German colonial plans for Africa in the Nazi era

The German colonial plans concerning Africa in the era of National Socialism ascribed a central role the sciences. Scientists of all possible fields launched into activities. Especially subjects which were directly related to the practice of colonial policies, e.g. African languages, ethnology, law, economic sciences, and medicine, were developed. There were colonial ambitions at nearly every German university, but there was one which designated to become the centre of colonial sciences: the university of Hamburg. It has to be realized that working in this field of studies protected scientists from being drafted by the army for a long time.     

The Nordic 'Cultural Industries': A Cross-National Assessment of the Place of the Cultural Industries in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden

ABSTRACT In this paper an attempt is made to measure the cultural industries in a cross‐national context. The paper starts with a discussion of the definition and delineation of the term the ‘cultural industries’. It is argued that a large range of goods and services may be considered to be cultural industry products and that it is important to place the production and exchange of such products in the context of an industrial systems approach. Following this the concept is operationalised using data on employment and firm activity from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Results are presented which suggest that overall growth in both employment and firm numbers has been especially strong in the cultural industries. However, interesting differences between the countries emerged from the data. Thus regional dimensions are then examined resulting in the finding that in all four countries cultural industries have a strong attraction to urban areas but an even stronger propensity to agglomerate. It is suggested that the spatial dynamics observed may be key to the development of the industries' competencies and success. In summary the paper presents results of extensive data analysis that show the cultural industries' important contribution to Scandinavian economies and labour markets.     

Regional development and technology policies: Some lessons from the German experience

The development of economic, ecological, social, cultural and political conditions has a lasting influence on the development of individual regions and economic areas, and is in turn influenced by them. Background conditions in Germany have changed over the last few years, with reunification and the upheavals in Eastern Europe, the prospective completion of the Singh European Market and the increasingly insistent new challenges in the areas of the environment and transport. This paper gives some examples of the changes taking place in some of these background conditions, and discusses their foreseeable future regional impacts in the FRG. In the last 10 years, Baden‐Württemberg in south‐west Germany has been considered as one of the most successful examples in Europe of regional structural adaptation combined with a dynamic innovation system. The characteristics of the economic development of this region and their causes are dealt with.     

The new minority rights regime in Poland: the experience of the German,Belarussian and Jewish minorities since 1989

In the post–communist period national minorities have returned to the international agenda. For Poland, as for other applicants to the European Union, the treatment of national minorities is proving to be a litmus test for accession. In this article I argue that national minorities have benefited from the new minority rights regime, but I show that each minority’s ability to voice its concerns and develop its community is predicated upon the accumulation of political and financial capital. Drawing upon the experience of the German, Belarussian and Jewish minorities in post–communist Poland, I argue that political capital has been accrued through the ballot box and through scalar strategies of empowerment. Those minorities that have been unable to raise their stock of capital (namely the Belarussians) have seen themselves marginalised socially, culturally and economically despite the guarantees of the new minority rights regime to promote and protect them.     

Quality turns in Nordic food: a comparative analysis of specialty food in Denmark,Norway and Sweden

ABSTRACT

This article compares the development of specialty food in Denmark, Norway and Sweden using a number of quantitative indicators as well as a qualitative analysis of government policy. The analysis shows that specialty food has increased in importance in all three countries over the last twenty years, but there are important differences in the kind of specialty food that has developed and the nature of government intervention and governance structures. Overall, Sweden appears to have the largest production of specialty food and drink and is particularly strong in organic production and consumption, farm processing and farm shops. Norway has a large number of products with protected origin and also leads in the number of farmers’ markets. Denmark lags behind the other countries on most indicators, but has witnessed the fastest growth in microbreweries over the last five years. Theoretically, the article challenges the ‘negative’ definition of specialty food as ‘non-industrial’ or ‘alternative’, and suggests a more nuanced approach. Empirically, it points towards the possible existence of a ‘Scandinavian model’ of specialty food governance with extensive interaction between central government, local government and private firms to stimulate the growth of specialty food.     

The monetary reform of 1854 in the Duchy of Schleswig: a case of attempted state-building

This article is a survey of the monetary reform of 1854 in the Duchy of Schleswig, then part of the Danish monarchy. The reform can be seen as the third of three major attempts to overcome the economic and political difficulties associated with a heterogeneous and divided monetary system within the Danish state in the period from the end of the eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century. Informed by theories of institutional economics and state-building and based on contemporary sources, the article critically examines the problematic implementation of a single currency in a nineteenth-century region torn by ethno-political tensions and upheaval. The national split between German and Danish in the Duchy seriously hampered the dissemination of the new currency, thus obstructing the reform and the fulfilment of its underlying ambition: to transform Schleswig into a more harmonious polity within the institutional framework of the Danish composite monarchy.     

Regional economic resilience: the role of national and regional policies

In recent years, economic resilience has become a popular term in both theory and policy practice. This interest was triggered by the fact that some regional economies were extremely vulnerable, while others have managed to overcome, more or less effectively, the worse consequences of the current economic crisis. Within this context, questions arise regarding the role that policies at both the national and subnational levels can play in shaping regional economic resilience. Although high in the academic and political agenda, understanding the policy and governance aspects of resilience still remains a relatively underdeveloped area. The paper contributes to this debate focusing on an area which has been most severely hit by crises, the Region of West Macedonia, in Greece. The case study builds on the historical trajectory of the region in order to explain how different types of policies have influenced the ability of West Macedonia to respond to economic slumps and crises of the last 30 years. Evidence suggests that national protectionist policies largely explain not only resilience of the region against previous crises, but also its vulnerability towards the still ongoing economic crisis.