A call to arms at the end of history: a discourse-historical analysis of George W. Bush's declaration of war on terror

In this article we take a discourse-historical approach to illustrate the significance of George W Bush's (2001) declaration of a 'war on terror'. We present four exemplary 'call to arms' speeches by Pope Urban 11 (1095), Queen Elizabeth I (1588), Adolf Hitler (1938) and George W Bush (2001) to exemplify the structure, function, and historical significance of such texts in western societies over the last millennium. We identify four generic features that have endured in such texts throughout this period: (i) an appeal to a legitimate power source that is external to the orator, and which is presented as inherently good; (ii) an appeal to the historical importance of the culture in which the discourse is situated; (iii) the construction of a thoroughly evil Other; and (iv) an appeal for unification behind the legitimating external power source. We argue further that such texts typically appear in historical contexts characterized by deep crises in political legitimacy.

Industry evolution and cross-sectoral skill transfers:a comparative analysis of the video game industry in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom

In this paper we explore the interrelationship between technological progress and the formation of industry-specific skills by analysing the evolution of the video-game industry in three countries: Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. We argue that the cross-sectoral transfer of skills occurs differently depending on national contexts, such as the social legitimacy and strength of preexisting industries, the socioeconomic status of entrepreneurs or pioneer firms in an emerging industry, and the sociocultural cohesiveness between the preexisting and emerging industries. Each country draws on a different set of creative resources, which results in a unique trajectory. Whereas Japan's video-game industry emerged out of corporate sponsorships in arcades, toys, and consumer electronics industries and drew skills from the comic book and animated-film sectors, the video-game industry in the United States evolved from arcades and personal computers. In the United Kingdom the video-game industry developed bottom-up, through a process of skills formation in the youth culture of 'bedroom coders' that nurtured self-taught programmers in their teens throughout the country.

Introduction: towards an Anglo-German Histoire Croisée. migrants, transfers and cross-national entanglements

From the seventeenth until the twentieth century, Germans formed a prominent immigrant group in Great Britain. Their number included many occupations, and many occupied positions of significance. This volume brings together the most recent research on the subject, and places it firmly in the context of migration and transnational studies. It focuses on the significance of migration to cultural transfer, and highlights the contribution of Germans to the course of British history.

The impact of arms production on the South African manufacturing industry

The 1977 UN arms embargo was one of the main factors which led South Africa to establish a largely self sufficient import-substituting arms industry capable of meeting the apartheid state's demand for sophisticated weaponry. While macroeconomic studies suggest that high military spending had a damaging effect on economic growth, no studies have investigated the disaggregated impact of military expenditure on industrial development. This paper applies panel data methods to the Industrial Development Corporation's Sectoral Database in order to analyse the level effects of military spending.

Charlemagne’s crusaders: French collaboration in arms, 1941–1945

Military collaboration is one of the least acknowledged aspects of France under the Occupation. Yet from summer 1941 France raised a number of fighting units for Hitler’s armies, each with its distinctive mission and each drawing the Vichy regime deeper into collaboration with Nazi Germany. This article discusses that process and its diverse implications. It shows how the Paris collaborationists used military engagement to pressure the Vichy government into more activist collaboration and explores the divergent perspectives in which this was viewed from Berlin, Paris and Vichy; it considers the mobilising myths, motivations and misapprehensions behind military collaboration; and it identifies some of the anomalies of that collaboration, with its reconceptualising of France and Other, friend and foe, belonging and alienation. Those French ‘patriots’ who fought in German uniform would become effective exiles from a homeland they departed to ‘defend’ only to see it ‘liberated’ by their ‘enemies’. Exposing the divisions and the delusions underlying military collaboration, the article sheds light on conflicting political calculations and shifting allegiances in occupied France.

Arms, bending discounting functions:how motor actions affect intertemporal decision-making

We demonstrate that task-irrelevant somatic activity influences intertemporal decision making: Arm movements associated with approach (arm flexion), rather than avoidance (arm extension), instigate present-biased preferences. The effect is moderated by the sensitivity of the general reward system and, owing to learning principles, restricted to arm positions of the dominant hand.

Crustacean plankton abundance in the Danube River and in its side arms in Hungary

The spatial distribution and seasonal dynamics of the crustacean zooplankton were studied in the Danube River and in its side arms near Budapest, Hungary. Microcrustaceans were sampled biweekly from October 2006 to November 2007 at eleven sites. Thermocyclops crassus, Moina micrura and Bosmina longirostris added up to 57.6% of the total density. Comparisons of the different water bodies stressed the separation of the eupotamal and parapotamal side arms. Densities in the side arms were one respectively two orders of magnitude higher as compared to the main channel, which was relatively poor in plankton. There were remarkable longitudinal and transversal variations in the abundance of the major zooplankton groups (cladocerans, adult copepods, copepodites, nauplii) and dominant species (t-test, P < 0.05). However, no general pattern was observed, the spatial distribution depended on the examined objects. There were statistically significant seasonal differences in zooplankton abundance (Tukey-test, P < 0.05). Water residence time and water discharge were not found to be related to zooplankton abundance, but water temperature was positively correlated with microcrustacean density.