[Rezension] Ivo Ritzer: Medientheorie der Globalisierung

in Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft (2020)

Computers and Computing in Society

in NTM (2020)

This review essay aims to highlight some of these recent trends within the history of computing and information technology through the consideration of three recently published books : 1/ Frank Bösch (Ed ... [more ▼]

This review essay aims to highlight some of these recent trends within the history of computing and information technology through the consideration of three recently published books : 1/ Frank Bösch (Ed.) 2018. Wege in die Gesellschaft. Computernutzung in der Bundesrepublik (1955–1990). Geschichte der Gegenwart, Bd. 20. Göttingen: Wallstein, geb.; 2/ Marie Hicks 2017. Programmed Inequality. How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 3/ Joy Lisi Rankin 2018. A People’s History of Computing in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. They are increasingly opening up to approaches that are oriented towards society and actors, whether the latter are producers, regulators, users, or even maintainers. This is achieved with historical rigour by the authors, who highlight the history of a field that is not only scientific, technical, industrial and economic, but also profoundly social, and which is marked by multiple debates, negotiations and power relationships. [less ▲]

Reading the history of society through the lens of a history of sexuality

in Andererseits: yearbook of transatlantic German studies (2020), 7/8(2018/2019), 393-396

Review of Elizabeth Guffey (2018): Designing Disability: Symbols, Space and Society. London: Bloomsbury.

in Design Issues (2020), 36(1), 100-101

In her pathbreaking book Designing Disability: Symbols, Space and Society, Elizabeth Guffey provides vital insights into decades of social and design processes that ultimately produced the most ubiquitous ... [more ▼]

In her pathbreaking book Designing Disability: Symbols, Space and Society, Elizabeth Guffey provides vital insights into decades of social and design processes that ultimately produced the most ubiquitous symbol of disability—and accessibility—worldwide: The International Symbol of Access (ISA). Building on existing scholarship from a range of disciplines coupled with original historical research, this book uncovers the origins and evolving (largely transatlantic) architectural and design discourse, and several moments of serendipity, that led to its creation. The ISA has since diffused to become part of the built environment in all corners of the world. Richly illustrated and charting at times vitriolic debates, protest activities, and artistic interventions up to the contemporary era, Guffey weaves together activist and aesthetic perspectives into a tapestry of social and design history relating to disability and accessibility. Structured in historical phases, the book’s chapters progress across larger and shorter stretches over more than a century of wheelchair design, social and welfare policies and programs (mostly in the US, UK, and Scandinavia), architectural standards, and symbols relating to barriers and accessibility measures. Guffey engages the reader in what is necessarily a multidisciplinary, multilevel investigation, with unexpected twists and turns. On one level, the book focuses on the politics of highest office, with US Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower (who permanently or temporarily used wheelchairs) sketched against the backdrop of the lack of accessible government buildings in Washington, DC, and the social consensus then to hide impairment for fear of stigmatization (shifted marginally by disabled Veterans). On another level, welfare state provisions in the US, UK, and Scandinavia are discussed in light of progressive legislation and the persistent challenges of implementation. Finally, at ground level, the utmost significance of individuals devoted to universal design writ large becomes manifestly evident. Guffey recounts how, in US universities, inspirational figures such as Timothy Nugent (at Illinois), Ron Mace (at North Carolina State), and Viktor Papanek (at Purdue, CalArts, Kansas, etc.), campus planners, and students designed and constructed new worlds on the drawing board and poured in concrete. We follow design professionals, such as architect Selwyn Goldsmith in the UK, who was a strident arbiter of accessibility. Academic initiatives went hand-in-fist with advocacy activities in organizations and protest and artistic actions in the streets. Indeed, to raise general awareness of the ever-present attitudinal and structural barriers—institutionalized discrimination—that disabled people face daily and to secure disability rights, disability protests and cross-national organizing have repeatedly been necessary. The long and bumpy road to universal design extends into the future. Integral to this history of design development, revision, and critiques of various symbols of disability have been international events (world expositions, Olympics & Paralympics) and organizations (Rehabilitation International), artistic inspiration, design competitions, and guerilla art interventions. Tracing the convoluted process of designing what would become the ISA—fifty years ago now—leads to Susanne Koefoed, a Danish design student, and Karl Montan, leader of the Swedish Institute for the Handicapped, but also to international negotiations and chance. The on-going questioning of the official ISA, especially, its “misfit” nature as an amalgam of technical aid and person, emphasizes the shift from invisibility to ubiquity of disability via social change and political activism as well as cultural representations and the need for signs of identity. In the new century, newer initiatives in the US, such as Brendan Murphy’s and the Accessible Icon Project (developed by Sara Hendren and Brian Glenney), have challenged the official ISA, revealing both persistence and change in understandings of disability and accessibility. When integrated into signage, the ISA designates accessible spaces and facilities. If the ISA has become present in public buildings and spaces everywhere, cultural notions of disability and access remain understudied across the social sciences, with especially the Global South remaining a blank page. Research is needed to chart the diverse local interpretations that mirror shifts from exclusion to inclusion of disabled people as the human rights revolution witnessed since the end of WWII continues, but also suffers backlash, even in the Global North. Paradoxically, this global icon refers simultaneously to disability, and its ameliorating factor, accessibility. Yet, the ambivalence and debate surrounding the ISA persist, as Guffey emphasizes especially in the later chapters, focusing on proposed alternatives to the existing ISA, codified as it is in law and conforming to the guidelines of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Until universal design (and the universalizing social policies likely needed to support it) succeeds in reducing the barriers in environments and in attitudes and in maximizing the usefulness of products and services during the design stage, identity formation processes are among the most positive aspects of the ISA. The icon’s influence and implementation extend far beyond marking modifications to the built environment. Whether taken-for-granted, modified or critiqued, the current ISA has spread globally. It can now be found wherever people move in physical space, finding their way. The symbol testifies to the on-going shift from exclusion, along a slow and winding road, to social inclusion and full participation of disabled people. In sum, Guffey brings scholarship on the ISA to the next stage. It complements studies that chart the influence of disabled peoples’ organizations and of international organizations as they facilitated remarkable shifts in disability paradigms. Yet institutionalized discrimination abounds, with the ISA marking that accessibility and universal design are far from achieved. If a few imprecisions tarnish the literature list, this historical work reconstructing a largely Western process cannot be faulted for not providing a complete global analysis of ISA implementation and adjustment. In that vein, with contributions from Guffey herself, the current exhibition “Viktor Papanek: The Politics of Design” (Kries, Klein & Clarke, 2018) indeed extends the discussion to the Global South and across further disciplines, rightfully embedding the dialogue about symbols of disability and enhancing access within broader contexts. Footnote: Kries, Matteo, Amelie Klein & Alison J. Clarke (eds.) (2018). Viktor Papanek: The Politics of Design. Weil am Rhein, Germany: Vitra Design Museum. ISBN: 978-3-945852-26-2. The exhibition is currently on view at Germany’s Vitra Design Museum (20 September 2018–10 March 2019), then at Barcelona Design Museum (20 October 2019–2 February 2020). [less ▲]

Thomas Vercruysse (dir.), Luxembourg – Ville créative, Capybara Books 2015, 269 p.

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2019), 3

Luxembourg – Ville créative est un ouvrage riche du regard pluridisciplinaire des universitaires et experts en sémiotique, philosophie, littérature, histoire et cinéma. C’est aussi un ouvrage éclectique ... [more ▼]

Luxembourg – Ville créative est un ouvrage riche du regard pluridisciplinaire des universitaires et experts en sémiotique, philosophie, littérature, histoire et cinéma. C’est aussi un ouvrage éclectique puisque le concept de ville créative n’est véritablement opérant que dans le cadre de certaines contributions, pour analyser les conséquences et manifestations de certains développements métropolitains (e.g. développement du quartier du Limpertsberg et, en creux, l’urbanisation du plateau du Kirchberg). Les contributions plus littéraires proposent davantage des regards s’inspirant de la géocritique donnant à montrer comment la (mé)connaissance d’un lieu participe à la construction d’une représentation. [less ▲]

Karlheinz Weber, Ihre Majestät, die Posaune. Eine Entdeckungsreise, crescendo-brass, Würzburg 52017 (12009), illustrations, index, bibliography.

in IGEB Mitteilungsblatt (2019), 2019(2 / Spring), 4

The author, Karlheinz Weber is one of only a few orchestral musicians and teachers who also approaches his instrument scientifically. The book, a reference work, has now been published in its fifth ... [more ▼]

The author, Karlheinz Weber is one of only a few orchestral musicians and teachers who also approaches his instrument scientifically. The book, a reference work, has now been published in its fifth edition. The subdivision into three main chapters is logically coherent. With 148 pages, the most comprehensive first chapter deals with the trombone’s development in a broad historical context, beginning with Ancient Egypt. [less ▲]

Higher Education in Germany - recent developments in an international perspective

in Comparative Education (2019), 55(2), 292-294

Rezension Estelle Evrard, La Grande Région Saar-Lor-Lux.

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2019), 71(2), 248-250

Rezension Violet Soen et al. (eds.), Church, Censorship and Reform in the Early Modern Habsburg Netherlands

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2019), 71(4), 501-503

Recension de Mills, Party Autonomy in Private International Law, CUP 2018

in Revue Critique de Droit International Privé (2019)

Fragmente einer neuen Sprache des Rechts : Die nachgelassenen Reflexionen eines Philologen über die Grundlagen der Gerechtigkeit

in Literaturkritik.de (2019)

Rezension von: Michel Krieps (2017). Die 135 jährige Geschichte der Escher Feuerwehr basierend auf historischen Begebenheiten, 1880-2015. Esch/Alzette: Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers Volontaires

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2019), 71(2), 246-247

Besprechung zu Sebastian Bischoff, Kriegsziel Belgien

in Sehepunkte (2018), (7/8),

ROLF HANDROW: Berühmte Posaunen-Virtuosen. Friedrich August Belke. Carl Traugott Queisser. Albert Robert Müller. Joseph Serafin Alschausky & Posaunisten des Gewandhausorchesters Leipzig

in IGEB Mitteilungsblatt (2018), (1),

Rezension zu: Archaeologia Luxemburgensis – Bulletin du Centre National de Recherche Archéologique

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2018), 70(1), 103-105

Rezension von/compte rendu de: Ulrike Hohensee, Matthias Lawo, Michael Lindner, Olaf B. Rader (Bearb.), Dokumente zur Geschichte des Deutschen Reiches und seiner Verfassung.

in Francia-Recencensio (2018), 2018(1),

Offshore

in Local Environment (2018)

Der Geschmack längst vergangener Zeiten : In Peter Handkes "Die Obstdiebin" stehen die kleinen Begebenheiten im Fokus

in Literaturkritik.de (2018)

Rezension Jean-Paul Hoffmann, Familienchronik der Stadt Vianden

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2018), 70(2), 125-126

Buchbesprechung von: Quellen zur Landesgeschichte der Rheinprovinz im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Teil 2: Oberpräsidium und Regierungsbezirk Koblenz.

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2018), 70(4), 109-110

Recensie van: Anne Morelli (red.), "Le Bruxelles des révolutionnaires, de 1830 à nos jours" & Joseph Van Wassenhove, "Bruxelles: la vie quotidienne au XIXe siècle par les écrivains de l’époque"

in Contemporanea (2018), (1),

Rezension des Werkes von Alexander Hilpert, Archäologie im Grenzraum Saar-Lor-Lux. Altertumsforschung, Vernetzung und Identitätskonstruktion in den regionalen Geschichtsvereinen des 19. Jahrhunderts

in Hemecht: Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte (2018), 66

Compte-rendu de l’ouvrage de C. Patzelt: Sprachdynamiken in modernen Migrationsgesellschaften

in Vox Romanica (2018), 77

Review: Marc Birchen (2015). Die Firmenbeteiligungen der ARBED im Osteuropa der Nachkriegszeit: Luxemburger Wirtschaftsdiplomatie im Kalten Krieg. Frankfurt/M: Peter Lang

in Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte (2018), 63(1), 180-181

Rezension zu: Krystina Solomon: Tristan-Romane: Zur spätmittelalterlichen Rezeption von Gottfrieds Tristan in den böhmischen Ländern. Göttingen: Kümmerle Verlag 2016.

in Zeitschrift für Interkulturelle Germanistik (2018), 9(1), 197-199

[Rezension] Hektor Haarkötter/Evelyn Runge: Motor/Reise. Basiswissen für die Medienpraxis

in MEDIENwissenschaft: Rezensionen, Reviews (2018), (2/3), 220-221

Suburban Planet

in Local Environment (2018)

Rez. v. Carlos Spoerhase: Das Format der Literatur : Praktiken materieller Textualität zwischen 1740 und 1830. Göttingen 2018

in Scientia Poetica (2018), 22

Review of Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy: 15 Contentious Questions

in Risk Analysis : An Official Publication of the Society for Risk Analysis (2018), In Press

In a so-called “Post-truth” era, the role of facts in society has become ever more ambiguous and contentious. Increasingly, facts are simultaneously used as a tool for risk assessment and risk management ... [more ▼]

In a so-called “Post-truth” era, the role of facts in society has become ever more ambiguous and contentious. Increasingly, facts are simultaneously used as a tool for risk assessment and risk management on the one hand, and an instrument of politicking and social polarisation on the other. That facts are subjective artefacts is not new. Pioneering sociologists like Emile Durkheim (Durkheim, 1996), Michel Foucault (Foucault, 2008, Burchell et al., 1991), and the Frankfurt School (Nicholas, 2012) (to name a few), have ruminated over the subjectivities of knowledge more than a century ago. But the difference in our current modern, hyper-globalised world is that the subjective nature of facts are increasingly both the best tool we have to deal with global risk, and a prime source of global risk at the same time. The question this raises, is how to deal with this paradox in policy? And is cooperation possible without consensus on whose facts are more true? [less ▲]

Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Einrichtung von Unionsagenturen von Andreas Orator

in Die Verwaltung (2018), 51

Rezension zu Lisa Kaaren Bailey, The Religious Worlds of the Laity in Late Antique Gaul, London/New York 2016

in Historische Zeitschrift (2018)

Compte-rendu de l’ouvrage de Vivian Pereira-Koschorreck : Kontaktanzeigen kontrastiv – Französische und deutsche Kontaktanzeigen im diachronen und sychronen Vergleich

in Frankreich-Forum (2018)

Migration and the Search for Home. Mapping Domestic Space in Migrants’ Everyday Lives (Book review)

in Migraciones (2017), (42), 151-153

Étienne Anheim, Clément VI au travail. Lire, écrire, prêcher au xive siècle Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2014, 408 p.

in Hemecht : Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte = Revue d'Histoire Luxembourgeoise (2017)

A Negotiated Landscape. The Transformation of San Francisco’s Waterfront since 1950

in Local Environment (2017), 22(6), 784-785

Review of the book by Carlo Lejeune (Hg.), Grenzerfahrungen. Eine Geschichte der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft Belgiens. Bd. 2

in Hemecht : Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte = Revue d'Histoire Luxembourgeoise (2017), 69(1), 114-115

František Šmahel (éd.), en collaboration avec Ota Pavlíček, A Companion to Jan Hus, Brill, Leiden-Boston, 2015, 447 p., 162 euros, 9789004280557.

in Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique (2017)

Buchbesprechung von: Alexandra Druzynski von Boetticher: Die Leproserie St. Nikolai. Ein Beitrag zur Baugeschichte der Stadt Lüneburg im Mittelalter, Bd. 1 (Quellen und Darstellungen zur Geschichte Niedersachsens, Bd. 137/1) Wehrhahn, Hannover 2015

in Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung (2017), 125(2), 417-419

Rezension: Christian Voß / Wolfgang Dahmen (Ed.): Babel Balkan? Politische und soziokulturelle Kontexte von Sprache in Südosteuropa (= Südosteuropa-Jahrbuch Band 40), München: Ottos Sagner (2014)

in Zeitschrift für Balkanologie (2017), 53/2

Timothy Clark, Ecocriticism on the Edge. The Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept

in Local Environment (2017), 22(7), 906-908

Recension "Moustir Hassan, El Hani Jamal Eddine, Al-Khodja Mourad, Des Lieux de culture. Altérités croisées, mobilités et mémoires identitaires, Presses Universitaires de Laval, 2016, 241 p."

in Le français à l’université (2017)

Compte-rendu de l'ouvrage de M. Gatti: European External Action Service

in Annuaire de Droit Européen (2017)

Bernhard Leubolt (2015) Transformation von Ungleichheitsregimes: Gleichheitsorientierte Politik in Brasilien und Sudafrika.

in Global Labour Journal (2017), 8(3),

Buchbesprechung von: Marie Ulrike SCHMIDT, Regesten zum Nikolaihospital. Die Urkunden aus dem Stadtarchiv Lüneburg (1251–1530) (Forschungen zum Nikolaihospital in Bardowick, 2; Quellen und Darstellungen zur Geschichte Niedersachsens, 137/2) Wehrhahn, Hannover 2015

in Mitteilungen des Instituts für Osterreichische Geschichtsforschung (2017), 125(2), 417-419

Compte rendu de Sebastian Bischoff/Christoph Jahr/Tatjana Mrowka/Jens Thiel (Hrsg.): Belgica terra incognita? Resultate und Perspektiven der Historischen Belgienforschung

in Journal of Belgian History = Revue Belge d'Histoire Contemporaine = Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis (2017), 48(2/3), 259-262

Jürgen Daiber, Franz Kafka und der Lärm. Klanglandschaften der frühen Moderne.

in Arbitrium (2017), 35(1), 117-119

Derivatives in Islamic Finance: Examining the Market Risk Management Framework (Book Review)

in Banking & Finance Law Review (2016), 32(1), 203-207

Eine Geschichte von zwei Monotheismen : Jan Assmanns "Exodus. Die Revolution der Alten Welt"

in Literaturkritik.de (2016)

Amok und Nachahmung : Erinnerung an eine mediengeschichtliche Studie aus aktuellem Anlass

in Literaturkritik.de (2016), (8),

Review of Sandra R. Joshel, Lauren Hackworth Petersen, The Material Life of Roman Slaves

in Bryn Mawr Classical Review [=BMCR] (2016)