Sensing ‘Subtle Spirituality’ among Environmentalists

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-367
Author(s):  
Irene Becci ◽  
Christophe Monnot ◽  
Boris Wernli

This article examines the emergence, in the Swiss context, of a new category of ecologically oriented ‘spiritual’ activists. The authors look at empirical studies conducted internationally on the link between religion and environmentalism and argue that ‘spiritually oriented activists’ are rarely investigated in quantitative studies. The authors then examine the findings of a case study of local milieus in two Swiss cities and nationwide data collected as part of the Swiss Household Panel (SHP). They close the gap between results coming from case studies, on the one hand, and representative studies, on the other, by introducing the variable of spirituality into quantitative research. The results suggest that an ecological milieu is emerging comprised of people who are located politically on the left, do not self-identify as religious, but nonetheless practice meditation and have holistic feelings. The forms of spirituality practiced by these ecologists are ‘subtle’ in the sense of being adaptable, located in the background, and supportive of sustainability.

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bear F. Braumoeller

Theories that posit complex causation, or multiple causal paths, pervade the study of politics but have yet to find accurate statistical expression. To remedy this situation I derive new econometric procedures, Boolean probit and logit, based on the logic of complexity. The solution provides an answer to a puzzle in the rational deterrence literature: the divergence between theory and case-study findings, on the one hand, and the findings of quantitative studies, on the other, on the issue of the role of capabilities and willingness in the initiation of disputes. It also makes the case that different methodological traditions, rather than settling into “separate but equal” status, can instead inform and enrich one another.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato Camodeca ◽  
Alex Almici

The purpose of this paper is to explore the change experienced by the Italian listed companies through the implementation of integrating reporting. The objective of this study is to shed light on the company’s moving reasons towards integrating reporting and on its effects on the company’s thinking approach.This paper builds on multi-source data gathered through web-site visits, company materials and interviews, according to an interpretive case study approach.The authors found that the process of change experienced by the selected companies deserves consideration for at least two reasons: on the one hand, as a transition from a stand alone to an integrated thinking approach; on the other hand, as a transition from an implicit to a more explicit approach to sustainability.The paper is, to the best of the knowledge, the first one to explore the process of change experienced by the Italian listed companies through the implementation of integrated reporting.


Author(s):  
Francisco Lima Costa

Globalisation and the intensification of migratory flows have favoured an increase in new forms of cultural expression, which represent an asset of significant economic and cultural value for the city of Lisbon. In the light of this process, and on the basis of our analytical proposal of an ethnocultural production system (EPS), it was possible to study how the articulation of various processes (economic, cultural and political) that occur and interact in the EPS help to support the appearance of new ethnically oriented markets (EOMs). Making comparisons with the empirical studies carried out (two questionnaires, one each onethnocultural supply and demand, and two ethnographical case studies, one in the area of Martim Moniz in Lisbon, and the other in the Cova da Moura neighbourhood in the Municipality of Amadora), we show, on the one hand, how an ethnocultural economy (EE) emerges in connection with the migratory flows mentioned and, on the other hand, what the important processes and actors are.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Emmler ◽  
Petra Frehe-Halliwell

In the context of empirical-phenomenological research various text products are created. Practitioners develop concepts, methods, techniques, etc. to solve certain problems that have arisen in their workplace. Actors of science accompany these problem-solving processes and support them by developing materials or scientific inputs. In addition, they strive to understand the field of practice and to grasp its structures and (interpretation) patterns. In order to make this possible a knowledge management is necessary with the help of which the text products resulting from the research and development process are produced and interpreted (Emmler 2015). Here, the importance of the case study[1] for the development of (new) knowledge is analysed. Normally, case studies are only considered to be by-products created during DBR. However, we believe that case studies do not only serve as an instrument for communicating project content to others, but are a medium for the researchers themselves to ascertain their own learning processes that take place in the exploration of the field of research. This paper aims to be the initial point for a methodological discussion on the thesis that (a) case studies as narrative text products contribute to an understanding of phenomena as underlying structures of the field of practice and that (b) they are one part of a two-fold research process in which they are the basis for the reflection of experiences. Therefore, we invite you to follow us on a journey to the discipline of arts, especially to Walter Benjamin, a famous writer and translator who, in the year 1923, discovered the differences in writing a poem and translating into another language. Both processes ask for writing competences which at first glance seem to be very similar, but at the second reveal their diametrical opposition. We suggest to adopt Benjamin’s explanations to the writing processes in DBR. In DBR it is the world of science on the one hand and the field of practice on the other that make a translation necessary: the languages applied in both fields differ, although the people working there might all belong to one and the same nationality which might allow them to communicate with the people from the other “world”. However, this does not mean that researchers understand the practice and the emerging phenomena per se. A translation between the worlds is necessary. For this, the case study is the first step.  


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-79
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Nikorowicz-Zatorska

Abstract The present paper focuses on spatial management regulations in order to carry out investment in the field of airport facilities. The construction, upgrades, and maintenance of airports falls within the area of responsibility of local authorities. This task poses a great challenge in terms of organisation and finances. On the one hand, an active airport is a municipal landmark and drives local economic, social and cultural development, and on the other, the scale of investment often exceeds the capabilities of local authorities. The immediate environment of the airport determines its final use and prosperity. The objective of the paper is to review legislation that affects airports and the surrounding communities. The process of urban planning in Lodz and surrounding areas will be presented as a background to the problem of land use management in the vicinity of the airport. This paper seeks to address the following questions: if and how airports have affected urban planning in Lodz, does the land use around the airport prevent the development of Lodz Airport, and how has the situation changed over the time? It can be assumed that as a result of lack of experience, land resources and size of investments on one hand and legislative dissonance and peculiar practices on the other, aviation infrastructure in Lodz is designed to meet temporary needs and is characterised by achieving short-term goals. Cyclical problems are solved in an intermittent manner and involve all the municipal resources, so there’s little left to secure long-term investments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-338
Author(s):  
Victor Lieberman

AbstractInsisting on a radical divide between post-1750 ideologies in Europe and earlier political thought in both Europe and Asia, modernist scholars of nationalism have called attention, quite justifiably, to European nationalisms’ unique focus on popular sovereignty, legal equality, territorial fixity, and the primacy of secular over universal religious loyalties. Yet this essay argues that nationalism also shared basic developmental and expressive features with political thought in pre-1750 Europe as well as in rimland—that is to say outlying—sectors of Asia. Polities in Western Europe and rimland Asia were all protected against Inner Asian occupation, all enjoyed relatively cohesive local geographies, and all experienced economic and social pressures to integration that were not only sustained but surprisingly synchronized throughout the second millennium. In Western Europe and rimland Asia each major state came to identify with a named ethnicity, specific artifacts became badges of inclusion, and central ethnicity expanded and grew more standardized. Using Myanmar and pre-1750 England/Britain as case studies, this essay reconstructs these centuries-long similarities in process and form between “political ethnicity,” on the one hand, and modern nationalism, on the other. Finally, however, this essay explores cultural and material answers to the obvious question: if political ethnicities in Myanmar and pre-1750 England/Britain were indeed comparable, why did the latter realm alone generate recognizable expressions of nationalism? As such, this essay both strengthens and weakens claims for European exceptionalism.


Author(s):  
Marco Ardolino ◽  
Nicola Saccani ◽  
Federico Adrodegari ◽  
Marco Perona

Businesses grounded upon multisided platforms (MSPs) are found in a growing number of industries, thanks to the recent developments in Internet and digital technologies. Digital MSPs enable multiple interactions among users of different sides through information and communication technologies. The understanding of the characteristics and constituents of MSPs is fragmented along different literature streams. Moreover, very few empirical studies have been carried out to date. In order to fill this gap, this paper presents a three-level framework that describes a digital MSP. The proposed framework is based on literature analysis and multiple case study. On the one hand, the framework can be used to describe MSP as it provides an operationalization of the concept through the identification of specific dimensions, variables and items; on the other hand, it can be used as an assessment tool by practitioners, as exemplified by the three empirical applications presented in this paper.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schredl ◽  
Arthur Funkhouser ◽  
Nicole Arn

Empirical studies largely support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. The present study investigated the frequency and emotional tone of dreams of truck drivers. On the one hand, the findings of the present study partly support the continuity regarding the time spent with driving/being in the truck and driving dreams and, on the other hand, a close relationship was found between daytime mood (feelings of stress, job satisfaction) and dream emotions, i.e., different dream characteristics were affected by different aspects of daytime activity. The results, thus, indicate that it is necessary to define very clearly how this continuity is to be conceptualized. The approach of formulating a mathematical model (cf. [1]) should be adopted in future studies in order to specify the factors and their magnitude in the relationship between waking and dreaming.


Author(s):  
Luigia Mocerino ◽  
Franco Quaranta

The scope of this work is to try to quantify the reduction of emissions due to COVID-19; an analysis covering the entire port of Naples will be presented. The explosion of the global pandemic from SARS-CoV-2 led to the adoption of local and global countermeasures aimed at containing contagions. The transportation sector, and in particular the passenger moving sector, was deeply affected; this almost total block of movements between regions and countries if, on the one hand, seriously slowed the economy, on the other, it drastically reduced the emissions on a global and local scale. In this work, the case study of the cruise ships berthed at the Maritime Station (Stazione Marittima) in the port of Naples is examined. The traffic of cruise ships during the lockdown and in the immediately following months was analysed and compared first with respect to the calendars scheduled for the same period and then with respect to the same months of 2019. The reduction in number of cruise ships and passengers were analysed and compared to the previous trends. The vessels collected, for 2019 and 2020 (both those that arrived and those that suffered the effects of the movement block) were subsequently characterized in terms of power and speed. Finally, an estimate of the emissions of NOX, SOX, CO2 produced and saved was carried out. The 2020 results will be compared with the hypothetical emissions that would have occurred in the absence of the lockdown and with those of the same period of the previous year.


1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Cohen ◽  
Deborah Loewenberg Ball

Policymakers in the U. S. have been trying to change schools and school practices for years. Though studies of such policies raise doubts about their effects, the last decade has seen an unprecedented increase in state policies designed to change instructional practice. One of the boldest and most comprehensive of these has been undertaken in California, where state policymakers have launched an ambitious effort to improve teaching and learning in schools. We offer an early report on California's reforms, focusing on mathematics. State officials have been promoting substantial changes in instruction designed to deepen students' mathematical understanding, to enhance their appreciation of mathematics and to improve their capacity to reason mathematically. If successful, these reforms would be a sharp departure from existing classroom practice, which attends chiefly to computational skills. The research reported here focuses on teachers' early responses to the state's efforts to change mathematics instruction. The case studies of five teachers highlight a key dilemma in such ambitious reforms. On the one hand, teachers are seen as the root of the problem: their instruction is mechanical, often boring, and superficial. On the other hand, teachers are cast as the key agents of improvement because students will not learn the new mathematics that policymakers intend unless teachers learn that math and teach it. But how can teachers teach a mathematics that they never learned, in ways they never experienced? That is the question explored in this special issue.


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