bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Primary Processes: Developing Infants as Adults
Authors: Selby Jane M.
Published: March 2007

This paper emphasizes the importance of primary processes in considering developmental theory. It examines hallucinatory wish fulfillment, mirroring, holding and the Oedipal resolution as part of continually re-enacted cycles from birth to death. Primary process undermines any notion that we can ever attain an `end-point' in human development, a notion implicit in developmental accounts. By extension, it undermines utopian visions of political progress. Case material from research with female university students and from a female client in therapy illustrates and extends psychoanalytic understandings of the limitations on human satisfaction and the impossibility of judging what is in someone's best interests, including our own.
In Conversation
Authors: Shotter John
Published: March 2007

The conversational background to our lives is strange in that we cannot turn it around into an object of thought, to be explained like all else in our world in terms of either rules, theories or models. Its strangeness, it is argued, arises out of the fact that all actions by human beings involved with others in a social group are, as Bakhtin (1986, 1990) claims, dialogically or responsively linked in some way, both to previous, already executed actions, and to anticipated, next possible actions. Or, as Searle (1992) has argued: all utterances within conversations are necessarily related to each other, internally; they have shared intentionality. Within situations with shared intentionality, it is as if the situation itself is an ethically active, living entity that, as much as the others around us, requires our respect. Thus, like the others around us, `it' also can exert a formative influence upon what we do within it. Some of the consequences of this extraordinary circumstance for psychology are explored in the article.
Ecological Psychology and Naturalism
Authors: de Jong Huib Looren
Published: March 2007

In this paper, Gibson's ecological approach to perception is discussed as belonging to the tradition of naturalist psychology, which focuses on the adaptive role of the perceptual system, and which includes (assumptions about) the structure of the ecological environment in theories of perception. As such, naturalism contrasts with the sensation-based tradition in perception, which is implicitly solipsist in ignoring the distal object, and restricts itself to local causal effects in the senses and subsequent cognitive processing. It is shown that Gibson's work shows traces of his contacts with Heider and Brunswik, and that Marr explicitly picks up (and sometimes criticizes) key elements of Gibson's work. Heider, Gibson and Marr are interpreted as naturalists in their emphasis on the role of the environment as a separate and irreducible level of explanation in theories of perception.
Groping in the Light
Authors: Freeman Mark
Published: March 2007

Even though Fisher's (1995) own `solution' to the alleged problems brought on by social constructionism in regard to the self is questionable in that positing internal causes leads to much the same moral impasse as those more external formulations he seeks to criticize, it is nevertheless of value both to call attention to the limits of the movement and to imagine alternatives that might better allow human agency and moral responsibility into their reach. He is therefore to be commended for thinking against the grain as well as for following his apparent intuition that there may be more to selfhood and moral life than the conventional wisdom would indicate. After having drawn out the implications of this intuition, some direction is provided for thinking about moral life in a manner different from the social constructionists and from Fisher himself.
A `Show' of Agency is Enough
Authors: Shotter John
Published: March 2007

Descartes and Cartesians such as Harwood Fisher (1995) claim that human agency is only known to us as such intellectually, through supposed linguistically indifferent concepts or ideas of agency centering it unproblematically in isolated individuals. In claiming, as I do, that our different ways of being an agent are socially constructed, I do not deny that individuals may have a unique sense of the relation of their own activity to their own circumstances, or that they initially react in unique ways to shows of agency in others. But what I do deny is that when formulating claims as to the meaning of their own activities, individuals should be treated as the sole authorities as to the appropriate voicing of any such claims. Fisher fails to notice the ineradicably linguistic and normative nature of our everyday social relations to each other.
Issues for Applied Cognitive Psychology
Authors: Wright Daniel B.
Published: March 2007

External funding pressures and disaffection with traditional domains of research have led to increasing numbers of cognitive psychologists investigating applied topics. I address two issues concerning this movement. The first is the suitability of the researcher's approach for different applied problems. When the research questions are initiated by applied concerns, the researcher's theoretical perspective may not be optimally suited to answer these questions. I discuss when this can occur. The second issue concerns the overall value of applied research for the discipline. I argue that by introducing new research questions, investigating applied topics may in the long run be beneficial to both applied and theoretical psychology.
On the Identity of Theoretical Psychology: A Response to Rappard
Authors: Agatti Antonio P.R.
Published: March 2007

Rappard (1996) argues that I claimed psychology has left its philosophic parent. This is not true. I stressed that philosophy and the sciences are based on observation and induction. Contrary to Rappard, observation is not experimentation and there is no confusion between meanings of `philosophy'. My view that experimentation is a form of observation does not find a parallel in psychology. Experimentation is not it means. It is the means to test hypotheses arrived at inductively. Contrary to Rappard, my concept of theoretical psychology is not narrow. It is a different theory. In it there is room for the theoretical entities needed to explain laws, if these entities derive from mental experimentation. The explanatory function can also be accommodated in my view without neglecting metatheory.
Against Wittgenstein
Authors: Parker Ian
Published: March 2007

Wittgenstein's writing offers to psychologists a series of critical perspectives on concepts regularly employed by the discipline, and it assists in the deconstruction of facile appeals to notions of `cognition', `drive' or `self' in which traditional psychology trades. However, academic and popular representations of the Wittgensteinian focus on language, and on the discursive setting for all varieties of mental and cultural phenomena, also threaten to obscure the material structuring of contemporary institutional power, power that both inhibits and incites speech. Selected aphorisms from Wittgenstein that have been used to warrant radical linguistic reflections on psychology are examined, and it is argued that these theoretical points need to be contextualized and reworked to accommodate a historical materialist account.
The Poetics of Identity
Authors: Sarbin Theodore R.
Published: March 2007

I make the case that imaginings influence the construction of identity-the composite of answers to the `who am I?' question. The central model for my arguments is the Quixotic principle-that imaginings stimulated by stories read or stories heard can provide the plot structures for one's own self-narratives. I illustrate the principle with a brief bio-graphical account and with two historical examples. Extending the analysis to contemporary concern with domestic terrorism, I claim that cultural myths provide the imaginings that serve as a framework for adopting the dramatistic role of hero. The individualist frontiersman, a fixture of American mythology, is the protagonist in stories depicting the settling of the West in America. The plot structure of the deeply entrenched myth of the frontier-regeneration through violence-contains the justifications for the actions of domestic terrorists.
The (Ab)use of Reliving Childhood Traumata
Authors: Miltenburg Ruth , Singer Elly
Published: March 2007

Most treatments of adult survivors of child abuse are based on the assumption that without memory, without an understanding or felt experience that the abuse is at the heart of the client's difficulties, the survivor is lost. This paper questions this assumption. The alleged therapeutic value of reliving is based on the denial of unbearable suffering, and on an abstract idea of mental health which has its roots in psychoanalytic theories for the treatment of non-abused clients. Reliving abusive experiences can lead to a repetition of the abuse and an exacerbation of the client's problems. Unbearable experiences demand `abnormal' defence or coping strategies, which are not necessarily undesirable or pathological.
Reply to Corbin
Authors: Rennie David L.
Published: March 2007

An expression of sadness about Strauss's death is made and a note of appreciation is extended to Dr Corbin for commenting under the circumstances. It is then observed that Dr Corbin has failed to address both the author's deconstruction of the Strauss and Corbin methodology and the aptness of the proposed new logic of justification for it. Within this limitation, the rejoinder is organized around four topics: the use of `experience' as data; the meaning of hypothesis `testing'; the consideration of `macro'-conditions; and the matter of `process' vs `structure'. It is argued in closing that, although directed toward Glaser, Strauss's comment about the nature of science is pertinent in that it revealed that his view failed to take into account an alternative viewpoint that would make the Strauss and Corbin methodology more consistent with the epistemic claims that coherently can be made for it.
Of Surrogacy, Circularity, Causality and Near-Tautologies
Authors: Wallach Michael A. , Wallach Lise
Published: March 2007

Gigerenzer (1998) agrees with our critique of mainstream work (Wallach & Wallach, 1994, 1998). However, while he views near-tautologies as an additional species of surrogates for theory, we believe near-tautologies are implied by entrenched and uncontested proto-theories that are not without function, but pointless to subject to empirical test. Schaller and Crandall (1998) seem to have backed down from Schaller, Crandall, Stangor and Neuberg's (1995) earlier position that the concept of near-tautologies as developed by Wallach and Wallach (1994, 1998) is itself misguided. Instead, Schaller and Crandall now seek to distinguish `strong-form' and `weak-form' near-tautologies, and claim that our argument against the usefulness of testing hypotheses derivable from near-tautologies holds only for the `strong' form while the `weak' form occurs in our derivations. We show here that their distinction is problematic and that supposed `weak-form' as well as `strong-form' near-tautologies are unfalsifiable.
The Formal and Mental Structures of Semiotic Processes
Authors: Smythe William E. , Chow Siu L.
Published: March 2007

The formal and psychological requirements of semiosis or sign action is discussed. It is shown that, at the formal level, systems of signs are best accounted for in terms of Peirce's semiotic triad of sign, object and interpretant, as well as his view that systems of signs are generative and recursive. The importance of the distinction between sign and representamen, as well as that between the dynamic and immediate objects in the semiotic triad, is also noted. A case is then made that, in addition to the formal semiotic triad, it is necessary to make explicit the role of the maker of the sign, the intended receiver of the sign, and the context in which the sign is used at the psychological level. The interrelationships among the sextuple (viz. sign, object, sign maker, sign receiver, context and interpretant) are illustrated by treating speech acts as a kind of sign action or semiosis with a heuristic model.
Cognition as Semiosis
Authors: Cunningham Donald J.
Published: March 2007

In this paper I sketch a model of cognition from the perspective of Peircean semiotics. In this view, cognition is the action of signs or semiosis, the construction of structures of experience via signs. This process involves an irreducibly triadic relationship between three elements of sign process: sign, object and interpretant. Moreover, sign action spreads throughout an infinity of networks forming a rhizomous structure of semiosic potential. Each living organism constructs its own local connections or Umwelt based upon its unique experience and species' characteristics. In this view, the base state of human cognition is a set of beliefs characterizing the Umwelt for that person. Via an interplay between genuine doubt and fixing belief through inference, the person literally constructs and reconstructs his or her Umwelt. The paper concludes by using this model to characterize learning on the World Wide Web.
Significs, Semiotics and Synthesis
Authors: Visser Henk
Published: March 2007

In A.D. de Groot's semiotic work from 1944 to the present day, three motives are discerned: (a) the elimination of misunderstandings among psychologists, due to terminology; (b) the desire for consensus about the uses of key concepts before their elaboration in theoretical and applied psychology; and (c) the acceptance of pluralism as regards styles, methods and interpretations in the behavioral sciences. First, the significance of De Groot's early publications is sketched against the back-ground of similar developments in the Dutch tradition of significs. Next it is argued that De Groot's methodological work has interesting semiotic aspects, for example with respect to the question of surplus meanings. Finally, results of De Groot's later Signific Concept Analysis are presented insofar as they are relevant for contemporary psychology. The question that remains is how far De Groot's actual proposals for definitions of key concepts can be accepted. The purpose of the paper is to promote further discussion of De Groot's attempts at unifying psychology on a sound semiotic basis.
Marxist Psychologists
Authors: Teo Thomas
Published: March 2007

Based on the ideological relationship between Marxism and psychology in the early 1950s, the contributions in the book Psychology and Society: Radical Theory and Practice are analyzed in terms of three questions: Are Marxist psychologists sensitive intellectuals? What is the relationship between Marxist psychology and truth? Do contemporary Marxist reflections provide insights into critical, emancipatory or liberating practices, accounting for the plurality of oppression? It is argued that the book not only meets the criteria, but also reveals multiple Marxisms as a vivid and active intellectual force, opening new horizons for how this framework might become a tool for analyzing contemporary psychological issues. However, it is suggested that the book does not sufficiently discuss the problems of psychology and Marxism in former socialist countries, or the psychology of cult-like Marxist groups.
Where is Mathematical Modeling in Psychology Headed?
Authors: Luce R. Duncan
Published: March 2007

The current state of mathematical psychology is characterized in terms of five paired contrasts: behavioral vs information-processing; linearity vs non-linearity; static vs dynamic; mathematical vs computational; and deterministic vs probabilistic. Each contrast is evaluated in terms of three basic facts of psychology: complexity, irreversibility of experience, and individual differences; and also in terms of three contemporary developments: computational power, brain imaging and recent mathematical developments. From these I draw some (low-confidence) conclusions about where I think the field is headed, and why.
Noticing
Authors: Harris Nigel G.E.
Published: March 2007

Empiricist philosophers have supposed that the primitives of experience that underpin our mature ways of thinking are but simple awarenesses of simple properties. Phenomenologists, on the other hand, have taken the manifold of experience as what is primitive. Neither approach can best account for experimental findings about infant experience. It is argued that our mature ordering of experience in terms of objects and their properties does not have its origins in a crude infant version of the same ordering, but instead develops out of infant experiences that consist of noticings of differences. It is not that neonates see objects as objects and properties as properties, but less effectively than do adults; what initially captures their attention is differences, particularly changes, in what is presented to them, rather than things and their sensible properties. It is suggested that an infant’s perceptual development proceeds from awareness of individual differences to that of patterns of differences incorporating Gibsonian invariants, before, finally, it comes to perceive objects as objects.
The Eurocompany and Euro Industrial Relations
Authors: Marginson Paul
Published: March 2007

What is the role of multinational companies in the internationalization of markets and production? Debate has polarized around contrasting `global' and `national business system' perspectives. The article moves beyond this dichotomy, conceptualizing the international company as a distinctive form of organization on a sub-global basis. Focusing on Europe, it explores the relevance of the idea of a `Eurocompany' for industrial relations analysis by examining the case of European Works Councils. These represent a specifically European development, deriving from regulatory initiative by the EU, but also from developments within MNCs themselves. Drawing on evidence from a study of the provisions of 386 voluntary agreements establishing EWCs, the article questions the argument that these `European' structures are essentially extensions of national systems of workplace representation. It shows the additional influence on the structure and functioning of EWCs of factors, such as sector, which transcend national borders.
Deliberative Governance and EU Social Policy
Authors: Teague Paul
Published: March 2007

This article argues that EU social policy has weakened the long established bond between economic citizenship and the nation-state yet is unable to establish a fully-formed European replacement model. Part of the explanation lies within the unstable institutional design of EU social policy. At first a fairly pragmatic style of policy-making was used in response to this problem, but over time a new institutional architecture has evolved which is called deliberative governance. While the author welcomes this development, he is cautious whether or not it will produce greater organizational coherence for economic citizenship in the EU.
The Worst Record in Europe?: A Comparative Analysis of Industrial Conflict in Spain
Authors: Rigby Mike , Aledo Mari Luz Marco
Published: March 2007

Since the transition to democracy, Spain has recorded the highest strike rate of EU countries. Drawing on a comparison with Franzosi's analysis of strikes in Italy, this article seeks to explain the high number of working days lost in Spain by reference to the role of sectoral bargaining, the instability of corporatist relations, solidaristic features of worker representation and Spanish society, and the development of industrial action by unions outside the main confederations. It is suggested that the pattern of industrial conflict reflects the limited strategic options available to Spanish trade unions and Spanish employers' ambivalence toward industrial relations institutions. The article concludes that although there are reasons to expect a reduction in industrial conflict in Spain, a steady and continuous decline in strikes is improbable.
Labour Regulation and Competitive Performance in the Port Transport Industry: The Changing Fortunes of Three Major European Seaports
Authors: Barton Harry , Turnbull Peter
Published: March 2007

Although the European Commission has sought to promote competition in the port transport sector and recommended the adoption of `common principles' and a uniform `management philosophy', significant differences between ports persist in terms of management and labour regulation on the one hand, and operational efficiency and international competitiveness on the other. Through a social-institutional perspective, we demonstrate how labour regulation facilitated change and international competitiveness in Antwerp, but retarded the potential of technological and other productivity-enhancing developments, in different ways, in London and Le Havre. This demonstrates that, contrary to neo-liberal economic theory and the preferred (deregulatory) policy of the European Commission and many individual Member States, institutionally saturated patterns of labour regulation are more efficient than institutionally minimalist forms of organization.
The New Swedish Regime for Collective Bargaining and Conflict Resolution: A Comparative Perspective
Authors: Elvander Nils
Published: March 2007

This article discusses the new system of conflict resolution and coordinated wage bargaining introduced in Sweden in 1997. First adopted by agreement between unions and employers in the manufacturing sector, it has been imitated in the public sector and formed the model for legislation in 2000. The author discusses the significance of these developments and locates the Swedish experience in a broader European comparative perspective.
Interpreting Change: Debates in Spanish Industrial Relations
Authors: Lucio Miguel Martinez
Published: March 2007

The aim of this article is to review some of the key literature and areas of debate within Spanish industrial relations. It offers a guide to a range of authors and schools of debate along with their contributions to the understanding of change in industrial relations. The primary focus is on aspects of the Spanish debate which have become important in the last few years.
Confusing Convergence: Industrial Relations in the European Airline Industry - A Comment on Warhurst
Authors: Blyton Paul , Turnbull Peter
Published: March 2007

Although there has been a revival of interest in comparative industrial relations analysis, much of the current debate continues to juxtapose convergent and divergent trajectories and search for factors which might explain why the experience of one nation differs from, or is similar to, that of others. Though of some utility, it is important to question how far such an approach can continue to advance our understanding of comparative industrial relations. The merits and limitations of a `convergence versus divergence' approach are illustrated by a critique and development of Russell Warhurst's (1995) analysis of industrial relations in the European airline industry. It is argued from this critique that comparative analysis should focus on modes of labour regulation rather than the institutions of industrial relations.
`Diamond Time'
Authors: Westwood Sallie
Published: March 2007

This article examines the ways in which time is revisioned within the marketing discourses of the diamond trade. Time, it is argued, is a key component in the ways in which consumers are interpellated as buyers of diamonds. The article explores a series of time `frames' in order to excavate the ways in which time is used in marketing rhetoric and strategies. Crucial to the strategy is the rupture between labour time and `diamond time' which concentrates upon romantic evocations and the role of diamonds as signifiers of love.
Time at High Altitude
Authors: Schneider Manuel
Published: March 2007

This experiential report explores the complexity of time(s) in the context of high-altitude climbing. It shows the tight interdependence of time and place for the shifting relationship between pace, movement and altitude. It considers the centrality of Kairos, the fortuitous (and fortunate) convergence of the right person, at the right time, in the right place. Finally, it discusses the climber's constantly shifting relationship to the past, present and future while ascending, arriving at the summit and descending some of the highest (8000+ metre) mountains of the earth.
Time as Ideological Dilemma
Authors: Gough Brendan
Published: March 2007

In a previous study by the author, in which participants were asked to comment on `life in the 1990s', two major narratives around time were identified (within and across interviews) as `conservative' and `liberal'. The former emphasizes present degeneration and nostalgic recapitulation, the latter progress and the relative superiority of the present over the past. This dual accounting around time is framed in this article, after Billig et al., as an `ideological dilemma' and as such constitutive of a dynamic dialectical debate which ensures that no one perspective assumes total authority. The negotiation of these contradictory ideas is explicated and analysed with particular reference to discussions around nostalgia and political critique.
American Corporate Timetabling
Authors: Clark Peter
Published: March 2007

This paper is concerned with corporate forms of timetabling and time reckoning and shows some of the patterns of influence between the corporate cultures of the USA and Japan. Prior to the 1970s, US forms of corporate timetabling were defined by western firms as `best practice'. In the 1970s these approaches were embodied and embedded in computer-based timetabling. The American supply industry marketed them throughout the world. However, by the 1960s key firms in Japan in the automobile sector were using time reckoning and timetabling systems which were neither considered possible nor envisaged by western analysts and theories of management. Since the 1980s US firms in many sectors have been re-authoring their time reckoning and timetabling to incorporate elements from Japanese developments.
The Fall into the Present
Authors: Santiso Javier
Published: March 2007

Studies on democratization have approached the question of time from the perspective of both representation and allocation. They invite political science, and the social sciences in general, to further address the temporal dimension and the issue of time in processes of political change. From this perspective, democratizations can be described as critical moments for the reconfiguration of time perceptions and temporal representations, moments in which the future is both uncertain and temporally limited. In this sense, from the East to the South, we are witnessing a sharp `fall' into the democratic present and a refocusing of politics on concepts such as `Democracy' and `the Market'. What we call the `fall into the present' refers to the presentist focus of politics and the extra-ordinary re-evaluation of the present in the modern era: the present becomes omnipresent and overrules both the past and the future as the referential horizon of politics. The changing nature of the perception of time is particularly acute in Latin America, where the future is being replaced by the present as the focal point of politics.
Current Russian—Ukrainian Rapprochement: Forward or Backward? A Rejoinder
Authors: POLYAKOV LEONID
Published: March 2007

Lately, a number of commentators have noted a Russian-Ukrainian rapprochement and underscored its strong cultural and economic basis. This rejoinder to the article in this journal by Arkady Moshes, `Russian-Ukrainian Rapprochement of 2001: How Viable?', argues in line with Moshes that the viability of the current rapprochement between Ukraine and Russia is somewhat questionable. Indeed, the rapprochement is motivated by more than just natural uniting factors and the desires of the two nations to support each other's progressive development towards fully fledged democracy. A significant factor remains Russia's desire to return the currently politically weak and economically dependent Ukraine to its own sphere of influence.
Euralille
Authors: Moulaert Frank , Salin Elodie , Werquin Thomas
Published: March 2007

Has large-scale urban regeneration in general and Euralille in particular affected the social and economic harmony of the Lille Metropolis, the largest northern agglomeration of France? To answer this question, the impact of large-scale urban development projects on real estate, housing and job markets is evaluated. It is found that Euralille plays in the first instance an emblematic role in the economic development and social reconstruction of the Lille community. Its impact on socio-economic ‘re-zoning’ of the metropolis is however far from just symbolic. It has set the trend to a new type of corporate estates, it has disturbed the construction cycle of new offices in other parts of the urban region, and it has taken the lead in the creation of a ‘middle-market’ retail system attracting customers from far beyond the Lille agglomeration to its shopping arcades. Moreover, together with other downtown real estate initiatives, it has fuelled the displacement of lower-income housing to cheaper areas of the Metropolis.
Winners and Losers in the Transformation of City Centre Retailing in East Central Europe
Authors: Nagy Erika
Published: March 2007

In the 1990s, retail networks were transformed dramatically in East Central European countries. This paper focuses on the transition of the inner spaces of Czech and Hungarian cities that has been accelerated by large-scale retail investments that formed new foci for retailing, differentiated city centre shopping facilities and changed the frequency, direction and length of shopping trips. In this way, new dimensions of social inequality emerged within cities. The differentiation process rests on the capacity for adaptation to changes in the retail network and shopping behaviour, which correlates strongly with the social status of shoppers. The changes are also put in the context of urban/regional planning which, to date, has not articulated adequate answers to emerging social and land use conflicts.
Eu Programmes and the Evolution of Local Economic Governance in the UK
Authors: Martin Steve
Published: March 2007

Empirical analyses of the activities and perceptions of a broad range of local authorities confirms the view that recent years have witnessed two key changes in local economic governance in the UK. First, the privileging of business interests by both European and domestic policy agendas has offered the private sector a far greater role in local regeneration partnerships. While there are doubts about the ability or willingness of businesses to make a meaningful contribution at the local level, the neoliberal agenda which has dominated policy making at the European level has had an important influence over the overall size and shape of the EU's structural funds. Second, local regeneration strategies have become increasingly dependent on EU programmes. This has provided the European Commission with greater influence over regeneration strategies in particular enabling it to encourage regional alliances between authorities. However, the overall pattern of local authorities' activity suggests that this has not led to the radical realignment of central-local relations envisaged by theories of multi-level governance. The strong 'gatekeeper' role of central government has meant that EU programmes have usually taken on a distinctly British flavour and that both the vertical and horizontal partnerships which have emerged in the UK have reflected a particular interpretation by central government of the principles embodied in the structural fund regulations. Very few British local authorities expect, or even aspire, to influence EU policy agendas. Current patterns of local economic governance in Britain are therefore best seen as the product of an increasingly fragmented European polity in which the power of local authorities has declined, the European Commission's influence has grown but central government has been able to retain a dominant position.
Product and Place
Authors: Libery Brian , Kneafsey Moya
Published: March 2007

Quality products and services (niche markets) could be an important instrument of rural development in the lagging regions of the European Union. However, there is little research which relates product to place in a rural context. After providing a brief insight into aspects of agricultural and rural restructuring, the article reviews existing literature and relevant concepts under the separate headings of 'Constructing quality' and 'Constructing regional images: linking product to place'. Many of these ideas are being applied in an interdisciplinary and international (EU) research project which attempts to link specific quality products and services to specific regions. The aims of RIPPLE are outlined in the hope of encouraging more research into the links between quality products and rural places.
New Tendencies in Inter-Firm Relations in the Automotive Industry and their Impact on European Periphery Suppliers
Authors: Aller Ricardo Aláez , Ubillos Javier Bilbao , Beldarrain Vicente Camino , García Juan Carlos Longás
Published: March 2007

This paper considers how recent tendencies in automotive production have affected suppliers in the European periphery. Assembly-firm strategies and the consequent reactions of component suppliers are analysed. Demands from the former have led to the emergence of oligopolies in the production of more complex systems. The effects of this productive reorganization on European periphery suppliers are explored with reference to the case of Spain.
Reactivation of Cultural Mediational1 Practices
Authors: Hundeide Karsten
Published: March 2007

This article is a theoretical statement on the significance of human meaning both in a context of adaptation to extreme situations, cultural change and to early intervention into caregiver-child relationships, and child rearing practices. In the first part of this article, I argue that human beings need a conceptual framework of meaning into which they can project their life so that it makes sense. These life-theories or -narratives are crucial for psychological adaptation and survival under difficult life conditions—something that makes suffering meaningful and worth enduring, a moral framework. This applies also to condi tion of cultural change, when the link towards established meaning resources are destroyed or inhibited—when there is loss of meaning-a situation of demoralisation may be the conse quence.

In the second part of this article, I argue against the widespread tendency in psychology to detach psychological skills from content and meaning, as exemplified in the widespread tendency to develop cognitive intervention programmes directed towards children and their caregivers detached from a framework and context of cultural and social meaning. This argument is pursued further by requesting a new strategy of intervention where reactivation of relevant cultural practices may be the issue, not intervention in the sense of enforcing/ instructing universal skills, which are very often camouflaged as Western cultural practices that are taken for granted.

In the last part of the article, I go more explicitly through some facilitative procedures and examples of how Feuerstein and Klein's criteria of mediation can be used, not in an instruc tive and imposive way, but to facilitate traditional cultural ways of communicating and relating between caregiver and child. Finally I go through different cultural modes of mediation that are more in line with the communicative practices which are common in traditional societies of the majority world
The Functions of Work-related Group Participation for Poor Women in Developing Countries: An Exploratory Look
Authors: Schein Virginia E.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this research was to take an exploratory look at the psychological functions of par ticipation in work-related groups for poor women in developing countries. Specifically, the research examined the attitudes of poor women in Nicaragua towards various aspects ofgroup membership and the self-reported attitudinal and behavioural changes that occurred as a result of participation in the group. A total of 57 women from eight different work-related groups participated in on site group interviews. Categories reflective of the meaning ofgroup membership included being no longer marginalised, social and emotional support, development of group and organising skills, technical skills, and an awareness of women's rights. Changes were evident at the personal. interpersonal, community and organisational levels. The positive outcomes ofgroup participation for women in developing countries and a framework to guide future research in this area are discussed.
Beyond Cross-Cultural Psychologr: The Case of Third World Factory Women
Authors: Sloan Tod S. , Schroder Sherrie Brownstein
Published: March 2007

The psychocultural position of Third World women employed in the assembly plants of multinational enterprises is examined on the basis of well-documented accounts of their working conditions. In particular, it is argued that the impact of working conditions on stress related psychological symptoms can only be understood in the light of socio-historical and cultural analyses. An example of such an analysis, developed along lines sketched by Theodor Adorno and illustrated by a narrative from a young Mexican factory worker, demonstrates the possibility for a critical psychology that transcends the typical interests of cross-cultural research and is more relevant to pressing global problems. Strategies for intervention are briefly discussed.
Chinese and Australian Concepts of Intelligence
Authors: Chen May Jane
Published: March 2007

The paper explores the Chinese conceptualisation of intelligence and points out how Western techniques of measurement of intellectual functions arefarfrom satisfactory. Two studies are presented. Both studies used the relevance rating technique to investigate the notion of intelligence held by two groups which differed in terms of culture and race (Australian and Taiwanese students, Study 1) and also in terms of educational experience (traditional Chinese and English schooling systems) but of the same culture (Study 2). In both studies items selected from two well-known intelligence tests were rated for their relevance to measuring intelligence as well as in terms of their difficulty level. Study 1 showed that three factors—non-reasoning ability, verbal reasoning ability and rote memory—constituted the concept of intelligence. In Study 2 as well, subjects of both groups shared a common structure of intelligence. The implications of using Western intelligence tests for non-Western groups are discussed.
PASS: An Alternative Approach to Intelligence
Authors: Das J.P. , Abbott J.
Published: March 2007

As a by-product of the cognitive revolution, a coherent theory of cognitive processing has challenged traditional methods of studying and measuring intelligence. The PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous and Successive cognitive processing) theory of intelligence identifies three operational units that are important to understand mental functioning: attention, simultaneous and successive processing, and planning. The PASS theory of intelligence is based on the neuropsychological work of A.R.Luria. The PASS model is an alternative approach to measuring and studying intelligence. A remediation programme based on the PASS model is presented and its utility in improving the specific cognitive processes that underlie academic skills is discussed.
'Feminism' in Print Media
Authors: Chaudhuri Maitrayee
Published: March 2007

Locating the issue of feminism in the institutional context of the print media, we discover two popular versions of feminism that the media promote, a feminism of choice' and a 'traditional feminism'. At the same time, they express hostility, both covert and not-so-covert, to organised women's movements. This simultaneous cooptation and backlash is seemingly a sign of a con sensus over some of feminism's demands, such as equality, while it also perverts the agenda of feminism itself—in the interests of a newly liberalised economy and a resurgent majoritarian religious political party movement.
Engendering Community Rights
Authors: Datar Chhaya , Prakash Aseem
Published: March 2007

The paper is deeply concerned with the various alternatives for overcoming subordination of women's labour and its further vulnerability to environmental degradation. It explores the pos sibility of overcoming the inherent tension between the forces unleashed by the market economy and institutions governed by growing democratic consciousness. Thus, through detailed field documentation an alternative institution is suggested for reconciling the macro agenda of eco nomic growth, environmental regeneration and national food security with local food security and livelihood needs of the poor and marginalised, while addressing strategic gender needs. It attempts to reconcile the rigid social hierarchy with democratic polity, that is, empowering the disadvantaged sections of society through providing entitlement to productive tangible (re sources and stores) and intangible assets (control and access; and power and control over socio economic institutions that enhance their livelihood capabilities.
The Spirit of the Law
Authors: Kidd Michael
Published: March 2007

It is my contention that the law has its origins and derives its authority from moral precepts; and this morality is not dead, but is a live spirituality and ultimately depends on connection with the divine. In the spirit of the law, what is mercy and the admonition to love one's fellow humans as oneself and its application in the new millennium? If this view is accepted it has profound implications for the way law is practised. The implications for the role of customary law in the legal decision-making process and the recognition of indigenous rights generally are affected.
Love, Ontology and the Workplace: Implications of the Speeches of Lysias and Socrates in the Phaedrus
Authors: DAVID CRUISE MALLOY
Published: March 2007

Scholars employing the work of Plato in business literature have generally focused upon three Socratic dia logues, the Republic, the Laws and the Statesman. These have been obvious choices as each pays particu lar attention to leadership and governance/administration. There are, however, other works of Plato that can also shed light upon our contemporary notions of leadership in organizational life. The Phaedrus is a case in point.1 While not explicitly directed towards the study of leadership, it can be viewed as a dialogue that does offer critical advice to those in positions of authority and power. The purpose of this paper is then to explore the relevance of Phaedrus to contemporary organizational leadership.
Rowing Against the Tide: Emergence and Consolidation of Molecular Biology in Argentina, 1960—90
Authors: Kreimer Pablo , Lugones Manuel
Published: March 2007

Molecular biology began its eventful career in Argentina with the creation at the Malbrán National Institute for Microbiology of the first specially designed laboratories in 195 7. This was extremely early since the discipline was still in its international infancy and there were only a handful of groups worldwide working on topics that could be labelled as 'molecular biology From a latter-day perspective, molecular biology in Argentina is a particularly interesting example of the development of a new knowledge space in a peripheral context. Here, the elements common to various different disciplines in Argentina are as striking as the features typical of molecular biology, understood as the articulation of a socio-cognitive network interacting with local and international scientific traditions.
Bridging Knowledge Boundaries: A Challenge for S& T Policy in Mozambique
Authors: Turpin Tim , Martinez-Fernandez Cristina
Published: March 2007

This paper presents a developing economy perspective of 'knowledge-based development'. The observation is made that in order to avoid some of the negative consequences of globalisation, developing countries need policy instruments quite different from those that prevailed among developing countries through the 1980s and 1990s. The current development of science and technology policy in Mozambique is presented as an example of how national S& T policies in developing economies might be redirected toward achieving this. The Mozambique case suggests a way forward for developing countries to adopt alternative S&T policy approaches from those that have generally prevailed elsewhere. This is essentially an inclusive rather than exclusive approach to science and technology, and one that serves to bridge 'knowledge systems' rather than simply building links between scientific institutions and industry.
Agronomía Afranceada: The French Contribution to Mexican Agronomy, 1880-1940
Authors: Cotter Joseph , Osborne Michael A.
Published: March 2007

In this paper, which is based on a review of archival and published primary and secondary sources from many repositories in Mexico, France and the United States, we discuss the impact of French agronomy on the development of this scientific discipline in Mexico. We consider the evolution of Mexican agronomy in the context of the nation's political history, discuss the rise of French influence during the nineteenth century, examine the impact of the introduction of other foreign models of agricultural science after the Mexican Revolution (1910-20), and evaluate Mexico's decision to adopt the agricultural science of the United States as a model for the development of Mexican agronomy after 1940. Using this discussion we demonstrate that French agronomy had a crucial impact on the early development of the discipline in Mexico. Further, although the French model eventually lost out to the agricultural science of the United States, the Mexican agronomists' early ties to France ensured that French agronomy continued to exercise some influence in Mexico after 1940.
The Social Production of Metropolitan Expertise in Tropical Diseases: The Imperial State, Colonial Service and the Tropical Diseases Research Fund
Authors: Haynes Douglas Melvin
Published: March 2007

The hegemonic authority of Western science over disease in the tropical world is not a prod uct of its inherent truth value, but rather refers to the underdevelopment of science resources under European rule. As this study will show, the emphasis on the delivery of medical care in the dependent British Empire in the second half of the nineteenth century created conditions for the domestication of tropical disease research in the twentieth cen tury. A large pool of underemployed medical practitioners in Britain enabled the Colonial Office to satisfy the personnel needs of its far-flung empire. Colonial governments, in turn, maximised the labour of imperial doctors as primary care providers through a wide range of administrative tools. This emphasis simultaneously retarded the development of labora tory research into disease in the periphery while creating an opportunity for its metropolitan appropriation. Eventually the Tropical Disease Research Fund was created to promote the understanding of disease in the empire by subsidising laboratory science in Britain.
Defamatory Pictures and Letters in Late Medieval Germany: The Visualisation of Disorder and Infamy
Authors: Lentz Matthias
Published: March 2007

This essay examines a corpus of material including defamatory letters and pictures that comprised one of the peculiarities of socio-legal systems in late medieval Germany. Drawing upon anthropological insights, the argument posits that in a society whose workings were determined to a large extent by unwritten laws and personal ties, the intended effect of such 'out of court' defamatory sanctions-and of medieval legal measures in general-was not so much the need to punish, but instead the restitution of social equilibrium. After tracing the legal and social background of the German practice of using injurious letters and images, the essay proceeds to characterise the mechanisms through which such materials, asserting their claims to legality in specific ways, functioned as media of social exclusion.