Proximity,trust and morality in networks

Network interaction is embedded in social settings, which allows for the development of trust. Trust is supposed to be an efficient functional equivalent of contracts, guarantees, insurances, safeguards, etc. Trust between actors reduces transaction costs. However, trust cannot be introduced and enforced within interaction relationships. It is argued that trust is more likely to occur and to be prevalent when actors have the spatial capability for personal, direct interaction. Thus, proximity and trust are supposed to be positively related to each other. Proximity is strongly interrelated with embeddedness. In the discussion about morality in organisations, there is an assumption we referred to as the 'moral spill-over effect': it is impossible, it is said, to restrict moral competencies and moral behaviour to one particular situation, environment, or topic. However, we argue that, even though trust is a term that is described in moral theory, trust and morality are not necessarily positively correlated. This means that even if embeddedness and proximity in a network lead to an increase of trust between network partners, it does not necessarily produce moral spill-over effects. Thus, proximity and morality do not necessarily have to be positively correlated with each other. The influence of proximity on morality can be positive or negative, depending on the social surrounding in which network collaboration is embedded.     

Chinese migrants,morality and film ethics in Italian cinema

During 2004–2011, Italian cinema intervened in the ongoing public debates about Chinese immigration to Italy with 15 notable films, which provided a window into the moral and ethical practices of the filmmakers and those of the fictional characters, or interviewees, in their films. This migratory phenomenon, in turn, offered filmmakers a variety of stimuli and perspectives from which to contemplate the moral stakes in screening Chinese migrants in Italy in films. Italian-Chinese films, insofar as they address the self–other relationship, lend themselves to an ethical analysis. I show that Italian documentary films genuinely feature the lives of Chinese migrants through restrained and socially conscious creative means. In contrast, relevant feature films often center on the plight of marginalized native Italian characters, adopting artistic license appropriate to their market-oriented production ethos.     

Mining,morality and the obligations of fossil fuel exporting countries

In this article I argue that countries exporting fossil fuels, such as Australia, have an obligation to bear some of the costs of the harms caused by the use of those fuels. I argue that there is an analogy between other harmful exports – medical waste, tobacco, unsafe jobs, uranium – and fossil fuels. If this is the case, then current methods for allocating emissions and responsibilities for their harms are inadequate and more complex than they appear. I consider several counter-arguments to this claim, such as that it does not recognise the benefits of coal and that exporters are not really responsible. Finally, I consider some of the consequences of this argument and claim that Australia and other fossil fuel exporters ought to have a higher ‘carbon budget’ if this argument is true and that exporters ought to bear a higher share of the costs of climate harms.     

Commerce and morality in eighteenth-century Italy

This paper would like to discuss some aspects of current trends in studies on eighteenth-century Eastern Europe. In the first part it addresses recent approaches devoted to the reconstruction of the conceptualization of Eastern Europe at the time of the Enlightenment, which have often been inspired by the work of Edward Said and Martin Bernal. These include Larry Woolf's Inventing Eastern Europe (1994). Michael Confino has provided a detailed critique of Woolf's approach. It can be argued that Woolf is in fact projecting Cold War divisions back into the eighteenth century.

The article argues in favour of a less “Orientalising” approach to the history of Eastern Europe, by proving an alternative overview of the historical dimensions of the eastern (and northern) regions of Europe in the eighteenth century. Eastern Europe was inextricably connected to its western European neighbours. Without Eastern Europe, European history is incomplete and incomprehensible.

In the third part the article argues that the interpretative framework of the “first crisis of the Old Regime”, which Franco Venturi outlined in his Settecento riformatore in the 19870s and 1980s represented a subtle rejection of the East/West dichotomy, and in fact foreshadowed the eventual reunification of Europe after the end of the Cold War.     

Political opportunity structures,evangelical Christians and morality politics in Canada,Australia and New Zealand

Politically active evangelical Christian populations are found in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Yet their patterns of activism differ not only from the exceptional United States experience, but also one another. This paper applies a political opportunity approach to explain these variations, demonstrating how differences in denominational identities and linkages and political institutions shape evangelical activism, and illustrating these opportunity structures through an examination of the struggles over same-sex marriage in each country. This approach offers a variety of further avenues for the comparative study of ‘morality politics’ in different countries, moving beyond bilateral comparisons with the United States.     

One world,one place

Este artículo rastrea la historia del World Archaeological Congress desde una perspectiva sudafricana-una posición estratégica apropiada, dado que el WAC se formó entorno al tema del apartheid y la relación entre el estudio del pasado y la política del presente. Mientras el apartheid fue una cuestión bien definida, los asuntos que el WAC ha tenido que afrontar con posterioridad no han resultado tan sencillos, e incluso en ocasiones han llevado a la incertidumbre. El concepto de Una Arqueología Mundial que el WAC adopta puede ser visto como una serie continua de meditaciones ligadas con una propuesta fundacional. Sin embargo este mundo ha cambiado. Las nuevas tecnologías de información y comunicación suponen el fin de las distancias que en el pasado supusieron un factor limitador para los movimientos mundiales progresistas. En pocos a?os, la red de banda ancha tendrá un coste bastante inferior en todas las ciudades del mundo. Las organizaciones mundiales que luchan contra intereses establecidos serán redes flexibles que se organizarán entorno a cuestiones locales, compartiendo al mismo tiempo la información y los recursos a nivel global. De este modo se abren grandes oportunidades para los movimientos mundiales que enlazan, a una y al mismo tiempo, las complejidades de las circunstancias locales y las oportunidades de las alianzas globales.

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Résumé Le r?le de l'apartheid et de la localisation de Cape Town sont des éléments utilisés dans le survol du développement du Congrès Mondial de l'Archéologie et du mouvement One World Archaeology depuis 1986. à l'époque un boycott académique a empêché la participation des Sud-africains au congrès de Southampton durant lequel fut formaliser le CMA. Le terme un monde, une place, caractérise la proposition d'adopter une nouvelle approche et l'opportunité de repositionner le mouvement One World Archaeology. L'approche un monde, une places'oriente sur le concept de place, de sites locaux d'engagements et de connections entre la question de l'identité, le patrimoine culturel, l'interprétation historique et les droits humains. Un accès élargis aux nouvelles technologies de communication peut faciliter cette approche et offrir le potentiel de se préoccuper de la diversité des localisations et rendre possible le développement d'un réseau de communication stratégique d'une ≪archéologie engagée.

     

Trump,Montenegrins and the third world war

Thanks to President Trump's controversial interview in which he described the Montenegrin people as very aggressive, suggesting that Montenegro could be the cause of a third world war, this small Balkan nation got more attention than it had ever had before. Effectively, Trump exaggerated a historical stereotype of Montenegrins and based his comment on Montenegro's political behaviour from several centuries ago when they developed a warlike ethos. How this awareness of Montenegro's aggressive nature as a warrior people made its way to Donald Trump and how exactly he thinks Montenegrin bellicosity could be the cause of a third world war, we can only speculate. Montenegro has fewer than 700,000 inhabitants. The Montenegrin army counts some 1,800 soldiers. Most of the soldiers in active service see the job as a secure source of income, not a chance to prove their combat skills. Montenegro is therefore most unlikely to be the source of aggression itself. Starting from President Trump's statement regarding Montenegro, in this article, the author problematizes the historical roots of Montenegrin traditional masculinity, the reasons why the question of NATO membership still provokes controversies over Montenegrin identity and the position of Montenegro in contemporary geopolitics.     

Waltharius and Carolingian morality: satire and lay values

Some recent interpretations of the early medieval Latin poem Waltharius have seen it as offering a clerical critique of warrior culture. While the poem is difficult to date accurately, it seems more likely to belong to the ninth than the tenth century. When the poem is analysed in the context of contemporary Frankish works providing moral instruction to lay noblemen, its attitudes towards pride, wealth and warfare can be shown to lie within the mainstream of Carolingian reformers' thought. The notoriously bloody ending to the poem is also best seen as emphasizing Walter's successful heroism rather than undermining it.     

Old world,new world: the evolution and influence of foreign affairs think‐tanks

The rise of think‐tanks in the United States, in Europe and around the world has generated considerable scholarly attention in recent years. Much of this interest has been fuelled by the widespread belief that these institutions have come to play an increasingly influential role in shaping both public opinion and the domestic and foreign policy preferences and choices of high‐level decision‐makers. This perception was reinforced when several think‐tanks with close ties to the administrations of President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair advocated a far more muscular posture towards Iraq in the months and years following the events of 9/1ya. As think‐tanks on both sides of the Atlantic continue their efforts to become more entrenched in the policy‐making process, scholars are beginning to pay closer attention to how these institutions, established ostensibly to engage in policy research, have become even more adept at political advocacy. Not surprisingly, as think‐tanks have devoted more resources to affecting policy change, speculation about how much or little influence they wield has become more intense. The purpose of this article is to explore the evolution and transformation of foreign affairs think‐tanks in North America and Europe since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and to highlight, by relying on specific foreign and defence policy issues, the extent to which a handful of think‐tanks have been able to become important fixtures in the policy‐making community.