Religiöse Diskurstraditionen

Die jüngere Forschung zum sozialen Handeln von Muslimen in westeuropäischen Einwanderungsländern hebt häufig die reflexive Individualisierung von Lebensformen und religiösen Gesinnungen vor allem junger Muslime hervor. Der folgende Beitrag hinterfragt die diesem Ansatz zugrunde liegende Annahme eines Wertekanons ziviler europäischer Gesellschaften und Öffentlichkeiten, in die sich in Europa sozialisierte junge Muslime vermeintlich einfügen und muslimische Identitäten ?europäisch“ rekonstruieren. Dieser Transformationsprozess wird in diesen Theorien sowohl im Hinblick auf die familiale Lebenswelt wie im Hinblick auf die öffentliche Sphäre, in denen Muslime agieren, unterschätzt. Im Rückgriff auf Ansätze der historisch-vergleichenden Soziologie und der Religionsanthropologie erarbeitet der Aufsatz zunächst einen Begriff von ?Tradition“, der die Konstituierung, Verwaltung und Transformation von religiösen Diskursen, Praxen und Subjekten diachronisch und transgenerationell erklärt und der Gleichzeitigkeit von sozialer Einbettung und diskursiver Autonomie von Tradition Rechnung trägt. Wir zeigen, dass die sozialen Praktiken von Muslimen in Europa eine Transformation erfahren, die ihre besondere Grundlage im muslimischen Reformdiskurs im kolonialen und postkolonialen Kontext mehrerer Zentren der islamischen Welt hat. Der Fall junger Kopftuch tragender Musliminnen in Deutschland und Frankreich, die der zweiten und dritten Migrantengeneration angehören, zeigt schließlich weder eine selbst-reflexive Identitätssuche noch das ?coming out“ der Heldinnen einer nicht-westlichen Modernität, sondern ein praxisorientiertes und wissensgestütztes Räsonieren der jungen Frauen über die Wiedereinbettung des Traditionsdiskurses in die sozialen Felder (Familie, Studium, Arbeit und islamische Vereine), in denen sie operieren. Ihr Streben, das von der Traditionsdynamik der Kohärenzsuche geleitet wird, konfiguriert eine ?Alltagspolitik“, in der die Frauen ihre islamisch inspirierten Lebensprojekte gleichzeitig von moralisch erstarrten familiären ?Lebenswelten“ und von normativ erstarrten politischen Öffentlichkeiten abkoppeln und kultivieren.     

Demonstration of a gastric bioptic specimen mix-up by laser capture microdissection (LCM) and DNA fingerprinting

We demonstrate here the successful use of laser capture microdissection (LCM) and DNA fingerprinting in the identification of a case of gastric bioptic specimen mix-up. A 70-year-old man, suffering from chronic atrophic gastritis, underwent to a gastric biopsy and received a diagnosis of gastric cancer. In the absence of any clinical evidence of gastric cancer, a specimen mix-up was suspected. LCM was used to retrieve gastric cells from the histologic slide, classified as gastric carcinoma, and suspected to be mislabelled. DNA was extracted from microdissected cells, and a total of 16 different genetic loci were analyzed, using an identity test. Comparison of the results with those obtained using DNA extracted from a control slide, and from patient's saliva, demonstrated a distinct DNA fingerprint pattern in all genetic markers examined, clearly indicating the occurrence of a specimen mix-up. The combined use of LCM and DNA fingerprinting represents the most accurate and sophisticated method available for the identification of specimen mix-up, especially when only the tissue on the suspected slide is available.     

Capitalism,Socialism and the Challenge of Degrowth: Introduction to the Symposium

This is an overview of a symposium on degrowth centred on Giorgos Kallis’ call for a socialism without growth, which insists on the need to be mindful of throughputs and the ecological consequences of any socialist project. Summarising and critically evaluating the various positions expressed by all the symposium participants, we find that Kallis’ ideas can be promising in drawing closer different Green Left perspectives, including ecosocialist, ecofeminist, and eco-Marxist. This complementarity is possible provided that degrowth proponents clearly align themselves politically on the side of the broad anti-capitalist Left and that the critiques expressed by the other symposium participants-especially with respect to Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews and practices and the dynamics that subtend the capitalist mode of production—become essential to degrowth platforms. We find already enough overlap among the diverse leftist positions represented in this Symposium for, at a minimum, continuing dialogue and, hopefully, politically beneficial mutual transformation and unification.     

Forensic applications of sodium rhodizonate and hydrochloric acid: a new histological technique for detection of gunshot residues

Demonstration of the presence of lead residues deriving from gunshot in skin and underlying tissues is essential for the correct forensic analysis of numerous legal cases. Optical microscopy remains the fastest, cheapest diagnostic technique, even though its sensitivity and specificity are poor because of the scarce quantity of histological tissue that can be examined and possible environmental lead pollution. To confirm the presence of lead from gunshot residues, we applied to histological sections of human skin a technique proposed by Owens and George in 1991 for macroscopic detection of lead on the clothing of shooting victims, involving a reaction with sodium rhodizonate and subsequent confirmation by color change on application of HCl. Our results demonstrate the technical possibility of using this macroscopic technique even on histological samples and support the need for further studies on a larger series of cases correlated with the type of ammunition and firing distance.     

“It’s the politics, stupid!”. The politicization of anti-corruption in Italy

This article aims to analyze the relationship between judicial activism against political corruption and electoral accountability. The judiciary plays a pivotal role in enforcing anti-corruption legislation, and, in many countries, courts have moved closer and closer towards that kind of working. In the article, we analyze the conditions under which a judicial prosecution of corrupt practices can also lead to electoral punishment of political misconducts by voters, or to a failure of accountability mechanisms. The latter outcome is more likely to occur if judicial activism is politicized. The ‘politicization’ of anti-corruption initiatives is here defined as an increase in the polarization of opinions, interests, or values about judicial investigations and the extent to which this polarization is strategically advanced towards the political debate by parties, political leaders, and media. By crystallizing a new dimension of political conflict, political actors can negatively affect electoral accountability, diminishing the risk of electoral punishment. We study this phenomenon by analyzing the case of Italy, a country which has experienced high levels of politicization of anti-corruption. However, whether and to what extent anti-corruption policies can be politicized is a question open for many other countries that can take a similar path.     

John Barrett and collective approaches to United States foreign policy in Latin America, 1907–20

Imperial security and the need to contain Germany drove British policy towards Austria-Hungary during the First World War more than its view of the Dual Monarchy itself, and shifts in the course of that policy reflected the changing fortunes of war. Given its strategic interests, Britain had less scope to sustain Austria as a great power than Paul W. Schroeder has argued. Those priorities also limited the role of specialists like R.W. Seton-Watson and Sir Lewis Namier to advising on the implementation of policies made by the war cabinet rather than shaping decisions themselves. Development of wartime policy towards Austria cast the priority Britain placed on Central and Eastern Europe into sharp relief, helping to explain trends in its approach to the region through the 1940s.