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Copyright of Journal of Cultivated Plants / Journal für Kulturpflanzen is the property of Verlag Eugen Ulmer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Roughly during the last decade, European Competition Policy has undergone a series of fundamental changes. All four areas - cartel policy, merger policy, abuse control, and state aid control - have been subject to a modernization process, which led to a focus on analysing the effects of individual cases and established a tendency towards deciding each case on its individual merits. These changes can be understood as a move away from rule-based competition policy towards a case-by-case approach. The case-by-case approach especially includes consensual arrangements, so-called 'deals' between the competition authority and business companies. Therefore, this paper will discuss the pros and cons of 'deals' as an instrument of (European) competition policy. The paper's central focus lies on the economic analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of using consensual arrangements as a relevant instrument of European competition policy. With respect to European competition policy, we conclude that we need to issue a note of caution. From an economic perspective, an expansion of consensual elements necessarily walks hand in hand with a continual weakening of the protection of competition. Consumer welfare will not benefit from expanding the role and importance of consensual arrangements as a means of European competition policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the request of the Jewish Middle/ Middle-East-European immigrants for images, impressions, feelings and memories from their native lands, which Aaron Lebedeff masterfully captured in his American-Jewish musicals. The paper focuses on multiculturalism and multilingualism in overlapping regions of extended cultural areas, particularly in territories along the borders of Middle/Middle-East-European states, which don't form any abrupt cultural barriers. Using the example of a in our time in Jewish milieus worldwide frequently played quadrilingual song from Aaron Lebedeff about Romania (with the German translation of the complete version from 1925), the paper conveys the role of Yiddish as a major dialect of the German as a worldwide carrier of this language as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gesunde Pflanzen is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Politik is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After heavy rains and rapid thaw in February 2012, the dam of an artificial lake broke and the water flooded the village Biser. It took the lives of six people, destroyed 56 houses and damaged many others. What does this flood tell us about society is the general question of this paper. Empirically, it is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Biser and in other Bulgarian villages and small towns that have been flooded over the past ten years as well as on the analysis of publications in the media. The first section of the paper uses as a starting point the conceptual definition of natural disasters as phenomena that occur at the intersection of nature and society. It shows that political, economic and social practices have a share in the causation of floods. Mismanagement or neglect of infrastructure, improper or unauthorized use of reservoirs, illegal exploitation of sand and gravel from the rivers, and disposal of household waste and building rubble in the rivers belong to the “potentially destructive agents” that accumulate problems, create unsafe conditions and generate “natural” disasters. From another theoretical point of view, disasters are conceptualized as “empirical windows upon the inner working of society” that give us insights into values, attitudes, practices, and processes which are dominant in a particular society. In the Bulgarian case, these include indifference and even irresponsibility of politicians, experts, and “common” people towards the public sphere (outdoor space, infrastructure, regulations, laws, common interests, welfare), lack of long-term planning, and focus on short-term profits that is characterized by both disrespect of legal norms and disregard of safety rules and measures. The second section deals with the political use of rescue operations, social assistance, and reconstruction in Biser. Disaster management was simultaneously carried out as a political image campaign and reconstruction became an arena for political activism. The central government pushed itself into the spotlight in the role of local crisis manager. Using the media, politicians focused public attention on their assisting and rebuilding projects (material and financial aid, compensation, reconstruction of damaged houses, construction of new houses). The third section shows how aid and reconstruction caused a new disaster, a social one. The recovering projects and the resource allocation turned into “destructive agents” that triggered social conflicts. The initially single group of flood-affected people was disintegrated into several groups that were defined by the type and the amount of material and financial aid they received. Envy, mutual distrust, competition and even hostility broke out. Since the reconstruction followed a top-down approach and was guided by political decisions, it largely neglected local social reality. It did not return the village back to normal, as the government wanted, but rather it reshaped and restructured the village both physically and socially. Thus the reconstruction has some similarities with the 25 years long post-socialist transition: It created winners and losers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the internet project "Digitalisation of Prussia's official press". It was funded by the DFG. The project deals with the "Provinzial-Correspondenz" (PC, 1863-1884) and the "Neueste Mittheilungen" (NM, 1882-1994). Both papers were founded in an immense political crisis; both papers were important propagandistic instruments of Otto von Bismarck. The project enables access to a central source material of the late 19th century. It works on commentaries for subjects, persons and locations. Condensed abstracts offer surveys for both correspondences. A systematic index provides navigation from topic to topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GAIA: Ecological Perspectives for Science & Society is the property of Oekom Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of ÖZP - Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft is the property of Oesterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The following paper presents the 11th volume of the Studies on German Language and Literature - Kronstädter Beiträge zur germanistischen Forschung 2009. The theme of the volume is „Remembering and Forgetting” On the Contribution of German Writing in the Process of Identity Construction in Central and Eastern Europe. Thus, each article aims at analyzing various aspects regarding the role of writing within identity construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most early modern instances of migration are connected to the emergence of the modern state, and/or to the different confessional cultures in Europe following the Reformation. Since the onset of modern times and, contrary to recent trends in migration research, early modern migrations have mainly been analyzed as a challenge to the order and stability of early modern society. Migrants were furthermore looked upon as part of somewhat “given" groups (for instance “the" Huguenots, Salzburgers etc.) defined by geographical, ethnic, or religious characteristics. The paper argues for a more thorough analysis of the historical dimension of such presuppositions, and challenges older dichotomies in research of early modern migrations. It advocates a view based on the communicational opportunities and individual options of migrants within the contemporary political and confessional frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ÖZP - Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft is the property of Oesterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Information about several papers discussed at a symposium "Die Entwicklung der Hofmusik von der kurfürstlichen Kapelle von Brandenburg zum Hoforchester des ersten Königs in Preußen" held October 16-18, 2015 at Berlin, Germany is presented. Topics discussed include popularity of early modern court chapels in musicological studies, development and the repertoire of the Prussian court orchestra during the reign of King Frederick II and diversity of modern princely courts of Europe.

The European Commissio n observes the development of the European Union for 40 years now. The Eurobarometer measures the Europeans' attitudes towards a number of Europe related questions. The information value is classified as high because the surveys are conducted twice a year and thus generate an ever growing set of data. The paper investigates the role of the Eurobarometer in the process of the European integration. To this end, the methods applied are examined and weaknesses discussed. Subsequently the contribution advances to the thesis that the commission uses the Eu-robarometer as a political instrument to foster European integration processes. The use of the Eurobarometer as an instrument of intervention, however, questions its usefulness as a survey and leaves the political benefit of its exploitation uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a conference on the history of antisemitism in Eastern Europe from the late nineteenth century until the beginning of World War II, convened in Warsaw, Poland, from May 16-18, 2013. Papers presented included examples of antisemitic political violence, pogroms, and racist propaganda in such countries as Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine.

In modern monetary policy nearly every central bank has an output driven task to fulfil. This could be price stability or the attainment of a stable inflation rate. In order to establish whether the monetary policy has reached its goals, it is possible to use monetary rules ex post as a benchmark. For this we will use the Taylor rule and interest rate to describe the European interest rate policy from 1999 to 2009. The main result is that from 2000 till 2008 the Taylor interest rate is much higher than its benchmarks EONIA and EURIBOR. Only for the year 1999 a neutral interest rate emerges. Furthermore the paper shows that the European interest rate policy missed its Taylor interest rate benchmark every time except 1999. So it is possible to state that the European interest rate policy was too expansive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Familienforschung (ZzF) is the property of University of Bamberg Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of ÖZP - Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft is the property of Oesterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article deals with issues of migration and migrant rights in Germany and Europe. Even if many scholars have elucidated with convincing clarity that Western nation states can improve migrant's rights due to the autonomy of the legal system, this paper's focus is to point out a cotemporary opposite process. Because of the transformation of the former welfare states to 'competition states' migration policies are now likely subsumed under the principle of competitive advantage. In this article I reaffirm that steering migration process has to be understood still in terms of the nation state and the economic conditions of these states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a conference on the demographics and statistics of human casualties during World War II, held in Budapest, Hungary, on December 9-10, 2012. Papers addressed case studies and methodological problems regarding the accounting of victims in several belligerent countries in Europe, including Germany, the USSR, and Poland. Research tools, such as various databases, and the political implications of historiography in this field were also discussed.

The article offers information on "Inszenierung als Legitimation? Die Monarchie im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert - ein deutsch-englischer Vergleich," a conference that focused on the history of monarchies in Europe, and took place in Coburg, Germany. Papers presented at the conference discussed topics such as the influence of Christianity on the German monarchy in the 1800s, the courtly ceremonies during the reign of German Emperor William II., and the role of the British royal family in the media.

The article offers information on "Umweltgeschichte der Frühen Neuzeit - Experiment und Perspektive," a conference that focused on the environmental history of Europe during the early modern period. It took place in Munich, Germany from February 17-19, 2011. Papers presented discussed topics such as the study of natural disasters in the early modern period, the environmental history of rivers in Europe, and the agricultural knowledge and use of land during that time period.

The article offers information on the "Historical Climatology" conference that took place at the German Historical Institute in Paris, France from September 5-6, 2011. Papers presented at the conference discussed topics such as how historians can contribute to finding a solution to climate change, how climate change affected animals in England and Wales during the 14th century, and how certain types of documentary data can aid in the reconstruction of European climates.

The article reports on the conference "'Universal Reformation': Intellectual Networks in Central and Western Europe, 1560-1670," held at the University of Oxford, Great Britain, from September 21-23, 2010. Papers on topics including the cultural, intellectual, and academic networks of the nobility, millenarian movements, and the propaganda media of the German Reformation were discussed.

The article reports on the conference "Stadtkultur – Kultur(haupt)stadt," held from November 9-11, 2010, in Linz, Austria. The papers presented discussed various aspects of urban history and culture from the late Middle Ages to the early 21st century, including symbolic representations of religion and politics in medieval and early modern Zurich, Switzerland, the role of music in urban society, and urban cultural institutions such as museums, theaters, and libraries.

The article reports on the conference "Der Kult des großen Plans um 1910: Gestaltung von Metropolen in historischer Perspektive," held on November 25-26, 2010, at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. The conference discussed philosophies and standards of urban planning in the early 20th century in cross-cultural perspective, with papers focusing on various cities, including Chicago, Illinois, Vienna, Austria, and Canberra, Australia.

The article reports on a conference entitled "Haus - Familie - Ordnung" (Home - Family - Order), the third annual meeting of the working group "Haus im Kontext: Kommunikation und Lebenswelt" (Home in Context: Communication and Lifeworld), held in Rheinfelden, Switzerland, from November 24-26, 2010. Presentations included papers on the historical development of family relationships, concepts and perceptions of order in a household, and relationships between humans and animals in their houses.

The article reports on a conference on the concept of Christianitas (Christendom) in the Middle Ages, held from April 11-13, 2012, in Loveno di Menaggio, Italy. Topics of the precirculated papers included historical and political aspects of the evolution of the term Christendom, the representation of the papacy in medieval sacred art, and expectations of the future in medieval historiography.

Copyright of Moderna Sprak is the property of Institutionen for Moderna Sprak and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental Sciences Europe is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article examines the historical reduction of social and economic inequality in Western Europe during the 1960s and 1970s. Alleged increases of equality in the realms of housing, medical care, and education are questioned, taxation, education reform, and welfare in 20th-century Western Europe are analyzed, and information is offered on the role of socialist democratic governments in reducing the inequalities inherent in industrialized capitalist economic systems. The role of the government in increasing equality is questioned.

The article focuses on the memories and historical accounts related to the Second World War in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe. Various topics discussed include its influence on future human generations, relationship between residents of different countries between 1938-1948 and historiography of international politics.

The article discusses a review of early modern era criminal court records from Zurich, Switzerland, that raise questions about the problems of comparing the meanings of the concepts of "rape" and "abuse" in that pre-modern period to modern times. The author notes that crimes of "sexualized violence" in the earlier era may involve different understandings of the terms applied to those crimes. She also wonders how a modern person can understand a concept of "fairness" in the former time period, given sentences that seem unjust to those living in a later time.

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Swiss Political Science Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Where are the points of agreement and divergence in the positions of social democratic parties in Europe? This question stands at the centre of a survey on the European Economic and Social Model conducted in 17 European countries. On the abstract-programmatic level on some points there is considerable agreement, for example, on the demand for a strengthening of the social dimension of the European Union. Even on a number of concrete political projects there is unanimity within European social democracy (rejection of the country of origin principle in the liberalization of services). The normal case in relation to concrete political proposals is of course great heterogeneity of positions. This divergence can be explained by the dominance of "national" interests over the general party-political interest in a uniform position. These national interests are shaped on the one hand by inter-state distributional interests (net payers vs. net beneficiaries), and on the other hand by the degree of approximation of one's own welfare state and politico-economic model to the model of the core European states (the six founding states): it is only to be expected that a strengthening of the social dimension of the EU would lead to a transfer of this model to EU level. For this reason positions are very heterogeneous, particularly in the case of EU policies which touch on the foundations of national welfare state regimes. As an example we shall present the survey results on the proposals for a co-ordinated wage and employment policy, as well as the institutionalization of a common EU welfare state model. In this connection four groups of countries have crystallized: (i) The states of "old Europe" favor further socio-political integration, even if they must foot the bill as net payers, because they can expect an institutionalization of a welfare state model at EU level which is compatible with their own. (ii) The "cohesion states" (southern Europe plus Ireland) are also relatively open-minded because their own welfare state development has led to an approximation to the continental European model "from below" (iii) The "transition states" of Eastern Europe are rather skeptical because they fear a loss of competitiveness from further EU socio-political integration. (iv) The "euro-skeptics" (Scandinavia and the UK) are equally reluctant. This is due on the one hand to their being net payers, but on the other to the fact that the institutionalization of a common EU social model would go hand in hand with a far-reaching transformation of their own welfare state models. This would trigger conflicts over redistribution and jeopardize the functional integrity of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forum: Qualitative Social Research / Qualitative Sozialforschung is the property of Forum Qualitative Social Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article compares the electoral law for the Carinthian Assembly with electoral laws of other European realities. The focus is on the impact of these laws on the representation of minorities in the respectively elected bodies. The author looks into the question of whether measures for the effective participation of minorities in public and political life are requested not only because of democratic but also legal considerations regarding the principle of equality. The article ends with suggestions on how the Carinthian legislator could reform the electoral law in order to allow for the representation of the Slovene minority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]