RE-CANONIZING MARX

In this article, I underline the continuing intellectual force and rhetorical sophistication of The Communist Manifesto. Both in terms of its explanatory and normative strategy, and in terms of the way it handles the discursive balance between monologue and dialogue, there are, remarkably, still fresh things to say about the way Marx's thought works in this text. The favourable reception given to the Manifesto on its sesqui-centenary is also due to the increased awareness in today's audience of the apparently uncontrollable character of global capitalism, and the deep inequalities and uncertainties it continues to produce. Renewed appreciation of Marx's discursive quality, together with the new-found resonance of aspects of his substantive theories, raises again the question of Marx's status in cultural studies and sociological theory. This study discusses Marx in the light of the whole question of canonicity, and argues that Marx's re-canonization, if that is what is happening, is inevitably double-edged. On the one hand, it is indeed salutary to return to Marx after a prolonged phase of reflexivity, while at the same time the shift towards questions of discourse and affect in the human sciences has itself been responsible in part for sensitizing us to the distinctive effect of Marx's words. If the return of Marx properly radicalizes once more our sense of the point and practice of the human sciences, his legacy is nevertheless unlikely to regain exclusive authority among the plurality of sources for critique and action.     

Why NBIC? Why human performance enhancement?

A 2001 U.S. workshop with the title “Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science (NBIC): Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance” introduced the convergence of various sciences and technologies based on their nanoscale properties. It highlighted BIC as the science and technologies converging on the nanoscale. However many other sciences and technologies with nanoscale components exist, such as chemistry and material sciences. Furthermore the workshop chose human performance enhancement as its case study of application despite various other possible applications that could have been chosen. This paper addresses the questions why the workshop organizers (a) introduced nanoscale as a convergence concept, (b) chose BIC as the convergence examples and (c) chose human performance enhancement as their application. The paper provides some thoughts as to the success and consequences of that strategy.     

On multiattributive risk aversion: some clarifying results

This article sheds some light on three concepts of risk aversion in a multiattributive decision framework introduced into the literature by Kihlstrom and Mirman (J Econ Theor 8:361–388, 1974), de Finetti (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia 11:685–709, 1952), Richard (Manage Sci 22:12–21, 1975), and Meyer (Preferences over time, New York, pp. 473–514, 1976). We review the three multiattributive risk aversion definitions as well as the notion of partial risk aversion, give a translation of these concepts into properties of the multiattributive utility function and reveal that Meyer’s, de Finetti/Richard’s concepts are very closely related. Moreover, it is shown that any additive utility function is risk neutral in the sense of de Finetti/Richard and Meyer independently of the risk attitude that it expresses in terms of Kihlstrom/Mirman. Additionally we introduce a multiattributive utility function derived from a one-dimensional function that leads to a coincidence of the differently defined risk attitudes.

Divided we stand: Defying hegemony in global public relations theory and practice?

The last decade has seen the world becoming increasingly complex. One way of dealing with complexity, according to Schwab (2010a), is to look for certainties or solutions that impose order by simplifying. The authors contend that this is a risk in public relations practice and the academy. While recognizing their benefits they warn against attempts to produce global models which also seek to impose hegemony and argue for maintaining a diversity that reflects reality. They take the cases of the UK and Singapore as respective exemplars where hegemony has arguably occurred and where it can still be resisted. They call for a professional and epistemological stand against hegemony.     

Broadcasting multiple messages in the 1-in port model in optimal time

In the 1-in port model, every vertex of a synchronous network can receive at most one message in each time unit. We consider simultaneous broadcasting of multiple messages from the same source or from distinct sources in such networks with an additional restriction that every received message can be sent out to neighbors only in the next time unit and never to already informed vertex. We use a general concept of level-disjoint partitions developed for this scenario. Here we introduce a subgraph extension technique for efficient spreading information within this concept. Surprisingly, this approach with so called biwheels leads to simultaneous broadcasting of optimal number of messages on a wide class of graphs in optimal time. In particular, we provide tight results for bipartite tori, meshes, hypercubes, Knödel graphs, circulant graphs. We also propose several open problems and conjectures.     

Does Migration Pay Off in Later Life? Income and Subjective Well-Being of Older Migrants in Europe

Social Indicators Research - This study examines whether intra-European migration pays off in terms of income and subjective well-being (SWB) for migrants aged 50?+?who are now growing...