same principle, this time with ps
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Energiewende
Hier ein ausgezeichneter Vortrag von Herrmann Scheer, der am 12. Mai im Journal Panorama auf Ö1 gesendet wurde. Scheer, dem für seinen Einsatz für die Solarenergie der Alternative Nobelpreis 1999 verliehen wurde, plädiert darin für eine radikale Wende in der Art unserer Energieversorgung, weg von den fossilen Brennstoffen hin zu erneuerbaren, dezentral organisierten Energieformen und unterstreicht die sozialen und politischen Auswirkungen eines solchen Wandels.
(der Player funktioniert nicht im MS Internet Explorer - hier gibts ein mp3)
Dazu passt auch das aktuelle Forschungsprojekt von Timothy Mitchell (Columbia University) das den Titel "Carbon Democracy" trägt. Mitchell untersucht unter Berücksichtigung sowohl der Science and Technology Studies als auch der Postcolonial Theory, die Geschichte der fossilen Brennstoffe und stellt eine Verbindung zu den Möglichkeiten demokratischer Entwicklung im Zuge der Konstruktion moderner Energienetzwerke her. Aus dem Abstract zu einer vorläufigen Fassung:
"States that depend upon oil revenues appear to be less democratic than other states. Yet oil presents a much larger problem for democracy: faced with the threats of oil depletion and catastrophic climate change, the democratic machineries that emerged to govern the age of carbon energy seem to be unable to address the processes that may end it. This paper explores these multiple dimensions of carbon democracy, by examining the intersecting histories of coal, oil, and democracy in the twentieth century. Following closely the methods by which fossil fuels were produced, distributed, and converted into other forms of socio-technical organization, financial circulation, and political power, the paper traces ways in which the concentration and control of energy flows could open up democratic possibilities or close them down; how in the postwar period connections were engineered between the flow of oil and the flows of international finance, on which democratic stability was thought to depend; how these same circulations made possible the emergence of the economy and its unlimited growth as the main object of democratic politics; and how the relations among forms of energy, finance, economic knowledge, democracy, and violence were transformed in the 1967-74 oil-dollar-Middle East crises."
(der Player funktioniert nicht im MS Internet Explorer - hier gibts ein mp3)
Dazu passt auch das aktuelle Forschungsprojekt von Timothy Mitchell (Columbia University) das den Titel "Carbon Democracy" trägt. Mitchell untersucht unter Berücksichtigung sowohl der Science and Technology Studies als auch der Postcolonial Theory, die Geschichte der fossilen Brennstoffe und stellt eine Verbindung zu den Möglichkeiten demokratischer Entwicklung im Zuge der Konstruktion moderner Energienetzwerke her. Aus dem Abstract zu einer vorläufigen Fassung:
"States that depend upon oil revenues appear to be less democratic than other states. Yet oil presents a much larger problem for democracy: faced with the threats of oil depletion and catastrophic climate change, the democratic machineries that emerged to govern the age of carbon energy seem to be unable to address the processes that may end it. This paper explores these multiple dimensions of carbon democracy, by examining the intersecting histories of coal, oil, and democracy in the twentieth century. Following closely the methods by which fossil fuels were produced, distributed, and converted into other forms of socio-technical organization, financial circulation, and political power, the paper traces ways in which the concentration and control of energy flows could open up democratic possibilities or close them down; how in the postwar period connections were engineered between the flow of oil and the flows of international finance, on which democratic stability was thought to depend; how these same circulations made possible the emergence of the economy and its unlimited growth as the main object of democratic politics; and how the relations among forms of energy, finance, economic knowledge, democracy, and violence were transformed in the 1967-74 oil-dollar-Middle East crises."
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Afghanistan - Pakistan
Interesting article from the Saudi Gazette on the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan:
Obama worsening Afghan-Pak state
By Graham E. Fuller
For all the talk of “smart power,” President Obama is pressing down the same path of failure in Pakistan marked out by George Bush. The realities suggest need for drastic revision of US strategic thinking. [...]
Obama worsening Afghan-Pak state
By Graham E. Fuller
For all the talk of “smart power,” President Obama is pressing down the same path of failure in Pakistan marked out by George Bush. The realities suggest need for drastic revision of US strategic thinking. [...]
Monday, May 11, 2009
Gegenseitige Provokationen...
Aus aktuellem Anlass zwei kurze Kommentare zum Aufschwung der extremen Rechten in Österreich. Ausnahmsweise muss ich an dieser Stelle Hans Rauscher vom Standard zustimmen, wenn er meint:
„Arbeitslosigkeit bedeutet politische Radikalisierung, bedeutet in Österreich nicht einen Schwenk nach links, sondern nach ganz rechts - allerdings in der Variante eines nationalen Sozialismus: Der Staat verteilt freigebig soziale Wohltaten, allerdings nur an die eigenen "Volksgenossen". Die anderen werden ausgeschlossen, im Extremfall ausgeraubt (und später ermordet).“
(Der Standard, 8. Mai 2009)
Was Rauscher als Liberaler allerdings nicht erkennen kann, bringt etwa John Gray auf den Punkt:
“There are many deep differences between the far Right in the interwar period and the present. Not all of them are comforting. The standard textbooks of political science interpret the far right as a political aberration that can only develop in conditions of economic and political crisis. In this, as in many other respects, they lag behind the times. In the interwar period, fascist and Nazi parties took advantage of the fact that in many parts of Europe democracy was weak. Today, when democratic institutions are well entrenched throughout Europe, the parties of the far right aim to exploit democracy rather than to overthrow it.“
(Populism and the Failure of the Centre Parties. Speach on the conference Morality and Politics, Vienna, 7 December 2002)
Kommentarlos sei hier übrigens noch Innenministerin Maria Fekter bezüglich der Vorfälle während der Gedenkfeiern im KZ Mauthausen, bei denen TeilnehmerInnen von einer Gruppe Neonazis verbal attackiert und mit einer Gaspistole angeschossen wurden, zitiert:
„Fekter analysierte die grundsätzliche Situation: Es seien die gegenseitigen Provokationen im Vormarsch. Dieses Phänomen sei nicht gut.“
(Der Standard, 10. Mai 2009)
NACHTRAG:
Is fascism on the march again?
Does the election of two BNP MEPs and the success of the far right elsewhere in Europe mean we are facing the threat of fascism? Or is this just a protest vote that will quickly fade? Leading historians give their verdicts
The Guardian, Tuesday 9 June 2009
"It is not the threat from the extreme right that is the most striking characteristic of these elections, though clearly there is a shift to the right, and centre-right governments are likely to make more concessions to the far right. The real story is the crisis of the left." [...]
„Arbeitslosigkeit bedeutet politische Radikalisierung, bedeutet in Österreich nicht einen Schwenk nach links, sondern nach ganz rechts - allerdings in der Variante eines nationalen Sozialismus: Der Staat verteilt freigebig soziale Wohltaten, allerdings nur an die eigenen "Volksgenossen". Die anderen werden ausgeschlossen, im Extremfall ausgeraubt (und später ermordet).“
(Der Standard, 8. Mai 2009)
Was Rauscher als Liberaler allerdings nicht erkennen kann, bringt etwa John Gray auf den Punkt:
“There are many deep differences between the far Right in the interwar period and the present. Not all of them are comforting. The standard textbooks of political science interpret the far right as a political aberration that can only develop in conditions of economic and political crisis. In this, as in many other respects, they lag behind the times. In the interwar period, fascist and Nazi parties took advantage of the fact that in many parts of Europe democracy was weak. Today, when democratic institutions are well entrenched throughout Europe, the parties of the far right aim to exploit democracy rather than to overthrow it.“
(Populism and the Failure of the Centre Parties. Speach on the conference Morality and Politics, Vienna, 7 December 2002)
Kommentarlos sei hier übrigens noch Innenministerin Maria Fekter bezüglich der Vorfälle während der Gedenkfeiern im KZ Mauthausen, bei denen TeilnehmerInnen von einer Gruppe Neonazis verbal attackiert und mit einer Gaspistole angeschossen wurden, zitiert:
„Fekter analysierte die grundsätzliche Situation: Es seien die gegenseitigen Provokationen im Vormarsch. Dieses Phänomen sei nicht gut.“
(Der Standard, 10. Mai 2009)
NACHTRAG:
Is fascism on the march again?
Does the election of two BNP MEPs and the success of the far right elsewhere in Europe mean we are facing the threat of fascism? Or is this just a protest vote that will quickly fade? Leading historians give their verdicts
The Guardian, Tuesday 9 June 2009
"It is not the threat from the extreme right that is the most striking characteristic of these elections, though clearly there is a shift to the right, and centre-right governments are likely to make more concessions to the far right. The real story is the crisis of the left." [...]
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Mythen der Migration
Interessanter Artikel zum Thema Migration aus der Wissenschaftsbeilage des Falter:
Mythen der Migration
Was die Wissenschaft an Stereotypen und Klischees über Zuwanderer längst widerlegt hat, spukt immer noch in unseren Köpfen herum. [...]
Mythen der Migration
Was die Wissenschaft an Stereotypen und Klischees über Zuwanderer längst widerlegt hat, spukt immer noch in unseren Köpfen herum. [...]
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