Duemmler, Kerstin; Nagel, Alexander-Kenneth: Governing Religious Diversity: Top-down and bottom-up initiatives in Germany and Switzerland

In recent years religious pluralization has become a significant policy issue in Western societies as a result of a new awareness of religion and of religious minorities articulating themselves and becoming more visible. The article explores the variety of social and political reactions to religious diversity in urban areas and in doing so it brings together theoretical concepts of political and cultural sociology. The notion of diversity governance as joint endeavour of state and societal actors managing societies is linked to the notion of boundary work as interplay of state and/or societal actors maintaining or modifying boundaries between religious traditions. Based on two case studies the article illustrates two idealtypical settings of diversity governance: The first case from the German Ruhr Area stands for a bottom-up approach which is based on civic self-organization of interreligious activities whereas the second case from the Swiss canton of Lucerne exhibits a model of top-down governance based on state interventions in religious instruction at schools. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and participant observation the authors show how different governance settings shape the construction and blurring of boundaries in the religious field. Both approaches operate differently when incorporating religious diversity and rendering former homogenous notions of we-groups more heterogeneous. Despite of the approaches initial aim of inclusion, patterns of exclusion are equally reproduced since the idea of ‘legitimate religion' rooted in Christian majority culture is presen

Gehören wir dazu? Grenzziehungsprozesse und Positionierungen der zweiten Generation im Vergleich zwischen Luzern und Neuchâtel

Cet article s’intéresse aux sentiments d’appartenance et aux positionnements des jeunes de deuxième génération vis-à-vis de certaines frontières symboliques ethno-nationales. Sur la base d’entretiens menés dans les cantons de Lucerne et Neuchâtel avec des jeunes de 16 à 19 ans d’origines différentes, nous mettons en lumière les stratégies et les discours qu’ils/elles développent par rapport à ces frontières. Nous montrons notamment comment le contexte institutionnel de chaque canton influence leurs discours et stratégies. Indépendamment de leur sentiment d’appartenance, les stratégies mises en œuvre par les jeunes sont marquées dans le canton de Lucerne par les exigences d’intégration et dans le canton de Neuchâtel par un discours républicain de tolérance.Rather than to examine the modes of integration of the second generation as is usually done, the article chooses to ask how the second generation position themselves vis-à-vis certain ethno-national boundaries and whether they feel that they belong. Based on interviews with young people of different origins, aged from 16 to 19 years and residing in the cantons of Lucerne and Neuchâtel, we uncover their positionings and strategies when faced with boundaries. We notably show how the regional contexts influence their positions and strategies. Independently of their feelings of belonging, their strategies are strongly affected by the demands of integration in Lucerne and by a republican discourse of tolerance in Neuchâtel.Statt wie üblich die Integrationsmodi der zweiten Generation zu untersuchen, nimmt der Artikel eine andere Perspektive ein und fragt, wie sich die zweite Generation gegenüber ethno-nationalen Grenzlinien positioniert und ob sie sich als zugehörig betrachtet. Anhand von Interviews mit 16 bis 19-Jährigen unterschiedlicher Herkunft aus den Kantonen Luzern und Neuenburg wird aufgedeckt, welche Positionierungen und Strategien sie angesichts von Grenzziehungen entwickeln. Der Vergleich macht insbesondere deutlich, wie die regionalen Kontexte ihre Positionierungen und Strategien kanalisieren. Unabhängig davon, ob sich die zweite Generation als zugehörig wahrnimmt, sind sie in Luzern durch Integrationsforderungen und in Neuenburg durch einen republikanischen Toleranzdiskurs geprägt

The radial velocities and physical parameters of HD 553

HD 553 was discovered as an eclipsing binary by Hipparcos. Here, we present the first radial velocity curve for this system. It is found that HD 553 is a double-lined spectroscopic binary. Despite the large luminosity difference, the two components of the system are of very simmilar mass. The primary, a K0-giant, fills a large fraction of its Roche-lobe. The secondary is, despite its very similar mass, still a late-type dwarf. The radial velocity curve allows to constrain several stellar and system parameters

Germline Transgenic Methods for Tracking Cells and Testing Gene Function During Regeneration in the Axolotl

The salamander is the only tetrapod that regenerates complex body structures throughout life. Deciphering the underlying molecular processes of regeneration is fundamental for regenerative medicine and developmental biology, but the model organism had limited tools for molecular analysis. We describe a comprehensive set of germline transgenic strains in the laboratory-bred salamander Ambystoma mexicanum(axolotl) that open up the cellular and molecular genetic dissection of regeneration. We demonstrate tissue-dependent control of gene expression in nerve, Schwann cells, oligodendrocytes, muscle, epidermis, and cartilage. Furthermore, we demonstrate the use of tamoxifen-induced Cre/loxP-mediated recombination to indelibly mark different cell types. Finally, we inducibly overexpress the cell-cycle inhibitor p16INK4a, which negatively regulates spinal cord regeneration. These tissue-specific germline axolotl lines and tightly inducible Cre drivers and LoxP reporter lines render this classical regeneration model molecularly accessible

A Survey of IUE Spectra of the Active Binary System UX Arietis

To investigate the ultraviolet (UV) activity of the bright, non-eclipsing, double-lined spectroscopic binary system UX Ari, IUE spectra (194 images) were taken from the IUE archive. The spectra, obtained during the period 1978-1996, show emission lines originating in the chromosphere and transition region. The long-wavelength low dispersion spectra were examined for ultraviolet excess by comparing the UV continuum level of UX Ari with the levels of $\kappa$ Cet and $\eta$ Cep in the spectral range 2100 $\AA$ - 3200 $\AA$ . The individual MgII h and k emission-line fluxes of component stars show that the contributions to the activity of the system for G5 V and K0 IV are about 20% and 80%, respectively. Apart from the flare event observed on 1979 Jan 1, there are some flux enhancements in the years 1987, 1991 and 1994 which may suggest existence of a periodicity of about 7-9 years. Examination of the ultraviolet excess in the system showed that there is some UV excess in UX Ari, which varies from 1% up to 24% with the exception of two images which showed no UV excess. The results revealed that there was an agreement on the source of emission regions which could be attributed to the magnetic activity. The contribution of G5 V and K0 IV components to the MgII activity of the system suggests a need to take into consideration the spot distribution not only on the surface of K0 IV but also on the surface of G5 V component of UX Ari.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure

An Extended Measure Of The User Costs Of Housing - New Evidence From The U.S.

This paper is based on a traditional neoclassical approach to housing investment and our previous work carried out for Germany. In this study we check the relevance if the definition for the user costs of housing should be extended by an additional term which mirrors the credit constraints a household would be faced with for the U.S. economy. This extension term consists of the inflation gap between consumer and house price inflation multiplied with an average loan-to-value ratio and the real house prices. The empirical relevance of our finding is confirmed by a VECM using U.S. data. A time series for the user costs of housing in the U.S. is calculated

High-Resolution Spectroscopy of FUors

High-resolution spectroscopy was obtained of the FUors FU Ori and V1057 Cyg between 1995 and 2002 with SOFIN at NOT and with HIRES at Keck I. During those years FU Ori remained about 1 mag. (in B) below its 1938-39 maximum brightness, but V1057 Cyg (B ~ 10.5 at peak in 1970-71) faded from about 13.5 to 14.9 and then recovered slightly. Their photospheric spectra resemble a rotating G0 Ib supergiant, with v_eq sin i = 70 km/s for FU Ori and 55 km/s for V1057 Cyg. As V1057 Cyg faded, P Cyg structure in Halpha and the IR CaII lines strengthened and a complex shortward-displaced shell spectrum increased in strength, disappeared in 1999, and reappeared in 2001. Night-to-night changes in the wind structure of FU Ori show evidence of sporadic infall. The strength of P Cyg absorption varied cyclically with a period of 14.8 days, with phase stability maintained over 3 seasons, and is believed to be the rotation period. The structure of the photospheric lines also varies cyclically, but with a period of 3.54 days. A similar variation may be present in V1057 Cyg. As V1057 Cyg has faded, the emission lines of a pre-existing low-excitation chromosphere have emerged, so we believe the `line doubling' in V1057 Cyg is produced by these central emission cores in the absorption lines, not by orbital motion in an inclined Keplerian disk. No dependence of v_eq sin i on wavelength or excitation potential was detected in either star, again contrary to expectation for a self-luminous accretion disk. Nor are critical lines in the near infrared accounted for by synthetic disk spectra. A rapidly rotating star near the edge of stability (Larson 1980), can better explain these observations. FUor eruptions may not be a property of ordinary TTS, but may be confined to a special subspecies of rapid rotators having powerful quasi-permanent winds.Comment: 41 pages (including 32 figures and 9 tables); ApJ, in press; author affiliation, figs. 3 and 9 correcte

A Central Banks Role In Cashless Payments

The smooth functioning of payment systems is relevant for both the efficiency of the financial sector as well as the implementation of monetary policy operations. Therefore, payment systems are often provided by central banks. The characteristics of individual payment systems, such as increasing economies of scale, favour the development of a monopolistic situation. Therefore, we consider the role of a central bank acting as a monopolist and discuss possible welfare effects. Against the background of huge systemic risks, a central bank acting as an operator of an individual payment system is supposed to be the optimal solution. We illustrate our findings in the light of the role of the Bundesbank which has traditionally been operating its own payment systems