The Borders of Integration Empowered

Bodies and Social Cohesion 1st Edition

Bianca Maria Pirani
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-borders-of-integration-empowered-bodies-and-so
cial-cohesion-1st-edition-bianca-maria-pirani/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Beyond the Skin The Boundaries between Bodies and

Technologies in an Unequal World 1st Edition Bianca
Maria Pirani Bianca Maria Piran

https://ebookmeta.com/product/beyond-the-skin-the-boundaries-
between-bodies-and-technologies-in-an-unequal-world-1st-edition-
bianca-maria-pirani-bianca-maria-piran/

Unit Cohesion and Warfare in the Ancient World Military

and Social Approaches 1st Edition Joshua R. Hall

https://ebookmeta.com/product/unit-cohesion-and-warfare-in-the-
ancient-world-military-and-social-approaches-1st-edition-joshua-
r-hall/

Bodies Across Borders The Global Circulation of Body

Parts Medical Tourists and Professionals 1st Edition
Bronwyn Parry Beth Greenhough Isabel Dyck

https://ebookmeta.com/product/bodies-across-borders-the-global-
circulation-of-body-parts-medical-tourists-and-professionals-1st-
edition-bronwyn-parry-beth-greenhough-isabel-dyck/

The Ship of Shadows 1st Edition Maria Kuzniar Kuzniar

Maria

https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-ship-of-shadows-1st-edition-
maria-kuzniar-kuzniar-maria/
Habermas and European Integration Social and cultural
modernity beyond the nation state 2nd Edition Shivdeep
Grewal

https://ebookmeta.com/product/habermas-and-european-integration-
social-and-cultural-modernity-beyond-the-nation-state-2nd-
edition-shivdeep-grewal/

Unjust Borders Individuals and the Ethics of

Immigration 1st Edition Hidalgo

https://ebookmeta.com/product/unjust-borders-individuals-and-the-
ethics-of-immigration-1st-edition-hidalgo/

Sex Work Immigration and Social Difference Routledge

Studies in Criminal Justice Borders and Citizenship
1st Edition Ham

https://ebookmeta.com/product/sex-work-immigration-and-social-
difference-routledge-studies-in-criminal-justice-borders-and-
citizenship-1st-edition-ham/

Social and Economic Vulnerability of Roma People : Key

Factors for the Success and Continuity of Schooling
Levels 1st Edition Maria Manuela Mendes

https://ebookmeta.com/product/social-and-economic-vulnerability-
of-roma-people-key-factors-for-the-success-and-continuity-of-
schooling-levels-1st-edition-maria-manuela-mendes/

Advertising Values and Social Change A Sociological

Analysis 1st Edition Maria Angela Polesana

https://ebookmeta.com/product/advertising-values-and-social-
change-a-sociological-analysis-1st-edition-maria-angela-polesana/
The Borders
of Integration
The Borders
of Integration:

Empowered Bodies
and Social Cohesion

Edited and Introduced by

Bianca Maria Pirani

The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion

Edited and Introduced by Bianca Maria Pirani

This book first published 2018

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2018 by Bianca Maria Pirani and contributors

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-5275-1326-2

ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-1326-6
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ........................................................................................................ ix
Luigi M. Solivetti

Foreword .................................................................................................. xiii

Roberto Cipriani

Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
Bianca Maria Pirani

PART ONE
BODY AND POWER: AFFECTING HUMAN FACTORS, SOCIAL ICONS
AND CULTURAL BODIES

Chapter One ............................................................................................... 19

A Traumatic Social Interaction at Work: When the Body says “Run”
but the Ego Orders “Stay”.
Veronika Sieglin

Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 51

Towards a Geography of Memory: Recitation of Classics among
the Chinese Descendants in Germany
Kejie Huang

Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 75

Migrant Bodies as Social Icons
Nicola Maria Coppola

Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 97

Nowhere’s Land: Why Immigrants Should Currently Fear Moving
to EU Societies
Maria João Guia
vi Table of Contents

Chapter Five ............................................................................................ 121

The Deep Play of Labelling Bodies: Sport, Second Generation
and National Identity in Contemporary Italy
Francesca Conti

Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 137

Memories of Settlement: The Black Press for the Afro-Caribbean
Community in the English Context
Daria Forlenza

PART TWO
THE WALL AND THE BOND: MIGRANT BODIES IN SEARCH OF PLACE

Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 155

Bodily Integrity of Migrants and Refugees vis-à-vis Securitization
and Biometrics
Emanuela Del Re

Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 179

Social Integration of Migrants from China to Russia:
Theoretical and Practical Issues
Olga Borodkina, Anastasia Amirkhanian

Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 203

Iranian Migrant Women’s Shared Experiences in Belgium:
Where Gender, Colour and Religion Intersect
Ladan Rahbari

Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 219

International Exploitation of Labour: The Case of the Indian Community
in the Province of Latina
Marco Omizzolo

Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 249

History of Dual Nationality in Turkish Law: Changing Understanding
and Rules
Hande Ünsal
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion vii

Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 267

Brain Drain and Technologies in the Social Justice New Policies
of Ecuador
Francesco Maniglio

Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 293

Migration: Is There Any Solution?
Umberto Melotti

Post-Script ............................................................................................... 305

Javier Fiz Perez

Contributors ............................................................................................. 319

 PREFACE

ARISTOTLE, FOREIGNERS AND HOST

COUNTRY’S COMMUNITY:
A LESSON FROM THE PAST

LUIGI M. SOLIVETTI

When dealing with immigration and the problems revolving around it,
most of us are inclined to think that such issues are part of only the
contemporary world, or at least of only the modern epoch. However, this
is not true, and some important lessons can be learned from the past.
Around 350 B.C., Aristotle was discussing issues very similar to those
we are today discussing in Europe.
In the third book of his celebrated volume commonly called Politics,
Aristotle asked himself a few important questions, i.e., who is a citizen and
what distinguishes a citizen from a foreigner; and, even more important,
how can a foreigner become a citizen.
Aristotle, to start with, posited that some traits are not enough to
characterize a citizen. First of all, the fact of living in the country is not
enough because this trait characterizes also the country’s visitors. It is not
enough to work in the country, either, because working in the country is a
state common to a variety of subjects and not a specific trait of citizens. It
is also not enough to have some rights, such as the right to having recourse
to justice, because it might be the consequence of a covenant with other
states. We would like to draw the readers’ attention to the fact that the
abovementioned rights can be considered the equivalent of present-day
human rights, which are regarded as universal although, ultimately, they
really depend upon inter-state agreements.
So, if all this is not enough, which trait would really distinguish a
citizen from a stranger? According to Aristotle, what distinguishes them is
the fact that a citizen is someone contributing to the functioning of the
society in which he is living: “functioning” meaning the organization and
the administration of the society in its everyday life.
x Preface

Having said that, we can now better understand what Aristotle thought
about the requirements for a foreigner to become a citizen. Some of us
would probably appreciate that Aristotle did not agree with Gorgias from
Leontini, who stated that as a pot is made by a pot maker, a citizen is made
by a citizen maker, i.e., someone who is already a citizen of the state. This
very conservative point of view – to say the least – was definitely rejected
by Aristotle, who said that Gorgias’ statement is unsound; it is not tenable
in terms of syllogistic logic as it cannot explain who was, at the very
beginning, the citizen maker of the first citizen.
Aristotle was in favour of granting citizenship to foreigners and
therefore, as a matter of principle, he was not hostile to immigration.
However, according to him, foreigners could be granted citizenship only
when they had contributed to the functioning of the society of which they
wanted to become citizens. And making such a contribution implied not
only vocational integration but also assimilation of the values of the host
society and the practice of those values, because the required integration
was a comprehensive one.
This is an important difference between the ancient Greek world and
the present-time European societies. The democratic society of ancient
Greece did not distinguish between community and society, and between
community and state. Ancient Greeks could not imagine a separation
between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft and even less a separation
between community and state. So, to become a citizen of the host society,
one was expected to participate actively in the community’s life. One had
to be recognized as a member of the community by its other members.
One was obliged to demonstrate possession of civil virtues, i.e., a
willingness to subordinate one’s interests to the greater public good; the
civil virtues Machiavelli was thinking and dreaming of, and we are today
laboriously trying to recover by emphasizing the need for social capital to
avoid the falling apart of social fabric.
On the contrary, modern European societies distinguish between
community and state. These societies have handed over to the state the
decision about dealing with foreign immigrants. However, state decisions
are inevitably based on formal aspects. For instance, foreigners are granted
a permit-of-stay and later host country’s citizenship because they are
refugees, which is a status in se and does not regard the quality of the
relationship between them and the host country’s community. Many
immigrants who entered the host country illegally or outstayed their
permit, remain there because they have lived there a long time or they
need help, or it is difficult to send them back, and so on and so forth.
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion xi

None of these reasons have anything to do with the assimilation of a

host country’s values, the practice of such values and comprehensive
integration in the local community. As a consequence, local communities
are increasingly rejecting the formal decisions made by the state about
immigrants.
All over Europe, from Brexit Britain to Merkel’s Germany, from
Holland to Switzerland, from France to Italy, in association with the
sexual harassment of women in Cologne or with the soaring number of
terrorist attacks, with immigrant crime or with the Muslim burka, a
conflict is brewing between local communities and the state over
immigration and the public policies managing it. A large, and increasing,
number of Europeans are demanding that – as in the ancient, democratic
Greek world – greater attention be paid to the problems of immigrant
assimilation of host country’s values and the comprehensive integration in
the local community.
I hope we are not going to ignore this message. To regard it as the
message of authoritarian populism is not going to solve the problem. On
the contrary, it is probably going to make it worse, widening the gap
between community and state.
This book represents an attempt to develop the knowledge of these
issues in the perspective of finding new and more balanced lines of
approach to the problem of immigrant integration. The amount of work
that has gone into its organization and publishing has undoubtedly
required a great quantity and quality of energies.
 FOREWORD

ROBERTO CIPRIANI

One need only scan the pages of this book, dwelling on a passage here and
there, to realise that we are in the presence not of a simple book but a
careful documented analysis of a reality that is plain for all to see: the
phenomenon of migration as it continues its often lethal march through
many of the earth’s territories – from Africa to Europe, from Iran to
Belgium, from India to Italy, from China and Turkey to Germany, from
China to Russia, from the Caribbean to England, from Mexico to the
United States.
The planetary proportions of the phenomenon are accompanied by a
series of problems of considerable sociological interest, centred on the
body; that is, on what we always and anyhow are, regardless of all
ideological positions, of all social, political and religious membership. We
are all mentally and physically anchored in our bodies, from infancy to
adolescence and from adulthood to old age; in short, from birth to death.
In the course of its existence, the body faces a series of ordeals, but at
the same time it crosses time and space, changing and adapting, winning
and losing challenges, indelible traces of which remain in the psyche and
the soma (leaving irremediable wounds the remembering mind cannot cure
and permanent scars in the debilitated flesh).
In all of this we discern an interacting cluster of concepts that the
authors of the articles in the book re-examine from territorial and cultural,
economic and legal, attitudinal and behavioural points of view, in
contributions that range from the body as such to its different and multiple
declensions, which are explicitly emblematic with regard to international
migratory movements, giving rise to integrative and/or cohesive
consequences, while constantly taking into account the barriers of borders
and boundaries and the burden of the memory of our more or less recent
past. In other words, departing from the body we arrive at the process of
migration, which, in turn, involves encounters/clashes with national-
geographical limits, with frontiers, therefore, beyond which lie crucial
issues of integration and/or cohesion, usually governed by the ebb and
flow of the remembrance of a time that was, of a space that is no more.
xiv Foreword

The two parts of the volume do not, however, fully cover some of the
other transverse issues dealt with in the texts they contain, like a more
focused view, for instance, of the implications of the body as such, as in
the case of Sieglin’s account of hypertension in a female Mexican
university professor, of Conti’s article on second-generation-immigrant
athletes in Italy, of Del Re’s report concerning the integrity and control of
the bodies of migrants and Maniglio’s on the role of globalising policies in
Ecuador.
To tell the truth, there are at least two other views that concern the
essays collected here: Firstly, the general migration-related discourse
veining Coppola's articles on transnationally mobile bodies with particular
reference to gay migrants, Guia’s on the criminalisation of flows towards
Europe and Umberto Melotti’s on the possibility of resorting to a critical
kind of education in order to solve issues of migration in general; and
secondly, a specific discussion on concrete situations in arrival and host
countries with a view to examining various problems, from the Chinese
who arrived and were assimilated in Germany though they failed to
integrate (Huang) to the presence of people of Afro-Caribbean origin in
England – examined through their newspaper The Voice – (Forlenza),
from the Chinese in Russia, in particular in Vladivostok and Nakhodka as
well as in Saint Petersburg (Borodkina and Amirkhanian) to the dual
nationality now tolerated by the Turkish government (Ünsal), from issues
of gender, religion and colour concerning Iranian migrants in Belgium
(Rahbari) to the trade and exploitation of human beings, in particular of
Punjabi Indians, in the Italian province of Latina (Omizzolo).
The methodology upon which the whole book rests is transversal as it
associates the bodies of social actors – discussed in each of its different
chapters – with the “translation policies” (Clarke, Bainton, Lendvai,
Stubbs, 2015: 33-38) that regulate them. The heterogeneity of the contents
of the book might be considered a weakness. Yet, it is this very
characteristic that empowers it. Each chapter is linked to the next in a
sequential order that leads, step by step, to the final outcome: an “order of
limit”, according to classic sociology; that is, transition from the collective
effervescency of the event that generated it (the International Conference
“The Challenge of Global Migrant”, hosted by the RC54 of the ISA on 19-
20 January 2017 at the Italian Parliament/ Refectory Hall) to its current
function within a lacerated social reality.
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion xv

References
Clarke J., Bainton D., Lendvai N. and Stubbs P. (2015). Making Policy
Move: Towards a Politics of Translation and Assemblage. Bristol-
Chicago: Policy Press.
 INTRODUCTION

BIANCA MARIA PIRANI

This book arises from the 14 keynote papers presented at the ISA RC54
International Conference “The Challenge of the Global Migrant: Bodies
on the Move and Cultural Differences”, which was held on January 19 and
20, 2017 in Rome, at the Refettorio Hall of the Italian Parliament. Each
chapter is authored by an acknowledged author in the field. The book
focuses on the body as the vector of social cohesion policies in the
awareness that cohesion revolves around the ability of all people – not just
migrants – to manage conflict and change.

Therefore, the aim of the book is:

x to introduce sociological knowledge in the social reality, in fields

that are especially significant for Southern European societies, such
as education, migration, social cohesion and political participation;
x to provide the general public with an understanding of the new and
radical challenges that Europe has been called on to face, and to
complement academic research with new uses of sociology aiming
at solving social public problems in specific territorial contexts.

In today’s world, the question of empowerment crosses borders, not

only geographic but also cognitive, linguistic and cultural ones.1 Thus, the
empowered body is suggested as a means able to build up the timescales of
memory as time-windows open to the ethic boundaries of human life.2

1
Cultural and human understandings of borders and border crossings grow from
the research of ethnographic particularities on one hand, and of culturally
expressed human experiences of borders and border crossings (however culturally
expressed), on the other.
2
The American neuroscientists N.V. Kukushkin and T.J. Carew (2017) clearly
showed that “the ability to detect and respond to temporally structured information
underlies the nervous system’s capacity to encode and store a memory at
molecular, cellular, synaptic, and circuit levels”.
2 Introduction

What is an empowered body?

An empowered body is a body that is alive and in control because it is able
to rule the synchronism between body and social clocks.
The body is at the intersection of nature and culture, of the individual
and society, of space and time, of corporeality and mind. As such, it is
subject to social control but is also the seat of individuality, the material
substrate of our physical existence, thoughts and social relations.
Postmodern conditions have created a situation where individuality is
thought to be maintained by and through the public presentation of the
body, and the virtual body has been made possible by the spread of digital
technologies. While the natural rhythm of the body – from birth to death –
includes a time sequence, the “virtual body” does not. It is, indeed,
immortal, but not in the sense of the immortality of the soul, or bodily
resurrection, as many religions believe. The virtual body can be rejuvenated,
moved around on the time scale, in the best tradition of science fiction.
This illusion can, and often does, create confusion about the nature of the
real body and its limitations. The body and its embodiment are, indeed, a
basic condition of social existence. The classics paid attention to human
beings’ bodily existence but considered it rather a prerequisite for, or
influenced by, society. The Research Committee 54’s “The Body in the
Social Sciences” was developed at the International Sociological
Association with the aim of recognizing how the body on the move is a key
to memory. We proceeded under the assumption that the sensory-motor
body is a core domain for research on social communication in terms of
the exploration, location and spatial orientation of the individual as well as
in terms of the activities of adjacent social groups.3
This “turn to the body” focuses on corporeal embodiment as a product
of the complex interaction between biology and culture. As was observed by
Goldberg (2016: X-XI), “The question of how cultural diversity translates
into the diversity of neural processes is of paramount importance, and ripe
with philosophical, scientific, and practical implications”. The concept of
culture covers a much wider diversity, which also includes the cultural
diversity that is the result of differences in living conditions, lifestyles,
needs and affinities based on variables such as age, gender, socio-

3
The quoted methodology has been built up as a whole in progress of “recognition
patterns” (Goldberg, 2009: 136), up to today constituted by the seven books that
the RC54 has published (six collective ones and one by the editor of the present
new collection). Because of this “order in sequence”, we allowed ourselves to
mention in this venue the most opportune ones for the considered item of
migrations and social cohesion.
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion 3

economic classes, socio-cultural life, education and profession, sexual

orientation, state of health, physical and mental resources, faith and
religion, political beliefs etc.
A conclusion backed by research in the biological sciences is that a
basic characteristic of all living beings is rhythm, and this is true no matter
the level of organism, tissue or cell. Biological rhythms are marked by
both continuous and periodic variations, and have evolved, enabling the
individual to adapt to the environment. The biological clock is involved in
many aspects of our complex physiology.4 It regulates critical functions
such as behaviour, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and
metabolism. In effect, the entire biological utility of memory relies on the
existence of many dimensions of homeostasis, some shorter-term and
some longer-term. The many timescales of memory constitute many
timescales of past experience and must be simultaneously available to the
organism to be useful.
Like all living organisms, the human body is organized according to a
specific time structure, where all vital functions show a temporal
variability which can be described by periodic functions ranging in the
length of their cycle from milliseconds to months, years, or even decades.
Extensive mapping of the time structure of humans is presently underway
as a preliminary step for the detection of the earliest changes associated
with health and disease.5 In human bodies, biological clocks keep track of
seconds, minutes, days, months and years. In humans, as well as in less
cognitively sophisticated organisms, many biological rhythms follow the
frequencies of periodical environmental inputs while others are determined
by internal “timekeepers” independent of any known environmental
counterparts. External influences are always present but they are not
simply superimposed on the endogenous rhythms generated by our

4
We now know that all multicellular organisms, including humans, utilize a similar
mechanism to control circadian rhythms. A large proportion of our genes are
regulated by our biological clock and, consequently, a carefully calibrated
circadian rhythm adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day. With
exquisite precision, our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically
different phases of the day (see G. Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman 2005).
5
In 2017 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Jeffrey
C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of
molecular mechanisms controlling circadian rhythms. Since their seminal
discoveries, circadian biology has developed into a vast and highly dynamic
research field, with implications for our health and wellbeing, feeding behaviour,
hormone release, blood pressure and body temperature.
4 Introduction

biological “timekeepers”.6 Instead, these influences are modulated by

them, a process which is essential to the most sophisticated tasks the brain
and body perform.

Figure 1: The Circadian Clock anticipates and adapts our physiology to the
different phases of the day (https://www.nobelprize.org/)

By empowered body we mean, thus, a body able to locate its

experiences in the periodic change, which determines the when, where and
how of social space. In harmony with Henry Lefebvre (2007: 422), we
observe:
on the horizon, then, at the furthest edge of the possible, it is a matter of
producing the space of the human species – the collective work of the
species – on the model of what used to be called “art”; indeed, it is still so
called, but art no longer has any meaning at the level of an “object”
isolated by and for the individual.

Since human bodies are the instruments that both discover and make
decisions about self, others and the worlds of nature and cultural
traditions, the empowered body is concerned with the interface between
body and society, the ways in which the physical organism constrains
patterns of social interaction and inventions of culture.

6
See Pirani and Smith, 2013: 2. Also see http://tsigeto.info/isa14/isa14
sessioncfps.txt.
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion 5

The tourist’s dream

Tourism has become a major cultural force in contemporary Western life.
It is recognized as such, and is sometimes even seen as an epitome of its
displacement and orientation.7 Spending time outdoors is the ultimate way
to de-stress. People experience tension, are moulded by biological clocks
and encounter multiple competing forms of time that lead them to less
sustainable travel choices. Time is an issue that needs to be taken into
account in order to bring about more sustainable mobility.
The opposition of tourist places and home places (Urry 1990; Cohen
2004) hails from the disease of time governing modern culture, at least
from the 19th century. As we will argue, it is a manifestation of the
precarious position of the individual both in modern and postmodern
societies. In enlightening the metaphorical character of postmodern
culture, the contrast “places–non places” (Augier 1995) clearly shows the
fracture between rhythms of the bodies and rhythms of the cities, from
which the “sociality on the move of tourist travel” (Larsen 2008) emerged
as an “extraordinary escape” from the everyday life: the same illusive
“earthly paradise” (Eliade, 1972) in which modern and post-modern
thought located “the body and the liminal” (Langman 2008: 55).
According to Cresswell (2006: 9), Bryson (1997) calls “to open up
dance scholarship and consider it as one instance of socially structured
human mobility, where movement is made meaningful within the
conventions and institutions that authorize meaning”. Yet, “to thoroughly
comprehend this transformation between emergent and residual senses of
movement, social kinetics requires that we see a form of movement, such
as dance, as symptomatic of wider changes in the sense of movement”
(Bryson, quoted by Cresswell 2006: 9–10). “One of the principal ways of
thinking about mobility, in the modern Western thought, is to see it as a
disorder in the system, a thing to control. This lies at the heart of the
classic observation that modern states have taken care of ordering and
disciplining mobile people” (Bryson 1997: 76–7).
Think of the role of the outsider in modern life, a constant source of
anxiety with a whiff of “elsewhere” about them. The drifter, the shiftless,
the refugee and the asylum seeker have been inscribed with immoral
intent. Thus, also the traveling salesman, the gypsy traveler and the so-
called wandering Jew have been portrayed as figures of mobile threat in
need of straightening out and discipline.

7
The still usual formulation as “a sum of phenomena and relationships” (McIntosh
and Goeldner 1995:10) indicates the magnitude and complexity of this economic,
social and environmental aspect of contemporary society.
6 Introduction

“Even when it is the centre of geographical attention, mobility has

been conceptualized through the lens of fixity as an ideal” (Cresswell
2006: 26). The spatial dimension has been, indeed, taken for granted too
many times and has not been recognized as a crucial area in social
sciences; in particular, in sociology. The key to understanding this concept
lies in Cartesian thought. Being an “object” juxtaposed with a “subject”,
and a res extensa juxtaposed with a res cogitans, the Cartesian concept of
“space” was the container of all meanings and all bodies.8 According to
Renaissance vision, the quintessential human feature is “not having a
nature” or, more precisely, the fact that its nature, externalized in technical
instruments, has no stability, nothing that can ascribe it to a past or fixed
origin. The living and the artificial, the internal and the external, are
becoming progressively indistinguishable to the point of being diluted into
the temporal lacunae and discontinuities moulding as the “gardens of
remembrance” that affect, today, individual and collective memory. The
privileged actor of these lacunae is the dream displacement lived by the
common citizen as an alternative to the urban life-course.
The “tourist body-field” (Wang 2003: 129) has been seen, indeed, as a
“permissive” one and the tourist’s body as a potentially natural body
compared to the extremely socialized body of the urbanization process.
Seas, beaches, dunes, promenades, harbours, polders and attractions;
above all, their rhythmic bodies moving in harmony with the context: the
“last island” or “earthly paradise” that Sheller researches in Demobilizing
and Remobilizing Caribbean Paradise (2004) has punctually enlightened
the framework of a perspective of mobility.
The beach is a privileged place and in fact, not by chance, attention has
been paid to the beach in several studies, having superseded the contempt
for the components of the “unholy quartet” of the four Ss. The beach is a
scene for holiday life, where the traditional hierarchies in the bodies seem
to disappear, in a liminal situation similar to carnival effervescence. The
force that drives vacationers to the beaches of their little holiday happiness
is immense. It is, indeed, the force of the self that records and pigeonholes
the experiences of alterity. These are the heralds of eternity, suggested by
Lord Byron upon seeing the ancient ruins of the Greek Parthenon,
“heralds of eternity; spirits of the sibyls of the future”.9

8
See Pirani B.M. and Varga I. ed. (2010), Acting Bodies and Social Networks: A
Bridge between Technology and Working Memory, University Press of America,
pp. xxviii-xxxix.
9
We should identify this displacement if we consider the pictorial images that form
the well-known poem by Lord George Byron, The Dream: “Heralds of eternity;
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion 7

On beaches, the dreaming bodies of tourists meet the necessary bodies

of migrants and refugees. Let’s study the following surprising scene that
Carlos Sanz filmed while on holiday. This is the moment a boatload of
migrants disembarked on a packed Spanish beach and ran up the sand,
stunning holiday-makers.

Figure 2: Dozens of migrants land on the Spanish beach of Zahara de los Atunes,
Aug. 9, 2017 (courtesy of the Washington Post)

Tourists on the beach of Zahara de los Atunes in the south of Spain

were shocked when a boat carrying dozens of African migrants landed in
front of them.10 The landing took place on August 10, 2017 near Cádiz,
7.7 miles from the coast of north Africa. Footage shows the migrants
jumping out of a black inflatable dinghy and running across the beach
after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. By the time the authorities arrived,
the group had dispersed and left the beach. “Migrants do not usually
disembark on Spanish beaches but it has happened before, especially near
the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, close to Morocco.” The main
question arising from the “tourist body-fields” – such as the beaches – is
about the social construction of Western time, especially if it is referring to
the local time of mobilities and settlements, identities and strangeness.
Time is a basic element for both individual and social memory. The
temporal aspect of memory is a principal regulating factor, both for
individuals and societies.

spirits of the sibyls of the future”. According to Byron, a dream is a “slumbering

thought, is capable of years, and curdles a long life into one hour.”
10
See www.interalex.net/2017/08/migrants-in-spain-news-aug-09-2017.html
8 Introduction

“Memory takes time”

How do the maps of experience influence the capacity to learn and use
past events and to modify present behaviour? How do they determine the
complex biological structures that make up the human brain? Finally, how
do they shape spatial and temporal concepts that support the acquisition of
culture and sociality?
Goldberg (2004) defines the association between past experience and
the acting one as a “recognition pattern”, meaning “the powerful capacity
to transmit through culture the repertory of these models from an
individual to another, and from generation to generation”. In agreement
with this definition, we consider culture as the capacity to synchronize
biological rhythms with environmental changes by generating nets of
symbols that structure the collective experience through temporal scales
which are totally different from one another. According to Lévi-Strauss
(1970: 42), it is indeed “the consecration of chance that supports the
enactment”. The American neuroscientists Carew and Kukushkin consider
memory as an adaptation to particular temporal properties of past events,11
such as the frequency of occurrence of a stimulus or the coincidence of
multiple stimuli. These scholars note that the brains of living organisms–as
diverse as sea slugs and humans–have the capacity to re-create experience
on many timescales, simultaneously recalling events occurring over years,
hours and milliseconds. They add in their analysis (2017) that the manner
by which short-term memories evolve into long-term memories is akin to
how we process sound, and remark:

Much like sound is broken down by the auditory system into many discrete
bins of frequencies that are perceived simultaneously, an experience as a
whole is parsed by the brain into many “time windows” that collectively
represent the past.

Most memories last seconds before they are forgotten12 but some last a
lifetime, the authors observe, yet at each given moment both kinds of
memory coexist with ongoing experiences on the same terms. For
example, a familiar musical piece is experienced simultaneously through

11
For basic information, see (in alphabetic order) Bartlett 1932; Baddeley,
Eysenck and Fuster 1997; Kandel 2007; Goldberg 2009; Ledoux 2002; Llinas
2002; Schachter 2007.
12
About the complex processes of remembering and forgetting in collective
memory, see Halbwachs 1992; Le Goff 1996; Ricoeur 2004, 2008; Zerubavel
2009.
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion 9

the short-term memory of the few notes just heard and the long-term
memory of listening to the piece in the past. Both retain information about
the past, they write, and both shape perception in the present. Less
understood among neuroscientists is how, where and when short-term
memory becomes long-term. This question raises several considerations:
Does the memory move from one brain store to another? Does the short-
term memory transform into the long-term memory over time? Is the long-
term memory a modified version of the short-term memory or are they
independent?
“Each timescale corresponds to specific deviations from homeostasis,
each with their own time limits. A disturbance in the state of the organism
opens a time window that is eventually closed when the state returns to
equilibrium” (Kukushkin and Carew, 2017). Neural memory is, indeed, a
whole composed of a vast repertoire of interacting time windows. The
authors explain:

Changes occurring on the fastest time scales combine with other changes
to produce more lasting, emergent changes, creating a “temporal
hierarchy” of time windows that collectively alter the state of the brain at
each given instant.

“Consequently”, they continue, “memory cannot be restricted to a

defined object or state; instead, it is fundamentally structured in the time
domain”. In fact, they conclude, “Time is the only physical variable that is
“inherited” by the brain from the external world” (DOI: 10.1016/j.
neuron.2017.05.029).
Thus, memories must be made of time, or, more precisely, of temporal
relationships between a given body on the move and the territorial stimuli.
In effect, the entire biological utility of memory relies on the existence of
many dimensions of homeostasis, some shorter-term and some longer-
term. For millennia, architects have been concerned with the skin-bounded
body and its immediate sensory environment – they have provided shelter,
warmth and safety; cast light on the surfaces surrounding it; created
conditions for conversation and music; orchestrated the touch of hard and
soft and rough and smooth materials.13 The brain is embodied and the
body is embedded.
First, the embodiment. All brain activities depend on signals to the
brain from the body and from the brain to the body. The brain maps and
connections are altered not only by what you sense but also by what you

13
See Bruce 1995; Ekstrom 2004; Doidge 2009.
10 Introduction

move.14 Synchronism between the elementary self-consciousness that

regulates somatic processes and the interaction taking place is responsible
for the unrepeatable activation producing the state of active consciousness.15
Second, the embeddedness. Your body is embedded and situated in a
particular environment that influences it and is influenced by it. This set of
interactions defines your econiche as the changeable combination of
bodily borders and cultural practices. Bodily space is, indeed, a
determining factor in the framing of social interactions and is also
reciprocally interconnected in the making of space by those very social
interactions that occur in a given context. In the composition of relations
or capacities between different bodies, you don’t know beforehand what a
body or a mind can do in a given encounter, a given combination.
Borrowing terms from the Middle Ages and from geography, timescales
define a body by longitude and latitude. According to Deleuze (1988:
112), we call the longitude of a body the set of relations of speed and
slowness, of motion and rest: what Spinoza called “the simplest bodies”.
We call latitude the set of effects that occupy a body at each moment, i.e.,
the intensive states of galvanizing force generated by an empowered body
in interaction with the territorial, social and geographic context.16
Thus, here we suggest that the longitudes and latitudes together
constitute the temporal scales of memories, as demonstrated in 2017 by
Carew and Kukushkin. “They are always variable and are constantly being
altered, composed and recomposed by individuals and collectivities.” The
contribution the body makes to the brain is not limited, indeed, to
supporting vital operations, but includes regulating the space and time that
organize the contents of a normal mind. There is no bodily existence
without or outside the space-time frame. Viewing the body in memory and
action makes for a radical change in our approach to the social sciences.
This is the crucial question that this book tries to answer, in full awareness
that “there is more reason in your body than in your best wisdom”
(Nietzsche 1999: 62).

The borders of integration

Refuting the longstanding notion that culture alone is responsible for
group behaviour, the contributors of the present collection have confronted
the “moving up” and “getting on” (Rutter 2015) that characterizes the

14
See Pirani and Smith, 2016:7.
15
See Draganski, Gaser et al. 2004.
16
See Pirani and Varga, ed. (2010): xxxv-xxxvi.
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion 11

current immigration policies, in the Mediterranean area, Europe and, in

general, around the world. Already “Europe is facing new and radical
challenges that demand extraordinary resilience from EU members,
especially in the southern European countries, because of their outlying
position and specific social problems.”17 The authors cogently argue,
indeed, that behavioural sciences must first specify what the notion of
culture consists of in terms of concrete empirical evidence. The way we
interact with our bodies determines our place in society. What the authors
focus on, therefore, is the current spread of the borders’ space and time,
reversing the traditional assessments of mobility and settlement, identity
and otherness, borders and neighbourhoods. By bringing together an
international and multidisciplinary team of scholars, The Borders of
Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion draws on sociology
as a useful means of exploring our everyday social and cultural
environments and, in doing so, shows the constant need for researchers to
be held accountable by the general public. The collection includes research
(in order of their place in the book) from Italy, the Mediterranean islands,
above all Lampedusa, Macedonia and Turkey, Belgium, the European
Union, Iran and Iraq, Mexico, Russia, India, China, Punjab, Afro-
American communities, Latin America and Ecuador.
Together, they provide an overview of what is currently being studied
about empowerment and social cohesion policies in disciplines ranging
from sociology and anthropology to neurophysiology, experimental
psychology and law. With incisive theoretical contributions and empirical
works, the first part of the book, “Body and Power: Human Factors, Social
Icons and Cultural Bodies”, seeks to shed light on the notion of the
“socially constructed body.” By focusing on “social icons of the body”,
the contributors suggest a revising or repositioning of the disembodied
sense of “vision” that has dominated sociology and much of Western
social thought. The disembodied sense of vision may be seen in the
relationship between the researcher and the researched, which traditionally
has been viewed in term of distance. Accordingly, the second part, “The
Wall and the Bond: Migrant Bodies in Search of Place,” attempts to draw
a sociological profile of the displaced people, who have one main thing in
common: they leave a country ravaged by war, political repression or
misery. How and where should a sociology that matters evolve? Original
case-studies cross various disciplinary perspectives in order to explain and
understand the processes of the making, unmaking and remaking of

17
This sentence already appeared in the call to ESA/RN27, Mid-Term Conference,
2017, Cordoba, Spain, 19-21 April 2017.
12 Introduction

Europe. The chapters question specifically the way these places modify
the relationship between the individual and the group, or the citizen and
the community.
As was rightly observed by Clarke, Bainton, Lendvai and Stubbs,

Social scientists, including policy scholars, are particularly prone to

identifying the shock of the new. Such claims need to be treated with some
caution: there may be a difference between the addition of new elements
and the argument that the processes are entirely new. Policy spaces often
are more contradictory than this description pretends. (2015: 193-4)

Time and space are mobilized in different ways as policies move. Such
understandings appear in narratives that locate policies in relation to failed
pasts or promised futures, or identify the icons of “success” that should be
followed or imitated in the pursuit of new directions. The present
collection attempts to think differently about policy and its movement.
Methodologically, all the chapters encompass ideas and observations from
an array of social sciences, and pay attention to the powerful connection
between individual lives and the historical and socio-economic contexts in
which these lives unfold. The brilliant analyses here collected suggest the
“borderlands” (Agier 2016: 5) as the agent making the movement of
policy. Each different chapter should be defined as a musical place led by
its author. If we define leaders as those that create the environment so
others can be successful, then a leader is a composer and the whole of the
book is a concert. If we look at the musicians, each is highly skilled in
their instrument. Leadership is creating an environment where other
people can be successful. The environment created by this book has been
accomplished according to the basic principle of the Global Awareness
Society:

A global citizen has the right to be educated for self enhancement and to
contribute as a useful citizen, utilizing one’s knowledge, skills, technology
and talent.

References
Augier, M. (2008). Non-places, London: Verso.
—. (2016). Borderlands. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Amit, D.J., Fusi S. and Yacovlev V. (1997). “Paradigmatic working
memory (attractor) cell in IT cortex,” Neural Comput, 9: 1071–92.
Assman A. (2006). “The printing press and the internet: From a culture of
memory to a culture of attention.” In Globalization, Cultural Identities
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion 13

and Media Representations, edited by N. Gentz and S. Kramer.

Albany: State of New York University Press.
Baddeley, A., Eysenck M.V. and Anderson M.C. (2009). Memory. New
York: Psychology Press.
Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social
Psychology. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Blustein, J. (2008). The Moral Demands of Memory. Cambridge, UK, and
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bruce, D. (1985). “The how and why of ecological memory,” Journal of
Experimental Psychology General, 114 (1): 78–90.
Bryson, N. (1997). “Cultural studies and dance history” in Meaning in
Motion: New Cultural Studies of Dance, edited by J. Desmond, 55–80.
Durhan: Duke University Press.
Byron, G.G. (1816). “The dream” in The Works of Lord Byron (1898-
1905), vol. IV, ed. Coleridge, Prothero. London: J. Murray, and New
York: C. Scribner's Sons.
Clarke J., Bainton, D., Lendvai, N. and Stubbs, P. (2015). Making Policy
Move: Towards a Politics of Translation and Assemblage. Bristol:
Policy Press.
Cohen E. (2004). Contemporary Tourism, Diversity and Change,
Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Cohen, G. (2008). “The study of everyday memory”, in Memory in the
Real World, pp. 1–20. New York: Psychology Press.
Cresswell, T. (2006). On the Move. New York: Routledge.
Deleuze, G. (1988), Spinoza: Practical Philosophy. San Francisco: City
Light Books.
Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking
Penguin.
Draganski, B., Gaser, C., et al. (2004). “Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey
matter induced by training”. Nature 427: 311–2.
Ekstrom, S. (2004). “The mind beyond our immediate awareness:
Freudian, Jungian, and cognitive models of the consciousness.”
Journal of Analytic Psychology 49: 657–82.
Eliade, M. (1972). The Myth of Eternal Return. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Foster, R.G. and Kreitzman, L. (2005). Rhythms of Life: The Biological
Clocks that Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing. New York:
Kindle.
14 Introduction

Fuster J.M. (1997). The Prefrontal Cortex: Anatomy, Physiology and

Neuropsychology of the Frontal Lobe, 3rd ed., Philadelphia:
Lippincott–Raven.
Goldberg, E. (2009). The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes in a Complex
World. New York: Oxford University Press.
Halbwachs, M. (1992). On Collective Memory, edited, translated and
introduced by L.A. Coser. Chicago and London: The Chicago
University Press.
Kandel, E. (2007). In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science
of Mind. New York: Norton.
Klawans, H.L. (1988). Toscanini’s Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical
Neurology. Chicago and New York: Contemporary Books.
Klingberg, T. (2008). The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and
the Limits of Working Memory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kukushkin, N.V. and Carew, T.J. (2017), “Memory takes time”. Neuron,
2: 259. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.029.
Langman, L. (2008). The Body and the Liminal: From the Flaneur to the
Urban Primitive, in Pirani, BM. and Varga, I., The Boundaries
between Bodies and Technologies. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge
Scholars Publishing.
Larsen, J. (2008). De-exoticizing Tourist Travel: Everyday Life and
Sociality on the Move, “Leisure Studies”, vol. 27, 1, pp. 21–34.
LeDoux, J. (2002). Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are.
New York: Viking Penguin.
Lefebvre, H. (2007). The Production of Space. Oxford: Blackwell.
Le Goff, J. (1996). History and Memory. New York: Columbia University
Press.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1970). “Introduction à l’oeuvre de Marcel Mauss”, in M.
Mauss. M., Sociologie et Anthropologie, Paris, Presses Universitaires
de France.
LLinás, R.R. (2002). I of the Vortex. From Neurons to Self. Cambridge,
MA: The MIT Press.
Lynch, G. and Grange, R. (2008). Big Brain: The Origins and Future of
Human Intelligence. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Nietzsche, F. (1883–85). Also sprach Zarathustra (English transl.: Thus
Spoke Zarathustra). New York: Dover Thrift, 1999.
Oelklaus, N. (2008). Journey from Head to Heart: Living and Working
Authentically. Ann Arbor, MI: Loving Healing Press.
Pirani, B.M. and Varga I., ed. (2010). Acting Bodies and Social Networks:
A Bridge between Technology and Working Memory. New York:
Universiy Press of America.
 The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion 15

Pirani B.M. and Smith T.S., ed. (2013). Body and Time: Bodily Rhythms
and Social Synchronism in the Digital Media Society. Newcastle upon
Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Pirani, B.M. and Smith, T.S. ed. (2016). Embodiment and Cultural
Differences. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Ricoeur, P. (2004). Memory, History, Forgetting. Transl. by K. Blamey
and D. Fellauer. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago
Press.
—. (2008). Time and Narrative, vol. 3. Transl. by K. Blamey and D.
Fellauer. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Rutter, J. (2015). Moving and Getting On, Migration, Integration, and
Social Cohesion in the UK. Chicago: City Light Books.
Schacter, Daniel L. (2007). Alla ricerca della memoria. Il cervello, la
mente e il passato. Torino: Einaudi.
Schank, R.C. & Cleary, C. (1995). Engines for Education. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum Assoc.
Sheller, M. (2004). “Demobilizing and remobilizing Caribbean paradise”,
in Sheller, M. and Urry, J., eds., Tourism Mobilities, pp. 13–21.
London: Routledge.
Taylor, L.M. (2005). Introducing Cognitive Development. Hove:
Psychology Press.
“The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press Release”.
Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 14 Nov 2017.
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2017/ann
ouncement.html
Urry, J. (2002). The Tourist Gaze. London and New York: Sage.
Wang, N. (2000). Tourism and Modernity: A Sociological Analysis.
Oxford, Elsevier.
Zerubavel, E. (2003). Time Maps: Collective Memory and the Shape of the
Past. Chicago and London: The Chicago University Press.
 PART ONE

BODY AND POWER:

AFFECTING HUMAN FACTORS, SOCIAL
ICONS AND CULTURAL BODIES
 CHAPTER ONE

A TRAUMATIC SOCIAL
INTERACTION AT WORK:
WHEN THE BODY SAYS “RUN”
BUT THE EGO ORDERS “STAY”

VERONIKA SIEGLIN

Abstract
There has emerged considerable literature on the incidence of essential arterial
hypertension (EAHT) in the working population and its relationship to workplace
features. Most studies have drawn on quantitative methods and are based on the
Effort-Reward-Imbalance-Model (ERI) or the Job-Demand-Control-Model.
Although they have generated valuable insight regarding the role of organizational,
social and psychological factors linked to EAHT, only a few studies highlight the
link between pathology and subjective suffering when exposed to unfavourable
social settings. Drawing on the phenomenology of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty
on the one hand, and on the psychoanalysis of Freud and Mitscherlich on the other,
this paper explores the exposure of a 33-year-old Mexican female university
professor to intense workplace harassment and bullying, her struggles for sense-
making and her ways of coping. Although she did not present previous risk factors,
she developed EAHT and a further health crisis. Symptom formation is understood
as a substitution for words that could not be found or pronounced in a situation of
extreme power imbalance. This paper is part of an ongoing quantitative and
qualitative study on health problems and the work environment in Mexican state
universities. The study comprises 733 full-time professors, all members of the
Mexican Researcher System. Hypertension (EAHT) affected 26% of participants.
The actual paper is based on a semi-structured interview. The transcripted
interview has been subject to discourse analysis.
20 Chapter One

Introduction
The concept of the body as nature, widely adjustable to the interests and
needs of the steering ego, is deeply inscribed in the imagery of Western
cultures and shapes individual self-comprehension. In modern societies,
bodies are not only expected to fulfil aesthetic but also functional
standards like strength and physical resistance. Within this framework,
aching or exhausted bodies are perceived as annoying and as obstacles to
the consecution of an individual’s goals and ends. Reluctant bodies are
frequently silenced by drugs or other therapeutic interventions. However,
as physical manifestations contain a cumulous of information about the
individual’s relationship with the environment, in certain circumstances
symptom suppression tends to impoverish that individual’s bonds with
him/herself and with others.
Foucault (1990) and Elias (1994) have shown how culture shapes
bodies and our relationship with it. However, they did not question if,
when and in what way concrete bodies resist discipline. How do bodies
express themselves, and what is the meaning of body language? How do
individuals perceive and behave towards their own somatic expressions,
and what are the outcomes when these expressions are ignored or
suppressed?
There are numerous studies about work stress and health problems that
have taught us that illness is not the mere mechanical reaction of a body
unable to cope with environmental demands but also a means to diminish
intolerable levels of tension that have persisted for a certain time
(Bryngelsonet al. 2011; Carayonet al. 1999; Danna and Griffin 1999;
Gershonet al. 2009; Grossiet al. 1999; Leistad et al. 2006; Mäki et al.
2008; Rief et al. 2010; Schneider et al. 2005; Sieglin 2015; Sieglin et al.
2016a; Sieglin et al. 2016b; Sjösten et al. 2011; Srivastava 2010).
Essential arterial hypertension (EAHT) is part of a whole range of bodily
reactions to intense work stress (Su et al. 2001; Davydov et al. 2012; de
Rooij 2013; Gun et al. 2005; Loerbroks et al. 2015; Molerio et al. 2005;
Peter and Siegrist 1997; Rosenthal et al 2012; Routledge and McFetridge-
Durdle 2007; Upeshika Gamage and De Alwis Seneviratne 2015).
Cardiovascular reactivity is considered a physiological marker of tension
when environmental demands surpass an individual’s (actual) possibilities
to cope with them (Fritz et al. 2003, Katsarou et al. 2012). This puts the
development of EAHT at the intersection of society and biology. High
blood pressure is therefore not a matter reducible to merely biological
factors (e.g., genetic predisposition), but requires the consideration of
psychological (negative affectivity, behaviour and coping styles) and
 A Traumatic Social Interaction at Work 21

sociological elements. Drawing on the phenomenology of Heidegger

(2006a, 2006b) and Merleau-Ponty (2000), I will approach EAHT not as a
pathology but as a somatic discourse about a persisting conflictive
relationship between the body and the social environment. It contains, on
the one hand, a bodily comprehension of the environment and of the body
itself, and, on the other, an archaic way of conflict resolution.
According to the World Health Organization, in 2008 between 25%
and 38% of males and 19% to 35% of females over the age of 25 suffered
from EAHT (WHO 2012). In Mexico, 27.4% of men and 21.5% of women
were diagnosed with EAHT. In a previous quantitative study of a sample
of 733 university professors from different Mexican state universities,
10.4% of women and 17.2% of men reported having EAHT, and 5.2% of
women and 3.3% of men reported cardiovascular disorders linked to EAHT
(Sieglin 2015: 37). Statistical analysis detected a significant relationship
between cardiovascular disorders and certain types of workplace bullying
and harassment that questioned victims’ psychosocial integrity, minimized
their scientific and academic achievement and exposed them to academic
piracy and financial damage (Sieglin 2015:38s). As cardiovascular
disorders were significantly related to EAHT, and taking into account that
EAHT has been linked by other studies to intense workplace stress, I
hypothesize that exposure to workplace harassment and bullying favours
the onset of EAHT.
This case study explores the relationship between EAHT and workplace
bullying and harassment in a young Mexican female academic without
familiar or other personal risk factors (overweight, sedentarism,
hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia). Six months after having assumed the
position of a full-time university professor, the scholar became the target
of intense workplace bullying and harassment by colleagues and superiors.
Eight months after the onset of aggression, she suffered an EAHT crisis.
In response to intensified bullying and harassment, the woman had a
profound desire to change workplace, but did not follow her intuition.
Four months after the EAHT crisis, she suffered another physical and
emotional breakdown related to a severe muscular contraction in the back,
which immobilized her for hours. I will analyse the evolution of the
workplace aggression with regard to the victim’s interpretation and coping
strategies in order to extrapolate the bodily comprehension of the social
environment and of the body itself.
The chapter is divided into three sections: first, I approach the link
between EAHT and work stress in the existing literature. Drawing on the
phenomenology of Heidegger (2006a and 2006b) and Merleau-Ponty
(2000) and from the psychoanalysis of Freud (1992a, 1992b, 2009a,
22 Chapter One

2009b) and Mitscherlich (1966a, 1966b), I conceptualize a health crisis as

somatic discourses that (a) describe the bodily comprehension of the
subject’s relationship with the social setting; and (b) offer anarchaical
bodily inscripted solution of the conflict. Second, I synthesize changes in
the academic work environment related to the neoliberal restructuring of
Mexican higher education and science, which put special emphasis on
political control mechanisms over academics, and its effects on social
interaction. Third, I study the impact of these structural changes and the
evolution of workplace bullying and harassment in the life of a young
female academic. I will focus on emotional experiences, meaning
construction and coping strategies during the different stages of the
workplace conflict in order to explain the unfolding of EAHT and a
second health crisis.

Somatic discourse and work environment

Numerous studies on psychosomatic complaints and social environment
have shown that social context is closely linked to the biological
functioning of the body as it provides material, symbolic and emotional
resources (food, shelter, protection, integration and care) and opens up
access to collective knowledge (cognitive models, skills, routines and
ways of life) and, particularly, to language, enabling individuals to
orientate themselves in time and space, interchange and coordinate
themselves with others and explore and reflect on themselves and
environment. In sum, social context shapes the body’s basic performance
and abilities.
Context and body are linked by different biological subsystems
(nervous, immune and endocrine systems) which monitor, appraise and
react to the environment at every instant. The body tenses and alters when
it envisions or anticipates threats like social conflicts, changes in social
relations, loss of social status, insecurity or the uncertainty of conserving
life in the habitual way.
Mostly, individuals become aware of bodily functions when they turn
symptomatical: pain, itching, functional disorders, respiratory difficulties
and the increase of blood pressure are bodily reactions that point to
challenges which exceed their coping and adaptation abilities. In this
paper, somatic symptoms are conceptualized as biochemically and
physically encoded narratives that contain information about (1) the
conflicting event as perceived by the body; (2) the standpoint assumed by
the body with regard to the conflict; and (3) the solution projected by the
bodily reactions.
 A Traumatic Social Interaction at Work 23

Hypertension is a complex physiological mechanism associated to

prolonged stress-coping (Hjortskov et al. 2004; Johnson et al 1996; Su et
al. 2001; de Rooig 2013; Minhee et al. 2013; Rosenthal and Alter 2012).
External pressure leads to the activation of the sympathetic nervous
system, which accelerates the heart rate and constricts the main arteries
leading to the digestive tract, kidneys and skin. At the same time, the
hypothalamus stimulates the kidneys to decrease urine production,
allowing the body to retain water and raise the blood volume and, thereby,
blood pressure (Guyenet 2006; Katsarou et al. 2012; Molerio et al. 2005).
This favours the irrigation of the brain and the musculo-skeletal apparatus
and thus cognitive reactivity and body movement. Hence, the raising of
the blood pressure serves to prepare the body to distance itself from the
source of conflict. The solution consists of running away.
Although in certain historical moments escaping may have represented
a feasible and relevant manner of conflict solution, it is hardly possible in
modern life. Multiple economic, social and symbolic bonds force
individuals not only to remain in unfavourable workplace environments
but also to suppress their spontaneous feelings and thoughts in order to
safeguard their job and maintain their material base. However, in the long
run, these strategies turn harmful as they expose the body to long-lasting
control or suppression of the emotions, and therefore to psychological and
physiological stress. Several studies on EAHT have shown its association
with intense emotion control (Gaviria et al. 2009: Johnson et al. 1987;
Jorgensen et al. 1996: Lande et al. 2009; Mann and Delon 1995: Mauss
and Gross 2004: Molerio et al. 2005; Nyklicek et al. 1997; Peters 2004:
Symonides et al. 2014: Vögele and Steptoe 1992).
All occupational stressors that persist for a long time may trigger the
onset of EAHT; however, certain workplace scenarios seem to be
particularly risky. Various studies have established links between EAHT
and the extension of the workday and week, shift work, over- or under-
work, physical features of work environment (noise, light, dust, pollution),
monotonous and repetitive work as well as time pressure (Ekstr et al.
1996: Katsura et al. 2012: Moleria et al. 2005: Nyklicek et al. 1998;
Rosenthal and Alter 2012; Tennant 2001; Theorell et al. 1993).
Nevertheless, the link between EAHT and workplace factors is neither
direct nor linear (Mauss and Gross 2004).
Environmental features and bodily reactions are mediated by
subjective appraisal. From the stance of the cognitive psychology of
emotions, Lazarus (2001) argued that an environmental factor becomes a
stressor through an individual’s cognitive assessment contrasting the
external event with his/her personal needs, goals, objectives and values
24 Chapter One

(primary evaluation) and appraising his/her individual and/or collective

coping resources. This thesis has nurtured a variety of job stress models.
For example, the effort-reward model (Siegrist 1996) explains job stress
and EAHT as functions of the gap between the subjective appraisal of
worker’s efforts and the material, symbolic or social rewards obtained
from the organization and co-workers (Albus 2014; Loerbroks 2015; Peter
and Siegrist 1997; Rosenthal and Alter 2012; Siegrist 1996; Upekshika
and De Alwis Seneviratne 2016).
With a more structural approach, the demand-control model (Karasek
1979) attributes work stress and related somatic complaints to an
imbalance between external demands related to work organization and the
worker’s control and decision possibilities. It is clear that demand levels
and control possibilities are related to the individual’s appraisal. Various
studies on EAHT in the working population have observed that perceived
high job demands raise stress and blood pressure only when individuals
are unable to establish control over them because of decision latitudes
related to job features, hierarchical position or work organization (Johnson
et al. 1996; Nyklicek et al. 1998; Theorell et al. 1993). If it persists for a
certain time, stress-related blood pressure increase can turn chronic and
lead to persistent EAHT (Pieper et al. 1989; Radi 2005; Su et al. 2001;
Theorell et al. 1988; Tsutsumi 2001; Uchiyama 2005). Additionally, a
pronounced workplace hierarchy, low levels of distributive justice and
harsh competitiveness among workers undermine the construction of
positive emotional bonds, reliable social relations and social support, and
therefore workers are silent about their problems, conflicts and emotions
(Sieglin 2014, 2015). The whole set of pathogenic social factors is present
in Mexican public higher education (Sieglin, 2014, 2015; Sieglin et al.
2016a).

Mexican higher education reforms and the

reconfiguration of power relations in academia
The neoliberal reform of public higher education during the 1990s aimed
to: (a) transform public universities into market-oriented self-financing
institutions where (b) scientific research and academic teaching are closely
linked to private and public sectors’ needs. The structural transformation
of organizations and changes in individuals’ behaviour were forced by
new disciplinary technologies (monitoring and measuring of institutions’
and individuals’ productivity) and by the loss of certainty with regard to
state funding within an academic landscape marked by financial and
infrastructural shortages (Alvarez 2013; Baena 2000; Figueroa 2013;
 A Traumatic Social Interaction at Work 25

Lemaitre 2004; Levy 1997; Rodríguez 2000; Sieglin 2013; Zorilla 2002).
As these politics have been broadly analysed in literature, I will focus on
devices aimed to reassess academic and organizational practice and
redefine the relationship between organization and staff, administrative
and academic sector, and students and teachers.
The standardized testing of students’ knowledge, top-down
reorganization of curricula and the increasing standardization of teaching
methods have swept away academic autonomy and reduced the influence
of the academic sector in the educational and scientific policies of
universities to a minimum. However, the marginalization of academics
from decision taking has not advanced uniformly and without resistance in
Mexican universities, so working conditions vary greatly from one state
university to another (Galaz 2013; Galazand Viloria 2004; Gómez 2006;
Jiménez 2010; Marquez 2010; Pérez 2009; Sieglin 2013, 2014).
Nevertheless, two decades after the onset of neoliberal politics, the
outcomes are noticeable everywhere: an increase in a part-time academic
workforce with precarious labour conditions (contract modes, payment,
work-related benefits) and a worsening of the work conditions of the full-
time staff due to a new wage structure (performance-dependent and
therefore variable income supplement shave increased, in some cases, to
up to 50 percent of the total wage),frequent time-intensive performance
measuring and certification, bureaucratization of research and teaching,
and diminishing social benefits related to retirement and medical care
(Ramos 2013). Furthermore, the reduction of institutional spending on
office and laboratory supplies and on research and publication funding
have also contributed to increasing personal and professional vulnerability
and have incentivized competition and rivalry among workers for ever-
limited institutional support and benefits (Mayoral 2016). As the
distribution of organizational resources is widely influenced by political
group pressure and the subjective appreciation of superiors, many
academic workers fear the possible material and symbolic loss associated
with non-transparent institutional productivity measuring (Ramos et al.
2013) and tend to monitor their colleagues enviously. Fear, rivalry and
envy favour a work climate that prevents solidarity, coherence and
collegial collaboration and subverts the political organization of academic
workers and thus their possibilities to engage in collective resistance.
Disunity among staff has also been favoured by a new nomenclature
introduced in public universities by the Ministry of Education
distinguishing academics with an “ideal academic profile” (a certificate
that lasts for three years) from those who lack accreditation. Since the
number of certified academics improves institutions’ access to additional
26 Chapter One

state funding, certified subjects are recognized by organizations as

“institutional values” and are rewarded with certain privileges (access to
complementary wage supplements and research and publication funding),
while uncertified professionals – the majority – are stigmatized and considered
dispensable. Within a climate of increased competition, this administrative
vocabulary evokes feelings of supremacy and arrogance among successful
subjects; and contempt, inferiority, fear of marginalization and exclusion,
envy and rage among the others (Mayoral 2016). Since auto- and hetero-
comprehension influences the way individuals interact with each other,
this language represents a powerful way to enhance the socio-political
division of the academic workforce and internal segregation.
In sum, neoliberal politics have contributed to the increased irritability
and aggressive disposition of individuals by forcing academic changes and
labour reforms that have worsened working conditions, increased daily
stress, augmented financial, political and professional vulnerability and
strengthened subjects’ feelings of impotence with regard to ongoing
transformations. Politics have also contributed to new ego injuries that
emerge from ever-debatable performance measuring and from new
discourse politics that reify and devalue individuals.
The collective contest of unfavourable change depends on the
availability and effectiveness of defence mechanisms and on grass root
politicization. Unfortunately, new wage structures and labour contracts
have weakened the role of labour unions in workers’ defence, and have
fuelled individualism and scepticism of the role of unions and collective
organization. Additionally, some unions favoured neoliberal reforms
silencing its human costs, legitimizing new politics and/or offering trivial
services like the organization of certain celebrations (Christmas, Mother’s
Day) or the distribution of toys and school supplies for workers’ children.
Within this context, dissatisfaction and frustration are discharged
following the lines of labour segregation: aggressiveness sweeps towards
peers, subordinates and/or students. Several studies report that from 29%
to 84% of academics in Mexican state universities experienced workplace
harassment (Aldrete et al. 2006, Del Pino 2011, Sieglin 2012 and 2014).
Outstanding scientists seem to be slightly more susceptible to workplace
harassment (Sieglin 2014, 2015 and Sieglin et al. 2016a). After becoming
a target, many victims rely on themselves as about 50% of state
universities lack the institutional structures and policies necessary to
support victims and prevent aggression (Figueroa 2014).
In sum, in Mexican universities, career success depends not only on
intellectual skills and talent but also on personal strength and the ability to
cope with authoritarian policies, bureaucracy, organizational injustice,
 A Traumatic Social Interaction at Work 27

rivalries among peers and aggressiveness by superiors, colleagues and/or

students. These environmental features force individuals to control and
suppress emotional arousal and feelings, work harder in order to meet
ever-changing performance standards, and adjust to shrinking material and
symbolic rewards.
Several studies have detailed the physical and psychological outcomes
of institutional violence and workplace bullying and harassment in
Mexican academes. Sieglin (2014 and 2015a) and colleagues (Sieglin et
al. 2016b) observed that general health levels were essentially lower in
unfavourable work environments, and that victims of bullying and
harassment suffered more from somatic disorders (disorders of sight,
speech and/or hearing; anaesthesias and psychogenic paralysis) (Sieglin
2015). In these studies, mental and somatic complaints were understood as
manifestations of the emotional pain that workers experience when being
harassed or bullied, when having to adjust silently to deteriorating work
conditions and/or when feeling trapped in authoritarian organizational
settings.
The present case study analyses cognitive control and emotional
containment in a young female academic who was harassed and bullied in
an organizational setting deeply shaped by neoliberal politics. Special
attention will be given to the body’s reactivity and comprehension of
conflict.

A biographical sketch of academic and organizational context

This study is part of broader quantitative and qualitative research into
working conditions and the psycho-physical health of the academic elite
(members of the National Researchers System) in Mexican state
universities. The original sample consisted of 733 individuals from 28
state universities and UNAM, who answered a questionnaire for
quantitative analysis. Since there was special interest in women’s
problems in academia, the 285 females participating in the research were
invited by email to semi-structured interviews. Fifty-six (19.6%) accepted
the invitation.
The interview addressed the same topics as the questionnaire
(organizational cultures, exposure to harassment and bullying, social
support at work, perceived work stress, coping strategies and self-reported
health problems) but allowed the researcher and interviewees to delve
deeper. Each interview lasted between two and three hours and was carried
out at a place established by the respondents (usually the interviewees’
office; sometimes a library or a restaurant). At the beginning of the
28 Chapter One

session, the researcher offered a brief explanation of the aims of the study
and confidentiality of data, and asked permission to record the interview.
Recorded files were transcribed by a research assistant. Ethnographic field
notes completed the data from the interviews.
A total of 29 women (10.2%) who had participated in the original
sample reported being diagnosed with EAHT, and seven (12.5%) of the 56
women interviewed in the second stage suffered from EAHT. One of them
is Maria (fictitious name). Her case clearly exposes the relationship between
workplace harassment and bullying in authoritarian organizational settings,
coping strategies and emotional containment: factors associated with the
onset of EAHT and other psychosomatic complaints.
When interviewed, Maria was 33 years old. None of her family
members (parents, brothers/sisters) was struggling with EAHT and Maria
reported no associated personal risk factors (being overweight, sedentary
lifestyle, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia). She maintained a stable relationship
with a partner and had no children. During her leisure time, she practised
sports and maintained a close link to her family.
The daughter of a wealthy family, Maria completed her undergraduate
studies in a well-known private Mexican university, continued her
master’sin a Mexican state university and her Ph.D. studies in Spain.
Having completed the scholastic part of her doctoral studies, she returned
to Mexico to complete her thesis and work on a temporary basis as a legal
adviser to the rector of the state university she is currently affiliated to. At
age 26, she obtained her Ph.D. Supported by a repatriation programme
sponsored by the National Council of Science and Technology for young
Mexican scholars abroad, Maria joined an interdisciplinary research centre
at her actual university. One year later she was offered a job as a full-time
professor and researcher in a newly created research centre of her own
discipline, which was administered by Faculty Z. Since then, she has been
teaching undergraduate and postgraduate levels, is in charge of an inter-
institutional Ph.D. programme and carries out research. At age 30, she was
recognized by the National Researchers System at the Candidate level, and
three years later she obtained recognition as a National Researcher Stage
1. She complemented her academic work with regular participation in
regional radio and television programmes.
In 2014, the state university hosted more than 70,000 students at three
academic levels (senior high school, undergraduate and postgraduate
levels) and occupied about 1,350 full-time teachers: 50% of them
sustaining a Ph.D. and nearly 27% recognized by the National Researchers
System for their contributions to science. The faculty where Maria worked
registered 60 full-time professors and more than 200 part-time teachers,
 A Traumatic Social Interaction at Work 29

who together attended to about 8,000 students. The university’s workforce

is organized by two unions, with representations in all faculties and senior
high schools: one defending the issues of academic staff, the other those of
administrative workers. Both trade unions are highly active and frequently
declare strikes. However, they have both failed to impede neoliberal
reform politics and halt the ever-worsening labour conditions.

Stages of workplace harassment and bullying

The experience of workplace harassment and bullying refers to objective
facts (negative acts) as well as subjective appraisals. Both influence the
way individuals face and cope with aggression. The comprehension of and
reaction to conflict are both cognitive and bodily dimensions.
When Maria joined the first research centre, she entered into a
multicultural setting, with researchers holding different academic trajectories
and cultural backgrounds. One year later, she changed to a newly created
research centre within her own discipline. It was smaller than the first but
addressed research questions closer to Maria’s interests. Four of its five
members were men–three Mexicans and one non-Caucasian foreigner–so
Maria was the only woman. Her three Mexican colleagues had graduated
from the same university they were working for. Additionally, all three
held high administrative positions in the state government. Maria and her
foreign peer differed from them by their academic career paths and by
working exclusively in academia.
All five researchers enjoyed privileges not common to the majority of
the faculty staff: they were paid comparatively high wages, were granted
high wage supplements and research funding and had to teach only six
hours a week. Many of their faculty colleagues considered these benefits
unjust and unacceptable. The dissatisfaction with their own working
conditions coupled with the perceived inability to change the institution’s
policies resulted in a few individuals becoming aggressive towards Maria
and her foreign co-worker. Many other peers observed and tolerated the
bullying.
For a better understanding of the harassment and bullying against
Maria and her foreign colleague, it is necessary to describe briefly the
social environment the university is part of. At the macro level, regional
society has been shaped by Catholic conservatism and a hegemonic
mestiza culture, which sustain traditional gender values and a sense of
superiority over the indigenous population settling in the region.
Furthermore, the region has been exposed to high levels of organized
criminal violence for many years. Public shootings and murders as well as
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
wöchentlich bezahlt.
Wenn Sie fragen: »Wie aber beschäftigt man sie im Winter?«, so
ist die Antwort: »Auf der Seabrook-Farm gibt es keinen Winter.«
Es sind da sechs enorme Glashäuser im Ausmaß von 60 : 300
Fuß. Jedes von ihnen hat 200 Pfund Sterling gekostet — zuerst
wurden sie der »Seabrook-Wahnsinn« genannt.
Diese Glashäuser verlängern für Seabrook das Jahr. Sie schaffen
den Winter ab. Sie ermöglichen es ihm, Gemüse außerhalb der
Saison zu ziehen und zu Höchstpreisen zu verkaufen. Er
beabsichtigt, noch mehr Glashäuser zu bauen.
Außerdem gehen im Winter seine Arbeiter in eine auf der Farm
errichtete Kistenfabrik und machen hunderttausend Kisten — für den
eigenen Bedarf.
Die Farm hat auch einen Kühlspeicher im Ausmaß von 60 : 325
Fuß, eine Garage für vier Traktoren und acht Lastkraftwagen, einen
Stall für fünfzig Pferde, eine Maschinenwerkstatt für Reparaturen,
ein Eisenbahnstockgeleise und ein großes, modern organisiertes
Bureaugebäude.
»Es ist keine Farm«, sagt Seabrook. »Es ist eine
Nahrungsmittelfabrik.«
 George F. Johnson.
Ich sollte dieses Kapitel eigentlich mit den Worten: »Es war
einmal« beginnen, aber die Wahrheit ist, daß ich im Begriffe stehe,
die größte und einträglichste Schuhfabrik der Welt zu beschreiben.
Es ist also kein Märchen. Es ist die Geschichte wirksamen Betriebes
in der weitestgehenden Bedeutung.
Etwa hundert Meilen von Neuyork entfernt liegt ein schönes Tal in
den Vereinigten Staaten.
Die Leute, die dort leben, nennen es:
Das Tal des »Fairplay«.
In diesem Tale liegen dicht nebeneinander zwei Städte, die eine
heißt Johnson, die andere Endicott.
Gegen 50 000 Einwohner leben in diesem Tale, und 15 000 davon
arbeiten in den beiden großen Schuhfabriken, die der Endicott-
Johnson-Gesellschaft gehören.
Sie fabrizieren täglich 81 000 Paar Schuhe.
Der Wert dieser Erzeugung übersteigt jährlich 28 000 000 Pfund
Sterling.
Diese erstaunlichen Ziffern lassen Sie erkennen, daß die Leute in
diesem Tal zu arbeiten verstehen. In diesem Tale des »Fairplay«
wird mit der Arbeit nicht gespielt.
Wären Ihnen aber diese Zahlen nicht vor Augen, so könnten Sie
glauben, daß die Leute in diesem Tal nichts anderes als Spaß im
Sinn haben.
Es gibt in diesem Tal keine Wohnhöhlen. Es gibt wenige
Mietshäuser. Die meisten Familien besitzen ihr eigenes Haus. Die
Häuser sind aus Holz erbaut und in lebhaften Farben bemalt.
 Zwischen den beiden Städten liegt ein weiter Landstrich, der
»Idealpark« genannt ist. In ihm ist eine große Schwimmanstalt, frei
für alle, daneben ein kleines Schwimmbassin für die Kinder. Ebenso
ein Karussell, frei für alle.
Dann gibt es einen Tanzpavillon, der an drei Abenden der Woche
geöffnet ist. Die Tänzer zahlen 25 Cent Eintritt.
Dann gibt es einen Ballspielplatz, groß genug, um zwei Partien
gleichzeitig Platz zu bieten, und da die Fabriken 4 Uhr 30 Minuten
geschlossen werden, gibt es jeden Nachmittag zwei Baseballspiele.
Auch eine Rennbahn ist da — eine halbe Meile lang, mit Ställen
und Tribünen. Jeden Sonnabend Nachmittag finden Rennen statt,
und zeitweilig ist die Rennbahn von hunderttausend Leuten
eingesäumt.
Inmitten einer weiten Rasenfläche steht ein Klubhaus. Der Rasen
ist mit Blumenbeeten wie gespickt. Das Haus ist das Zentrum der
Geselligkeit, wo jeder jeden trifft. Es enthält eine freie Bibliothek,
besondere Zimmer für Pfadfinderjungen, Spielzimmer und
Speisesäle. Jeden Abend findet man sich hier fröhlich zusammen.
Scherz! Geselligkeit! Erziehung! Sport! Musik! Das scheinen die
allein wesentlichen Dinge im Tale von »Fairplay« zu sein und
dennoch erzeugen diese lustigen Schuhmacher täglich 81 000 Paar
Schuhe.
Ihre tägliche Durchschnittserzeugung ist elf fertige Schuhe pro
Mann.
In diesem Tale glaubt man daran, daß das Spiel der Sonnenschein
des Lebens ist und daß jeder es so sehr braucht wie Nahrung.
Man glaubt dort an Lachen, Liebe und Lebensfreude gerade so
sehr wie an Maschinen, Kohle, Organisation.
Sie werden erraten, daß in diesem Tale ein Mann lebt, der diese
Erfolge begründet hat. Sein Name ist George F. Johnson, aber
jedermann nennt ihn »George F.«.
Er lebt in einem netten Hause in der Nähe des Parks. Er ist immer
sichtbar. Er lebt, bewegt sich und hat sein Dasein inmitten seiner
Leute.
Jeder Arbeiter kann ihn in seinem Bureau sprechen. Ist er nicht in
seinem Bureau, so kann man ihn auf der Rennbahn, im Tanzpavillon
oder bei einem Ballspiel antreffen.
Für gewöhnlich ist er umgeben von einer Schar von Kindern oder
von einer Arbeitermenge. Ununterbrochen fragen die Leute ihn um
Rat in allen erdenklichen Angelegenheiten. »Er ist der Papa unserer
Familie,« sagen sie.
Jedes Kind auf der Straße nennt ihn »George F.«. Denkt daran
und erschauert, ihr steifgeborenen Direktoren mit den versteinerten
Gesichtern! Hier ist ein Mann, der 28 000 000 Pfund Sterling im Jahr
umsetzt, und der Zeit hat, Drachen steigen zu lassen und Puppen zu
flicken.
Am letzten Maitage hatten die Arbeiter seines Tales eine große
Parade von 20 000 Mann, und wer glauben Sie, führte sie? George
F. Er ging an der Spitze seiner Leute, wie jedermann es von ihm
erwartete.
»Sie wissen, ich liebe alle diese Leute«, sagte er zu einem
Freund, als sie zusammen auf der Tribüne saßen und auf das
nächste Pferderennen warteten. »Und ich hoffe,« fügte er hinzu,
»daß einige von ihnen auch mich lieben.«
Er ist kein Philantrop, dieser George F., weder ist er ein Genie
noch ein Übermensch. Er ist nichts weiter als
ein großer, einsichtsvoller, gutherziger Mann,
der es liebt, inmitten geschäftiger, frohsinniger Menschen zu leben.
In diesem Tal gibt es keine Verdächtigung und keinen Snobismus.
Es gibt dort kein »Klassenbewußtsein«, weil es keine Klassen gibt.
Jeder Arbeiter hat die Möglichkeit, Teilhaber zu sein, und jeder
Kapitalist arbeitet.
Die sämtlichen 15 000 Arbeiter von George F. abwärts bis zu dem
kleinsten Jungen in der Gerberei gehören alle den »E.-J. Workers«,
der dortigen Gewerkschaft an.
 Alles geschieht offen. Jedermann kann seine Meinung äußern. Es
gibt keine Maßregelungen. Alle Arbeiter scheinen zu fühlen, daß die
ganze Anlage ihnen gehört.
George F. Johnson ist jetzt über 70 Jahre alt. Er ist der
erfolgreichste unter allen Schuhfabrikanten, aber vor 35 Jahren war
er noch nichts als ein Vorarbeiter in einer kleinen Schuhfabrik, die
zusammengebrochen war. Damals erzielt er weniger als 20 Dollar
wöchentlichen Lohn.
Der Hauptgläubiger dieser kleinen bankrotten Fabrik war ein
Finanzmann namens Endicott, der in Boston lebte. Er kam
nachzusehen, was man tun könne. Er lernte dort F. Johnson kennen,
und Johnsons Vernunft und Ernst machten ihm einen tiefen
Eindruck.
»Ich habe kein Geld,« sagte Johnson, »aber ich kann aus dieser
Fabrik einen Erfolg machen. Mir liegt nichts an einem Gehalt, aber
wenn Sie mir den halben Anteil an der Fabrik für 150 000 Dollar
verkaufen wollen, will ich Ihnen meinen Wechsel dafür geben.«
Das war ein erstaunlicher Vorschlag. Er war absurd und riskant,
aber Endicott war ein weiser Mann, und er stimmte zu. Er wettete
150 000 Dollar auf Johnson.
Die kleine Fabrik machte ihre Fortschritte in Riesensprüngen. Sie
wuchs, bis Johnson sich als Vater einer Familie von 15 000 fand.
Die Arbeiter seiner Fabrik leben jetzt in zwei Städten, die gänzlich
ihnen gehören und die sie »Endicott« und »Johnson« genannt
haben.
Sie sind nicht Angestellte im gewöhnlichen Sinne. Sie sind
Teilhaber.
Gerade so wie Endicott Johnson zu seinem Teilhaber machte, ohne
von ihm Bezahlung für seine Aktien zu verlangen, so hat Johnson
aus seinen Arbeitern Teilhaber gemacht.
Vier Fünftel von ihnen arbeiten im Akkord und alle nehmen an
dem Nutzen teil, sobald sie ein Jahr lang in der Fabrik tätig gewesen
sind.
 Alljährlich werden auf die Vorzugsaktien sieben Prozent und auf
die Stammaktien zehn Prozent Dividende gezahlt; der gesamte dann
noch verbleibende Nutzen wird zu gleichen Teilen zwischen den
Arbeitern und den Inhabern der Stammaktien geteilt.
Die Gesellschaft beschließt jedes Jahr, ob der Nutzen in Geld oder
in Stammaktien auszuzahlen ist. Für gewöhnlich beträgt der
Nutzanteil der Arbeiter 50 Prozent ihres gesamten Lohnes.
Der Hauptunterschied zwischen dieser Endicott-Johnson-
Gesellschaft und anderen guten Firmen scheint zu sein, daß die
Arbeiter auch ihrerseits volle Leistung geben. Sie geben ebenso wie
sie bekommen.
So hat zum Beispiel vor kurzem George F. Johnson die beiden
Städte mit einem prachtvollen Denkmal beschenkt, das der
Bildhauer Moretti zur Erinnerung an die 1692 Angestellten des
Werkes ausgeführt hat, die in dem großen Kriege gekämpft hatten.
Dann wiederum beschenkten die Arbeiter ihrerseits Johnson mit
einem schönen Marmorportal. Die gesamten Kosten dieses
Bauwerkes trugen die Arbeiter.
Oft hält George F., der Vater dieser beiden Städte, Ansprachen an
seine Leute — klare, einfache Ansprachen von eindringlicher
Wirkung. So sagte er unter anderem:
»Wenn Sie Besseres leisten, gehört der Nutzen in dieser
Gesellschaft Ihnen. Niemand steht da und wartet darauf, ihn Ihnen
wegzunehmen.«
»Jeder von uns auf dieser Welt braucht jemand, der uns
veranlaßt, unser Bestes zu tun.«
»Wir können unsere Erzeugungskosten herabsetzen, ohne unsere
Löhne zu vermindern,
wenn wir alle zusammenwirken wollen, um die Nichtproduzierenden
auszuscheiden, die Bremser und die Schmarotzer.«
»Ich bitte euch nicht, irgend etwas für mich zu tun. Ich bitte euch
nur, euer Bestes für euch zu tun. Und das Beste, das ihr heute tun
könnt, ist noch nicht das Beste, das ihr morgen tun könnt.«
 »In diesem demokratischen Geschäft müssen wir uns alle selbst
fragen: Wieviel Arbeiter haben wir angestellt, die wir entbehren
könnten? Wie viele sind nur eine Belastung und eine Ausgabe für
uns?«
»Seid keine Bürde! Schafft keine Hindernisse! Faßt euer Ruder
und zieht fest an. Seid der Mühe wert! Tut euer Bestes! Gebt dem
alten Geschäft seine Chancen!«
 Thomas A. Edison.
Edison ist jetzt bald 80 Jahre alt. Er wurde in Ohio von englisch-
holländischen Eltern geboren. Sein Vater war ein Landwirt und
Getreidehändler ohne besondere Erfolge.
Mit acht Jahren wurde Edison zur Schule geschickt. Drei Monate
später schickte ihn der Lehrer mit der Bemerkung nach Hause, daß
er zu dumm sei, um unterrichtet zu werden. (Was für ein Narr war
dieser Lehrer.)
Edison hatte niemals mehr Schulunterricht. Seine Mutter, eine
kluge und gute Frau, unterrichtete ihn selbst.
Er war immer ein eigentümlicher Junge. Mit sechs Jahren fand
man ihn einmal auf Gänseeiern sitzen, die er auszubrüten versuchte.
Bei einem anderen Anlaß machte er ein großes Experiment in der
Scheune und steckte sie in Brand, wofür er eine gute Tracht Prügel
erhielt.
Von Anfang an hatte er eine Neigung für Chemie. In seinem
räumlichen Hause richtete er sich ein Laboratorium mit 200 Flaschen
ein. Er versah jede einzelne davon mit der Aufschrift »Gift«, damit
niemand sie berühren sollte.
Mit 14 Jahren wurde er Zeitungsjunge und verkaufte Magazine
und Zeitungen auf Eisenbahnzügen.
Er hatte auf dem Zuge ein kleines Laboratorium. Schließlich
steckte er damit den Zug in Brand, und der Schaffner warf ihn hinaus
und ließ seine Flaschen folgen. Auch gab er dem Jungen eine so
mächtige Ohrfeige, daß er seit damals taub wurde.
Mit 16 Jahren wurde er in Kanada Telegraphenbote. Er verlor aber
seine Anstellung, weil er eine arbeitsparende Erfindung machte —
sein Vorgesetzter sagte, er wäre faul. Aus ähnlichen Gründen verlor
er später noch drei weitere Anstellungen.
 Mit 23 Jahren wanderte er nach Neuyork. Dort kam er ohne einen
Heller an. Er erhielt eine Stellung in dem Bureau einer
Börsentelegraphenfirma mit 300 Dollar monatlich. Das war seine
erste Chance. Er erhielt dieses hohe Gehalt, weil er es
zustandegebracht hatte, eine wertvolle Maschine zu reparieren, die
in Unordnung geraten war.
Im nächsten Jahre erfand er einen Telegraphenapparat, den er der
Western Union Telegraphen-Gesellschaft für 40 000 Dollar verkaufte.
Er hätte auch ganz gerne 400 000 Dollar dafür genommen, da er von
dem Wert seiner Erfindung zu jener Zeit keine Ahnung hatte.
Er benutzte diese 40 000 Dollar, um eine Maschinenwerkstatt zu
eröffnen. Im Jahre 1873 kam er das erstemal nach England und
verkaufte einige seiner Erfindungen.
Eine englische Firma machte ihm ein Angebot von
»dreißigtausend« für eines seiner Patente. Edison dachte, es
bedeutete 30 000 Dollar — er sagte: »Ja.« Zu seiner Überraschung
erhielt er 30 000 Pfund — fünfmal so viel. Seit jener Zeit hat Edison
ein warmes Gefühl für England.
Edison ist der fruchtbarste Erfinder der Welt. Er hat über 1000
Patente erworben. 45 Jahre lang ist er ein berufsmäßiger Erfinder.
Er ist der ausdauerndste aller Experimentierer. Er arbeitete schwerer
und schläft weniger als irgendein anderer Mensch. Es liegt ihm
nichts am Geld. Er raucht und kaut Tabak.
Er haßt neue Kleider. Seit 30 Jahren ist ihm nicht für einen neuen
Anzug Maß genommen worden. Vor 30 Jahren hat ihm irgendein
gewisser Schneider Maß genommen und seither geht er immer
wieder zu diesem und sagt: »Ich möchte einen anderen Anzug von
dem gleichen Stoff.«
Er hat viele Mißerfolge und einige wunderbare Erfolge
aufzuweisen. Einmal wendete er zwei Jahre und 2 000 000 Dollar an
eine Erfindung, die sich als ziemlich wertlos herausstellte.
Er macht sich nichts aus Ehren. Eine englische Universität bot ihm
ein Ehrendoktorat — er hat sich niemals die Mühe genommen,
hinzukommen, um es in Empfang zu nehmen. Vor einiger Zeit wurde
ihm in Neuyork eine Goldene Medaille verliehen. Er verlor sie
unterwegs auf dem Fährboot. »Was liegt daran«, sagte er zu seiner
Frau. »Ich habe mindestens zwei Liter solcher Medaillen in meinem
Zimmer.«
Als er das letztemal in Frankreich war, erhielt er das Kreuz der
Ehrenlegion. Er nahm das Kreuz an, aber als man ihm auch die
Schärpe anlegen wollte, zog er sich zurück und ließ es nicht zu.
Nach seiner Denkungsart ist eine Schärpe an einem Mann ungefähr
so töricht wie ein Band an einem Frosch.
Seine Erfindungen haben viel zur Bequemlichkeit und
Annehmlichkeit der Welt beigetragen. Tatsächlich war sein ganzes
Leben sozialer Dienstleistung gewidmet.
Sein intimster Freund ist vielleicht Henry Ford — ein anderer
Erfinder von gleichem Typus. Diese beiden Männer gehen
gemeinsam mit John Burroughs, dem führenden Naturforscher
Amerikas, jeden Winter auf eine Pflanzung nach Florida.
Edison hat niemals einen unbeschäftigten Augenblick. Selbst
wenn er spielt, erfindet er. Ich habe ihn bei verschiedenen
Gelegenheiten in seinem langen schmalen Laboratorium in
Neujersey beobachtet, wie er grübelte und grübelte und grübelte,
immer in irgendein schweres Problem vertieft.
Edison glaubt selten etwas, bevor er den Beweis dafür hat. Er hat
eine Fülle von Zweifeln in Bezug auf die Meinungen und die
Praktiken der Menschen auf Lager.
In seiner Bibliothek hat er mehr als zehntausend Bücher, meist
wissenschaftliche Gegenstände. Aber Edison glaubt selten
irgendeine Feststellung in irgendeinem dieser Bücher, bevor er sie
selbst ausprobiert und bewiesen hat.
Bei seiner Arbeit nimmt er ein Buch lediglich als Ausgangspunkt,
um anzufangen. Es bedeutet keineswegs einen Abschluß.
Sein ganzes Leben hat er damit zugebracht, jenes Niemands-
Land zu erforschen, das außerhalb der Bücher besteht.
 Edison ist zuerst und vor allem ein harter Arbeiter. Er verabscheut
Faulheit als die schlimmste von allen Krankheiten. Er wird unter
Umständen einen dummen Menschen beschäftigen, aber niemals
einen faulen.
Edison nimmt nichts als vorausgesetzt an. Er hat eine Abneigung
gegen Menschen, die sprunghaft und oberflächlich sind. In jeder
Sache gräbt er bis an die Wurzeln. Er hat sein ganzes Leben damit
zugebracht, das Warum herauszufinden.
 Lord Rhondda.
Dies ist die Geschichte des Mannes, der, ohne ein Redner zu sein,
sein Leben lang der »ungekrönte König von Wales« war — D. A.
Thomas, der in den letzten beiden Jahren seines Lebens als Lord
Rhondda bekannt war.
»D. A.«, wie seine Freunde ihn nannten, war der größte
Geschäftsschöpfer, den Wales jemals hervorgebracht hat.
Er war der Schöpfer der »Cambrian Coal Combine« — einer
Gartenstadt von 12 000 gutbezahlten Bergleuten. Er gründete mehr
als 30 Gesellschaften, und was immer er anfaßte, wurde ein Erfolg.
Als er im Jahre 1918 starb, betrug sein Vermögen gegen 685 000
Pfund — aber er hätte leicht doppelt so viel haben können. Er war
immer mehr darauf bedacht, ein Geschäft aufzubauen, als seinen
Anteil an dessen Nutzen hereinzubekommen.
D. A. Thomas war ein kaufmännischer Abenteurer von der Art, die
das britische Weltreich aufgebaut hat. Er war mehr als das — er war
ein unabhängiger Denker.
Er war so unabhängig, daß er noch nicht seinem vollen Werte
nach gewürdigt worden ist, wie Sie beim Lesen der folgenden kurzen
Skizze seiner Laufbahn sehen werden.
Er wurde vor 70 Jahren in einem kleinen Dorfe in Wales, dessen
Namen ich nicht buchstabieren kann, geboren. Sein Vater war ein
Krämer, der ein Kohlengeschäft angefangen hatte und dies sehr
bedauerte.
Man erzählt, daß sein Vater vor seinem Kohlenlager stand und
sich von seinen Verlusten sehr bedrückt fühlte, als ein Nachbar mit
der Nachricht zu ihm kam: »Es ist ein Junge.«
»Gut«, sagte der Vater. »Ich weiß zwar nicht, was aus ihm werden
soll. Für uns gibt es nur noch das Armenhaus.«
 Der junge D. A. war anfangs ein zarter Knabe, aber er trainierte
sich zu einem Athleten. Er wurde ein guter Geher, Schwimmer und
Radfahrer. Er war auch ein geschickter Boxer, und ungeachtet seiner
Kurzsichtigkeit wurde er Mittelgewichts-Champion von Cambridge.
Er war immer mutig. Als junger Bursche gewann er die Medaille
der »Royal Humane Society« für eine Lebensrettung. Er sprang in
einen eisigen See und zog einen Mann aus dem Wasser.
Als er 21 Jahre alt war, starb sein Vater, und er begann ein
selbständiges Geschäft. Mit 26 Jahren heiratete er Sybill Haig, die
Tochter eines Kohlenbergwerksbesitzers. Sie hatten ein Kind, die
gegenwärtige Viscountesse Rhondda, die jetzt die
weitausgedehnten Interessen ihres Vaters verwaltet.
D. A. beschäftigte sich mit Politik nicht weniger als mit dem
Geschäft. Aber als Politiker hatte er keinen Erfolg, oder besser
gesagt, er war nicht der Mann, sich in den schlüpfrigen Winkelzügen
des Parlaments zurecht zu finden.
Er war ein Liberaler, aber er ließ sich durch keine Führung
beeinflussen. Er war kein angestelltes Parlamentsmitglied mit dem
Namen seines Meisters auf seinem Halsband.
Er war unabhängig. Das ist das Wort, das in diesen Tagen der
Maschinenmenschen besonders betont werden muß.
Die kunstreichen Ränkemacher der Politik fürchteten und haßten
ihn. Er war zu tüchtig — zu ehrenhaft — zu furchtlos, um ein Mitglied
der Mitglieder zu werden.
Wie Leverhulme wurde er von den Kabinettsmachern vollkommen
vernachlässigt. Es ist eine auffallende Tatsache, daß D. A. Thomas
25 Jahre lang dem Parlament angehört hat und niemals ein
wichtiges Amt bekleidet hat.
Im Jahre 1910 gab er die Politik auf. Es wurde ihm klar, daß er
vollständig ungeeignet war, das Spiel der Politik mitzumachen. Er
war kein guter Redner. Seine Stimme war schwach, und er hatte nie
daran gedacht, sie auszubilden. Er hatte eher eine Verachtung für
fließendes Reden: in einem Lande, das stets von redegewandten
Leuten regiert worden war, entschieden ein Fehler!
 Stets zog er das Geschäft der Politik vor. Das Geschäft war sein
Leben. Er liebte seine Aufregungen und seine Nützlichkeit.
Immerwährend las er Bücher über Geschäft.
Er war kein Zuschauer. Er war voll Energie — durchaus
Tatmensch. Er liebte seinen großen Schreibtisch in seinem großen
Bureau in dem Cambrian-Gebäude in Cardiff.
Er hatte einen stahlharten Willen, aber er war weder grob noch
laut. Er war ein ruhiger, zäher, schlauer Mann, der alles
vorauszusehen schien.
Er hatte auch Streiks, natürlich. Niemand kann die Bergleute von
Süd-Wales beschäftigen, ohne Streiks zu haben. Aber selbst die
Streikleiter achteten D. A. und sympathisierten mit ihm, wenn die
Schlacht einmal vorüber war.
Sein ganzes Leben lang war er ein Gegner der Staatskontrolle.
Sein einziger Fehler in dieser Hinsicht war sein Vorschlag, ein
Gesundheitsamt zu errichten. Er widersprach der Staatsidee amtlich
fixierter Löhne, ohne Rücksicht auf seine persönlichen Vor- oder
Nachteile.
Er hatte eine Menge Feinde — Leute, die versucht hatten, ihn zu
narren, ihn zu betrügen oder ihn zu bedrohen. »Kein Mann ist sein
Salz wert,« sagte er, »der keine Feinde hat.«
Er verachtete langsame, verschlagene und unverläßliche Leute.
Er war kein Idealist. Er wußte, was Menschennatur ist. Aber er war
durchaus für ein faires Spiel und Festhalten an seinen Regeln.
Als er reich wurde, verdarb ihn sein Geld nicht. Er wurde niemals
ein Nabob. Er war immer gesellig. Er liebte die Arbeiter und zog
jederzeit ein Kohlenbergwerk dem Hause der Lords vor.
Er liebte die Landwirtschaft, aber er konnte sie nie einträglich
gestalten. Wer kann es? Er hatte eine große Herde von Hereford-
Schafen und einen großen Landsitz in Monmouthshire.
Während des Krieges legte er alle Privatangelegenheiten beiseite
und stellte seine volle Energie der Regierung zur Verfügung.
 Er und seine Tochter waren an Bord der »Lusitania« bei ihrem
Untergang, wurden aber aufgefischt und gerettet. Kaum in England
angelangt, wurde er ersucht, wieder den Ozean zu kreuzen — und
er tat es. Er war ein Mann ohne Furcht.
Als Nahrungsmittelkontrolleur hatte er mehr Erfolg als irgendein
anderer Träger dieses Amtes in irgendeinem andern Land.
Jedermann fühlte, daß er vollkommen gewissenhaft vorging und
daß, was immer er tat, das Rechte war.
Schließlich, im Jahre 1918, wurde er von seiner Bürde erdrückt. Er
starb — 20 Jahre zu früh. Er gab sein Leben für sein Land, so gut
wie irgendein Kämpfer.
Er war ein charakteristischer britischer Geschäftsmann vom
vornehmsten Typ. Er liebte Wales, seine Bergleute und das ganze
Land. Seinen Adelstitel nahm er von dem Rhonddatal, wo seine
Bergleute lebten. Und er überschüttete Cardiff mit Geschenken.
 Sir Swire Smith.
Vor ungefähr zehn Jahren gab es in der Stadt Keighley in
Yorkshire ein bemerkenswertes Begräbnis. Mehr als 700
Trauergäste schritten hinter einer Bahre einher, während Tausende
die Straßen säumten.
Der beste Maßstab, um den Erfolg eines Menschen im Leben zu
beurteilen, ist die Größe seines Begräbnisses. Es ist eine endgültige
Demonstration seiner Fähigkeit, Freunde zu gewinnen.
Demgemäß war Sir Swire Smith erfolgreich. Er hatte 76 Jahre
menschlicher Zeitrechnung gelebt — in der Wertung seines Lebens
war er einer der Höchststehenden seiner Generation.
Sir Swire Smith war ein Meisterspinner. Er war auch ein
Sportsmann — ein Witzbold — ein Sänger — ein Weltreisender —
ein Erzieher — ein guter Kamerad — ein Pionier.
Er war der »Peter Pan« von Yorkshire. Mit 76 Jahren war er
jünger, als die meisten Menschen mit 30.
Er war im Jahre 1842 in einem kleinen Häuschen von Keighley
geboren. Sein Vater hatte ein kleines Maschinengeschäft. Auch war
er Methodist, und der junge Swire wurde nach den strengen Regeln
von John Wesley erzogen.
Er war ein lustiger Junge mit blauen Augen und gelocktem Haar.
Wie alle normalen Jungen, war er voll Übermut. Mit 16 Jahren
begann er in einer Spinnerei zu arbeiten.
Mit 20 Jahren fing er seine eigene Wollspinnerei mit einem Kapital
von 360 Pfund Sterling an. Er hatte keinen besonderen Erfolg, weil
er zu keiner Zeit sehr eifrig auf Gelderwerb bedacht war. Das
Wollgeschäft war matt und unbeständig und voll Unsicherheit.
Swire Smith fand sich selbst nicht früher, als in seinem 25. Jahr.
Um diese Zeit hörte er eine Vorlesung von Samuel Smiles, dem
Verfasser von »Hilf dir selbst«.
Damals bereiste Samuel Smiles England und Schottland nach
allen Richtungen, schrieb und sprach über wirksamen Betrieb und
die Notwendigkeit technischer Ausbildung. Er war ein Rufer in der
Wüste. Er zeigte Britannien, daß Deutschland und Amerika im
Begriff seien, vorzustoßen.
Diese Warnungen entflammten Swire Smith. Er wurde sofort
Sekretär des »Mechanics Institute«.
Zu jener Zeit lebten in Keighley nur gegen 20 000 Menschen, und
die wenigsten von ihnen kümmerten sich auch nur im mindesten um
technische Erziehung — aber der junge Swire ließ nicht nach. Er
brachte 11 000 Pfund Sterling für eine technische Schule auf, die im
Jahre 1870 eröffnet wurde. Ihr Zweck war, die Prinzipien von
Wissenschaft und Kunst auf die Betätigung in Handel und Wandel
anzuwenden. Keighley wies den Weg, aber England folgte nicht.
Hätte es gefolgt, es wäre heute in einer viel glücklicheren Lage.
Die kleine Schule von Keighley brachte Northrop, den Erfinder des
automatischen Webstuhls hervor. Aus ihr kam W. H. Watkimson, der
die »Husch-Husch-Boote« erfand, und Alfred Fogler von dem Kgl.
Kollegium der Wissenschaften.
Sie brachte Leben in das Parlament, und das Ergebnis war das
Gesetz vom Jahre 1889 über technische Ausbildung. Dieses Gesetz
gab ähnlichen Schulen Millionen Pfund Sterling. Zu dieser Zeit führte
die Keighley-Schule mit 1400 Schülern.
Die Vereinigten Staaten folgten ebenso dem Beispiel von Keighley
wie England. Andrew Carnegie, ein lebenslanger Freund von Swire
Smith, besuchte Keighley, sah die Schule und gründete sofort nach
seiner Rückkehr nach Pittsburgh die größte technische Schule
Amerikas.
Wie Sie sehen, entsprang alles dieses dem Enthusiasmus eines
jungen 24jährigen Mannes, der eine Vorlesung von Samuel Smiles
über wirksamen Betrieb gehört hatte.
Mit 39 Jahren überredete Swire Smith die Regierung, eine
königliche Kommission für technische Erziehung zu ernennen. Er
und sechs andere wurden ihre Mitglieder.
Diese Kommission ging nach Deutschland und entdeckte viele
überraschende Tatsachen: sie fand 8000 Schüler in den
Gewerbeschulen von Hamburg; sie fand, daß die Technische
Hochschule von Stuttgart, einer keineswegs sehr großen Stadt,
mehr Studenten hatte als Liverpool.
Sie ging nach Frankreich, der Schweiz, Amerika und Kanada, und
ihr Bericht brachte Fortschritt und Bewegung in die meisten
britischen Industrien. Wie die Regierung zugab, war dieser Bericht
zum größten Teil aus den Notizen von Sir Swire Smith
zusammengestellt worden.
Als Arbeitgeber gab Sir Swire Smith ein gutes Beispiel. Sein Plan
war, »die besten Leistungen durch Zahlung der höchsten Löhne« zu
erzielen. Er begann die Ausbildung seiner Angestellten in seiner
eigenen Spinnerei und zahlte die halben Kosten einer besseren
technischen Schulung für jeden Arbeiter, der sie wünschte.
Wenn er zu Hause war, ging er täglich zweimal durch seine
Werke. Er kannte alle seine Arbeiter bei Namen und frühstückte
zusammen mit ihnen in der Kantine.
Einmal war er entzückt, als ein kleiner Junge auf der Straße
einmal zu einem anderen sagte: »Sieh mal, der Mann arbeitet in
unserer Spinnerei.«
Swire Smith war ein Anhänger des Grundsatzes: »Vergnügen und
40 Prozent«, aber er schätzte das Vergnügen höher als die vierzig.
Sein Glaubensbekenntnis war: »Wenn dein Geschäft deine
Lebensfreude beeinträchtigt, dann gib lieber dein Geschäft auf.«
Sein größter Fehler vom finanziellen Standpunkt war, daß er seine
Ersparnisse vollständig in Florida und in Texas anlegte. Hätte er sie
in Keighley angelegt, so wäre er aller Wahrscheinlichkeit nach ein
Millionär geworden. Im ganzen verlor er gegen 60 000 Pfund Sterling
dadurch, daß er sie in den Wildnissen der Vereinigten Staaten
anlegte.
Im Anekdotenerzählen hatte er kaum seinesgleichen. Wo immer
er war, gab es Gelächter. Sein Anekdotenschatz war unerschöpflich.
 Er hatte eine sehr schöne Baritonstimme und war immer bereit,
eine alte Ballade oder eine Stelle aus einer Oper zu singen.
Als Sprecher war er lebhaft, unterhaltend und praktisch. Er war
nicht im geringsten steifleinen. Ehrungen machten ihm keinen
Eindruck. Bis an seines Lebens Ende blieb er ein Junge — kurz vor
seinem Tode lernte er noch einen neuen Tanz und schrieb ein paar
Kindern lustige Briefe.
Er blieb unverheiratet, obwohl er sehr oft verliebt war. Er war
niemals einsam. Die Welt war seine Familie. Keighley sollte ihm ein
vornehmes Denkmal setzen.
 Henry Ford.
Hören Sie die staunenerregende Geschichte von Henry Ford, der
jetzt für nahezu das ganze Menschengeschlecht Motore und
Traktoren baut.
Urteilt man nach Ergebnissen, so ist Henry Ford der erfolgreichste
Fabrikant der Welt.
Er zahlt die höchsten Löhne.
Er macht die höchsten Profite.
Er verkauft zu den billigsten Preisen.
Henry Ford ist die lebendige Antwort auf die törichte Theorie, ein
Kapitalist könne nur dadurch Geld verdienen, daß er seine
Angestellten oder das Publikum beraubt.
Henry Ford beraubt niemanden, er ist kein Ausbeuter des
Proletariats.
Er ist ein Millionär — und jeder Pfennig seines Geldes ist rein.
Seine beispiellosen Profite sind nur ein Teil dessen, was er der
Öffentlichkeit erspart. Und er zahlt seinen Arbeitern weit mehr, als
sie selbständig verdienen können.
Henry Ford ist ein Kapitalist und er zeigt allen Kapitalisten einen
besseren Weg zum Reichtum.
Er hat sich seinen eigenen Erfolg geschaffen — er, zusammen mit
seinen Leuten. Er hat keinen Titel. Er würde niemals einen
annehmen. Er ist nicht einmal ein »Herr«. Seine Freunde nennen ihn
kurzweg Henry.
Er ist 64 Jahre alt. Er wurde auf einer kleinen Farm in der Nähe
von Detroit geboren. Sein Vater war ein irischer Auswanderer.