Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch

Interdisciplinary research can be defined as the practice of discovering new objects of knowledge beyond disciplinary borders. It often operates through the cross-fertilization and hybridization of concepts, theoretical frameworks, and methodological tools to enable the description, analysis, and understanding of the complexity of objects of study that cannot be reduced to the strict limits imposed by any one discipline. The aim of this article is to take stock of the theoretical and methodological issues involved in the interdisciplinary research process from the perspective of serendipity, which is a creative process of considerable value to science. The intent is to show that the decompartmentalization of disciplines, the ability to decenter and open one's mind to the unexpected are intrinsic to the work of researchers who position themselves between and beyond disciplines. Our contention is that, as a process of discovering with a completely open mind (sine anticipatio mentis) things that are not being searched for, serendipity is thus capable of playing a central role in interdisciplinarity, boosting the exchange of ideas and speeding up their circulation among researchers committed to exploiting the heuristic dimension of the unexpected.

This book presents an integral, cross-cultural reflection on the social reality of children's rights and citizenship, giving an insight into new perspectives on the history and different concepts of c

This article intends to explore the conditions of possibility of a pragmatics of space.How are practices constructed through space?How are the different ways of practising places are informed by different aspects of spatial dimensions?In order to get into this question, three points are developed.Firstly we will delimit the field of what is termed here "pragmatics" as larger than "pragmatism", with reference to recent developments within French sociology.Secondly we will propose a shift from geographies of "being in space" towards geographies of "doing with space".Thirdly we propose two expressions and concepts for a pragmatics of space: the notions of "doing with space" and space "at proof" are explored in order to be used as tools for investigation.Finally, we will explicit the analytical tools developed of practice within situations will be developed.Especially, the treatment of a situation as arrangements of multiples relationships of humans, necessitating a multiplelayered approach, from the recollection of discourse, objects and observation is developed.

The article explores child participation from the perspective of the sociology of action. Despite the important literature on child participation following adoption of the UNCRC, a consistent theory of child participation is still missing. The distinction between the child as a subject of rights and the child as a social actor draws attention to the cumulative and systemic nature of action. Applications of a new model going in this direction are presented. They foster discussion on children’s agency and give insights for assessing implicit theories of action lying behind child participation.

In the past two decades, the iconography of victimhood mobilized by child rights advocates has changed significantly. In particular, the child victim of violence has replaced the street child as the dominant icon on the international agenda. Based on data from more than 300 documents produced between 1989 and 2009 and interviews with leading advocates, this article explores the diverging trajectories of iconic child victims. It follows the traces of the successive translations of the idea of ‘stolen childhood’ and locates them against the backdrop of evolutions in the children’s rights field.

International audience

Abstract This paper contributes to the study of permafrost in the Pyrenees by reporting geoelectrical investigations and thermal measurement on the Little Ice Age (LIA) forefields of two glaciers. The aim was to assess the internal composition of sedimentary bodies (debris rock glaciers and moraine deposits) located in this proglacial environment. Ground ice was prospected using two DC resistivity techniques: vertical electrical soundings and resistivity mapping at a fixed pseudo‐depth. Extreme specific resistivities ranging between 1 and 25 MΩ m were detected under a thin (1–2 m) unfrozen layer, indicating the presence of a massive ice layer, certainly buried glacier ice. This ice of glacial origin probably covers former permafrost bodies, i.e. a much thicker layer of perennially frozen sediments. Low subsurface temperatures measured on the deposits indicate that buried glacier ice could have been preserved on top of permafrost since the end of the LIA or earlier Holocene glacier advances. This stratigraphy demonstrates that glaciers and pre‐existing perennially frozen sediments (permafrost) were in contact during the LIA. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Killed by charity' is the title of the second album of the avant-garde rock/jazz-band X-Legged Sally and was released in 1993.The phrase also reminds of a tragic event that occurred in the course of food droppings by air over a drought-stricken region in Africa in the early 1990s.According to the band's lead musician, Peter Vermeersch, the title of the album refers to an incident which had lead to the accidental death of some of the people who had received heavy food palettes on their head.They had been, literally, killed by charity.Researchers in the field of childhood studies and children's rights have recurrently uncovered that charity can also 'kill' in a figurative sense.Many articles published in Childhood over the last 20 years have demonstrated that taking unjustified and unfounded measures in order to protect children -in their best interests -has not been without contradictions or even tragedies (A time for celebrations, 1999).Consider, for instance, the infamous example of ingrained child protection policies in Australia during the 20th century that involved the forced removal from their families and placement in institutional or foster care of Aboriginal and mixed-descent children.The history of child protection policy and interventions contains numerous other examples of wellintended charity interventions on children's behalf that have led not to improving but to deteriorating children's conditions.Childhood has also published articles on the harmful consequences of interventions in children's lives in the field of development practice.A recent example includes Susan Levine's (2011) study on how the introduction of child labour legislation in South Africa since the end of apartheid has had the unintended consequence of deepening chronic hunger and poverty among children who formerly participated as seasonal or part-time workers, rather than improving their lives.In another article, Sircar and Dutta ( 2011) have pointed at the effects of attempts at 'rescuing' children of sex workers by kindhearted outsiders, that are at best temporary and at worst come at the cost of abrogating the children's and their families' rights.Childhood studies and children's rights share the rejection of policies and interventions that are concerned about children merely as passive objects; both approaches can be seen as providing an antidote for the harm inflicted on children by charity approaches that do not consider their agency nor their rights.An appropriate starting point for exploring the relations between childhood studies and children's rights are the first issues of The International Journal of Children's Rights and of Childhood, two of the field's leading academic journals that both appeared in 1993.

Abstract This article attempts to understand the distinctive role of independent human rights institutions for children (IHRICs) in Europe, in the context of the proposed EU strategy on the rights of the child. It begins by explaining the distinctive characteristics of IHRICs, their presence, location and organisation in Europe, and the role of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC). It goes on to examine their developing relationships, individually and collectively, with European institutions (in particular the institutions of the European Union, but also with reference to the Council of Europe). The article draws on observations of the annual conference of ENOC in 2010, and on interviews with members of ENOC. The article follows this with a discussion of how IHRICs may be understood as operating at the interface of regional, national, European and global mechanisms, and concludes with a review of current issues and some questions for future research.

Résumé Cet article travaille l’hypothèse que le système touristique a provoqué une double « révolution urbaine » : la première débute au xviii e siècle et correspond au développement partout dans le monde de lieux urbains créés spécifiquement par et pour le tourisme : la station touristique. La seconde, plus récente (2 e moitié du xx e siècle) est relative à l’imprégnation de plus en plus importante des villes par la sphère de la recréation. Pour cela, nous dégageons dans un premier temps un cadre théorique qui, à partir de travaux existant, propose une définition enrichie et complexifiée de l’« urbanité » et de l’« urbanisation ». Ce socle permet alors de réunifier dans une même réflexion les différentes modalités de participation du tourisme quant à la dimension urbaine des sociétés, ici plus spécifiquement envisagée à travers la qualité de ses lieux.

L’interdisciplinarité apparaît comme une voie nouvelle dans le développement de l’enseignement et de la recherche universitaires. L’analyse de ses potentialités, mais aussi des obstacles qu’elle rencontre, met en lumière les relations complexes qu’elle entretient avec les disciplines institutionnalisées. L’interdisciplinarité est pensée ici comme un processus d’articulation entre plusieurs disciplines qui ne se résume pas à une simple addition de savoirs hétérogènes. Sans prétendre à une théorie unifiée, qui équivaudrait à la naissance d’un nouveau paradigme, il convient au contraire de prendre en compte la diversité des postures épistémologiques qui contribuent à la co-élaboration du processus interdisciplinaire.

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, notamment sous la pression des impératifs de la durabilité, on assiste à l’émergence de nouvelles formes de régulation des rapports entre les sociétés et leur environnement et, plus précisément, des usages sociaux des ressources naturelles. Ces nouveaux modes de régulation, empiriquement observables, sont caractérisés par un mouvement conjoint de ré-articulation des logiques sectorielles, de redéfinition des périmètres territoriaux et des échelles de régulation pertinents, ainsi que de redéfinition et de redistribution des droits d’usage sur les ressources. Cet article se donne pour objectif d’identifier et de documenter ces différentes modalités de remise en cause des logiques existantes (secteurs, territoires institutionnels et droits de propriété) de l’action publique, puis de proposer le concept d’espace fonctionnel comme outil analytique permettant de rendre compte des phénomènes de formatages alternatifs de l’action publique d’une part, et comme référentiel qui pourrait sous-tendre un nouveau pilotage politique de l’action publique en faveur de la durabilité d’autre part.

We present a new, simple technique for umbilical positioning in abdominoplasty. The technique is concluded to be a practical one, especially for staff in training.

S’intéresser aux domaines des studies dans leur diversité, c’est questionner de front les rapports complexes qui se tissent entre les tendances à la disciplinarisation de nouveaux champs d’études et leur intention revendiquée de s’émanciper – voire de s’affranchir – de tout ancrage disciplinaire. Les tensions et oscillations entre des postures épistémologiques apparemment contradictoires – entre discipline et anti-discipline – peuvent se résoudre en optant pour une pensée dialogique qui travaille au cœur du processus interdisciplinaire. Sous cet angle, la contribution aborde les potentialités et les limites des studies et la pertinence de leur « prolifération ». Elle définit également les principaux concepts qui tentent de cerner ce qui se joue entre et au-delà des disciplines. Une ouverture finale évoque le désir épistémologique qui anime tout chercheur qui s’aventure aux confins des disciplines.

BACKGROUND: Morphinofobia among the general population (GP) and among health care professionals (HP) is not without danger for the patients: it may lead to the inappropriate management of debilitating pain. The aim of our study was to explore among GP and HP the representation and attitudes concerning the use of morphine in health care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done among 412 HP (physicians and nurses) of the 4 hospitals and 10 community health centers of Beira Interior (Portugal)and among 193 persons of the GP randomly selected in public places. Opinions were collected through a translated self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: A significant difference of opinion exists among GP and HP about the use of morphine. The word morphine first suggests drug to GP (36,2%) and analgesia to HP (32,9%.). The reasons for not using morphine most frequently cited are: for GP morphine use means advanced disease (56%), risk of addiction (50%), legal requirements (49,7%); for HP it means legal risks (56,3%) and adverse side effects of morphine such as somnolence - sedation (30,5%) The socio-demographic situation was correlated with the opinions about the use of morphine. CONCLUSIONS: False beliefs about the use of morphine exist among the studied groups. There seems to be a need for developing information campaigns on pain management and the use of morphine targeting. Better training and more information of HP might also be needed.

Public authorities in charge of managing public real-estate assets at the local level face conflicting interests. In Switzerland, short-term solutions often prevail. This paper looks at another group of actors which are characterized by their long-term real-estate management strategies: civic corporations. In Switzerland old civic corporations, which share many characteristics with common pool resource (CPR) institutions, are large landowners, some of them very powerful, which seem to have been successful in the management of their assets over centuries. The objective of this paper is to address the role played today by large urban civic corporations in the implementation process of land-use planning policies, as well as to understand the conditions of their perpetuation within the complex policy framework characterizing Swiss and European welfare states. This research examines the real-estate strategy of the civic corporations of Bern and Chur—ie their choice to buy, sell, or lease parcels of land depending on their location—in order to highlight their complex relationship with local authorities in charge of land-use planning. We show that CPR institutions such as civic corporations must not be dismissed too quickly as relicts of the past: quite the reverse, their strategies gain a renewed significance in a time when public bodies are looking for new ways to improve the sustainability of their spatial footprint and incorporate long-term thinking in their management objectives. More concretely, we show that their significance within land-use planning processes depends on their capacity to complement local authorities through the mobilization of their real-estate assets in order to support the implementation of land-use and urban planning policies.

Cette contribution traite de la question des conditions de perpétuation des institutions de gestion communautaire de ressources (common pool resource institutions [CPRI]) dans le contexte des États contemporains, à partir du cas suisse. En particulier, elle discute trois hypothèses – la médiation, la multipositionnalité et la complémentarité – relatives aux conditions d’imbrication des CPRI dans les principales politiques publiques (environnement et aménagement du territoire) intervenant dans la régulation des ressources communes. Cette discussion permet de montrer empiriquement, à l’aide de trois exemples que sont les affermages de chasse, les consortages de bisses et les bourgeoisies urbaines, que les CPRI sont effectivement, dans certains cas, loin de n’être que des reliques du passé et qu’elles sont susceptibles, à certaines conditions, de jouer un rôle important dans un certain nombre de régimes institutionnels de ressources dès lors que, en tant que détentrices de droits de propriété clairement définis et reconnus, elles sont intégrées dans les arrangements locaux de mise en œuvre des politiques publiques environnementales et d’aménagement du territoire. Ce faisant, cette contribution suggère également que la reconnaissance et « l’empowerment » des CPRI, parfois souhaités par Elinor Ostrom et ses collègues, ne sont pas exempts de risques d’exclusion des non-membres des CPRI de l’accès aux ressources ou encore de phénomènes de concentration du pouvoir de régulation de ces dernières dans les mains de « barons locaux ».

Au cours de la dernière décennie, l’usage du terme mobilité, porté par le mobility turn, s’est progressivement substitué à migration dans la sphère politique et dans la recherche sans que ce glissement conceptuel n’ait réellement fait l’objet d’un questionnement approfondi. Ont ainsi été intégrées au sein d’un même corpus analytique toutes les formes de déplacement physique des personnes, les mobilités imaginaires, virtuelles et de communication comme celles des objets. L’ouvrage les interroge dans une perspective pluridisciplinaire en proposant une réflexion épistémologique autour des termes « mobilité » et « migration » et de leurs relations afin d’interroger les présupposés des mobilities studies. Articulé en trois parties destinées à explorer les liens, porosités et impermanences de ces concepts, il porte sur la production des catégories par le politique et l’administration, les représentations de la migration et de la mobilité, et les reconfigurations apportées par les nouvelles technologies aux frontières entre mobilité et migration.

When caring for terminally ill patients and their families, nurses are confronted with the subject of terminal dehydration and the question of artificial hydration at the end of life. Terminal dehydration and artificial hydration are still controversial topics of discussion and, to this day, data remain insufficient to reach a final conclusion on the benefits or harm of dehydration in terminally ill patients (Ersek, 2003; Fainsinger, 2008). Nurses, just like physicians, have different attitudes about the usefulness of artificial hydration. Personal and professional experiences, cultural influences, and the place of care, as well as education and available resources, are guiding clinical practice (Morita et al, 2002; Pasman et al, 2004). Since there is no ethically or medically based gold standard, each decision for or against hydration at the end of life needs to be taken on an individual basis. This article reflects on the meaning of dehydration for the patient and their family, and reviews the role of the nurse within the decision-making process. Arguments for or against artificial hydration are illuminated through patient situations which took place in the clinical setting of a hospice. The article further highlights the importance of recognising dehydration in frail and elderly patients, and critically assesses policies that may hinder its optimal palliation in different settings in Switzerland.

L’acceptation de l’initiative pour la limitation des résidences secondaires a constitué un véritable choc pour les régions touristiques suisses. En replaçant cette décision dans le contexte plus général du débat sur les avantages et les inconvénients d’un modèle de développement des stations basé sur la construction de résidences secondaires, nous rappelons tout d’abord le rôle jusqu’ici restreint joué en Suisse par les pouvoirs publics dans la gestion de cette problématique. Nous montrons également le décalage existant entre le discours des responsables politiques et touristiques, favorable à une restriction de la construction de nouvelles résidences secondaires, et la réalité du terrain matérialisée par une augmentation continuelle de ces dernières. Notre hypothèse principale consiste à affirmer que la modification du cadre légal imposée par l’acceptation de l’initiative va contraindre les acteurs du tourisme à innover afin de mettre en place un nouveau modèle de développement basé sur l’hébergement marchand, autrement dit à passer d’un « tourisme de construction » à un « tourisme d’exploitation ».