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Marx And The Missing Theory Of Ideology
No full textKarl Marx is often and typically seen as one of the main theorists of ideology. However, a closer look shows that Marx does not offer anything like a developed theory of ideology. Rather, there are, as I argue here, elements for 3 quite different accounts of ideology to be found in his work: ideology as superstructure, as the rulers’ ruling ideas, and as false consciousness. This is a new reconstruction of Marx’ ideas about ideology. None of the above 3 ideas has been developed in any greater detail by Marx, and there is even the open question whether they are mutually compatible. There might be some hope to combine the second and the third idea but I argue that anyone interested in a theory of ideology should rather look into more recent developments. It turns out that such a theory is still very much in its ‘infancy’
Choose Wisely: Rationality, Ethics, And The Art Of Decision-Making
No full textFor many decision scientists, their starting point—drawn from economics—is a quantitative formula called rational choice theory, allowing people to calculate and choose the best options. The problem is that this framework assumes an overly simplistic picture of the world, in which different types of values can be quantified and compared, leading to the “most rational” choice. Behavioral economics acknowledges that irrationality is common but still accepts the underlying belief from economics of what a rational decision should look like.
In this book, Barry Schwartz and Richard Schuldenfrei offer a different way to think about the choices we make every day. Drawing from economics, psychology, and philosophy—and both inspired by and challenging Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow—they show how the focus on rationality, narrowly understood, fails to fully describe how we think about our decisions, much less help us make better ones. Notably, it overlooks the positive contribution that framing—how we determine what aspects are most important to us—contributes to good decisions. Schwartz and Schuldenfrei argue that our choices should be informed by our individual “constellation of virtues,” allowing for a far richer understanding of the decisions we make and helping us to live more integrated and purposeful lives
Bruno Kreisky’s Foreign Policy: A Reassessment
No full textDespite his significance, the role of Austrian politician Bruno Kreisky remains under-represented in Anglo-American Cold War scholarship. Serving as foreign minister from 1959 to 1966 and chancellor from 1970 to 1983, his political career oversaw seismic developments in both Austria’s postwar recovery and broader international relations with the Middle East, the Communist Bloc, and the United States. In this enlightening and geographically wide-ranging reappraisal of his life and legacy, Bruno Kreisky’s Foreign Policy: A Reassessment seeks to reinstate the global repercussions of Kreisky’s work. Ranging from his involvement in the Marshall Plan to his role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, this volume highlights how Kreisky profoundly reshaped the geopolitical landscape of the modern era
Écoutez! Une Invitation Au Paysage Sonore Des Films D’Ousmane Sembène
No full textThe role of sound is analyzed in five films by Ousmane Sembène, including his first films Borom Sarret (1963), Niaye (1964) and La Noire de... [Black Girl] (1966). The sounds weave an ensemble or “braid” themselves into the fabric of the film in accordance with a concept theorized by critic Trish FitzSimons. This specific nature of braided sounds reveals narrative elements by way of Sembène’s sound technologies and choices and thus invites spectators to enter into a dialogic community, or even a discursive community, with the filmmaker, his films, and other spectators world-wide
Wide Binary Orbits Are Preferentially Aligned With The Orbits Of Small Planets, But Probably Not Hot Jupiters
No full textStudying the relative orientations of the orbits of exoplanets and wide-orbiting binary companions (semimajor axis greater than 100 au) can shed light on how planets form and evolve in binary systems. Previous observations by multiple groups discovered a possible alignment between the orbits of visual binaries and the exoplanets that reside in them. In this study, using data from Gaia DR3 and TESS, we confirm the existence of an alignment between the orbits of small planets (R \u3c 6 R⊕) and binary systems with semimajor axes below 700 au (p = 10⁻⁶). However, we find no statistical evidence for alignment between planet and binary orbits for binary semimajor axes greater than 700 au and no evidence for alignment of large, closely orbiting planets (mostly hot Jupiters) and binaries at any separation. The lack of orbital alignment between our large-planet sample and their binary companions appears significantly different from our small-planet sample, even taking into account selection effects. Therefore, we conclude that any alignment between wide binaries and our sample of large planets (predominantly hot Jupiters) is probably not as strong as what we observe for small planets in binaries with semimajor axes less than 700 au. The difference in the alignment distribution of hot Jupiters and smaller planets may be attributed to the unique evolutionary mechanisms occurring in systems that form hot Jupiters, including potentially destabilizing secular resonances that initiate as the protoplanetary disk dissipates and high-eccentricity migration occurring after the disk is gone
The Self-Control Of Eating
No full textMany individuals struggle to regulate their own consumption of food. Beginning with general theories of self-control, we review psychological factors that have been shown to influence the regulation of eating, including those related to particular personality variables, such as external eating, restrained eating, and reward sensitivity, as well as situational constraints, including normative influences, emotions, and calorie deprivation. Strategies for the self-control of eating, including reappraisal, effortful inhibition, and various automatic strategies are also reviewed, along with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of historical and contemporary psychological studies investigating food consumption. Whereas extensive examinations of food preferences and body weight have appeared in the psychological literature, we call for more robust research that prioritizes actual eating as the primary dependent measure
Feminisms, Psychologies, And The Study Of Social Life
No full textA key goal of feminists in psychology has been to understand and challenge social relations of inequality, privilege, and oppression. Several orienting assumptions of mainstream psychology present obstacles to achieving this goal. For example, one assumption is internalism—focusing on inner motives, traits, and capacities as the determinants of human behaviour, while ignoring the sociocultural context. Another is universalism—the assumption that psychological theories and explanations can hold for all people everywhere and at all times. The chapter also reviews the history of feminism in psychology and provides an overview of methods and practices utilized by feminist psychologists
Shared Student Hours: Where Everyone Belongs
No full textMeaningful student-faculty interactions have been shown to increase student sense of belonging and enable students to thrive in the college environment, particularly for students from minority communities. Through a grant from HHMI Inclusive Excellence and additional institutional support, VCU faculty and staff have developed a new model for office hours that engages students and faculty in shared Student Hours. An overview of how the model was developed and implemented is discussed as well as challenges that arose. A key component was the collaboration between staff and faculty that helped enhance the sense of belonging of all student and faculty participants
An Integrated Automated Design for an Atomic Layer Photoluminescent Spectroscopy System
No full textAn automated atomic-layer photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy system has been developed to minimize human intervention and reduce errors during the characterization of quantum-scale electronic materials. The platform unifies laser control, cryogenic sample positioning, data acquisition, and spectral post-processing within a single workflow. Manual procedures required for PL measurements, spectral analysis, and piezo-driven spatial mapping have been replaced by software-controlled routines. In Prof. Chitraleema Chakraborty’s laboratory at the University of Delaware, an interface was created between LightField™ (a software that controls Princeton Instruments cameras and spectrographs) and an ANC-300 piezo-positioner, enabling unattended multi-point PL experiments and automatic generation of piezoelectric heat maps. System parameters were fine-tuned to satisfy experimental constraints, yielding a reliable, high-throughput tool for probing the quantum properties of two-dimensional materials