Innovation and Change in the Marshallian Industrial District

One of the relatively neglected aspects of studies of industrial districts is that of processes of innovation and structured change. In the paper, a preliminary theorization is offered, with evidence from a case in Tuscany. The paper concludes that creative capacities embedded at the local level may be valuable in this respect.     

On entrepreneur ship,region and the constitution of scale and scope economies

This paper proposes a framework of analysis in which: (1) the constitution of new sources of economies of scale or scope is supported by systemic entrepreneurship; (2) the realization of such economies by incremental entrepreneurship takes the form of external economies, or alternatively of internal economies, together with the prevalence of different combinations of organizations, technologies and regional characters; and (3) the manifestation in the form of external economies is sustained by market rules and focused public intervention, which complement the working of markets, and which can be embedded in regional (or local) relations. Further and more specific conclusions will be referred to in the case of external economies within production systems which are assuming or are reproducing the techno‐organizational characters of flexible specialization. The standard case of the industrial district with final markets largely characterized by differentiated and variable markets falls within such application.     

“Kontakte” – Reflexionen naturwissenschaftlich‐technischer Innovationsprozesse in der frühen Elektronischen Musik Karlheinz Stockhausens (1952–1960)

“Kontakte” – Reflections of Innovative Processes in Science and Technology in Karlheinz Stockhausen's Early Electronic Music (1952–1960). The following article will give an overview of the interdependence of aesthetic and scientific/technical developments in German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen's early works of electronic music. It is an outline of the major steps in his artistic evolution between the works “Etude (Musique concrète)” and “Kontakte”, their relation to innovations in psychoacoustic and sound‐studio technology as well as the impact, that the works from that period had on the fundamental changes in musical aesthetics during the course of the 20th century.     

Visual images in Luigi Galvani's path to animal electricity

The scientific endeavor that led Luigi Galvani to his hypothesis of "animal electricity," i.e., of an electricity present in a condition of disequilibrium between the interior and the exterior of excitable animal fibers, is reviewed here with particular emphasis to the role played by visual images in Galvani's path of discovery. In 1791 Galvani formulated his model of neuromuscular physiology on the base of the image of a muscle and a nerve fiber together as in a "minute animal Leyden jar." This was the last instance of a series of physical models that accompanied Galvani's experimental efforts in the search of a theory capable of accounting for the electric nature of nerve conduction in spite of the many objections formulated in the eighteenth century against a possible role of electricity in animal physiology.     

Diversification,Intensification and Specialization: Changing Land Use in Western Africa from 1800 BC to AD 1500

Journal of World Prehistory - Many societal and environmental changes occurred between the 2nd millennium BC and the middle of the 2nd millennium AD in western Africa. Key amongst these were...     

Reflections on the Relationship between Education and Archaeology: An Analysis of IPHAN’s Role as Collective Educator

This article analyses the role of the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional—IPHAN (the Brazilian Government’s Bureau for Cultural Patrimony Preservation) as an educational institution, considering the relationship between archaeology and education. Consideration of education both as a social practice and as a profession provides a basis for discussing the educational approaches of archaeologists. The authors stress the fact that IPHAN barely takes advantage of the important teaching tool that the archaeological knowledge produced in Brazil can provide for education about Brazilian cultural patrimony.     

A perfect storm? Welfare, care, gender and generations in Uruguay

This article claims that welfare states modelled on a contributory basis and with a system of entitlements that assumes stable two-parent families, a traditional breadwinner model, full formal employment and a relatively young age structure are profoundly flawed in the context of present-day challenges. While this is true for affluent countries modelled on the Bismarckian type of welfare system, the costs of the status quo are even more devastating in middle-income economies with high levels of inequality. A gendered approach to welfare reform that introduces the political economy and the economy of care and unpaid work is becoming critical to confront what may very well become a perfect storm for the welfare of these nations and their peoples. Through an in-depth study of the Uruguayan case, the authors show how the decoupling of risk and protection has torn asunder the efficacy of welfare devices in the country. An ageing society that has seen a radical transformation of its family and labour market landscapes, Uruguay maintained during the 1980s and 1990s a welfare state that was essentially contributory, elderly and male-oriented, and centred on cash entitlements. This contributed to the infantilization of poverty, increased the vulnerability of women and exacerbated fiscal stress for the system as a whole. Furthermore, because of high levels of income and asset inequality, the redistribution of risk between upper- and lower-income groups presented a deeply regressive pattern. The political economy of care and welfare has begun to change in the last decade or so, bringing about mild reforms in the right direction; but these might prove to be too little and too late.