Regional technology policy and factors shaping local innovation networks in small German cities1

Local innovation networks are considered to be important to innovation and technological change and to growth prospects of regions and cities in Germany. When analysing the local (or regional) innovation system, one should consequently not only investigate horizontal and vertical relations among firms but also the contacts with universities and other research institutions. Furthermore, the role of government agencies and interest groups that provide financial support as well as commercial and technical information should also be taken into account. However, the review of relevant theoretical and empirical investigations related to the German experience shows that such innovation and R&D cooperation networks appear to be less significant than expected. In general various regional technology policy measures adopted in German states (the provision of research infrastructure, establishment of technology centres, innovative small and medium sized enterprises support programmes, etc.) have been more successful in economically better-off large cities than in the rural areas. Apart from offering a critical review of relevant theoretical and empirical research, this study introduces the present regional technology and R&D promotion policies in German states and examines the local innovation systems, taking Landshut as an example.     

Raumplanung im Wandel

Verglichen mit vielen anderen, auch europ?ischen L?ndern, existiert in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland seit vielen Jahren ein ausgeklügeltes und komplexes System der Raumordung. Seit den ersten Anf?ngen hat sich viel ver?ndert. DIPL.-GEOGR. UTE C. BAUER sprach mit PROF. DR. DIETRICH FüRST, früher Professor für Landesplanung und Regionalforschung an der Universit?t Hannover, über den Wandel, den die Raumordnung in den letzten Jahrzehnten durchgemacht hat. Als Experte für Regionalentwicklung und -?konomie erl?utert er die wichtigsten Tendenzen und Aufgaben, denen sich die Disziplin heute stellen mu?.     

Lapita subsistence strategies and food consumption patterns in the community of Teouma (Efate,Vanuatu)

The subsistence strategies of the Lapita populations (3100–2800 BP), the first colonisers of the pristine environments of the islands of Eastern Melanesia and Western Polynesia, have been a matter of ongoing debate for decades. Opinions have ranged between the two extremes of Lapita colonisers being either characterised as highly mobile foragers to fully horticultural communities. To further address the question, this paper presents stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data obtained from analyses of human and animal collagen samples from the site of Teouma (Efate, Vanuatu) dated to between c. 3000–2500 BP. The isotopic signatures obtained from 28 samples (23 human and 5 animal), interpreted in combination with isotopic information from several coastal and insular environments, suggest a diet primarily made up of terrestrially derived animal protein with lesser contributions from vegetable produce and inshore marine species. Comparisons linking the isotopic data gleaned from the Teouma individuals and Lapita subsistence patterns reconstructed through archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains support the hypothesis of a mixed economy, that included terrestrial foraging, inshore marine exploitation and a low level of food production for at least some of the earliest Lapita colonists in Vanuatu.     

Anti‐Politics as Political Strategy: Neoliberalism and Transfrontier Conservation in Southern Africa

Studies on conservation and development often point out that interventions rely on anti‐political manoeuvring to acquire legitimacy and support. Recent ‘aidnography’, in particular, has done much to expand and add nuance to our understanding of the complex, micro‐ (anti‐)politics at work in conservation and development interventions. In doing this, however, aidnography seems to have led the focus away from two crucial, broader issues related to conservation and development interventions: how they are regulated through the wider, neoliberal political economy, and how this fuels and obscures (global) inequality. Drawing on empirical research on a transfrontier conservation and development intervention in Southern Africa, this article argues that the differential workings of anti‐politics in practice warrant a renewed appreciation and a more explicit political operationalization of the concept. This is done by re‐emphasizing anti‐politics as an essential political strategy within conservation and development interventions and as an intrinsic element of the wider political economy of neoliberalism.     

Analysing musical culture in nineteenth-century Europe: towards a musical turn?

The aim of this article is to establish the extent to which the history of music can offer new perspectives on the modern period. We need a change of perspective, moving away from the aesthetic debates on music to an investigation of actual experiences and practices of participants. Audience behaviour provides a link between musical production and society. In order to make opera houses and concert halls visible as social spheres, this article draws on examples from the musical life of Berlin and London in the 1800s. Music should no longer be regarded as a peripheral phenomenon, but instead as a potential historical question. The analysis of musical performances prompts at least one: music matters.