Recognition,inclusion and democracy: learning from action research with young people

ABSTRACT

This paper draws upon learning from three action research projects conducted as part of a Europe-wide project exploring young people’s social and political participation. Challenging dominant discourses about what ‘counts’ as participation and what does not, the paper explores how, through the action research projects, young people engaged in knowledge democracy in ‘new democratic arenas’. Building upon experiential knowing and creating knowledge and learning through practice, the young people explored their own democratic knowledge production, communication and engagement within a context of shifting discourses of participation, democratic engagement and active citizenship. The increasing preference of young people for more informal forms of participation as lived practice reflects a shift to young people constructing their own modes of participation and ‘remaking democracy’ in their own vision and according to their own needs. By working outside of the confines of normative assumptions of democratic practice and participation, young people exercised their own ‘political’ agency in response to their own priorities, interests and concerns and, in doing so, illustrated that new forms, understandings and practices of knowledge democracy can emerge that reflect the promise of inclusive democratic societies more meaningfully.     

Education,Enlightenment and Positivism: The Vienna Circle's Scientific World-Conception Revisited

The scientific world-conception is properly understood as an enlightenmentphilosophy only if the current reassessment of the historical Vienna Circle(as opposed to the caricature still prevalent in the popular philosophicalimagination) is once more extended to comprehend not only its thorough-goingepistemological anti-foundationalism, but also the voluntarist point of its ethical`non-cognitivism'. That is to say, the scientific world-conception is properlyunderstood as the opposite of village positivism only if it is recognized that it hasan `other' and that the scientific world-conception was meant by its proponentsto perform its enlightenment work only in conjunction with that other of scientificreason – ethical will and willing. Scientific reason cannot determine all there is to determine, it cannot determine the will. In this sense, there was, pace villagepositivism, more than scientific reason dreamt of. Scientific reason was not madeabsolute: rather, its (self-) clarification was required if a satisfactory view of its placein `life' was to be attained.     

The use of recovery methods post-exercise

Competitive soccer engages many of the body's systems to a major extent. The musculoskeletal, nervous, immune and metabolic systems are stressed to a point where recovery strategies post-exercise become influential in preparing for the next match. Intense activity at a 7-day training camp causes participants to experience lowered concentrations of non-killer cells and T-helper cells. Two consecutive games in 24 h produce disturbances in the testosterone-cortisol ratio. When competitive schedules are congested, the recovery process should be optimized for performance capabilities to be restored to normal as soon as possible. There is evidence that glycogen stores are reduced near to depletion at the end of a soccer game and that a diet high in carbohydrates can aid recovery. Water alone is not the best means of restoring body fluids, since carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks display better intestinal absorption and reduce urine output. Some relief from muscle soreness may be achieved by means of a warm-down. Deep-water running regimens can replace conventional physical training in the days after competition. Massage, cryotherapy and alternative therapies have not been shown to be consistently effective. It is concluded that optimizing recovery post-exercise depends on a combination of factors that incorporate a consideration of individual differences and lifestyle factors. The procedures to facilitate recovery processes should start immediately the game or training finishes. Match administrators and tournament planners should consider the stressful consequences for players in periods of congested fixtures and alleviate the physiological strain as far as possible by allowing 72 h between competitive games. This frequency of competition is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term.