German Tradition Research Articles

THE EUROPEAN-TURKISH RELATIONS AS SEEN FROM GERMAN PERSPETIVE

Germany has always been one of the most important supporters of Turkish membership in the European community. When on the summit of December 11h 2004 German administration insisted on a date for accession negotiations to begin in 2005 it acted in continuity of traditional German politics since EU option for full membership was opened to Turkey in the Treaty of Ankara by German EEC President Prof Walter Hallstein in 1963. However, today there are some voices against EU entry of Turkey mainly in the rows of the conservative German parties CDU/CSU, whose opposition is mainly motivated by Inner politics on the eve of General elections. These reservations are ideologically backed by some German historians who try to question the EU compatibility of Turkey because of geographical, historical, and cultural reasons. But a brief analysis reveals the traditional stereotypes and culturalistic prejudices of western historiography behind those arguments.

Audience history as a history of ideas: Towards a transnational history

One of the possible ways of approaching audience history is by focusing on the history of ideas about audiences. This article examines the benefits and shortcomings of such an approach and develops a set of methodological propositions, drawing on the principles and methods of the German tradition of Begriffsgeschichte (history of concepts). To demonstrate the usefulness of these propositions, the article briefly examines the ideas about audiences in socialist Yugoslavia, focusing on the surge of ideas about politically engaged audiences in the late 1960s. The concluding part of the article situates this historical episode in the wider geographical context and outlines possible avenues for a broader, transnational investigation of the history of ideas about audiences.

In Search of All Things Nordic, in South Tyrol (Italy): The SS Ancestral Inheritance’s Cultural Commission 1940–1943

Abstract On January 2, 1940 Heinrich Himmler’s SS Ancestral Inheritance established a so-called Kulturkommission, then sent 14 working groups into South Tyrol, Italy. Special, over-proportional emphasis was put on collecting the full range of the Volkskunde canon and conducting dialect studies, by professionally trained folklorists, dialectologists, photographers, and filmmakers. For the Nazi "scholars"--many of whom were SS--the underlying assumption was that these were survivals of ancient Germanic traditions and language. Arguably, it is one of the largest folklore/linguistic field investigations in history. This present study addresses one particular aspect of this enormous undertaking: the underlying ideology, the search for Nordic sources in South Tyrol. The project has not been overlooked in Germany and Austria, but there seems to be little or no knowledge of it outside the German world.

Neo-Naturphilosophie: A Review of Michael Ruse's Gaia: Science on a Pagan Planet

Neo-<i>Naturphilosophie</i>: A Review of Michael Ruse's <i>Gaia: Science on a Pagan Planet</i>

The Assembly Specific Force Atlas

AbstractEven in hi‐tech industries, physical workload is partly considerable and cannot be avoided because of product and process requirements. Especially in automotive, aviation, and marine industries, the assembly of the product geometry requires force exertions in ergonomically unfavorable conditions. Unfortunately, internationally accepted methods for the evaluation of those types of force exertions are rare. Besides some traditional German methods and EN 1005‐3 hardly any evaluation methods exist. Even those methods refer to force exertions in primarily upright symmetric working postures. To overcome these problems the Assembly Specific Fore Atlas was created during the recent years. From a sample of automotive workers (n = 273), a set of 54 whole‐body forces (6 main force directions while standing, sitting, kneeling; in an upward, bent, and overhead posture) and a set of 38 types of finger‐hand forces (all at maximum voluntary contractions [MVC] levels) were measured in the field. The inputs for the types of force exertions required in practice were sampled from a consortium of major European car and truck companies. In addition, evaluation methods were developed that allow “calculating” maximum recommended force limits from the measured maximum static forces (i.e., MVC) and task and user group relevant parameters. This contribution gives a short overview on the data collected and focuses on the evaluation methods that had been realized. First, qualitative results are presented from the first field tests.

From the German-speaking point of view: Unholy Empire, Balkanism, and the culture circle particularism of Albanian studies

In this paper, I aim to contribute to the debate about hegemonic relations between the West European “core” and southeast European “margins,” by showing the links between mutually challenged and engendered quasi-anthropological traditions in the totalitarian projects of nation-building and empire-building. New aspects of a continuous resonance will be addressed between a politically instrumentalized Albanian tradition of “folk” or people's culture studies ( kultura popullore) and a German-speaking tradition of Volks- and Völkerkunde grounded in Herderean Romanticism and the imperial ambitions of the nineteenth century. In the course of discussion the successive German traditions of National-Socialist Volkskunde and Communist East German Ethnographie, until the revised tradition of Europäische Ethnologie in the 1990s, are shown to operate from a historicist tradition rather than from a critical tradition as a reflexive successor to former Volkskunde. In the course of this discussion, I will pay particular attention to contextualizing the historical and current production of knowledge by the German and Austrian “West” on a Balkan and Albanian culture, which is reduced to its archaic or pre-modern “traditions” and its specific or antiquated “mentalities.”

Content, Interaction, or Both? Synthesizing Two German Traditions in a Video Study on Learning to Explain in Mathematics Classroom Microcultures

How do students learn to explain? We take this exemplary research question for present-ing two antagonist traditions in German mathematics education research and their synthe-sis in an ongoing video study. These two traditions are (1) the German Didaktik approach that can be characterized by its epistemologically sensitive analyses and specifications of mathematical contents, and (2) the interactionist approach. By presenting the theoretical framework and some empirical insights, the article shows that learning to explain can be conceptualized as increasingly participating in navigating practices through different epis-temic fields.

Family concepts—a social pedagogic approach to understanding family development and working with families

Drawing upon insights from family research, this article argues that in modern Western societies the reflection of individual notions of family as well as the development of concepts of a fulfilling everyday family life has turned into a recurrent challenge throughout the life course, a challenge particularly relevant during family transitions. Professionals in the field of social work with families are increasingly faced with the task of supporting such processes of reflection and development. At the same time, there is little knowledge about how these processes look like. Building upon results of a pilot study and merging recent theoretical developments in family research with the (German) tradition of social pedagogy, a conceptual framework to study family concepts theoretically and empirically is developed. The potential as well as the limitations of this research approach are discussed drawing upon a case example taken from an ongoing longitudinal study. This study aims at revealing family concept-related processes of informal learning and thus provides an understanding of family development from a social pedagogic point of view. Finally, an outline will be given of how this research could contribute to develop an intervention method standing in the tradition of social pedagogy.

Towards a new conceptualism in comparative constitutional law, or reviving the German tradition of the Lehrbuch

This article provides a positive reassessment of conceptual thinking for comparative constitutional law. While the realist claim has known a remarkable success story, both in comparative constitutional law and elsewhere, there is a growing unease that the realist approach might fail to capture essential aspects of legal phenomena. Empirical research seems hardly possible without conceptual efforts, and if the line between the empirical and the normative is blurred, concepts can serve as tools to provide an alternative description of reality without being inherently affirmative. The place of the conceptual affects the form through which legal knowledge is presented: for comparative constitutional law, this means that a dialogue ought to take place not only on the content, but also on the form through which comparative efforts are undertaken. The article ends with a short reflection on current scholarship in comparative constitutional law, its forms, and the methodological challenges that lie ahead.

Self-sacrificial behavior and its explanation in terms of Max Scheler's concept of spirit.

One of the key concepts of the German philosopher Max Scheler (1874-1928) is his concept of spirit. He understands spirit as one of several naturally functioning human mental agencies, such as consciousness, will, memory, etc. That is, he treats the mental agency of spirit in a scientific way and avoids any esoteric or religious connotations that this peculiar term may involve. The nature of human spirit, according to Scheler, is the ability to withstand and deliberately redirect biological imperatives and instinctive drives, up to the point of purposefully throwing away one's own life. The presence of spirit constitutes the essence of the human being that differentiates him qualitatively from all animals. In this article, I argue that it is human spirit that plays the determinative role in causing heroic and self-sacrificial behavior. I also argue that the individual human spirit experiences its inherent development, thus having several rather dissimilar stages and manifestations. I discuss the meaning that the term 'spirit' has in the English and the American philosophical and psychological traditions and the meaning of the corresponding term 'der Geist' in the German traditions. The specific English-language understanding of the term 'spirit', compared to its German counterpart 'der Geist', namely, less scientific and more religious and esoteric and metaphorical for the former, makes it alien and almost unusable in the English and American traditions. The linguistic difference leads to the misunderstanding of some very important ideas brought by the concept of spirit as introduced by Scheler. My purpose is to overcome this discrepancy and omission and to introduce the notion and the concept of spirit, in their scientific understanding, into the arsenal of modern English-language cognitive science, psychology, and philosophy in order to provide for the full explanatory force of the hitherto neglected concept of spirit.

Between two rights: Julien Freund and the origins of political realism in France

ABSTRACTJulien Freund (1921–93) was a French sociologist and political theorist who taught at the University of Strasbourg in the 1960s and 1970s. Although he is the author of over two dozen books, Freund remained throughout his lifetime something of a marginal figure in his own country. Yet, strangely, Freund is now receiving more scholarly attention in France than ever before. The question is why? This paper attempts to provide an answer by looking at Freund's attempt to establish an alternative intellectual canon in France that was heavily indebted to the German tradition of political realism. The story begins with Freund's early relationship with Raymond Aron, and suggests, perhaps provocatively, that Freund is responsible for luring Aron back into his studies on Max Weber dating from the 1930s. It then moves on to explore Freund's relationship with Carl Schmitt. Freund became Schmitt's closest French friend and, for forty years, exhibited a veritable obsession with disseminating Schmitt's work in France. Finally, it suggests that recent attempts by those who wish to place Freund within a current tradition of French liberalism are mistaken. Instead Freund must be placed within a German Neue Rechte context, and specifically his desire to introduce the German tradition of political realism into France. In the end the article argues that the French Nouvelle Droite—with its stress on the cultural and ethnic foundations of the nation-state—pushed Freund's political thought in a decidedly anti-liberal and seemingly pseudo-fascist direction.

Hanse Law School - A Promising Example of Transnational Legal Education? An Alumna’s Perspective

Many years after the Bologna declaration a possible reform of the German legal system is still hotly debated. Already 6 years ago the Universities of Bremen, Oldenburg and Groningen introduced a Bachelor/Master programme in European and Comparative Law (Hanse Law School). This contribution shall illustrate in how far these programmes meet new demands of the internationalised labour market. To achieve this the content and the aim of the programmes shall be contrasted with the traditional German legal education and reactions that graduates experienced on the labour market shall be analysed. What can be a promising way for universities to adjust their way of skilling to contemporary challenges? Are the students and graduates of the Hanse Law School, for example, experiencing that the study is “fortiter in re, suaviter in modo” as the slogan advertises and for what kind of career are they equipped?

Listening, Hearing, Sensing: Three Modes of Being and the Phenomenology of Charles Sanders Peirce

This article accepts Lipari's invitation to continue rethinking communication along the lines of artful listening as understood through the lens of phenomenology. However, we trace out the implications following a different phenomenological tradition than the one stemming from the German tradition of Heidegger and Husserl—specifically, the phenomenology of Charles Sanders Peirce, who allows us to see listening differently and perhaps more clearly. The primary contribution from Peirce's phenomenology is the logos he uses to extract 3 fundamental categories of thought and nature: Firstness (Quality), Secondness (Relation), and Thirdness (Mediation). As we shall show, listening is characterized by a plural consciousness sensitive to Mediation as it reveals itself through Relation and Quality.

Österreichische Aktion: Monarchism, Authoritarianism, and the Unity of the Austrian Conservative Ideological Field during the First Republic

Even as recently as 2011, in the wake of Otto Habsburg's death, Austrians have contested the place of the monarchy in Austrian identity. For many, the Habsburg monarchy represents a defining feature of Austria's past glory. Dating from late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the earliest examples of an “Austrian myth” stressed the unifying function of the Habsburgs inMitteleuropaand the importance of German and Catholic traditions for the advancement of European culture. This nostalgic view tended to overlook the myriad problems of the late imperial period—ethnonationalist tensions, declining imperial might, undemocratic government, social unrest. Not surprisingly, many of the earliest proponents of a distinct, pro-Habsburg and non-German Austrian identity—which emerged after the Great War—were Catholic conservatives who wished to create an animating myth for Austrian Germans that would distinguish them from Prussians. This became increasingly important after the establishment of the Austrian Republic, when many of these individuals pressed for a restoration of the HabsburgKaiserand a return to the prewar status quo.

Tenacity of Alaria alata mesocercariae in homemade German meat products

A renewed interest in the pathogenic potential of Alaria alata mesocercariae emerged over the last 10years as a result of increased findings of this parasite in feral pigs during official examination for Trichinella spp. Cases of food associated human alariosis in North America suggest that a risk associated with the consumption of traditional raw cured products from infected wild boar meat cannot be neglected because the commonly applied preservation techniques may not necessarily kill the mesocercariae. In addition, changes in consumer behavior and new preparation methods for game meat (e.g. pink roasting and grilling) may increase the risk for food-associated parasitic infections. Thus, there is a strong need for the evaluation of the tenacity of A. alata mesocercariae against different physical and chemical influences as pertaining to common preservation and preparation techniques.Against this backdrop the aim of our work was a sound analysis of the survivability of A. alata mesocercariae during curing, fermentation, cold smoking and drying in raw cured meat products. Eighty three samples of traditional German meat products were prepared from naturally infected game meat and partly spiked with additional vital mesocercariae to achieve an adequate dose of infection. The resultant products were examined chronologically for dead and viable A. alata mesocercariae with the Alaria mesocercariae migration technique. After 24h of production, vital A. alata mesocercariae were still found in raw type sausages but no vital parasites were detected in the final products. Based on these results a possible risk for the consumer for an infection with A. alata mesocercariae through the consumption of contaminated raw cured products can be largely ruled out if the respective food technological procedures are carried out properly. However, a risk for the consumer cannot be excluded in cases of very early consumption of these products.

Merging the narratives: a historical study of translated philosophy in Mexico (1940s-1950s)

This paper presents the history of philosophy and the history of translation as parallel narratives. It argues that these histories must be merged in order to investigate productively the functions of philosophical translation within a specific intellectual tradition. The paper discusses possible points of intersection between the narratives produced by historians of translation and philosophy, and then examines particular translations at the crossroads of the German and Hispanic traditions. It explores the emergence of philosophical nationalism as a result, in part, of the influence of German historicist traditions in the Spanish and Mexican cultural milieus of the 1940s and 1950s. Two translations of Dilthey’s essay ‘The Essence of Philosophy’ are examined; these were published in Mexico and fulfilled different functions in that country’s philosophical field. They are examined as a corpus of texts with distinct social functions and are considered as discursive sites where different intellectual trajectories converged to produce a historical narrative, to delimit a field of study, i.e. Mexican philosophy, and to legitimise a philosophical project.

La historia de la historia de la medicina: una exploración inicial (primera parte)

This article discusses the three great streams of history of medicine of the mid-twentieth century: the first, referred to here as the German-American School because it recalls the German tradition but promoting it in the American context, led by Henry Sigerist; the second, with a slightly less direct relationship but with deep inspiration in the German tradition: the Spanish school headed by Pedro Lain Entralgo; and the third one, which will be developed in a more autonomous way from the German tradition and that will be supported by its own historiographical and philosophical tradition: the French School that will have in Georges Canguilhem and Michel Foucault two of its most relevant expositors. Each of these schools developed their own theoretical and methodological paths and generated a specific tradition that has influenced the history of the medical practice. The exploration proposed here reveals the central aspects that characterized these main streams of the history of medicine in order to decipher, at another time, the most current changes in the discipline and the channels through which the medical historiographical tradition has run in Colombia, which, undoubtedly, has been deeply influenced by the three schools here scrutinized.

Public agencies in Serbia accidental error or bad intention

English term 'agency' has appeared in the Serbian legal system after the political changes in 2000. At first, the Law on Ministries in 2004 created bodies of state administration under the name of the agency and administrative organizations and in 2005 has been passed the Law on Public Agencies, which provides agencies as autonomous entities that are not directly part of the state administration. In addition, in the last ten years in Serbia was created a whole range of subjects of different legal status under the name of the agency. It should be borne in mind that the organization and structure of public administration in Serbia are mostly based on the Germanic tradition and that Serbia has long used the German term for persons performing administrative activities: 'Verwaltungsorgan'. Without any objective need, in addition to traditional forms of bodies performing administrative activities in Serbia has been created a new form called the agency. This has only brought the confusion into by then relatively harmonized system of governance structures, where the name of the former administration and some other subjects changed to agencies and some new, who previously did not exist, have been also created. This has led to the growth of covert administration. Agency name is not unknown in the world and in the US is used since the 18th century. However, instead of the name in English is translated into Serbian language in an adapted way, as it corresponds to the traditional Serbian terminology, this accidental error later turned into a bad intention of creating an ever-larger number of entities called agency.

The Persistence of National Peculiarities: Translating Representative Environmental Action from Transnational into German Law

This paper explores representative environmental action in international, European Union, and German environmental law as an example of “legal translation.” The Aarhus Convention, dating from 1998, requests signatory parties to provide environmental NGOs with wide access to justice so that the protection of the environment can be controlled by the judiciary. Both the European Union and Germany have implemented the provisions of the Aarhus Convention into their respective legal orders. This process of implementation can be considered as “legal translations.” The argument of this paper is that a perspective of “legal translation” provides new vistas on the various intertwined layers of law constituting transnational environmental law. First, the example of representative environmental action shows how important context is for legal translations: the traditional German “impairment of rights doctrine” (Schutznormtheorie), historically developed in the nineteenth century, has still major importance in German administrative law and has to be taken into account when translating the Aarhus Convention. Secondly, legal translations take place in judicial hierarchies: both the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention have ruled upon Germany’s translation of representative environmental action and found it wanting; yet, the picture is much more complex and nuanced than the usage of “hierarchy” suggests, as a closer look reveals. Thirdly, literal translations are the basis of legal translations: in transnational law, multiple languages have to be literally translated, both on a European and an international level. Fourthly, the example of representative environmental action demonstrates the persistence of national peculiarities: after all, national peculiarities cannot too easily be overcome or abandoned; rather, they continue to play a significant role in transnational law.

German Legal History: National Traditions and Transnational Perspectives

In this article, I review select institutional and analytical traditions of Legal History in 20th century Germany, in order to put forth some recommendations for the future development of our discipline. A careful examination of the evolution of Legal History in Germany in the last twenty-five years, in particular, reveals radical transformations in the research framework: Within the study of law, there has been a shift in the internal reference points for Legal History. While the discipline is opening up to new understandings of law and to its neighboring disciplines, its institutional position at the law departments has become precarious. Research funding is being allocated in new ways and the German academic system is witnessing ever more internal differentiation. Internationally, German contributions and analytic traditions are receiving less attention and are being marginalized as new regions enter into a global dialogue on law and its history. The German tradition of research in Legal History had for long been setting benchmarks internationally; now it has to reflect upon and react to new global knowledge systems that have emerged in light of the digital revolution and the transnationalization of legal and academic systems. If legal historians in Germany accept the challenge these changing conditions pose, thrilling new intellectual and also institutional opportunities emerge. Especially the transnationalization of law and the need for a transnational legal scholarship offers fascinating perspectives for Legal History.