La Crise des intellectuels français: aspects historiques et retombées historiographiques

Les intellectuels français ont-ils connu, à la fin du siècle dernier, une crise ? Ce diagnostic vint du milieu intellectuel lui-même, qui, affaibli par la perte de crédibilité des systèmes de pensée associés aux confrontations idéologiques de la guerre froide, voyait dans la montée en puissance d'une culture médiatique de nouveaux leaders d'opinion brouillant les contours de la mouvance culturelle jusque-là essentiellement constituée d'hommes et de femmes venus de la sphère de l'imprimé. D'une certaine façon, le pathos l'a en effet emporté sur le logos, discours construit et analyse argumentée des problèmes posés à une société. A cet égard, la crise des intellectuels est à la fois un reflet et un accélérateur de la crise des démocraties représentatives, dont le fondement était l'examen raisonné et la concurrence raisonnable des possibles et dont le fonctionnement risque d'être parasité par les palpitations successives d'opinions publiques en proie à des émotions liées aux bruits et aux fureurs de la culture médiatique, devenue elle-même, de plus en plus, une culture-monde.     

Sociology or social science?

Modern sociology has set itself up as a specialised discipline dissociating itself from the broad-ranging theories of development of the early sociologists and breaking the links with economics, social anthropology and politics which had formed such an exciting unity in their works or at least in their lives.     

Sociology or social science?

Modern sociology has set itself up as a specialised discipline dissociating itself from the broad-ranging theories of development of the early sociologists and breaking the links with economics, social anthropology and politics which had formed such an exciting unity in their works or at least in their lives.     

Archeology: Dismal science or science of the dismal?

Charles L. Redman, ed. Research and Theory in Current Archeology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1973. ix + 390 pp. Tables, figures, references, and index. $14.95.     

Une Histoire de L’universalité des Matrices Mathématiques

International matrix theory of the 1930s is influenced by multiple phenomena and may be analyzed by looking at how local practices were globalized via pathways which manifested a short-term reappropriation between the two world wars of work developed over the long term. This article interrogates the constitution of the universality of matrix terminology and focuses particularly on phenomena of the collective circulation of texts which present cultural aspects proper to networks with complex identities.     

International theory: Towards a policy science?

Kenneth N. Waltz, Theory of International Politics. Addison‐Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1979, pp. 251. US$7.95.

Robert Jervis, Perception and Misperception in International Politics. Princeton University Press, 1976, pp. 445. $25; $11.50 (paper).

Glenn H. Snyder and Paul Diesing, Conflict Among Nations. Princeton University Press, 1977, pp. 578; US$32.50; $11.50 (paper).     

Are you willing to be made nothing? Is Commonwealth reform possible?

A new round of Commonwealth reform proposals commenced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of 2009. An ensuing report, titled A Commonwealth of the people: time for urgent reform, contained a long list of proposals that eventually resulted in 2013 in the adoption of the Commonwealth Charter. Many classic international organizations are in need of reform, but this is, of course, challenging. This new Commonwealth reform process will not lead to satisfying changes and will not make it a more relevant actor in global governance. The year 2015 marks the Commonwealth Secretariat's first half‐century. We take this symbolic marker to push for a forward‐looking exercise, arguing that because the true nature of the Commonwealth is often misunderstood, a better understanding of the organization is essential before embarking on any successful change‐management project. In the article we identify four different kinds of Commonwealth: three of a ‘formal’ nature (the official, bureaucratic and the people's Commonwealth) and a fourth ‘informal’ one (Commonwealth Plus). By describing the potential of these four different kinds of Commonwealth, we can anticipate better the challenges with which the Commonwealth network is faced, both internal (including its mandate, its British imperial past and dominance, the organization's leadership and its membership) and external (other international organizations, other Commonwealths, rivalry with regional organizations and the rise of global policy networks). Consequently, this should lead to a better and more sustainable debate about the Commonwealth's future role in global governance.     

What happened to provocation in science and technology studies?

Science and technology studies (STS) is an important and often controversial interdisciplinary field which has proved to be provocative and influential. But has its institutionalization and influence occurred at the expense of some of its provocative power? This paper considers the fate of provocative ideas associated with STS as they become appropriated and transformed by new social institutions and audiences. It aims to sketch a preliminary framework for analysing the social dynamics of the persistence and/or attenuation of its ideas and impacts. The argument reviews the main early aspirations and targets of STS. It suggests that changing emphases in STS can be understood as responses to successive versions of the principle of symmetry. It argues that the continual renewal and recruitment of audiences for STS is central to sustaining its capacity for provocation.     

Bromine,a possible marine diet indicator? A hypothesis revisited

This study examines the hypothesis that bromine in human skeletal tissue serves as an indicator of marine diet. Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy of samples from archaeological sites on the Peruvian North Coast showed relative enrichment of bromine in the cementum and osteons. X-ray absorption spectroscopy determined organobromine to be present, suggesting an exclusive association with the organic component. We used skeletal tissue from marine mammals as a proxy for the marine diet. Bromine, when observed in these specimens, was recorded close to the detection limits; therefore, bromine in archaeological skeletal material does not appear to be an indicator of marine diet.     

Learning from the RSPT mistakes: is reform still possible?

The political ramifications of the failed Resources Super Profit Tax have been widely documented, yet the causes of this political failure are more contested. Many accounts highlight the discursive power of business and the effectiveness of their campaign against the mining tax. Effective business activism certainly played its part, but this article argues that strategic failings on the part of government also influenced the outcome. This article highlights how the Labor government's failure to consult, to understand the political implications of federalism and above all its impact on the industry in the hope that future policymakers will learn from the mistakes of the mining tax debacle.     

Born in Melbourne? Considerations on the origins of Australian political science

In a pioneering academic discussion of Australian politics written just before the First World War, William Harrison Moore reinforced the image of Australia as an increasingly autonomous part of a slowly evolving but essentially liberal British Empire. In this 34-page account of ‘Political Systems of Australia’ published in George H. Knibbs, ed., Federal Handbook (Melbourne, 1914), the Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Melbourne arguably created the ur-text of the Australian Politics textbook. It is argued that there is an unbroken thread of Cambridge-inspired political science teaching and writing at Melbourne from Harrison Moore onwards. The early Australian politics textbooks and ‘Political Systems of Australia’ are cut from the same cloth, making the latter an important precursor.