Cultural diasporas

This study examines the contribution that artists from a non-EU background make towards cultural life and cultural industries in Europe and beyond. In particular, it looks at how such artists form "diasporas" which in turn create networks of cultural exchange inside the EU and with third countries. It provides examples of these activities in three broad diaspora groups of African, Balkan and Turkish background.

Where Empires Meet: Orientalism and Marginality at the Former Russo-British Frontier

This article explores the intersection of orientalism and marginality in two regions at the former Russo-British frontier between Central and South Asia. Focussing on Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan and Gilgit-Baltistan in today’s Pakistan, an analysis of historical and contemporary orientalist projections on and in the two border regions reveals changing modes of domination through the course of the twentieth century (British, Kashmiri, Pakistani and Russian, Soviet, Tajik). In this regard, different local experiences of “ colonial ” rule, both in Gorno-Badakhshan and Gilgit-Baltistan, challenge “ classical ” periodisations of colonial/postcolonial and colonial/socialist/postsocialist. This article furthermore maintains that processes of marginalisation in both regions can be interpreted as effects of imperial and Cold War contexts that have led to the establishment of the frontier. Thus, a central argument is that neither the status of the frontier between Central and South Asia as a stable entity, nor the periodisations that have conventionally been ascribed to the two regions as linear timelines can be taken for granted.

Rhyming the National Spirit: Taras Shevchenko and Ilia Chavchavadze

The paper is a comparative inquiry into the roles of Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907) and Taras Shevchenko (1818-1861) as national poets and anti-colonial (anti-Tsarist) intellectuals within the context of their respective national traditions (Georgia and Ukraine). During the period of their activity (19th and the beginning of 20th century) both Ukraine and Georgia were under Tsarist imperial rule, albeit the two poets lived in different periods of Russian empire history. Through their major works, each called on their communities to ‘awaken’ and ‘revolt’ against oppression, rejected social apathy caused by Tsarist subjugation and raised awareness about the historical past of their nations. The non-acceptance of present and belief in an independent future was one of the dominant themes in the poetry and prose of both. Their contemporary importance is illustrated in political discourse both after Orange Revolution in Ukraine (2004), and Rose Revolution in Georgia (2003) where both poets are referred “as founding fathers of national ideology”, the history textbooks alluding to them as “symbols of anti-colonial resistance”. To this day, however, there has been surprisingly little academic writing in the West endeavoring to compare the works and activities of the two poets and their impact on national mobilization in Tsarist Ukraine and Georgia, even though their countries are often mentioned in a same breath by commentators on contemporary culture and politics. The paper attempts to fill this gap and tries to understand the relationship between literature and social mobilization in 19th century Russian Empire. By reflecting on Taras Shevchenko’s and Ilia Chavchavadze’s poetry, prose and social activism, I will try to explain how in different periods of Russian imperial history, the two poets helped to develop a modern form of political belonging among their compatriots and stimulated an anti-colonial mobilization with different political outcomes. To theorize on the role of poets and novelists in anti-colonial national movement, I will reflect on the writings of Benedict Anderson (1991), John Hutchinson (1994; 1999), Rory Finnin (2005; 2011) and problematize Miroslav Hroch’s (1996) three phase model of the development of national movements. Overall, the paper would aim to show the importance of, what John Hutchinson called, ‘cultural nationalists’ in understanding contemporary nationalist discourse in Georgian and Ukrainian societies.

The relationship between top management team innovation orientation and firm growth: The mediating role of firm innovativeness

Upper echelon theory and research on innovation have considered top management teams and their behaviour and characteristics as important factors that positively influence innovativeness and organizational outcomes. Yet, innovation research has mostly focused on individual new product projects, and their performance and impact on firm performance. Recent research has started to apply a more holistic view in terms of innovation, by considering firm-wide innovation instead of single new products. Upper echelon research has concentrated on direct relationships between top management team characteristics and organizational outcomes. But recent research calls for mediating effects of the relationship between top management team characteristics and organizational outcomes. Hence, this study introduces firm innovativeness as a mediator between top management team innovation orientation and firm growth. Focusing on small and medium-sized firms, which often represent highly innovative firms, results show that firm innovativeness fully mediates the relationship between top management team innovation orientation and firm growth. Implications and future research are discussed.

Post-Empire Imaginaries? Anglophone Literature, History, and the Demise of Empires

Empires as political entities may be a thing of the past, but as a concept, empire is alive and kicking. From heritage tourism and costume dramas to theories of the imperial idea(l): empire sells. Post-Empire Imaginaries? Anglophone Literature, History, and the Demise of Empires presents innovative scholarship on the lives and legacies of empires in diverse media such as literature, film, advertising, and the visual arts. Though rooted in real space and history, the post-empire and its twin, the post-imperial, emerge as ungraspable ideational constructs. The volume convincingly establishes empire as welcoming resistance and affirmation, introducing post-empire imaginaries as figurations that connect the archives and repertoires of colonial nostalgia, postcolonial critique, post-imperial dreaming.

The Madras Presidency’s Prisons and the British Empire, 1820s–1850s

This paper is based on the observation that projects to reform prisons in British India in the first half of the 19th century were remarkably parallel to those in Britain and other colonies of the British Empire. Therefore, it will be asked to what extent local discussions about imprisonment in India were connected to developments in the metropole, in other parts of the empire, and elsewhere in the colony and how such imperial connections influenced local practices. Recent studies on colonial India’s prisons have focused on the British possessions in north India, whereas the Madras Presidency’s penal history is as of yet mostly unstudied. The paper will look on two initiatives of prison reform undertaken by the Madras Government; firstly, an inquiry made in the 1820s to combat the high mortality in the jails, and secondly, attempts throughout the 1840s and 1850s to construct a penitentiary along the lines of penal systems in other parts of India and the British Empire. The two case studies promise insights into the body of knowledge about punishment that was accumulated in British India, its entanglement with debates in other parts of the empire, and the emergence of ‘imperial standards’ of imprisonment in the course of the 19th century.

"An attentive Ear, a watchful Eye, and a Calm judicious Pen": William Samuel Johnson, the Colonial Agents, and the Transformation of the British Atlantic World

By looking at Great Britain and the American colonies in conjunction with the larger British Atlantic Empire, historians can better understand the political, social, and cultural transformations that occurred when transatlantic actors met. William Samuel Johnson is an example of an "ordinary" agent who nonetheless had extensive contacts with numerous British and American thinkers. While acting on Connecticut's behalf in London between 1767 and 1771, he sent reports back to Connecticut governors Jonathan Trumbull and William Pitkin on parliamentary proceedings while corresponding with the people who traveled around the Atlantic world during this critical period-merchants, seafarers, emigrants, soldiers, missionaries, radicals and conservatives, reformers, and politicians. He is also representative of the late eighteenth-century empire writ large. Agents, who had once been a source of stability in the far-flung colonies, became a destabilizing force as confusion and conflict grew over conceptual ideas of what constituted "the empire" and who was included in it. Johnson was a sane observer in the midst of the ideological and administrative upheaval of the 1760's and 1770's. His subsequent loyalism and political obscurity during the war years was in many ways a result of his attempts to reconcile various factional interests during his tenure as an agent. Although he did his best to resolve these divisions and provide an accurate account of the powerful nationalistic forces gathering on both sides of the Atlantic on the eve of the American Revolution, the agents' collective failures as transatlantic mediators helped bring about the collapse of an imperial community. This disintegration had dramatic effects on the whole of the Atlantic world.

Ruhmverneuertes Ehren-Maal Der Erbaren und Kunstreichen Holz- Bein- Horn- Metall- und Silber-Drechsler

Welches der weiland sinnreiche Dichter, Hanß Weber, Anno 1589 in schickliche Reime verfasset, jetzo aber Auf Begehren einer Ehrlöbl. Gesellschaft allhier in diese Form übersetzt Gottlieb Siegmund Wolff, Poes. Cult. ; J. C. Zick del. et sculpsit

Ruhmverneuertes Ehren-Maal Der Erbaren und Kunstreichen Holz- Bein- Horn- Metall- und Silber-Drechsler

Welches der weiland sinnreiche Dichter, Hanß Weber, Anno 1589 in schickliche Reim verfasset, jetzo aber Auf Begehren einer Ehrlöbl. Gesellschaft allhier in diese Form übersetzt, Gottlieb Siegmund Wolf, Poes. Cult. auch Lobspr. ; J. C. Zick del. et sculpsit

Ruhm- und -Ehrenmal an dem Oberherrlich-gnädigsterlaubten Lichtfest der Ehrlöblich und weltberühmten Stuck- Glocken- und Rothgießer

Gottlieb Sigmund Wolf, Lobspr. adj. et poes. cult.

Da heut durch Gottes Gnad der frohe Tag erscheint, und sich die Glaser-Kunst zwei hundert Jahr vereint, will dieses Ehrenmaal mit innigsten Ergötzen, aus Pflicht und Schuldigkeit, der spaten Nachwelt setzen ...

Gottlieb Siegmund Wolf, Poes. Cult. auch Lobspr. [Stecherzeichen im Kupferstich:] A H

Modeling Techniques for the High-Resolution Interpretation of Cryo-Electron Microscopy Reconstructions

Essential biological processes are governed by organized, dynamic interactions between multiple biomolecular systems. Complexes are thus formed to enable the biological function and get dissembled as the process is completed. Examples of such processes include the translation of the messenger RNA into protein by the ribosome, the folding of proteins by chaperonins or the entry of viruses in host cells. Understanding these fundamental processes by characterizing the molecular mechanisms that enable then, would allow the (better) design of therapies and drugs. Such molecular mechanisms may be revealed trough the structural elucidation of the biomolecular assemblies at the core of these processes. Various experimental techniques may be applied to investigate the molecular architecture of biomolecular assemblies. High-resolution techniques, such as X-ray crystallography, may solve the atomic structure of the system, but are typically constrained to biomolecules of reduced flexibility and dimensions. In particular, X-ray crystallography requires the sample to form a three dimensional (3D) crystal lattice which is technically di‑cult, if not impossible, to obtain, especially for large, dynamic systems. Often these techniques solve the structure of the different constituent components within the assembly, but encounter difficulties when investigating the entire system. On the other hand, imaging techniques, such as cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), are able to depict large systems in near-native environment, without requiring the formation of crystals. The structures solved by cryo-EM cover a wide range of resolutions, from very low level of detail where only the overall shape of the system is visible, to high-resolution that approach, but not yet reach, atomic level of detail. In this dissertation, several modeling methods are introduced to either integrate cryo-EM datasets with structural data from X-ray crystallography, or to directly interpret the cryo-EM reconstruction. Such computational techniques were developed with the goal of creating an atomic model for the cryo-EM data. The low-resolution reconstructions lack the level of detail to permit a direct atomic interpretation, i.e. one cannot reliably locate the atoms or amino-acid residues within the structure obtained by cryo-EM. Thereby one needs to consider additional information, for example, structural data from other sources such as X-ray crystallography, in order to enable such a high-resolution interpretation. Modeling techniques are thus developed to integrate the structural data from the different biophysical sources, examples including the work described in the manuscript I and II of this dissertation. At intermediate and high-resolution, cryo-EM reconstructions depict consistent 3D folds such as tubular features which in general correspond to alpha-helices. Such features can be annotated and later on used to build the atomic model of the system, see manuscript III as alternative. Three manuscripts are presented as part of the PhD dissertation, each introducing a computational technique that facilitates the interpretation of cryo-EM reconstructions. The first manuscript is an application paper that describes a heuristics to generate the atomic model for the protein envelope of the Rift Valley fever virus. The second manuscript introduces the evolutionary tabu search strategies to enable the integration of multiple component atomic structures with the cryo-EM map of their assembly. Finally, the third manuscript develops further the latter technique and apply it to annotate consistent 3D patterns in intermediate-resolution cryo-EM reconstructions. The first manuscript, titled An assembly model for Rift Valley fever virus, was submitted for publication in the Journal of Molecular Biology. The cryo-EM structure of the Rift Valley fever virus was previously solved at 27Å-resolution by Dr. Freiberg and collaborators. Such reconstruction shows the overall shape of the virus envelope, yet the reduced level of detail prevents the direct atomic interpretation. High-resolution structures are not yet available for the entire virus nor for the two different component glycoproteins that form its envelope. However, homology models may be generated for these glycoproteins based on similar structures that are available at atomic resolutions. The manuscript presents the steps required to identify an atomic model of the entire virus envelope, based on the low-resolution cryo-EM map of the envelope and the homology models of the two glycoproteins. Starting with the results of the exhaustive search to place the two glycoproteins, the model is built iterative by running multiple multi-body refinements to hierarchically generate models for the different regions of the envelope. The generated atomic model is supported by prior knowledge regarding virus biology and contains valuable information about the molecular architecture of the system. It provides the basis for further investigations seeking to reveal different processes in which the virus is involved such as assembly or fusion. The second manuscript was recently published in the of Journal of Structural Biology (doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2009.12.028) under the title Evolutionary tabu search strategies for the simultaneous registration of multiple atomic structures in cryo-EM reconstructions. This manuscript introduces the evolutionary tabu search strategies applied to enable a multi-body registration. This technique is a hybrid approach that combines a genetic algorithm with a tabu search strategy to promote the proper exploration of the high-dimensional search space. Similar to the Rift Valley fever virus, it is common that the structure of a large multi-component assembly is available at low-resolution from cryo-EM, while high-resolution structures are solved for the different components but lack for the entire system. Evolutionary tabu search strategies enable the building of an atomic model for the entire system by considering simultaneously the different components. Such registration indirectly introduces spatial constrains as all components need to be placed within the assembly, enabling the proper docked in the low-resolution map of the entire assembly. Along with the method description, the manuscript covers the validation, presenting the benefit of the technique in both synthetic and experimental test cases. Such approach successfully docked multiple components up to resolutions of 40Å. The third manuscript is entitled Evolutionary Bidirectional Expansion for the Annotation of Alpha Helices in Electron Cryo-Microscopy Reconstructions and was submitted for publication in the Journal of Structural Biology. The modeling approach described in this manuscript applies the evolutionary tabu search strategies in combination with the bidirectional expansion to annotate secondary structure elements in intermediate resolution cryo-EM reconstructions. In particular, secondary structure elements such as alpha helices show consistent patterns in cryo-EM data, and are visible as rod-like patterns of high density. The evolutionary tabu search strategy is applied to identify the placement of the different alpha helices, while the bidirectional expansion characterizes their length and curvature. The manuscript presents the validation of the approach at resolutions ranging between 6 and 14Å, a level of detail where alpha helices are visible. Up to resolution of 12 Å, the method measures sensitivities between 70-100% as estimated in experimental test cases, i.e. 70-100% of the alpha-helices were correctly predicted in an automatic manner in the experimental data. The three manuscripts presented in this PhD dissertation cover different computation methods for the integration and interpretation of cryo-EM reconstructions. The methods were developed in the molecular modeling software Sculptor (http://sculptor.biomachina.org) and are available for the scientific community interested in the multi-resolution modeling of cryo-EM data. The work spans a wide range of resolution covering multi-body refinement and registration at low-resolution along with annotation of consistent patterns at high-resolution. Such methods are essential for the modeling of cryo-EM data, and may be applied in other fields where similar spatial problems are encountered, such as medical imaging.

Antropología de las relaciones transnacionales en las regiones de frontera. El caso de la Triple Frontera entre Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay. 16H363

La triple frontera entre Argentina, Brasil y Paraguay, concebida como una amplia región con epicentro en la red urbana Puerto Iguazú, Foz do Iguazú y Ciudad del Este y otras localidades satélites, y que reconoce, además, dos puntos de gran importancia como Posadas/Encarnación y Bernardo de Irigoyen/Dionisio Cerqueira, comprende en realidad, un territorio muchos más vasto que abarca la provincia argentina de Misiones, la zona occidentalde los estados del sur de Brasil y el sur de Mato Grosso do Sul y el este de Paraguay. En este espacio tienen lugar múltiples relaciones transnacionales: económicas, políticas, sociales, culturales, etcétera que poseen una dilatada historia pero que, a partir de la integración y el MERCOSUR adquirieron una complejidad y densidad en permanente crecimiento y además, el surgimiento de procesos emergentes cuyo conocimiento supone un imperativo ineludible. Hemos investigado en los proyectos anteriores, ocho en total, los dos niveles en los que consideramos deben estudiarse estos procesos. Un nivel de escala mayor que trata de comprender la complejidad de una formación socioeconómica y espacial transnacional y su lugar en el ajedrez nacional e internacional del sistema imperial y, otro nivel, consistente en la profundización de problemas específicos de la región fronteriza como: redes sociales, mercado de trabajo, migraciones, exilio, solidaridad y lucha, movimientos sociales, gestión de ecosistemas compartidos, proyectos de desarrollo comunes, foros de esclarecimiento y defensa regionales, e integración del conocimiento.

Antropología de las relaciones transnacionales en las regiones de frontera. Hegemonía y resistencia en el Sistema Mundo (2010/2012) “HANUIN VIII”.. 16H312

La presente investigación forma parte de un ciclo integrado por siete investigaciones precedentes, cuyas referencias están incluidas en el apartado de antecedentes. Dichas investigaciones cuentan con los informes de avance y finales aprobados. Su objetivo principal es conocer y describir la complejidad de la región de frontera estudiada (Triple Frontera entre Argentina, Brasil y Paraguay) ), el núcleo duro de las relaciones directas, y las acciones propias, que desde la región, protagonizan organizaciones y movimientos sociales en relación a las cada vez mas intensas amenazas de intervención militar/”humanitaria”, por parte del poder hegemónico de Estados Unidos y la intensificación de los controles estatales nacionales que responden a las presiones internacionales. ¿Qué lugar ocupa en las estrategias de la hegemonía imperial esta región? y ¿cuales son las respuestas locales tanto en acciones como en representaciones?. El proyecto posee las siguientes sub-áreas con sus respectivos coordinadores a) Centro de estudios de la población paraguaya en Argentina (CEDAPPA); b) Centro de Estudios de Antropología y Derecho (mediante un convenio de cooperación e investigadores adscriptos) y c) Área de estudios de Historia Regional El presente proyecto es la novena etapa de una secuencia que incluye ocho proyectos precedentes del programa de incentivos. Todos, menos el último, fueron bianuales y el octavo, que finalizó en el 2012, trianual. La nómina completa de estos proyectos es la siguiente: Proyectos pertenecientes al Programa de Incentivos: "Integración Regional Fronteriza: sectores vulnerables frente al impacto global. Políticas y acciones alternativas" UNaM, Sec. de Investigación FHCS. 1994-96.Informes de avance y final aprobados. Código: H-16-001 “Hanuin I” (“Hacer nuestra la integración”) En este proyecto se adoptó este nombre general que luego se repitió en toda la secuencia y que proviene de un lema formulado en un encuentro de movimientos sociales de los cuatro países del MERCOSUR.. “Estrategias de una red de movimientos sociales argentinos, brasileños y paraguayos en el marco de la integración regional fronteriza. Factores de cohesión y de conflicto”. Sec. de Invs. y Posgrado, 1996/1998.Informes de avance y final aprobados. Código: H-16-033, “Hanuin II”. “Los movimientos sociales en la integración regional. Relaciones transfronterizas de solidaridad y lucha. La cuestión agraria integral. Secretaría de Investigación y Postgrado, FHYCS, UNaM.1999-2000 Código: H-16-034, “Hanuin III”. “Interacciones transfronterizas, procesos socioculturales emergentes en el contexto de la integración. Los movimientos sociales ante el impacto del Mercosur. (Arg., Br. y Par.) (2001-2002). Código: H-16- 035 “Hanuin IV”. 4 “Procesos transfronterizos complejos: El caso de la Triple Frontera. Movimientos y organizaciones sociales, grupos “bajo sospecha”, control y políticas públicas. (2003-2005). Código: H-16- 135., “Hanuin V”. “Hegemonías y resistencias en el sistema mundo. Estados y procesos transfronterizos. El caso de la Triple frontera. (2006-2007) Código: H-16-198. Incluye el proyecto de Voluntariado CEDAPA. Convenio entre la UNaM (FHYCS) y la Comisión de Verdad y Justicia del Paraguay “Hanuin VI”. “Antropología de los procesos transfronterizos: La Triple Frontera en el sistema mundo. Complejidad y resistencia regional” Incluye el proyecto de Voluntariado CEDAPA. Convenio entre la UNaM (FHYCS) y la Comisión de Verdad y Justicia del Paraguay. (2008-2009). 16-H-245. “Hanuin VII”. “ Antropología de las relaciones transnacionales en las regiones de frontera. Hegemonía y resistencia en el sistema mundo” Incluye el proyecto CEDAPPA, Historia Regional, convenio con el CEDEAD. (2010-2012) “Hanuin VIII”,cod. 16-H-312 La inclusión de esta iformación procura ofrecer a los posibles evaluadores datos sobre la secuencia que hoy finaliza su etapa 2010-2012, pero que se continuará en el proyecto Hanuin IX que ya fue presentado. Tambien se abre una nueva instancia con la formulación de un programa que convierte a los subproyectos en proyectos.. Dicho programa lleva por título: “Investigaciónes interdisciplinarias sobre las regiones de frontera. Estado, sistemas socioculturales y terrorios” (2013/15). Una de las conclusiones del proyecto que reseñamos, fue presisamente, la necesidad de ampliar las líneas de investigación con equipos de mayor autonomía que puedan, además, atender las exigencias de creciente incorporación de auxiliares, becarios, tesistas, investigadores adscriptos o invitados.