Archive for November, 2007
Toys
Wagnerian Politics
Life has its strange ironies. For years, everybody has been talking about the frail health of Wolfgang Wagner (or should that be Dr. Wolfgang Wagner? We are talking about Germans, after all), the 88 year old leader for life of the Bayreuth Festspiele and wondered who would succeed him.
And then his 63 year-old wife dies.
The only thing which is certain is that we can expect a fascinating battle involving the women of the Wagner family.
links for 2007-11-28
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Gender bias and discrimination against women in academia take many forms, from overt sexual harassment to the much more ubiquitous and insidious problem of subtle and unconscious sexism impacting daily life, work distribution, student evaluations, and pro
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There are more passive-aggressive people in the academy than most other place. Academics seem especially prone to speaking with a forked tongue.
More Christiansborgology
Trying to interpret the implications of reshuffles among the political spokesmen (male and female, and while we’re at it: Helle Thorning Schmidt is the chairman of the Social Democrats) of the parliamentary groups can often be fun.
In the Conservative People’s Party former party leader Pia Christmas-Møller – who raised eyebrows when she called for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty before the election – got the boot as political spokesman and was replaced by former Social Affairs and Consumer Affairs minister Henriette Kjær. This is a comeback for Kjær who was fired as minister in February 2005 after details about her private economy had been made public. (Not the stuff that would make headlines in the UK press, but still embarrassing for the party).
The Danish People’s Party replaced Jesper Langballe as integration policy spokesman with Peter Skaarup who will be assisted by party leader Pia Kjærsgaard in contacts with the new Integration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech. Langballe famously lost a civil court case against Rønn Hornbech related to remarks he had made about Islam and European Muslims, but the move should perhaps rather be interpreted as an attempt to keep a close watch on the new minister and signal that the DPP will not accept any major changes in refugee and immigration policy. Mr. Skaarup has been part of Mrs. Kjærsgaard’s – and the DPP’s – inner circle since the party was founded.
links for 2007-11-27
Climate
David Troels Garby notes that the Danish government may have a minister for climate but the Liberals have not appointed a climate policy spokesman. (But then, neither have the Conservatives or the Social Democrats).
Christiansborgoligists have noted that Søren Pind got the job as the Liberals’ foreign policy spokesman.
Hell and Back
Airports from hell. The brave staff of Foreign Policy has been there.
The Monkey Cage
When two economists (somehow the idea of economists acting collectively seems like a contradictio in adiectio to me) decide to publish a blog, they call it Marginal Revolution. Take more than two economists and you get VoxEU.
Take a bunch of political theorists, philosophers, economists and sociologists, add the odd political scientist, and you get Crooked Timber. Business studies (talk about a leap here…) are simply Organisations and Markets.
Now take a group of political scientists, give them a blog and what happens?
They decide to call themselves the Monkey Cage.
On a more serious note: In the race for peer reviewed journal articles written in English-ish, European politicial science in general and Nordic political science in particular might want to consider its web presence.
Quote of the Day
Tyler Cowen wonders:
Does the greater pessimism of Europeans produce more disciplined and respectful children? Or just more pessimistic newspapers?
Disrespectful kids? They’re here.