Local and global duality and the determination of α(M_Z)

This talk presents work concepts and results for the determination of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ at the $Z_0$ mass resonance. The problem consisting of the break-down of global duality for singular integral weights is circumvented by using a polynomial fit which mimics this weight function. This method is conservative in the sense that it is mostly independent of special assumptions. In this context the difference between local and global duality is explained.