Worlds come apart: Systems theory versus critical theory. Drama in the history of sociology in the twentieth century

This article places an episode in the history of sociological theory into intellectual history in the twentieth century. The perspective is chronological as well as contextual. The themes are two theoretical approaches, both embedded in both American and German history, Parsonian Systems Theory and “Frankfurt School” Critical Theory. The chronology shown spanned mainly from the 1940s to the 1960s. The context of the two theories is a period that is crucial in twentieth century history. The protagonists of the two approaches were, in the 1940s, Americans and Germans exiled in the United States. In the 1950s, both approaches were affected by McCarthyism in different ways. The 1960s, however, were the culmination. The dynamics of the two approaches led into a schism which came into the open on the occasion of the 1964 German Sociology Conference in Heidelberg celebrating Max Weber. The article shows the stages in the evolution of the schism, emulating three acts in a drama. The final split was over whether Weber or Marx should be the classic whose oeuvre was to influence sociological thinking today. My aim is to exemplify how these two authoritative approaches in sociological theory, far from escaping the vagaries and vicissitudes of their times, were embedded in twentieth-century history.     

Partial strikes under the railway labor act: The need for a doctrine of unprotected concerted activity

In light of use by airline unions of partial-strike tactics, such as concerted refusals to bid for overtime work and so-called ” CHAOS” tactics involving unannounced refusals to fly after passengers have been ticketed and are ready to board, the authors examine whether the Railway Labor Act (RLA) should be interpreted to permit employers to discipline employees for engaging in such tactics, or whether these are a protected form of economic pressure. Although in many respects bargaining duties and economic weapons under the RLA are read consonant with precedents under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) (which governs all industries other than rail and air transport), there are a few decisions suggesting that during the period when self-help may be resorted to, employees can engage in partial strike activities as long as they violate no court order but are subject to permanent replacement in limited circumstances. These decisions, the authors submit, fail to take account of Supreme Court decsions since the 1930s that some economic pressures by unions, such as slowdowns and sitins, may not violate the labor laws but nor are they protected by those laws so as to immunize partial strikers from employer discipline. These decisions are not based on unique features of the NLRA. Rather, they give recognition to the background assumptions of Congress that employers may act to protect their property interests as long as they do not run afoul of NLRA or RLA protections and that employees who engage in partial-strike activities are subject to employer discipline even where not strictly necessary to maintain operations. Moreover, these tactics skew the bargaining process by giving employees an essentially risk-free gambit to pressure their economic position through planned disruption of carrier operations. Professor Estreicher is also labor and employment counsel to O’Melveny & Myers, LLP. The views expressed herein are the authors’ and should not be attributed to any organization. Hannah Breshin and Tom Jerman of O’Melveny & Myers, assisted the authors with this article. We also thank Professor Herbert Northrup for his helpful comments.     

对车险改革后保险营销的浅析

在车辆保险条款费率改革之后的车险市场上,现实状况却与预计效果相差甚远。其主要原因是,对保险营销战略的忽视,没有以相应的保险营销战略为指导,使得营销战术在操作过程中显得盲目而跟从。针对以上问题,我们首先要做的是树立正确的保险营销观念,即重新审视营销战略在车辆保险中的作用,并在此基础上建立广义的产品观念;同时注重服务在车险营销中的作用;有效地进行市场细分和市场选择;最后对车险营销战略的具体实施即营销战术提出建议。     

Netzwerken: Reflexionen und Erfahrungen am Beispiel eines TrainerInnen und BeraterInnen-Netzwerkes

How are social networks organized and how much structure and openess do they have? The ambiguity of networking and the grade of organization are discussed and described theoretically and with an authentic example.     

Führung durch Selbstführung

This paper outlines the conceptual bases, strategies, and psychological attributes of leadership by self-leadership. In addition, relations to other theories of leadership are drawn. Dimensions and correlates of self-leadership competence are described and discussed. Various approaches for developing self-leadership competence are discussed as well.     

从国际玉米市场态势看中国玉米经济发展策略

玉米在全球粮食市场上占据非常重要的地位。文章分析了20世纪90年代以来国际玉米市场的供求变化,研究了主要玉米进出口国特别是美国的玉米发展战略,并提出了开放经济条件下中国玉米经济发展的战略选择。     

完善我国合同法应借鉴《国际商事合同通则》

1999年10月1日后正式实施的《中华人民共和国合同法》已经借鉴了当今发达国家先进的合同法立法经验和国际惯例,但与其它国家和有关国际公约的立法相比较,若干条文和规定仍然是粗线条的。文章以《国际商事合同通则》为例与我国合同法对比,探讨了我国合同立法在合同的成立、合同效力问题、精神损害赔偿、“意外条款”的效力、合同的解释等方面的一些缺陷,以期对我国合同法的完善有所借鉴。     

试析行政环境--组织理论的一个视角

行政环境是影响行政组织活动外都及内部诸因素的总和,可分为一般社会环境与工作(具体)环境。行政环境与行政组织构成行政生态系统,二者存在着互相依存、相互作用的互动关系。行政组织有效发挥作用的一个重要条件就是要具有良性的行政环境。在此基础上,本文指出了建构良性行政环境的三条有效路径,以期促进行政改革进而提升政府的公共行政能力。     

论建设国家生态安全体系的法律架构

生态安全是国家安全体系的组成部分,也是人类维持生命和从事各种活动的物质基础。本文全面论述建设国家生态安全体系具有重要战略意义,并提出建设国家生态安全体系的法律架构思考的六项建议。     

Simple detection of outlying short time series

Sets of relatively short time series arise in many situations. One aspect of their analysis may be the detection of outlying series. We examine the performance of standard normal outlier tests applied to the means, or to simple functions of the means, of AR(1) series, not necessarily of equal lengths. Although unequal lengths of series implies that the means have unequal variances, that are only known approximately, it is shown that nominal significance levels hold good under most circumstances. Thus a standard outlier test can usefully be applied, avoiding the complication of estimating the time series' parameters. The test's power is affected by unequal lengths, being higher when the slippage occurs in one of the longer series