Latvia’s Vanished National Heroes

The nineteenth century saw the invention of the national hero. His main function was to serve as an ideal for the nation. Latvia, however, is an exception to this general rule: after it regained independence in 1990, the national hero simply disappeared and no heroic image emerged. On the contrary, it was now the victim that became the emblem of Latvia’s regained independence. The country, of course, did not lack “heroes,” for there were in fact many candidates for the creation of a national hero, yet the hero as such no longer seemed to fit the new state. While the path Latvia had chosen of rejecting or refusing national heroes had an impact on its integration into Europe, it also contributed to ongoing frictions among its own ethnic communities.     

Reconsidering path creation in economic geography: aspects of agency,temporality and methods

The emergence of new industrial development paths is an important topic in economic geography. However, current perspectives emphasizing the constraining forces of historical trajectories on innovation and change have shortcomings in accounting for how and where new industries arise. This article argues that more attention needs to be paid to agency, and that agency must be seen as inter-temporal in the sense that actors’ activities and strategies are framed by combinations of experiences and expectations. As such, the article combines insights from economic geography, transitions studies and the sociology of expectations (SoE) literature to expand extant theory on path creation. A brief analysis of the emerging Norwegian offshore wind power (OWP) sector serves to illustrate how experience (the past) and different types of expectations (the future) have tangible effects on agency, and in effect on path creation processes. These insights have methodological implications, essentially favouring qualitative approaches over quantitative ones to understand formative phases in industrial development.     

Regionalmarketing als Instrument zur Entwicklung von Nationalparkregionen Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung in der Müritz-Region

Die Integration von Nationalparken in die Regionalentwicklung ist von großer Bedeutung, um die Akzeptanz dieser Schutzgebiete in derlokalen Bevölkerung zu verbessern und um den Auftrag zur Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur zu erfüllen, der in vielen Nationalparkgesetzen und -verordnungen enthalten ist. In dieser Arbeit wird Regionalmarketing als ein möglicher Ansatz der Regionalentwicklung zugrunde gelegt. Es wird ein literaturgestütztes Modell des Marketing von Nationalparkregionen vorgestellt, das aus einer Prozeß- und Akteursebene und einer funktionalen Ebene besteht. In der Müritz-Region wurde mit einem ähnlichen Konzept gearbeitet. Dabei wurde eine Reihe nationalparkbezogener Projekte realisiert, zu denen das Müritz-Nationalperk-Ticket und ein Netz von Nationalpark-Eingangsbereichen als prominenteste Beispiele gehören. Aus der Fallstudie kann die Schlußfolgerung gezogen werden, daß eine Nationalpark-Verwaltung zwar maßgebliche Beiträge zum Regionalmarketing leistenkann, sich aber als Trägerinstitution weniger eignet. Nationalpark-Verwaltung und regionale Akteure sollten ein System der wechselseitigen Entscheidungsbeteiligung praktizieren, um die Entwicklung eines kohärenten touristischen Gesamtangebots in der Region zu gewährleisten.     

Varieties of publication patterns in neuroscience at the cognitive turn

The quantification of publication activity and impact has become a key element in the evaluation of scientific excellence. However, it is unclear to what extent this grasps the diversity of research communication that accompanies the transition of scientific fields. This contribution investigates number, categorization, and impact of publications (i.e., publication patterns) of six scientists active at the cognitive turn, which promoted the information processing perspective on neuronal processes in different communities: Horace Barlow, Theodore Bullock, Ralph Gerard, Donald MacKay, Warren McCulloch, and Werner Reichardt. The large variety of publication patterns revealed indicates the limits of standardized evaluation procedures based on publication activity.     

Global Markets, Local Home-working: Governance and Inter-firm Relationships in the Balinese Clothing Industry

Abstract: Within the industrialization process of the Indonesian economy, the manufacture of clothing has played a significant role. Besides Java, Bali has the second highest agglomeration of industrial activities within this sector. However, in contrast to Javanese clothing firms, which have a strong emphasis on Western-styled clothing, Balinese clothing firms focus on the manufacture of Batik and embroidery products. Based on the commodity chain debate, I will show in this paper how Balinese clothing industry is organized into and governed within the global and local economy. This aims in particular to unravel how these types of garments (Batik and embroidery) can shape and reshape buyer relations. The analysis will also include a discussion of aspects, such as product development and raw material procurement. Furthermore, since Balinese clothing companies organize their production activities within extensive networks of rural home industries, the driving forces behind these specific network co-ordinations will be explored.