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Call for papers on Freedom of Science -- University of Pavia - January 21-23, 2019

  • 1.  Call for papers on Freedom of Science -- University of Pavia - January 21-23, 2019

    Posted 06-23-2018 16:35
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    Dear colleagues and friends,

    please find below a call for papers for Track 5 of the

    6th Business Systems Laboratory International Symposium –

    Borders Without Borders –

    Systemic frameworks and their applications for sustainable well-being in the global era.

    University of Pavia - January 21-23, 2019

     

    Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Aziendali

    Via San Felice, 5

    27100 Pavia

    http://bslab-symposium.net/Pavia-2019/BSLAB-Symposium-Pavia-2019.htm

     

     

    Track 5 is on Freedom of Science: the Truth and Its Friends"

    Submission deadline September 15, 2018.

     

    In Austria the issue of 'Freiheit der Wissenschaft" was first claimed in Vienna, during the March revolution of 1848, and became constitutional law as Article 17 of the Austrian "Staatsgrundgesetz" on 21 December 1867 (signed by Emperor Franz Joseph I.). That principle is valid till today.

    In the United States of America, in 1915 the Committee on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure of the American Association of University Professors formulated a statement of principles on academic freedom and academic tenure, which was adapted and re-endorsed in 1940.

    In both instances it turned out that the principle of 'freedom' is permanently challenging 'borders', i.e. interests in other domains of life, which seemingly are worth to be defended by specific groups in society. In present days, most notable are issues of ethics, protection of human rights, personal dignity and personal integrity, 'quality management' trough peer review of publications, 'quality management' through accreditation agencies owned by large private companies, big data approaches vs. protection of individual rights, etc.

    In the last century, a major challenge was the issue of survival of universities under suppressive regimes and dictatorship, like in Nazi-Germany, in the Soviet Union, in Franco's Spain, and in Mussolini's Italy. Of interest is also the contribution of established scholars to the demise of repressive systems, e.g Andrei D. Sacharow and the Dissident Movement in the Soviet Union.

     

    In this context it is interesting to note, that universities in continuous operation exist in Europe since more than 900 years (University of Bologna 1088). In 1158, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa issued the "Authentica habita", which settled the rules, rights and privileges of universities. Thus, over the centuries universities existed with and without freedom of science. Universities contributed to the emergence of new and important knowledge, and they survived (and often also supported) suppressive regimes, which on the other hand often did not hesitate to remove (kill) individual scholars or whole schools of scientific research if the researchers and/or their research findings were not in the interest of the 'strong leaders'.

     

    Consequently, contributions to this track are invited which might offer:

    1. a) A "systemic view of a university", which can deliver new and fruitful knowledge, but also can survive suppression, and revive, when suppression is overcome. How comes, that universities last so long? What are the major systemic characteristics, which last so long?
    2. b) Analyses of current challenges of 'academic freedom' in terms of ethics; protection of individual human rights; political pressures; conflicts of interests; the emerging relevance of fake news and creation of 'alternate facts'; the 'competition' between public and private universities, etc.
    3. c) The issue of the relation between academic freedom and employment (academic tenure) in present day societies.

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    Footnote: Most of the 'oldest companies' in the world, founded before 1300, are restaurants, breweries, beer cellars, wine cellars and hotels, with less than 300 employees. The oldest organization in Europe seems to be the Catholic Church, which also survived numerous challenges and spin-offs, like the Orthodox and Protestant Churches, the Church of England and the Old Catholic Churches.

     

    SUBMISSIONS: Deadline by SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 (EARLY BIRD)

    (the call is open for submissions - feedback 2 weeks from submission)

    The Extended Abstract from 500 to 2000 words (including references) should be in a Word file and have to be sent to Prof. Gandolfo Dominici - Scientific Director - specifying in the email subject   "B.S.Lab 6th Symposium-Pavia-2019"-

    at the following email address: abstract-submission@bslab-symposium.net



    Best regards

    Gerhard Fink

    Department of Global Business and Trade

    Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria
    E-Mail: gerhard.fink@wu.ac.at

    http://scholar.google.de/citations?user=20BhfQYAAAAJ&hl=de&oi=ao

     

    Please view my research on my Author pages:

    http://ssrn.com/author=92836

    http://wuvienna.academia.edu/GerhardFink

     

    Please take a look at

    Dauber, D., Fink, G. and Yolles, M. (2012)

    Configuration Model of Organisational Culture

    http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/2/1/2158244012441482

    http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/citedby/10.1177/2158244012441482

    Since 2012 about 100,000 downloads.



    ------------------------------
    Gerhard Fink
    WU Wien
    Vienna
    43-1-313-36-4331
    ------------------------------