Was zählt der Preis? Dogmengeschichte und Wissensgeschichte der Ökonomie

What’s in a Price? History of Economic Ideologies vs. History of Economic Ideas. This paper suggests applying the approach of a historical epistemology to the field of economics. We observe that an assumedly fundamental opposition between the market and the state dominates popular images of the history of economic ideas. Two conflicting ideologies are roughly assigned to the two opposing sides in the Cold War. To this historical narrative the paper opposes a different view. The argument is that when taking the technical practices of economic knowledge production in the twentieth century into view, similarities abound across ideological ruptures. The chief characteristic change in the recent history of economics was a radical turn towards quantification, measurement, and mathematical modelling. A historical epistemology of economics could show how deeply both, admirers of the state and of the market, share a history. The paper concludes that to-date critique of political economy should also take into consideration a critical perspective towards the unfolding of this measurement revolution in the social sciences.     

Research and Activism in Sámi Politics: The Ideas and Achievements of Karl Nickul towards Securing Governance for the Sámi

Abstract

Pacifist, land surveyor, friend of the Sámi people, scholar studying Sámi culture, Karl Nickul's (1900–1980) life work proves that the work of a public servant and researcher can be merged into a strong ethical stand to influence society. Nickul, an early initiator of Finland's peace movement, was by training and profession a land surveyor, who worked for the Finnish government making maps of Lapland and Petsamo in northern Finland in the 1920s and 1930s. Becoming acquainted with the Skolt Sámi, he began to study them and to take part in the official discussions about their status. With a project to preserve Skolt culture Nickul's paramount idea of Sámi governance began to grow. He actively pursued this idea after World War II through his activities in Sámi politics in Finland and in Sámi cooperative efforts in the Nordic countries. The dominant idea was that the Sámi culture was to be protected from outside pressures of settlement, and that the Sámi themselves should be allowed to determine their own identity and their own needs. The paper discusses and analyses Karl Nickul's personal development and involvement in various projects and activities to secure Sámi rights.     

Cultural attraction, ‘soft power’ and proximity: the popularity of Japanese language in Hong Kong since the 1980s

This paper discusses the cultural attraction, ‘soft power’, and importance of cultural proximity to the popularity of the Japanese language in Hong Kong over the last three decades. Exploration of both primary and secondary sources constitutes the main research methodology employed. Email surveys and face-to-face interviews were undertaken to ascertain the nature and degree of the cultural attraction that stimulates local people's interest in learning Japanese language and culture. The paper concludes that Japan's ‘soft power’, i.e., popular culture and cultural products, are the most influential driving forces behind the popularity of Japanese language in Hong Kong. Also, the Japanese cultural proximity to the Chinese is another factor that excites local people's interest in learning Japanese as a foreign language. In the Hong Kong context, geopolitical and national identity factors do not seem to detract from the popularity of the Japanese language.     

Postal Service on a Lease Contract: the privatization and outsourcing of the Swedish postal service, 1662–1668

This article deals with the privatization of the Swedish postal service in the 1660s. In 1663 the Swedish state signed a lease contract for the management of the kingdom's postal service, handing over the leadership of the post to the nobleman Johan von Beijer. The purpose of this article is to show how the early modern Swedish state used private alternatives in executing its undertakings. An analysis of Johan von Beijer's lease contract will serve as an illuminating example of what such a private alternative might be. In order to answer the question of what influenced the choice of organization form, transaction cost theory is applied. Based on the analysis of the contract, and the negotiations between Beijer and the state, this article is able to complement and show the nuances of how the early modern Swedish state functioned in practice.     

NO DISCORD,OR, AN AREA WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT POLITICAL STAKES?

The aim of this paper is to give a broad sketch of the Swedish cultural policy discourse during the twentieth century, with special reference to the specific features of Swedish history, notably the hegemony of the social democratic Folkhem period from the 1930s to the 1980s. The discourse may be divided into four different periods. Each of these periods, in various respects, goes back to the ideas behind the Folkhem. The paper argues that the discourse still shows the same logic even after the downfall of the Folkhem model in the 1980s. The regulative principle being that there no longer exists, from the 1950s, any competitive concept of culture to the conventional aesthetic concept of high culture.