Re/Formierung des Österreichischen Pflichtschulwesens im Kontext neoliberaler Gouvernementalität

The goal of my article is to develop a critical point of view about the reforms and developments of the Austrian school system over the last 30 years by analysing their inherent elements of neo-liberal governance from Michel Foucault’s governmental perspective. The following issues will be elaborated:

1. The neo-liberal (re)formed schools not only have to be organized according to this rationality and to succeed within a framework of increasing school autonomy, but, in addition, they have to promote the enforcement of this rationality into the thinking of all parties hereto, especially of the pupils and teachers. That is why the school itself becomes a motor of neo-liberal transformation processes of society.
2. The school’s forming in the context of neo-liberal governmentality is a synonym for withdrawing, modifying and transforming established disciplinary practices, ways of acting and structures of thinking in school. It implies liberating and subordinating elements. Within these arrangements newly formed, subjective liberties converge with their own restrictions.

     

Does excellence matter?

The term excellence is the key concept of the European science policy. The research funding is supposed to focus on the strengthening of excellence as well as on its integration into networks and clusters. However, one seems to presuppose the criteria of excellence as self-explanatory. Studies show that scientific reputation not only grounds on outstanding achievements in research and teaching but also on social capital. This raises the question, whether networks and clusters of excellence really integrate the scientifically best scientists. It is also possible that groups with a remarkable amount of social capital reproduce themselves underthe cover “excellence”. Hence, scientific excellence would be nothing more than a metaphor.     

Demontage oder Revitalisierung?

The controversial assessments of the German employment model in the literature are generally based on analyses focused on individual pillars of the model, such as the production system, or the welfare state. The present paper suggests an alternative view which takes into account the interactions between various elements of the employment model. We argue that, by the implementation of what we call a German variety of lean production, the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry has been boosted over the last few years. However, in contrast to earlier decades, the success of the export machine does not entail a more general employment dynamic. That is, the cranks between manufacturing and the rest of the employment system has been damaged substantially. Most importantly, the state has reduced its anchor role for the whole of the employment model and the potentials for its revitalisation.     

International research master in metropolitan studies

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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International research master in metropolitan studies

     

The three-dimensional matching problem in Kalmanson matrices

We investigate the computational complexity of several special cases of the three-dimensional matching problem where the costs are decomposable and determined by a so-called Kalmanson matrix. For the minimization version we develop an efficient polynomial time algorithm that is based on dynamic programming. For the maximization version, we show that there is a universally optimal matching (whose structure is independent of the particular Kalmanson matrix).     

Ecological,Groundwater, and Human Health Risk Assessment in a Mining Region of Nicaragua

The objective of the present study was to integrate the relative risk from mercury exposure to stream biota, groundwater, and humans in the Río Artiguas (Sucio) river basin, Nicaragua, where local gold mining occurs. A hazard quotient was used as a common exchange rate in probabilistic estimations of exposure and effects by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The endpoint for stream organisms was the lethal no‐observed‐effect concentration (NOECs), for groundwater the WHO guideline and the inhibitory Hg concentrations in bacteria (IC), and for humans the tolerable daily intake (TDI) and the benchmark dose level with an uncertainty factor of 10 (BMDLs_0.1). Macroinvertebrates and fish in the contaminated river are faced with a higher risk to suffer from exposure to Hg than humans eating contaminated fish and bacteria living in the groundwater. The river sediment is the most hazardous source for the macroinvertebrates, and macroinvertebrates make up the highest risk for fish. The distribution of body concentrations of Hg in fish in the mining areas of the basin may exceed the distribution of endpoint values with close to 100% probability. Similarly, the Hg concentration in cord blood of humans feeding on fish from the river was predicted to exceed the BMDLs_0.1 with about 10% probability. Most of the risk to the groundwater quality is confined to the vicinity of the gold refining plants and along the river, with a probability of about 20% to exceed the guideline value.     

The economics of performance management in nonprofit organizations

This article analyzes whether and how private‐sector notions of performance management apply to nonprofit organizations. To this end the author shows that each concept of performance management used in the private sector is based on a specific economic theory of the firm and its environment. Before transferring concepts and tools derived from a certain model of the firm and its environment to nonprofit organizations, one must determine whether the assumptions underlying this model are also adequate for nonprofit organizations. Otherwise, one must first adjust those assumptions and analyze whether the derived concepts and tools are still meaningful in the new context; if not, one must determine how to modify them accordingly. The analysis elaborates on the differences between for‐profit and nonprofit organizations that are important for applying performance management concepts. Moreover, the author discusses the practical implications for the use of balanced scorecards in nonprofits.