and concerns the relation between social change and law as an instrument of this change.
Das Landnahmetheorem: eine kritische Würdigung
Authors: Röttger Bernd
Published: August 2018

The “Landnahme”-Theory tries not only to explain the processes of privatization, deregulation and financialization of the economy since the crisis of the 1970s. Following Rosa Luxemburg’s “Accumulation of Capital” and Marx’ remarks on “primitive accumulation”, David Harvey and Klaus Dörre develop a heuristic framework for the interpretation of capitalist dynamics and reproduction through economic crisis. This article reconstructs their theories, examines their empirical plausibility and questions gaps in the Political Economy of contemporary capitalism.
Jenseits von Vereinnahmung und eindimensionalem Feminismus
Authors: Umrath Barbara
Published: August 2018

The first part of the paper ”From a ‘Resignification’ of Feminist Critique and a ‘One-Dimensional’ Feminism to Perspectives of Feminist Critique Today“ discusses Nancy Fraser’s essay ‘Feminism, Capitalism and the Cunning of History’ and her latest attempts to refer to Polanyian concepts for a feminist, potentially post-neoliberal Zeitdiagnose (diagnosis of our times). The second part describes alternative readings of the women’s movement that appropriate insights developed by the early Frankfurt School for feminist purposes (Andrea Maihofer, Andrea Trumann, Nina Power). In the final section, it is discussed how these different approaches can contribute to clarifying the challenges, obstacles and perspectives of feminism in light of the present crisis.
Gesellschaftskritik und imaginäre Institution
Authors: Wolf Harald
Published: August 2018

The article demonstrates the topicality of Cornelius Castoridis’ work in pointing to some of its aspects which can be connected to current discussions about the role and the functions of social critique and which also show several weaknesses of this discussions. After a sketch of the development of Castoriadis’ thought, three connection points to these discussions are elucidated: the question of the conditions of the possibility and of the possibilities of a justification of critique; the concept of capitalism as a project of organization, rationalization and control, instead of a market society; and the distinctive interest in resistance and practical critique in everyday life which are interpreted as germs of a non-capitalist autonomous social institution.
Die Renaissance des autoritären Liberalismus?
Authors: Oberndorfer Lukas
Published: August 2018

The unfolding crisis of capitalism – the most severe since the 1930s – is taking the shine off those neoliberal projects that were implemented in the context of the European Union. As a result, the present, competition-state mode of integration, which is based on consensus, is sliding into an ever deeper crisis of hegemony. To maintain the status quo, coercion is, if necessary, substituted for the disappearing consensus. That the central EU crisis initiatives (Economic Governance and the Fiscal Compact) are eroding formal democracy and the rule of law in particular heralds the beginning of an authoritarian turn in Europe. Drawing on the theory of Nicos Poulantzas this turn can be described as authoritarian competitive statism. In a – to a certain extent – comparable crisis of hegemony in the 1930s Carl Schmitt and German neoliberal intellectuals developed a strategy of dominance which can be described as authoritarian liberalism. In comparing this discourse with the present crisis mode of the European Union I try to sensitize the analytical framework for a counter-hegemonic strategy.
Umstrukturierung der Verschuldung und Wachstumsbedingungen
Authors: Musacchio Andrés
Published: August 2018

After the crisis of 2001/2002 Argentina was confronted with similar problems as Greece is nowadays. Argentina, however, recovered quickly. The article discusses which chances Greece has to follow a similar path of development and which are the obstacles for such a path.
Blindstellen: ungleiche Entwicklung und ungleiche Mobilisierung in der EU
Authors: Becker Joachim
Published: August 2018

The article critically comments some of the conclusions by Alex Demirovi? and Thomas Sablowski in their article on the crisis in PROKLA No. 166. These two authors emphasise that it should be an aim of the left “to create the unity of the subaltern classes in Europe through joint struggles”. According to the critical comment, these two authors underestimate the degree of uneven development which results in uneven patterns of mobilisation across the European continent. In Greece, the left wing alliance Syriza came close to government power. Syriza faces with renewed urgency the question whether to continue Greece’s euro zone membership. The alliance is split on the issue. The majority of the alliance has come out in favour of staying in the euro zone. The article argues that economic recovery and the development of alternative economic policies in Greece are hardly compatible with a continued euro zone membership of the peripheral euro zone countries.
Argentiniens besetzte Betriebe
Authors: Tauss Aaron
Published: August 2018

The article examines the socio-economic and political-ideological context that provoked the renaissance of workplace recuperations in Argentina during the 1990s and in the immediate aftermath of the country’s economic crisis in 2001-2002. In addition, it will discuss the emancipatory potential and the main obstacles and limitations of workers’ control. While most initiatives quickly disappeared during Argentina’s economic recovery in the years following the crisis, occupied and recuperated enterprises successfully emerged as the strongest and most organized form of popular protest. The workers’ longstanding struggle for the recuperation of the means of production, in part, radically altered existing forms of representation and participation in the workplace.
Editorial: Finanzialisierung, Konzentration, veränderte Unternehmensformen
Authors: Redaktion Prokla
Published: August 2018

Editorial: Finanzialisierung, Konzentration, veränderte Unternehmensformen
Industrialisierung und Konzentration
Authors: Brandl Barbara
Published: August 2018

The connection between economies of scale and concentration tendencies in markets has mostly been marginalized in the neoclassic tradition. This article focusses on the interconnection between industrialization – which is the sociological concept for economies of scale – and market concentration. The introduced theoretical concepts should be applied to the current developments in the seed sector which was under radical change in the last thirty years. The outcome of this transition is a highly concentrated seed market and the predominance of agrochemical companies in this sector.
Oligopolistische Rivalität im Pharma-Biotech-Komplex Konzentration des Kapitals und die Suche nach Rentenerträgen
Authors: Zeller Christian
Published: August 2018

Concentration and centralization of capital are also expressed in the transfer and appropriation by companies of values that were created in other organizations and social contexts. This reflects the rising power of finance capital and the imposition of a global rent regime. The paper presents the dynamics of the concentration and centralization of capital in the combined pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Oligopolistic rivalry is a key process. Despite of processes of vertical and horizontal disintegration the large oligopolistic rivals maintain or even extend their power. They are able to enforce different forms of rent income. However, the large pharmaceutical companies face some fundamental challenges. Further acquisitions are likely to happen in near future.
Multiple Krise, autoritäre Demokratie und radikaldemokratische Erneuerung
Authors: Demirović Alex
Published: August 2018

The article sketches out three arguments: a) The financial crisis that dominates the economic and political processes since 2008 transforms the transnationalized network state into a new form of the exceptional state. Arguing against those who describe the actual conjuncture as authoritarian statism, Demirovi? argues that the new is a governmentalized austerity state. b) Since long critical state theory argues that democracy is in a crisis. But the process is not one of a constant decline but rather a cycle; and the cycle is determined by the compromises between social classes. c) In the recent crisis of democracy not only new actors appeared fighting for real democracy but also the theories of radical democracy became radicalized. This is demonstrated in the discussion of the approaches of Jürgen Habermas and Chantal Mouffe. The theory of democracy overcomes the liberal distinction of economy and politics and tends to democratize social complexity in itself.
Marxistische Parteiendebatte revisited
Authors: Steckner Anne
Published: August 2018

Different from approaches to political parties with an affirmative stance towards capitalist domination, Marxist social theory claims to assess the role of parties within Bourgeois society from a critical perspective. Nevertheless, existing debates on political parties in capitalism suffer from a narrow focus on forms and functions. They tend to become functionalist and reductionist on class struggles instead of analyzing different relations of domination. Due to this shortcoming, it is necessary to develop a materialist understanding which takes into account some helpful insights from Gramsci’s concept of political and societal party. His understanding of domination as hegemony provides us with rich analytical instruments: Now we can grasp more precisely to what extent parties play a crucial role in organizing consent within society and how they manage to do so. By critically assessing the Marxist debate on political parties and enriching it with a stronger focus on hegemony, I want to offer a more comprehensive conceptual framework which might be useful for empirical studies.
Demokratische Querfronten?
Authors: Oppenhäuser Holger
Published: August 2018

Starting point of the article is a right-wing populist campaign against the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) in Germany, which lead to the foundation of the party „Alternative für Deutschland“ (AfD). Initially the actors of this campaign, their general criticism of the EU, their narrative about the economic crises and their social basis are analysed. But the right-wing populists were also part of a broader coalition in civil society, which called for direct democracy in general and a referendum on the ESM in particular. Therefore the second part of the article analyses the underlying concept of democracy and shows why neoliberals and national-conservatives opt more and more for direct democracy. These issues point to ambivalences of direct democracy, which should not be overlooked by leftists.