C. Jotin Khisty and
Steen Leleur
Societal Planning: Identifying a New Role for the Transport
Planner - Part I
Abstract
It
has been amply demonstrated over the last three decades that
public planning is subject to rapid change and great
uncertainties, both in dealing with political objectives as
well as in dealing with new technologies. The Rational
Planning Model (RPM), which is still the mainstay of the
planning process, is becoming increasingly problematic. After
an introduction about the planning of complex systems and
planning approaches, this paper examines three topics: (1) the
question of rationality and uncertainty, (2) the relationship
between rationality and meta-methodology and (3) a new role of
the planner, both as a technician and as an effective
communicator. In the paper the notion of „unbounded
uncertainty" is set forth as a relevant concept. The
concept is used to collectively point to and explain the many
obstacles faced by planners in carrying out planning as
prescribed by the RPM. It is concluded that acceptance of
planning as essentially tied to such unbounded uncertainty
indicates the need for the planner to integrate and master
skills both from the ‘hard’ quantitative approach as well
as the ‘soft’ qualitative one. This challenge demanded of
the planner with regard to his/her professional education and
practice is recognized as constituting a new role of the
transport planner.
C. Jotin Khisty and
Steen Leleur
Societal Planning: Identifying a New Role for the Transport
Planner - Part II: Planning Guidelines
Abstract
This
paper presents preliminary results of the authors' research on
guidelines for what we have simply termed "good practice"
(GP) planning. The research on GP planning has been spurred by
our common recognition that much planning undertaken now and
earlier on has been too simplified and abstracted to actually
be useful in real world future-oriented thinking and problem
solving. This paper seeks to formulate planning guidelines
based on Habermas's theory of communicative action.
Specifically, this has led to the formulation of a set of four
planning validity claims connected to four types of planning
guidelines concerning adequacy, dependency, suitability and
adaptability. The guidelines serve to frame the right
considerations and questions when dealing with planning
problems of a certain complexity, and they can facilitate the
structuring and interpretation of empirical study. Emphasis is
paid to describe the planning process as one of
self-organizing dynamics vis-à-vis the planning validity claims. Among other things, the
contingency of this process is outlined. It is concluded that
transport planners can conveniently utilize the guidelines in
their professional practice, tailored to their particular
settings.
Stefan M. Piech
The Impact of the 1989 Velvet Revolution on the Former
Czechoslovakian Film Industry
Abstract
After
the collapse of the Iron Curtain in the late Eighties the film
industries of Central Europe experienced massive
transformation. For the former Czechoslovakia the shock
therapy of total withdrawal of state funding forced producers
to immediately seek alternative sources of finance. This
research aims to describe the transition that the
Czechoslovakian film industry underwent in the early Nineties
after the collapse of Communism. A brief outline of the
history of the Czechoslovak film industry proceeds a section
outlining the organisational structure of the film industry
under Communist rule. The transforming effects that the
revolution had on this structure are illustrated to then
explain the current structure of the industry. The final
section looks at the prospects of the Czech and Slovak film
industries with reference to the global domination of the
American film industry. Data on which the main research
findings are based were obtained through twenty-two interviews.
Interviewees involved in the film industry before the
revolution described modifications caused by regulatory,
financial and technological factors. The assistance of the
Czech Ministry of Culture provided further insight.
Aysegul Baykan
Issues of Difference and Citizenship for 'New Identities':
A Theoretical View
Abstract
Social
theories that approach the presence of 'new identities' in an
already given social and political space encounter problems in
defining both identities and space, and their relationship.
This paper looks into the works of sociologist Bryan Turner,
political theorist Chantal Mouffe and philosopher Iris Young
to finally settle into the theories of space and place of
Harvey, Massey and others as an alternative way to articulate
the problem of marginal identities in Europe. I argue that, if
we think of any given identity as multiple and dynamic (as
opposed to being fixed and originary), and also the identity
of any given place as multiple, and as a process, then it is
logical and meaningful to re-articulate subject identities and
place identities as in a relationship. The nature of this
relationship is a complex web of political, social, economic
and cultural articulations. Therefore, any discourse on
citizenship should be grounded within this frame of analysis
and not on an ethical principle of nation state and on
a-historical, originary constructions of particularistic or
universal identities.
Joseph S. Joseph
Theorizing About Ethnopolitics and International Politics:
Some Conclusions from Cyprus
Abstract
Rising
ethno-nationalism and the increasing number and intensity of
domestic ethnic conflicts around the world pose new questions
and challenges to the student of ethnic and international
politics. Ethnic conflicts tend to transcend state boundaries and
become major issues in international politics because of
cross-boundary ethnic ties and patterns of interdependence. Interaction between domestic and external factors plays
an important role in determining the causes, dynamics and
effects of the conflicts at both the domestic and the
international level. In this article, some basic concepts and relationships
drawing some guidelines for the study of domestic ethnic
conflicts in an international context are presented and
discussed. The case of Cyprus is used to illustrate some main
points and generalizations suggested.
Feiwel Kupferberg
The Land of the Murderers. Jewish Survivors in Post-War
Germany
Abstract
This
article can be seen as a journey of self-discovery. It
describes and tries to analyze how the emotions and prejudices
of a Scandinavian citizen of Jewish origins toward postwar
Germany evolved during and after a cultural encounter with the
land of the murderers. It main thesis is that we should listen
to how the new Germany is seen by those Jews who have decided
to make Germany their home, as this might help us see some
aspects of present Germany which puts it in a somewhat
different light then the outsider view. The lack of detailed
knowledge of how the problem of living in the land of the
murderers is coped with by Jewish survivors in Germany,
relativizes some of our most dear prejudices and forces us to
look upon in what respect postwar Germany has changed, rather
then constantly looking for evidence that Germany has remained
the same.
Andrew Benett
Bhangra in Newcastle: Music, Ethnic Identity and the Role
of Local Knowledge
Abstract
Originally
a traditional form of Punjabi folk music, bhangra has been
radically transformed by British-Asian musicians into a fusion
style, which, in addition to retaining characteristic aspects
of its folk heritage also incorporates elements of western
popular music. There is currently very little research which
deals with this adaptation of the bhangra style and which
attempts to ascertain its cultural significance for Asians
living in Britain. Moreover, in those studies which have
examined these issues there has been a tendency to theorise
unproblematically the role of bhangra in acting as vehicle for
a common form of cultural expression amongst Asian communities
in Britain whilst leaving aside any consideration of the
influence of locality and local knowledges upon such
musicalised forms of cultural expression. In this article I
will argue that such essentialist explanations are
insufficient to explain the nature of the cultural work
performed by bhangra in this country. Drawing upon the results empirical research which I
have carried out in Newcastle upon Tyne, I will attempt to
illustrate how the collective uses of bhangra music by
different groups of Asians living in the city and the various
statements and expressions of ethnic identity which such uses
are intended to articulate are in each instance underscored by
issues of locality, that is to say, by forms of knowledge and
types of sensibility which are particular to Newcastle and the
wider North East region.
