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Frame Analysis: Theoretical PreliminariesThomas KönigFrame analysis is neither a full-fledged theoretical paradigm, nor a coherent methodological approach. Rather, frame analyses are a number of related, even though sometimes partially incompatible methods for the analysis of discourses (Scheufele 1999: 118). What unifies these analyses is a (fairly loose) theoretical connection to Goffman's (1974) work on framing. These pages will overview: the theoretical development of frame analyses;the measurement of frames;important conceptsin frame analysis;software suitable to aid frame analysis;a bibliography of frame analysis.Theoretical DevelopmentInitially frame analysis was initially predicted to become a niche method at best. One Contemporary Sociology reviewer complained that Frame Analysis is cumbersome to read (Davis 1975: 603), the other one wondered, if an adequate systematization of frame analysis would be feasible (Gamson 1975: 605). 1Probably the single most important factor for the success of Goffman's frame analysis despite this initial skeptical assessment is its unorthodox appropriation by scholars from very different traditions. Frame analysis is no longer Goffman's frame analysis, but is frequently only loosely connected to the original formulation. Notwithstanding the recurrent symbolic nods to Goffman, today's "frame analysis" spans a number of disparate approaches (D'Angelo 2002; Fisher 1997; Hallahan 1999; Maher 2001: 81f; Scheufele 1999: 103, 118). Three subject areas stand out in the development of frame analyses since Goffman: Management and organizational studies, social movement studies, and media studies. Each subject area has, of course, focused on different areas of framing theory and has approached the subject with different methods. Following the the work of 2002 Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and his associate Amos Tversky (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), management and organizational studies have focused on the behavioral effects of different

Research Papers 220)     Cowen, Deborah and Vanessa Parlette Inner Suburbs at Stake: Investing in Social Infrastructure in Scarborough, June 2011, 86pp. ISSN 0316-0068; ISBN 978-0-7727-1482-4. 219)     Jim Simmons, Larry Bourne, and Shizue Kamikihara, The Changing Economy of Urban Neighbourhoods: An Exploration of Place of Work Data for the Greater Toronto Region, December 2009, 44 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-1477-0 218)     Greg Suttor, Rental Paths from Postwar to Present: Canada Compared, December 2009, 59 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-1476-3 217)     Michael Noble, Lovely Spaces in Unknown Places: Creative City Building in Toronto's Inner Suburbs, March 2009, 50 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-1474-9 216)     Jason Hackworth, Habitat for Humanity and the Neoliberal Media: A Comparison of News Coverage in Canada and the United States, March 2009, 39 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-1473-2 215)     David Wachsmuth, From Abandonment to Affordable Housing: Policy Options for Addressing Toronto's Abandonment Problem, November 2008, 48 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-1472-5 214)     Katharine N. Rankin, with the assistance of Jim Delaney, Courtney Hood, Justin Ngan and Sabin Ninglekhu, Commercial Change in Toronto's West-Central Neighbourhoods, September 2008 ISBN-13 978-0-7727-1471-8 213)     Emily Paradis, Sylvia Novac, Monica Sarty, J. David Hulchanski, Better Off in a Shelter? A Year of Homelessness and Housing among Status Immigrant, Non-Status Migrant, and Canadian-Born Families, July 2008, 89 pp. ISBN-13 978-0-7727-1469-5 212)     Duncan Maclennan, Housing for the Toronto Economy, July 2008, 72 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-1468-8 211)     R. Alan Walks and Richard Maaranen, The Timing, Patterning, & Forms of Gentrification & Neighbourhood Change in Montreal, Toronto, & Vancouver, 1961 to 2001, May 2008, 109 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-1465-7 210)     Jason Hackworth, Neoliberalism, Social Welfare, and the Politics of Faith in the United States, June 2007, 36 pp. ISBN 978-0-7727-145

Policy Analysis of Transport Networks Imprint: Ashgate Illustrations: Includes 44 b&w illustrations Published: January 2007 Format: 234 x 156 mm Extent: 332 pages Binding: Hardback ISBN: 978-0-7546-4547-4 Price : £65.00 » Website price: £58.50 BL Reference: 388 LoC Control No: 2006928102   Print friendly information sheet Send to a friend Edited by Marina van Geenhuizen, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, Aura Reggiani, University of Bologna, Italy and Piet Rietveld, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Series : Transport and Mobility Interdisciplinary contributors from across Europe and the USA join together in this book to provide a timely overview of the latest theories and policies related to transport networks. They cover topical issues such as: environmental benefits of substitution of aviation by high speed trains; incident management; impacts of aviation deregulation; and time savings in freight transport. The book also breaks new ground on the development of new methods of cost benefit analysis and other approaches in policy analysis. Contents: Preface; New trends in policy making for transport and regional network integration, Marina van Geenhuizen, Aura Reggiani and Piet Rietveld. Part I Policy Analysis in the Transport Field: Equity issues in the evaluation of transport policies and transport infrastructure projects, Piet Rietveld, Jan Rouwendal and Arno van der Vlist; Economic impact assessment for analysing the viability of regional airports in Norway, Svein Brathen and Knut S. Eriksen; Modelling the short-term impacts of a nuclear accident on transportation flows, Peder Axensten; Models and realities: choosing transit projects for New York City, Robert Paaswell and Joseph Berechman; A framework for identifying and qualifying uncertainty in policy making: the case of intelligent transport systems, Marina van Geenhuizen and Wil Thissen; An evaluation of benefits from aircraft and high-speed train substitution, Mo

Founded in 2004, the Centre for Public Policy for Regions (CPPR) is concerned with the role of public policy in promoting economic and social development in Scotland and beyond. The purpose of the CPPR is two-fold: it provides 'Quality academic research for better public policies', and since it's inception it has developed a unique role in Scotland providing research and commentary on Scotland's public finances, the Scottish economy and wider public policy issues. To achieve its goals it publishes reports, papers and hold seminars and policy briefings on the key economic and social challenges facing Scotland and other regions. We are independent of any political or corporate bodies (click on Who We Are for further details). Given this position, we are routinely cited by all political parties across Scotland. We have also been regular contributors to Newsnight Scotland, the Scotsman and the Herald, with a number of editorials being devoted to our work; we have been invited to discuss ideas with political parties and various other groups; attended private meetings with policy makers; and make contributions to the David Hume Institute lectures. On an annual basis we expect to focus our work in the following main areas: Regular analysis of the impact of the annual UK Budget on both the wider Scottish economy and the Scottish Government's budget; assessment of the Scottish Government's Budget choices; analysis of the quarterly data on Scottish GDP and Scottish labour market statistics; analysis of the annual Scottish Government's Expenditure and Revenue Statements (GERS). Occasional analysis of specific services, building on analysis already carried out in areas such as health, education and water, as well as on new areas; analysis of the Scottish oil and gas sector; analysis of the implementation challenges to the Scotland Bill on the Calman proposals; analysis of the UK Government's Spending Review and the Scottish Government's (as well as other Scottish political

On the 'Nobel Prize in Economics' and the monopoly of neoclassical theory at university departments of economics February 12, 2010pesodLeave a commentGo to comments from Peter Söderbaum,  peter.soderbaum@mdh.se Early in October 2009 a journalist from a French business journal, Challenge, called me to discuss the so called Nobel Prize in Economics. He referred to a translated version of my critical article in Dagens Nyheter from 2004. I hope that the result from the interview was meaningful but at the same time I felt that I need to consider once more where I stand in relation to these issues. In what follows, there is a 'socially constructed' interview with myself in both roles; the person asking questions and the one responding. I hope this will clarify my position. At the final stage of writing these pages I heard of the new winners of the Economics Prize, Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson. A short comment on this is made as a postscript. Is economics a science as you understand it? I have nothing against thinking of economics as a science. Economics is one of the social sciences, such as political science, sociology, psychology, management science. There are also important relationships to the humanities, such as a possible focus on individuals as actors and their subjectivity. I am skeptical to the attempt to emphasize similarities between economics on the one hand and physics, chemistry, medicine on the other. The latter disciplines are too limited to positivism as a theory of science (standing outside, watching ecosystems and nature, looking for regularities in a value neutral way, making experiments etc.) You are skeptical to, if not against a Nobel Prize in economics; why is this so?For me, it is the combination of two states of affairs or facts that make me question the economics prize in its present form:  There is a dominance and monopoly for one kind of economics, 'neoclassical economics' at university departments of economics in

online course - Spatial Analysis Techniques in R EntradaX  ResponderPeter Bruce ourcourses@statistics.com por  aweber.com para mimmostrar detalhes 17:55 (5 horas atrás)Imagens não exibidasExibir imagens abaixo - Sempre exibir imagens de ourcourses@statistics.comIdentifying transit corridors for elephants, analyzing the spreadof cancer in time and space, modeling commercial interactions amongfirms - these are just a few of the recent applications I have seenof spatial statistics.  Learn the basics in David Unwin's onlinecourse "Spatial Analysis Techniques in R," Dec 16 - Jan 20 (oneweek off for the winter holidays) at statistics.com. "Spatial Analysis Techniques in R" will teach users how toimplement spatial statistical analysis procedures using R software.Topics covered include point pattern analysis, identifyingclusters, measures of spatial association, geographically weightedregression and surface procession.  The course includes a conciseintroduction to R, but some prior familiarity with R will minimizetime spent learning it, and allow you to focus more on the spatialstatistics techniques. Dr. David Unwin is Emeritus Chair of Geography at Birkbeck Collegeand Visiting Professor in the Department of Geomatic Engineering atUniversity College, both in the University of London. He hasauthored over a hundred academic papers in the field, together witha series of texts, of which the most recent are his "GeographicInformation Analysis, 2nd edition" (with D. O'Sullivan, 2010) and aseries of edited collections at the interface between geography andcomputer science in "Visualization in GIS" (Hearnshaw and Unwin,1994), "Spatial Analytical Perspectives on GIS" (Fischer, Scholtenand Unwin, 1996) "Virtual Reality in Geography" (Fisher and Unwin,2002) and, most recently representation issues in "Re-presentingGIS" (Fisher and Unwin, 2005). Participants can ask questions andexchange comments directly with Dr. Unwin via a private discussionboard during the course

Seventh International Conference on "Geographical Analysis, Urban Modeling, Spatial Statistics" GEOG-AN-MOD 12 in conjunction with The 2012 International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications (ICCSA 2012) June 18th  - June 20th, 2012 Federal University of Bahia, Salvador de Bahia, Brazil    Workshop Description Submission Authors Guideline Proceedings Important Dates Organising Committee Programme Committee Useful Links Further information Programme GEOG-AN-MOD 08 GEOG-AN-MOD 09 GEOG-AN-MOD 10 GEOG-AN-MOD 11 Presentations of previous GEOG-AN-MOD Pictures of previous GEOG-AN-MOD Videos of GEOG-AN-MOD 10 ICCSA conference site Follow us Workshop Description During the past decades the main problem in geographical analysis was the lack of spatial data availability. Nowadays the wide diffusion of electronic devices containing geo-referenced information generates a great production of spatial data. Volunteered geographic information activities (e.g. Wikimapia, OpenStreetMap), public initiatives (e.g. Spatial Data Infrastructures, Geo-portals) and private projects (e.g. Google Earth, Microsoft Virtual Earth, etc.) produced an overabundance of spatial data, which, in many cases, does not help the efficiency of decision processes. The increase of geographical data availability has not been fully coupled by an increase of knowledge to support spatial decisions. The inclusion of spatial simulation techniques in recent GIS software favoured the diffusion of these methods, but in several cases led to the mechanism based on which buttons have to pressed without having geography or processes in mind. Spatial modelling, analytical techniques and geographical analyses are therefore required in order to analyse data and to facilitate the decision process at all levels, with a clear identification of the geographical information needed and reference scale to adopt. Old geographical issues can find an answer thanks to new methods and instruments, wh

Project Community Publications Report One PART I, A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF WEST SIDE PARK West Side Park Revitalization Plan, May 1, 1998 Principal Investigators: Alexandre Bradford, Julie Burkley, Mark Feild, Manuel Maysonet, John Van Decker, Jia Wei Faculty Advisors: Stephen Finn, Lisa J. Servon Report Two PART II, A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR COMMERCIAL REVITALIZATION West Side Park Revitalization Plan, May 1, 1998 Principal Investigators: Josephine T. Jover, Helena Soprano, Nina Richardson, Henrietta Owusu, Jacob Avidon, Betsy Wallace Faculty Advisors: Stephen Finn, Lisa J. Servon Report Three PART III, COMMERCIAL REVITALIZATION PLAN FOR SPRINGFIELD AND SOUTH ORANGE AVES West Side Park Revitalization Plan, May 11, 1998 Principal Investigators: Jacob E. Avidon, Julie Burkley Faculty Advisors: Stephen Finn, Lisa J. Servon Report Four VOLUME I: ISLANDS OF STRENGTH, REASONS FOR HOPE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE SPRINGFIELD AVENUE COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS Strategic Revitalization Plan for the West Side Community of Newark, NJ, May 12, 1997 Principal Investigators and Authors: John D. Fussa, David A. Lewis, Zofia Nowakowski, Allie Ries Faculty Advisors: Norman Glickman (Ph.D.), Renee Sieber (Instructor), Project Manager & Editor: Stephen Finn Report Five VOLUME II: SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF THREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Strategic Revitalization Plan for the West Side Community of Newark, NJ, May 12, 1997 Principal Investigators and Authors: Michele Alonso, Melina Patterson, Michael Cummings Faculty Advisors: Norman Glickman (Ph.D.), Renee Seiber (Instructor) Project Manager & Editor: Stephen Finn (M.S.W.) Report Six VOLUME III: MARKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELPOMENTS Strategic Revitalization Plan for the West Side Community of Newark, NJ, May 12, 1997 Principal Investigators and Authors: Laura V. Arce, Timothy S. Doherty, Brenda Gilbert, Toshiko Nagazumi Faculty Advisors: Norman Glickman (Ph.D.), Renee Sieber (Instructor) Project Manager & Editor:

A DISTRICT FOR HAZELNUT SECTOR: RURAL OR AGRO-FOOD SYSTEM? ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LAWS FOR THE GOVERNANCE OF MONTI CIMINI (ITALY)Authors:   S. Franco, S. MarongiuKeywords:   district, territorial development, territorial governance, local systemsAbstract: Today, the analysis founded on agricultural systems is very useful in the territorial programming of characteristic regions. Using the scheme of District developed in the industrial economy studies (Marshall analysis), different kinds of models were used in the agricultural sector analysis. In Italy, national and regional laws were formulated taking into account the importance of a global and territorial approach in the local development. More specifically, the National Law 228/2001 introduces two different ways to govern the territory: the rural and agro-food district. In particular, the first is used when there are many activities carried out in the territory, while the second is applied in the presence of a sectorial specialization in some agricultural production. Consequently, the kind of interventions in the District Plan is different. Lazio has individuated a district for Monti Cimini (Viterbo Province) with the Regional Law 1/2006. In this territory, hazelnut cultivation is one of the most important sectors, characterized by a high level of specialization (from the mechanical sector to the commercialization of products). The objective of this study is to illustrate why the choice of the agro-food district for hazelnut rather than the rural district has been more adapted for Monti Cimini governance. Starting from an analysis on the rural concept, based on different indicators that measure a kind of "rurality degree" (defined using the population density and the number of services workers in the General Population Census), the study provides evidence that the most rural areas of Viterbo Province are not those in which the hazelnut sector is highly developed and specialized. So, in these last

"From Buildings to Cities: Techniques for the Multi-Scale Analysis of Urban Form and Function The built environment is a significant factor in many urban processes, yet direct measures of built form are seldom used in geographical studies. Representation and analysis of urban form and function could provide new insights and improve the evidence base for research. So far progress has been slow due to limited data availability, computational demands, and a lack of methods to integrate built environment data with aggregate geographical analysis. Spatial data and computational improvements are overcoming some of these problems, but there remains a need for techniques to process and aggregate urban form data. Here we develop a Built Environment Model of urban function and dwelling type classifications for Greater London, based on detailed topographic and address-based data (sourced from Ordnance Survey MasterMap). The multi-scale approach allows the Built Environment Model to be viewed at fine-scales for local planning contexts, and at city-wide scales for aggregate geographical analysis, allowing an improved understanding of urban processes. This flexibility is illustrated in the two examples, that of urban function and residential type analysis, where both local-scale urban clustering and city-wide trends in density and agglomeration are shown. While we demonstrate the multi-scale Built Environment Model to be a viable approach, a number of accuracy issues are identified, including the limitations of 2D data, inaccuracies in commercial function data and problems with temporal attribution. These limitations currently restrict the more advanced applications of the Built Environment Model."

Urban Assemblages: How Actor-Network Theory Changes Urban Studies Ignacio Farfas, Thomas Bender 0 Resenhas Taylor & Francis, 16/08/2011 - 352 páginas This book takes it as a given that the city is made of multiple partially localized assemblages built of heterogeneous networks, spaces, and practices. The past century of urban studies has focused on various aspects "space, culture, politics, economy "but these too often address each domain and the city itself as a bounded and cohesive entity. The multiple and overlapping enactments that constitute urban life require a commensurate method of analysis that encompasses the human and non-human aspects of cities "from nature to socio-technical networks, to hybrid collectivities, physical artefacts and historical legacies, and the virtual or imagined city. This book proposes "and its various chapters offer demonstrations "importing into urban studies a body of theories, concepts, and perspectives developed in the field of science and technology studies (STS) and, more specifically, Actor-Network Theory (ANT). The essays examine artefacts, technical systems, architectures, place and eventful spaces, the persistence of history, imaginary and virtual elements of city life, and the politics and ethical challenges of a mode of analysis that incorporates multiple actors as hybrid chains of causation. The chapters are attentive to the multiple scales of both the object of analysis and the analysis itself. The aim is more ambitious than the mere transfer of a fashionable template. The authors embrace ANT critically, as much as a metaphor as a method of analysis, deploying it to think with, to ask new questions, to find the language to achieve more compelling descriptions of city life and of urban transformations. By greatly extending the chain or network of causation, proliferating heterogeneous agents, non-human as well as human, without limit as to their enrolment in urban assemblages, Actor-Network Theory offers a

Urban Assemblages By PE A new book edited by Ignacio Farías and Thomas Bender (2009): Urban Assemblages: How Actor-Network Theory Changes Urban Studies, in the Questioning Cities Series by Routledge. This book takes it as a given that the city is made of multiple partially localized assemblages built of heterogeneous networks, spaces, and practices. The past century of urban studies has focused on various aspects-space, culture, politics, economy-but these too often address each domain and the city itself as a bounded and cohesive entity. The multiple and overlapping enactments that constitute urban life require a commensurate method of analysis that encompasses the human and non-human aspects of cities-from nature to socio-technical networks, to hybrid collectivities, physical artefacts and historical legacies, and the virtual or imagined city. This book proposes-and its various chapters offer demonstrations-importing into urban studies a body of theories, concepts, and perspectives developed in the field of science and technology studies (STS) and, more specifically, Actor-Network Theory (ANT). The essays examine artefacts, technical systems, architectures, place and eventful spaces, the persistence of history, imaginary and virtual elements of city life, and the politics and ethical challenges of a mode of analysis that incorporates multiple actors as hybrid chains of causation. The chapters are attentive to the multiple scales of both the object of analysis and the analysis itself. The aim is more ambitious than the mere transfer of a fashionable template. The authors embrace ANT critically, as much as a metaphor as a method of analysis, deploying it to think with, to ask new questions, to find the language to achieve more compelling descriptions of city life and of urban transformations. By greatly extending the chain or network of causation, proliferating heterogeneous agents, non-human as well as human, without limit as to their enrolment in ur

RSA Annual International Conference 2011 17th - 20th April 2011, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK Academic Papers Author(s) Title of Paper/Presentation Cristina Aragón, Mari Jose Aranguren, Maria Angeles Diez, Cristina Iturrioz and James R. Wilson Creating cooperation for clusters? Lessons from the implementation of a participatory policy evaluation process Jānis Balodis Polieconomics of African Civil Wars: Period 1950. - 2010 - Military Geographical Distribution Professor Andrew Beer Subversive Leadership: Hegemony, Contestation and the Future of Regions Professor Andrew Beer and Dr Selina Tually The Drivers of Regional Housing Markets in Australia: Evidence and Implications for Future Growth Paul Benneworth and Roel Rutten Territorial Innovation Models beyond the Learning Regions Bianchi P. and Labory S. Industrial Policy after the Crisis: the Case of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy Michail Biniakos The changing politics of Local and Regional Development and Governance in Romania Ph.D. Luis Felipe Martí Borbolla Business and social responsibility Petter Boye (Econ. Dr.) The changing role of OECD Territorial Reviews in policy conception and regional development David L. Brown, Benjamin C. Bolender, Laszlo J. Kulcsar, Nina Glasgow and Scott Sanders Inter-County Variability of Net Migration at Older Ages as a Path Dependent Process Dr Ignazio Cabras Community Cohesion in Rural UK: The Case of Rural Co-operatives and their Potential for Local Communities H. Caraveli and M. Tsionas Regional Inequalities in Greece: Determining factors, trends and perspectives Tony Champion and Alan Townsend British City Regions' Economies into Recession Anastassios Chardas Exploring the differential enforcement of the EU's Cohesion Policy added value: Administrative and institutional adjustments in Greece and Ireland. Nick Clifton, Phil Cooke and Høgni Kalsø Hansen Creative Knowledge Workers across 'Varieties of Capitalism': evidence from Sweden and the UK Joa

General Works Articles/Books about Individual Films Bibliography of articles/books about Metropolis (Fritz Lang) Bibliography of articles/books about Blade Runner (Ridley Scott) Abrams, Janet "Cine City: films en beschouwingen van de stedelijke ruimte 1895-1995 = Cine City: film and perceptions of pace 1895-1995." Archis 1994 July, n.7, p.10-12, Adil, Alev "Longing and (Un)belonging: Displacement and Desire in the Cinematic City." Paper from the Conference "INTER: A European Cultural Studies Conference in Sweden", organised by the Advanced Cultural Studies Institute of Sweden (ACSIS) in Norrköping 11-13 June 2007. Conference Proceedings published by Linköping University Electronic Press Aitken S. "Turnng the Self: City Space and SF Horror Movies." Lost in space : geographies of science fiction / edited by Rob Kitchin and James Kneale. London ; New York : Continuum, 2002. MAIN Stack PN3433.6.L67 2002 Albrecht, Donald. "Architecture and film: Utopia descending." Modulus 1987, no.18, p.[120]-133 Albrecht, Donald. Designing dreams : modern architecture in the movies New York : Harper & Row, c1986. ENVI: PN1995.9.S4 A41 1986 Albright, Deron. "Tales of the City: Applying Situationist Social Practice to the Analysis of the Urban Drama." Criticism-A Quarterly for Literature & the Arts. 45(1):89-108. 2003 Winter Aldrige, Henry B. "From Delight to Disaster: Images of New York City in Feature Films. (Cinema Studies).(Brief Article)." Michigan Academician 34.1 (Spring 2002): 22(1). AlSayyad, Nezar "The cinematic city: between modernist utopia and postmodernist dystopia." Built environment 2000, v.26, n.4, p.268-281 AlSayyad, Nezar Cinematic Cities: Historicizing the Modern from Reel to Real [Video] In this lecture Nezar AlSayyad, professor of Architecture, Planning and Urban History at UCB, addresses some of the themes in his book Cinematic cities, historicizing the modern from reel to real. This event took place at the University of California, Berkeley on November 28,

REFLEXIVE METHODOLOGY a lecture series on doing post-positivist social research The Alexander von Humboldt lectures are an initiative of Prof. dr. Huib Ernste Series organisers: MSc. Bas Hendrikx, MSc. Ruben Gielis, MSc. Kathrin Birkel, MSc. Krisztina Varró, dr. Huib Ernste The Department of Human Geography of the Radboud University of Nijmegen cordially invites you to the Alexander von Humboldt Lecture series on the theme of 'Reflexive Methodology'. Under this theme, we will analyse issues of  doing post-positivist social research. In the past decade, 'reflexive methodology' has made increasing appeal to social scientists concerned with the importance and role of interpretation and reflection during the research process. The terms was originally coined by Mats Alvesson and Kaj Sköldberg (2000), In their attempt to refute positivist assumptions about a single reality and the possibility of objective knowledge. Currently, a reflexive approach has come to stand for the recognition that research findings are the result of the interaction between the researcher, the research process, and the empirical material. Accordingly, a reflexive approach implies that scientific research does not produce 'objective' truth, but truth-claims relying on particular assumptions and a necessarily selective perspective on reality. Although reflexivity has become something of a shibboleth - 'no one will brag about being unreflexive' (Crang 2002) - how we can carry out research reflexively remains still a contested issue. No wonder: It is difficult to do justice to both: the fact that social processes are complex and contingent on the one hand, and capturing these social phenomena with a transparent method of selection and analysis, as well as a coherent conceptual vocabulary on the other. According to many, no convincing response has yet been formulated to the above challenge, and accounts labeled 'reflexive' slip easily towards a relativistic, 'anything-goe

Martin Horak. Governing the Post-Communist City: Institutions and Democratic Development in Prague. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. xii + 270 pp. $55.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8020-9328-8. Reviewed by Carlos Nunes Silva (Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning , University of Lisbon) Published on H-Urban (October, 2010) Commissioned by Alexander Vari Institutional Change and Local Government Performance in Prague In Governing the Post-Communist City Martin Horak examines and assesses the performance of democratic local government in the first decade of post-communist Prague (1990-2000). In his analysis, Horak considers, among other dimensions, the process through which policies are produced, the degree of openness in the policy process, the ability to govern systematically, and the input from societal actors. The decision to use a local case and a holistic perspective to study post-communist politics proves wise as it allows a better understanding of post-communist transformations than would have been possible through a national case study. The book is organized into six chapters focused on two main research questions: 1) what impacts did the nature of the decision-making environment have on the behavior of political leaders in early post-communist Prague; and 2) what were the longer-term effects of this decision-making behavior? Horak argues, in the first case, that Prague's local politicians reacted to their unstable and institutionally incoherent environment by seeking simple, short-term solutions in key areas of urban policy. In the second case, his argument is that increasing returns processes were responsible for the maintenance of Prague's mix of institutional forms, which were created by decisions taken during the early post-communist period. Two different policy areas are examined: freeways construction and the management of Prague's historical center. In chapter 1, Horak offers an introductory account of institutional changes and governme

Taking a policy analysis approach to housing and drawing from the burgeoning comparative literature, this textbook provides a systematic re-evaluation of the nature of British housing that challenges the orthodox "home-owning society" view whereby Britain is seen as marking a norm. Building up from basic concepts in policy analysis, the book reinterprets the UK housing system in a manner which is sensitive to the specific historical and cultural origins and development of British policy and society. As such, the text offers both an important and cutting-edge evaluation of British housing and a case study in applied social policy analysis.

International Handbook On The Economics Of Mega Sporting Events Wolfgang Maennig , Andrew Zimbalist Edited by Wolfgang Maennig, Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Germany and Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics, Smith College, US April 2012 c 416 pp Hardback 978 0 85793 026 2 Hardback c£125.00 on-line price c£112.50 Qty Series: Elgar original reference Description From the Olympics to the World Cup, mega sporting events are a source of enjoyment for millions, but can also be a source of intense debate and controversy. In this insightful new Handbook, expert contributors address a number of central questions, including: How are host cities selected and under what economic conditions? How are these events organized, and how is local resistance overcome? Based on historical and empirical experience, what are the pitfalls for the organizers of these events? What are the potential economic benefits, including any international image effects? How can the costs be minimized and the benefits maximized for host cities and countries? How do these mega events impact the challenges of globalization and what is their environmental legacy? Contents Contributors include: G. Ahlfeldt, G. Andranovich, W. Andreff, R. Baade, O. Bass, R. Baumann, U. Bob, D. Brown, M. Burbank, R. Burton, A. Cartwright, A. Ceballos, D.M. Chin, D. Coates, L. de Melo, S. du Plessis, N. Eber, B. Engelhardt, A. Feddersen, R. Flores, D. Forrest, Y. Guo, C. Heying, Y. Hou, B. Humphreys, G. Kavetsos, S. Kesenne, R. Koning, J. Long, W. Maennig, B. Majumdar, V. Matheson, I. McHale, N. Mehta, M. Ölschläger, N. O'Reilly, P.K. Porter, A.R. Sanderson, I. Sanz, J. Schokkaert, B. Seguin, S. Shmanske, E. Sterken, B. Suessmuth, K. Swart, J. Swinnen, S. Szymanski, J.D. Tena, R. Tomlinson, H. van Egteren, T. Vandemoortele, C. Zhou, A. Zimbalist Further information From the Olympics to the World Cup, mega sporting events are a source of enjoyment for millions, but can also be

Think of a bumblebee. With its overly heavy body and little wings, supposedly it should not be able to fly--but it does.... This is how so-called analysts view the Swedish economy. We 'defy gravity.' We have high taxes and a large public sector, and yet, Sweden reaches new heights. We are still flying, so well that many envy us for it today. --Goran Persson, Swedish Prime Minister, March 10, 2000 (1) Many mainstream economists have been predicting the demise of the Swedish model of social democratic capitalism for decades. But the Swedish welfare state, while slightly smaller in scope than it once was, is still largely intact. Furthermore, the Swedish economy has outperformed that of the United States and most OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries for the past decade (see Table 1). So the question arises, why is the Swedish bumblebee still flying? Indeed, why is it soaring despite the opinions of so many observers that it is doomed to fail? The argument that the Swedish model was doomed to failure rested on two ideological artifices. The first was a simplistic application of the theory of comparative advantage. This theory implies that exogenously determined resource endowments and factor costs are the primary determinants of trade flows and the location of production. Second, critics tended to assume that government intervention is inherently inefficient relative to the wonders of the market system, and in an era of globalization, countries must reduce the size and scope of government to compete internationally. The Swedish resurgence in the last decade indicates that there are serious flaws with this analysis. A more sophisticated explanation of the forces determining the location of production can be provided by the theory of comparative institutional advantage. This theory seeks to go beyond standard analysis to consider the institutional factors that better explain trade patterns. Part of this explanation includes the fact that

This article employs an actor network approach to the empirical analysis of knowledge networking in a case-study region in order to investigate the structure and properties of regional innovation networks in a detailed and nuanced way. Knowledge networks in terms of innovation-related cooperative interlinkages between firms and research establishments can be regarded as a relational component of regional innovation systems. The basic assumption is that connectivity in a regional knowledge network can positively contribute to a region's innovation capacity. The use of a social network analysis approach might enhance our understanding of knowledge networks in a regional context. This article presents the findings of a detailed network analysis of innovation-related cooperative interlinkages between public research establishments and private sector firms in a metropolitan region in Germany.