The power of discourse: Michel Foucault and critical theory

Abstract

The debate that contrasts Marxism and the work of Michel Foucault often overlooks that both projects share a political and ethical commitment. Both have moreover engaged that commitment by challenging what Marx called ‘traditional ideas’, viewing them as historically compilcit with the exercise of power. This ‘radical rupture’ with traditional ideas has been the hallmark of the critical theory project since The Communist Manifesto. By challenging traditional notions of power and language, however, Michel Foucault went further than the Marxist tradition in carrying out the critical theory project. Foucault's alternative ideas of discourse/practice and of power as ‘positive’ are moreover intricately linked in a way that has not been sufficiently appreciated. This is evident in a genealogy of Foucault's early work, where neither notion is able to take hold in the absence of the other. It only after The Archaeology of Knowledge, where Foucault rethought the relationship of language to reality, that he was able to formulate the notion of power as positive in works to come. This link should cause us to rethink our relationship to Foucault's work, of it to Marxism, and of the critical theory project to the power.     

Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: exploring different determinants across groups in society

This paper explores a wide range of cross-country determinants of life satisfaction exploiting a database of 90,000 observations in 70 countries. We distinguish four groups of aggregate variables as potential determinants of satisfaction: political, economic, institutional, and human development and culture. We use ordered probit to investigate the importance of these variables on individual life satisfaction and test the robustness of our results with Extreme Bounds Analysis. The results show that only a small number of factors, such as openness, business climate, postcommunism, the number of chambers in parliament, Christian majority, and infant mortality, robustly influence life satisfaction across countries while the importance of many variables suggested in the previous literature is not confirmed. This remains largely true when the analysis splits national populations according to gender, income, and political orientation also. We thank Stephen Lea, participants at the 30th IAREP conference in Prague and the referees of this journal for comments on earlier versions. Gilles Winkler provided excellent research assistance.     

Charisma and organizational change: A multilevel study of perceived charisma,commitment to change,and team performance

What makes people perceive a leader as charismatic, and how do team leaders obtain performance outcomes from their followers? We examine leaders in times of organizational change and investigate the mechanisms through which leaders' change-promoting behaviors are associated with team performance. In a multilevel mediation model, we propose that the indirect relationship between change-promoting behaviors and team performance is sequentially transmitted through followers' perceptions of charisma and followers' commitment to change. A study of 33 leaders and 142 followers provides empirical support for the model, using multilevel structural equation modeling to analyze top-down relationships between leaders and followers and bottom-up relationships between followers and team outcomes. Results suggest that team leaders are perceived as more charismatic when they engage in change-promoting behaviors. These behaviors facilitate team performance through individual followers' perceived charisma and commitment to change.     

Nutrient intake in day workers and shift workers

Abstract

The 24-h dietary intake, nutritional status parameters and psychosomatic factors of two-shift, three-shift and day workers were compared. Estimations of the dietary intake (across a work cycle) were made by use of a nutrient database. No significant differences were found between the groups for a large number of nutritional variables: intake of energy; intake and percentage of energy from protein, fat, total carbohydrates and sucrose; intake of coffee; and intake and density of vitamins and minerals. Only minor differences were found between the groups with regard to the quantitative intake of alcohol and calcium, and with regard to the quality of the diet (percentage of energy from alcohol, density of calcium). The groups differed significantly with respect to attitude towards work hours (three-shift workers being most negative in their attitude) and sleep disturbances (shift workers being most negative). The three-shift workers were more evening-oriented and they had higher concentrations of glucose in their blood. It was concluded that work hours not related to nutritional intake—at least not when total amounts across time are considered. It was also concluded that work hours were not related to Body Mass Index or blood lipids: triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.     

“How Exposed Is Exposed Enough?” Lay Inferences About Chemical Exposure

The concept of exposure is central to chemical risk assessment and plays an important role in communicating to the public about the potential health risks of chemicals. Research on chemical risk perception has found some indication that the model lay people use to judge chemical exposure differs from that of toxicologists, thereby leading to different conclusions about chemical safety. This paper presents the results of a series of studies directed toward developing a model for understanding how lay people interpret the concept of chemical exposure. The results indicate that people's beliefs about chemical exposure (and its risks) are based on two broad categories of inferences. One category of inferences relates to the nature in which contact with a chemical has taken place, including the amount of a chemical involved and its potential health consequences. A second category of inferences about chemical exposure relates to the pragmatics of language interpretation, leading to beliefs about the motives and purposes behind chemical risk communication. Risk communicators are encouraged to consider how alternative models of exposure and language interpretation can lead to conflicting conclusions on the part of the public about chemical safety.     

Sicherheitsäquivalente zur risikoadjustierten Bewertung: Unternehmensexterne Bewertungssicht vs. unternehmensinterne Steuerungssicht Replik zu den Anmerkungen „Zum Verhältnis von Wertadditivität bei Sicherheitsäquivalenten und Risikoanalyse“ von <Emphasis Type="Italic">Reichling et al.</Emphasis> (2008)

Die Forderung nach schwacher Wertadditivit?t von Sicherheits?quivalenten ist in Abh?ngigkeit des jeweiligen Bewertungszwecks zu diskutieren. W?hrend in der unternehmensexternen Bewertungssicht, z.B. bei der Unternehmensbewertung, die Forderung nach schwacher Wertadditivit?t gut begründbar ist, stellt sie im Bereich der unternehmensinternen Steuerungssicht eine „Nice to have“-Anforderung dar. Darüber hinaus werden in der bisherigen Literatur zur Anwendbarkeit von Sicherheits?quivalenten die Kernherausforderungen der unternehmensinternen Steuerung vernachl?ssigt. Insbesondere die ad?quate Berücksichtigung stochastischer Abh?ngigkeiten im Portfolioverbund bei der Bewertung von Einzelgesch?ften mittels Sicherheits?quivalenten stellt eine Forschungslücke dar.     

Risk Perceptions and Alcohol Consumption among Young People

Swedish cross-sectional survey data on young individuals was used to analyse the determinants of perceived risks of alcohol use and how these perceptions relate to drinking behaviour. Three major conclusions were drawn: (1) that people overestimate the risks of alcoholism, (2) that these risk perceptions fall substantially with age, but nevertheless imply risk overestimation, and (3) that education about alcohol, narcotics and tobacco leads individuals to perceive risks more correctly and to have lower risk beliefs. An additional finding was that individuals with higher perceived risks were less likely to consume alcohol. Equations were estimated both separately and simultaneously.     

Smart Devices in Organisationen – Von Regelungen für die Allgegenwärtigkeit von computergestützter Kommunikation

Mobile communication devices like smart phones are keystones for improving efficiency, compacting and subjectifying work. They dissolve boundaries in multiple ways and influence organization of work alike exhaustion and recreation. Legal regulations are not implemented in organizations or do not fit. Organizations find it difficult even to find rules, because there are many contradictions. Nevertheless, it is for organizations in both competition concerns as issues of workplace health promotion advisable to conduct clarification processes to availability times. Consulting can support negotiation processes.     

Firm size and board diversity

This study seeks to understand the relation between firm size and supervisory board composition. Specifically, we ask if and how firm size influences occupational and international background diversity in supervisory boards. Relying on resource dependence theory and theories of organizational behavior, we hypothesize that board diversity with respect to directors’ occupational background will increase with firm size, while the relation between firm size and board diversity with respect to directors’ international background will be concave. Using archival data for supervisory board members of 151 German firms listed in the German stock exchange indices DAX, MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX for the business year 2005, we find empirical support for our hypotheses: Both, occupational and international background diversity increase with increasing firm size, but international background diversity does so at decreasing rates.