Showing papers in "Historical Social Research in 2010"

Autoethnography: An Overview

Abstract: Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze personal experience in order to understand cultural experience. This approach challenges canonical ways of doing research and representing others and treats research as a political, socially-just and socially-conscious act. A researcher uses tenets of autobiography and ethnography to do and write autoethnography. Thus, as a method, autoethnography is both process and product. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1101108

Planning for the future: changing education expectations in three British cohorts

Abstract: This paper examines changing educational expectations in three British age cohorts born in 1958, 1970 and 1989/90. A pathway model is tested to examine the associations between parental education, academic attainment, school motivation and education expectations among young people and their parents in a changing social context. The findings suggest that educational expectations have increased considerably between 1974 and 2006. In the most recent cohort education expectations at age 16 are more loosely linked to parental education and previous academic attainment, suggesting that expectations for further education are becoming the norm. Furthermore, there are persisting social inequalities in attainment, as well as an increasing gender gap in expectations, with girls being more ambitious regarding their educational goals than boys. Findings are discussed in terms of changing norms and expectations for young people in a changing socio-historical context.

Researching Risk: Narrative, Biography, Subjectivity

Abstract: This article contributes to the development of methodological practices promoting greater epistemic reflexivity in risk research and in social science generally. Knowledge of the specific practices researchers will find useful cannot exist separately from any particular empirical project. Accordingly, we report on, and provide a reflective account of, the "nuclear risk" project that was part of the Social Contexts and Responses to Risk (SCARR) network in the UK (2003-2008). A key focus is exploring the value of narrative methods—especially narrative elicitation methods—for understanding people's perceptions of, and ways of living with, risk. We credit our deployment of a narrative method with producing a rich form of data on risk-biography intersections, which have carried great significance in our analytical work on the way biographical experiences, dynamically unfolding through space and time, can be interrupted by risk events. Arguments from the literature on reflexive modernity are deployed to make the case for: researching risk in everyday life as a problematic in and of itself; placing concepts of risk-biography, risk-reflexivity and risk-subjectivity at centre stage; and finding ways to inquire into the social and psychic complexities involved in the dynamic construction and reconstruction of risk phenomena.

Bringing dependency back in: the economic crisis in post-socialist Europe and the continued relevance of dependent development

Abstract: »Bringing Dependency Back In: Die ökonomische Krise im postsozialistischen Europa und die fortgesetzte Relevanz abhängiger Entwicklung«. The current economic crisis constitutes an important test for the European Union as a whole and its new member states in particular. Whereas EU membership of the Central European countries is generally considered to mark the end of their period of economic and political transition, the current economic hardships might serve as a crucial test for this proposition. This paper takes two often forgotten theoretical paradigms to study the current developments in Central Europe: dependency theory and World System Theory. More in particular, the paper seeks to establish the relevance of the concept of the semi-periphery to the current Central European states. It concludes that the region has retained its historical position as Europe’s semi-periphery, where the hierarchy between the centre and the periphery is primarily shaped through the involvement of transnational corporations that have their headquarters in Western Europe with subsidiaries in Central Europe. This has had important repercussions for economic development in this region, as the countries have no control over the commending heights of their economy, a development of which the consequences are now becoming increasingly clear.

Surprised by Method—Functional Method and Systems Theory

Abstract: The paper is a contribution to the discussions on how to combine systems theory and empirical research. The paper focuses on functional method, which on the one hand is claimed as the method of systems theory but on the other hand is often only mentioned in passing—in Niklas LUHMANN's later works as well as in recent discussions on systems theory. The contention of the paper is that functional method can still be an important driving force in the development of interesting empirical problematics and analyses. The first and major part of the paper is a reconstruction of main characteristics of functional method. It is demonstrated how the method generates observations and the question is raised about which problem(s) the method is a solution to. The second part discusses functional method in relation to Niklas LUHMANN's later theoretical developments, especially the theory of second order observation. The overall aim of the paper is to reconstruct central traits of functional method in order to demonstrate how it works, what its function is—and where its limitations might lie. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1003122

The human rights of children born of war: case analyses of past and present conflicts

Abstract: »Menschenrechte der Kinder des Krieges: Fallstudien vergangener und gegenwärtiger Konflikte«. This paper addresses the human rights of ‘children born of war’ as measured against the standards formulated in the Convention of the Right of the Child. Taking five 20th century cases studies which cover different conflict and post-conflict situations in diverse geographical regions, the paper concludes despite greater awareness of children’s rights as evident in their codification throughout the 20th century, there has been no noticeable improvement in the application of these rights to children born of war.

Inside Organizations and Out. Methodological Tenets for Empirical Research Inspired by Systems Theory

Abstract: Este trabajo se centra en como la investigacion organizacional inspirada en la teoria de sistemas de Niklas LUHMANN puede enmarcarse epistemologicamente y disenarse metodologicamente. Se discuten los principales pilares metodologicos, tales como: los analisis estructurales y semanticos, la observacion de las contingencias, la explicacion de trivialidades, el analisis funcional y el estudio de los mecanismos de acoplamiento. A partir de varios estudios empiricos, demostramos que la teoria de sistemas es un marco muy eficaz para el estudio de las organizaciones modernas, ya que permite una perspectiva de observacion poco comun que es capaz de cuestionar lo que se suele dar por sentado. Por ultimo, destacamos como la gestion puede obtener beneficios de la investigacion teorica de sistemas en las organizaciones. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1003165

Theories of capitalism put to the test: introduction to a debate on Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract: ?Kapitalismustheorien auf dem Pr?fstand. Eine Einf?hrung in die Debatte um Mittelund Osteuropa?. The present debate on the varieties of capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe is marked by two different theoretical strands, both of which highlight the integration of the region into overarching discourses, and the end of the transformation research which has been current until now. On the one hand, the attempt has been underway with some time to apply the Varieties-of-Capitalism (VoC) approach; on the other hand, the de pendency and world-system theory is undergoing a renaissance, and taking a critical stance vis-?-vis VoC. But the strengths and weaknesses of both strands can be seen as complementary. East Germany no longer plays a role in this discussion, since it is a debate related to nation-state entities. In the concluding part of this paper, an attempt is made to show that despite no longer being a national economic unit, the consideration of the new East German states is still a useful exercise. Their integration into the world economy can be read as an extreme "dependent market economy" case, and helps us at the same time to understand the regional dimension of the debate.

Ultimate causes of state formation: the significance of biogeography, diffusion, and neolithic revolutions

Abstract: Ultimative Ursachen fur die Staatsbildung: Die Signifikanz von Bi ogeographie, Diffusion und Neolithische Revolutionen?. The timing of early state formation varies across the world. Inspired by Jared Diamond's seminal work, we employ large-n statistics to demonstrate how this variation has been structured by prehistoric biogeographical conditions, which have influenced the timing of the transition from hunter/gatherer production to agriculture and, in turn, the timing of state formation. Biogeography structures both the extent to which societies have invented agriculture and state technology de novo, and the extent to which these inventions have diffused from adjacent societies. Im portantly, we demonstrate how these prehistoric processes have continued to

Entrepreneurship and the Role of Government in Post-Socialist Economies : Some Institutional Challenges

Abstract: Entrepreneurship and the Role of Government in Post-Socialist Economies : Some Institutional Challenges

A double-edged sword: communications and imperial control in British India

Abstract: Ein zweischneidiges Schwert: Telekommunikation und imperiale Kontrolle in Britisch-Indien«. Britain introduced telegraphs in its colonial em- pires in order to tighten its control over its subjects. Thus, the British in India used their new telegraph lines to repress the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and has- tened thereafter to lay cables from England to India and around Africa. Imperi- alists extolled the advent of telegraphy as establishing permanent ties to their colonies, often comparing these ties to the Roman roads and postal system. Telecommunications had another effect, however, namely it spread the news from distant places, thereby undermining the colonial status quo. News of the Japanese victory over Russia in 1905 had a galvanizing effect on the nationalist movement in India and the Swadeshi agitation in Bengal. Later, news of the activities of Gandhi and his followers brought Indians from different regions together in a way that could not have happened in the mid-nineteenth century. Thus the hopes that the imperialists placed in the controlling powers of tele- communication proved to be misplaced.

Security and "gute policey" in early modern Europe: concepts, laws and instruments

Abstract: »Sicherheit und “Gute Policey” im frühneuzeitlichen Europa: Konzepte, Gesetze und Instrumente«. The article demonstrates that the development of “security” as a leading category and main field of state activity in the Early Modern Era was closely interconnected with the concept of “gute Policey” and the increasing body of police ordinances. Within Early Modern administrative law as well as in the theoretical discourses of the administrative sciences, “security” became a crucial objective of the well-ordered police state and thus succeeded “peace” and “unity” as a leading category. In this respect, the growing importance of security indicates the “secularization” of authoritarian regulatory policy. In parallel to this, administrative law was characterized by the differentiation between “internal” and “social” security. Whereas the former focused on exterior security threats, for example mobile marginal groups, the latter manifested itself in scopes such as “poor relief”, the “health sector” and measures dealing with risks and hazards including bad harvests, epidemic plagues, fire hazards and natural disasters. The resulting regulatory policy gave rise to the gradual establishment of administrative measures in the area of internal and social security, ranging from surveillance to insurances. However, the addressees of ordinances and the subjects also participated in the production of security via “guter Policey”, and in this respect security policy partially adopted popular demands for security and security discourses. Altogether, the Early Modern “gute Policey” could well be interpreted as a prototype of “human security”. But on the other hand, “gute Policey” also implied the juridification of security and the implementation of a state-based security policy, which ultimately led to the fundamental separation between internal security and police on the one hand and welfare policy/administration on the other hand, by the beginning of the 19th century.

The Production of Human Security in Premodern and Contemporary History

Abstract: ?Die Produktion von Human Security in Vormoderne und Zeitge schichte?. Since the end of the Cold War, Human Security has become an im portant approach in international politics, law, and political science. In contrast to the so-called 'Westphalian System' that knows only states as subjects and objects of security, human security aims at the security of individual human beings if failed or failing states do not protect them nor provide for their basic needs. Thereby, such heterogeneous forms of security as security from war, food security, energy security or security from crime and traffic accidents be come common problems of international politics. Developing this new concept of security, UN documents as well as some experts suggest that the extended concept of security is a recurrence of the premodern concept of security that prevailed before the clear-cut distinction between domestic and international politics and the evolution of the system of states. This introduction discusses contributions on the premodern and contemporary history of (human) security and tries to assess the heuristic potential of the concept for historical research.

Storage and starvation: public granaries as agents of "food security" in early modern Europe

Abstract: »Horten und Hungern: Offentliche Getreidespeicher als Agenten fruhneuzeitlicher Food Security«. The development of the ‘food security’ concept in the 1990s marked a significant change away from state-centred strategies that focused on food availability, towards policies aimed at food access and strengthening individual ‘entitlements’ (A. Sen) to food. This essay applies the food security approach to early modern food regimes, drawing on the example of the state-granary system in 18th century Prussia to investigate their agents, zones of conflict, and limits. The evident failure of technology-centred approaches raises questions about established periodisations, and modernisation narratives on the ‘great escape’ from hunger. The granary as a ‘technology of risk’ illustrates the social construction of ‘security’ through the labelling of security providers and security takers as well as the performance of exclusion and inclusion.

National, societal and human security: on the transformation of political language

Abstract: »Nationale, gesellschaftliche und menschliche Sicherheit: Zum Wandel politischer Sprache«. The article traces the extension of the concept of security over roughly the last fifty years. It differentiates between four dimensions of conceptual change: the referent object, the issue dimension, the spatial dimension and the dimension of perceived danger. The process of conceptual extension is explained not only as securitization, i.e. the result of voluntary speech acts, but as a macro-social process of the dissociation of state and society and the prevalence of liberal values.

Varieties of capitalism, varieties of vulnerabilities: financial crisis and its impact on welfare states in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States

Abstract: ?Varianten des Kapitalismus Varianten von Vulnerabilit?t. Die Finanzkrise und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Wohlfahrtsstaatsregime in Osteu ropa und der Gemeinschaft Unabh?ngiger Staaten?. This paper investigates the implications of the 2008 financial crisis on welfare states and the capitalist diversity in the post-communist world, including Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It analyzes three political-economic va rieties in the region: those of capitalism, welfare, and vulnerabilities to the cri sis. The three varieties are linked, but there is also a considerable variation given the importance of political and policy factors. Economic growth models created different political and economic constraints on policies of adjustment to the crisis. In particular, currency substitution was associated with strong po litical preferences for defending exchange rates, with adjustment through re ductions in public spending and wages. A variety of welfare models was asso ciated with different political constituencies for welfare provision. The interplay of these constraints and political factors together with intervention of international institutions shapes the nature of welfare state adjustments. Early developments also indicate some unexpected outcomes.

Economic Pressure, Parent Personality and Child Development: An Interactionist Analysis.

Abstract: The current economic downturn in the U.S. and around the world has refocused attention on the processes through which families and children are affected by economic hardship. This study examines the response to economic pressure of a cohort of youth first studied 20 years ago as adolescents and now grown to adulthood. A total of 271 of the original G2 adolescents (M age = 25.6 years) participated in the study with their young child (G3, M age = 2.31 years at the first time of assessment) and the child's other parent in 81% of the cases. Data analyses were guided by the interactionist model which proposed that positive G2 personality attributes during adolescence would predict lower economic pressure during adulthood and would diminish the negative family processes related to economic pressure expected to disrupt competent G3 development. The findings were consistent with this social selection aspect of the interactionist model. The model also predicted that economic pressure and other aspects of the related family stress process would affect G3 development net of earlier G2 personality. This social causation aspect of the interactionist model also received support. The findings suggest that the relationship between economic conditions and child development reflect a dynamic process of selection and causation that plays out over time and generations.

Globalization, Communication and the Concept of Space in Global History

Abstract: To study changing patterns of communication, interactions and transfers is a principal focus of global history. Such shifting connectivity patterns produce new spaces that co-exist with and are complementary to geographic space. The creation, transformation and interaction of these spaces become a central object of study in global history if we want to understand processes of globalization – such as the alleged “shrinking of the world”. At the same time, practitioners of global history constantly struggle with spatially delineating their field of study. Therefore, global history needs a new understanding of space that provides a framework for both – looking at space as an object of study as well as clearly identifying and demarcating the field of study. In this article, I propose an abstract, multi-layered and strictly relativistic understanding of space that will help the global historian to better master both challenges.

"The Path to Freedom"? Transocean and German Wireless Telegraphy, 1914-1922

Abstract: Der Weg ins Freie"? Transocean und die deutsche drahtlose Te legraphie, 1914-1922?. This article examines the early years of Transocean, a news agency owned and run by the German government, and its use of wire less telegraphy from 1914 to 1922. This investigation of the infancy of wireless technology demonstrates that technology plays a constitutive role in defining news. The German government used the new possibilities innate in the medium of wireless to carve out their own sphere of operation in the seas and on conti nents where German telegraph news had never played a major role, in particu lar East Asia. Wireless telegraphy enabled the German government to circum vent the British communications blockade in World War I. Afterwards, Transocean's wireless transmissions to East Asia and ships en route caused an uproar in Britain disproportionate to its circulation. It was the Germans' inno vative use of wireless telegraphy that other nations, particularly the British, found most disturbing, rather than the content of the reports themselves.

Small Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Activity of Population in Russia in the Context of the Economic Transformation

Abstract: Kleinunternehmen und Gr?ndungsaktivit?ten in Russland im Zuge des Transformationsprozesses?. The paper deals with the main stages of pri vate (small) entrepreneurship (SME) development and changing approaches to the SME policy in Russia under the systemic transition. The author argues that the entrepreneurship and SME policy in Russia remains rather reactive than pro-active. A special attention is paid to the crisis (2008-2009) impact both on the entrepreneurial activity of population based on Global Entrepreneurship Monitors (GEM) data as well as on the State inconsistent policy to promote SME under slowdown. In Russia, the strategic objective of government policies must be to support productive entrepreneurship and limit the options for rent-oriented or even parasitic growth of the two other types. But this task involves fundamental changes in the system of ownership rights and the entire structure of social re lations, for the domination of unproductive and 'destructive' entrepreneurship is inseparable from the system of 'power-ownership' dominating in Russia.

Methods for qualitative management research in the context of social systems thinking.

Abstract: Dieser Artikel soll die Leser/innen in die FQS-Schwerpunktausgabe "Qualitative Methoden zur Managementforschung in sozialen Systemen" einfuhren. Die Beitrage in dieser Schwerpunktausgabe beschaftigen sich vor allem mit drei Themen, welche offensichtlich eine besondere Wichtigkeit fur qualitative Managementforschung mit systemischer Perspektive haben: Das erste Thema diskutiert die Beobachtung bzw. das Beobachtbare in der Managementforschung, das zweite betrachtet die Verwendung von Methoden und das Studiendesign, und das dritte Thema reflektiert die Wirkungen systemtheoretischer Managementstudien auf das, was untersucht wurde, d.h. auf das Management in Organisationen. Diese drei Themen und die Positionen, welche die Autor/innen der Artikel dieser Schwerpunktausgabe beziehen, werden in diesem Artikel eingehend reflektiert und diskutiert. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs100334

Observing Participating Observation—A Re-description Based on Systems Theory

Abstract: Aktuelle Methodologie betreffs teilnehmender Beobachtung lasst zumeist die Beobachtung als Handlung unbeobachtet Wenn man teilnehmende Beobachtung vom Gesichtspunkt der Systemtheorie aus betrachtet, ergeben sich fundamental neue Einsichten in das Thema Beobachtung ist immer Teilnahme Es ist unmoglich, sich der Position des Beobachters/der Beobachterin und damit auch des Miterzeugung des beobachteten Phanomens zu entziehen Es existiert keine neutrale oder objektive Deskription Da Beobachtung sich mit den Unterschieden und dem Sinn des Prozesses beschaftigt, sind alle Deskriptionen Rekonstruktionen und Interpretationen des Beobachteten Somit hinterlassen sowohl die Idee einer neutralen Deskription als auch die Idee des naiven Beobachters/der naiven Beobachterin eine Lucke Die fehlende Anerkennung und Beobachtung von sich selbst als Beobachter/in und Miterzeuger/in von empirischen Daten verwandelt den Beobachtungsprozess zur groβten unbeobachteten Quelle der Kontingenz in der auf teilnehmende Beobachtung basierten Datenproduktion URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1003119

Researching Practice and Practicing Research Reflexively. Conceptualizing the Relationship Between Research Partners and Researchers in Longitudinal Studies

Abstract: Reflexivity has gained considerable significance in organization studies over the last decade. The discussion provides significant insight into interpreting one's findings and into presenting them to the academic community. But, the relationship between research partners in practice and researchers remains less in focus. Nevertheless, it provides the foundation from which data and interpretations emerge. To provide an orientation, this paper aims to develop a methodological heuristic inspired by social systems theory to conceptualize the relational foundation of longitudinal research. This "reflexive system theory heuristic" is illustrated empirically by reconstructing the research process of a longitudinal single case study on a change process in a hospital. The heuristic helps to observe and explain the dynamic relationship in the field and to explicitly acknowledge the status of empirical findings when understanding research as a generative activity. The heuristic conceptualizes the researched and research practices as communication systems, thus consistently developing a reflexive approach for field research. By taking into account the practice as well as the academic context, the heuristic can be extended to the insights drawn from the discussion on reflexivity. For social systems research on organizations, the heuristic provides a starting point to foster a methodological discussion.

Tariff History Lessons from the European Periphery. Protection Intensity and the Infant Industry Argument in Spain and Italy 1870-1930

Abstract: Lehren der Zollgeschichte aus der europ?ischen Peripherie. Pro tektionsintensit?t und das ,Infant Industry Argument' in Spanien und Italien 1870-1930?. This paper endeavors to study Spanish protectionism on the Ital ian mirror. On the assumption that the literature presents both European pe ripheral countries at a similar stage of development and commercial policy re plies to late 19th century economic globalization. Italian tariff policy was much more moderate and influenced by fiscal duties than the Spanish one that en joined a very high tariffs on the manufacture sector. This paper present by first time a unified data base of effective protection and revealed comparative ad vantage for both countries and develop a new test based on the infant industry argument. Conclusions emphasize the existence of significant different tariff policies in Spain and Italy between 1870-1930 as a relevant variable in the configuration their respective export manufacture competitiveness and spe

Scholarly and values-driven objectives in two South African school history textbooks : an analysis of topics of race and racism

Abstract: »Wissenschaftliche und wertbestimmte Lernziele in zwei Südafrikanischen Schulbüchern: eine Analyse der Themen Rasse und Rassismus«. This article reports on findings that are part of a larger study of the 10 official (meaning approved by the government education department) grade 11 history textbooks and their respective teacher guides. Using two case studies, selected by maximum variation sampling, and applying exploratory content analysis, it will map out some aims of the history curriculum and assess whether the way each book presents the topics for study is actually achieving those aims. By doing so, the article, will also draw on some international literature on history benchmarks as applied to the South African textbooks. One of the central findings of this study is that the textbooks vary vastly, not only in the way they interpret and apply the curriculum, but also in the way they present the topics and assessments activities, the kind of sources they draw on, the forms of narratives they employ and ultimately in the kind of discourses they provide for the enabling of historical thinking and understanding. By highlighting these stark differences, the article also shows how some textbooks emphasise the value-driven development goals of the curriculum, whereas others tend to concentrate more on its scholarly outcomes.

Imagining world citizenship in the networked newspaper: La Nación reports the assassination at Sarajevo, 1914

Abstract: »Die Vorstellung einer Weltbürgerschaft in einer vernetzten Zeitung: La Nación berichtet über das Attentat in Sarajevo, 1914«. This paper analyzes La Nación’s reporting of the assassination of Archduke FranzFerdinand in the week following the event. Analysis identifies the narrative components to these assassination stories, including geographical imaginaries and the places and networks of news production. Particular attention is paid to the mediatized ritual of mourning and succession that takes place in the capital cities with which La Nación’s Buenos Aires readers are networked. Analysis is facilitated by some comparison with the coverage of the same event in The Los Angeles Times and The New Zealand Herald (Auckland). La Nación shared copy and sources with these and other newspapers, and printed similar stories about the assassination, but it cultivated its own local readership and its own ideas of citizenship in the wider world. Each editor imprinted his readers as moral citizens of the world, authorising them to participate in the events as mourners, activists and compassionate observers, but also preconditioning the ways they can imagine assassination and the interactions of the diplomatic world. Analysis reveals expected roles in international affairs for citizens of world cities, which are conveyed as moral lessons and tales, wrapped in imagined communities stretching across the globe, but actualized locally.

Management, Organisation, Struktur. Theoretische Überlegungen und empirische Ergebnisse zur Transformation des Managements von Bildungsorganisationen

Abstract: Management, Organization, Structure. Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Evidence on Changes in the Management of Educational Or- ganizations«. Based on a critique of rather narrow, economy-centered concepts of management, this article develops an alternative conceptualization that fo- cuses on function-specific solutions to the problem of coordination in organiza- tions. Drawing on Niklas LUHMANN's theory of organization we describe management in structural terms as related to organizational programs, channels of communication, persons and positions. We conclude by analyzing transfor- mations of management in educational organizations and demonstrate how our re-conceptualization of management can be applied in empirical research.

Human Security in the Renaissance? Securitas, Infrastructure, Collective Goods and Natural Hazards in Tuscany and the Upper Rhine Valley

Abstract: Human Security in der Renaissance? Securitas, Infrastruktur, Ge meinschaftsguter und Naturgefahren in der Toskana und im Oberrheintal?. This article investigates the character of collective perceptions of security in the Renaissance. In addition to the findings of conceptual history, an picture analysis will be used. Besides the concern for salvation and protection from violence and injustice, public welfare was the task of a good government in material terms as well (provision of food, infrastructure). It also comprised the prevention of natural hazards. Legitimation strategies of those who governed and the needs of those who were governed had - according to the region - an impact on the development of specific ways of dealing with natural hazards.

The gold market at the Paris stock exchange: a risk-return analysis 1950-2003

Abstract: TThis paper aims to study the return of investment in gold assets quoted at the Paris stock exchange during 54 years, from 1950 to 2003. Contrarily to what is thought about this mythical metal, its risk-return is very inferior to other financial assets (stocks and bonds). While it has a high degree of risk, its return is less than that of the risk-free asset. Moreover for individual investors, investment in gold has given a very low result in real terms. A capital of 100 new francs invested in the gold coin napoleon in December 1949 would have been liquidated for 56 new francs in December 2003. So its real rate of return was -1% per year.