L’animal, entre personne et chose?

The contemporary call for a respect of nature finds one of its concrete applications in the theme of animal rights, either understood as a «natural right» applied to the living or as a positive right describing new relationships between the members of the community of all natural beings. Law, defined as an emanation of some possessive «humanism», is urged to acknowledge a newscala natur? and to give a fresh look upon living beings, by throwing into confusion its own notion of Subject, getting rid of anthropocentric and metaphysical norms. In such a debate, what is involved behind the appearance of a plastic and instrumental concept of Subject, is the very banalization and finally, in different ways, the destruction of the Subject. The conflict between Human rights and the right to live is not a social problem, but clearly appears as one of those which show the urgency of the neverending question of man’s essence in relation to the confused and contested specific difference between man and animal.     

Millet cultivation history in the French Alps as evidenced by a sedimentary molecule

We report on the detection, in a sediment core drilled in Lake Le Bourget (French Alps), of a fossil molecule (miliacin) that was synthesized by broomcorn millet cultivated in the watershed, and then exported to the sediment. The variation in abundance of this molecule allows us reconstructing the history of millet cultivation around Lake Le Bourget. Our results support the introduction of millet around −1700 BC in the region. After an intensive cultivation during the Late Bronze Age, the failure of millet cropping during the Hallstatt period coincides with a phase of climatic deterioration. Millet cultivation recovers during the Roman and Mediaeval periods before falling most probably due to the introduction of more productive cereals. These pioneering results constitute the first continuous record of an agrarian activity covering the last 6000 years and emphasize the close relationships between local hydrology, land use and agro-pastoral activities around Lake Le Bourget.     

Reviews of books

METHODOLOGY

Frontiers in Geographical Teaching. By R. J. Chorley and P. Haggett. 8 × 5 1/4, 385 pp., Methuen, London. 2nd Edition, 1970. Paperback, £1.lb25.

The Analysis of Geographical Data. By W. H. Theakstone and C. Harrison. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2, 132 pp., 34 figures, 15 tables, statistical tables and glossary. Heinemann Educational Books, London, 1970. 75p. (paperback).

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Dieter Kelletat: Rezente Periglazialerscheinungen im Schottischen Hochland (Gõttinger Geographische Abhandlungen 51, 1970, 67–140).

ASIA

The Transformation of the Chinese Earth. By Keith Buchanan. 10 × 6 1/2 , xvii + 336 pp., 84 maps, 63 photographs. Bell, London, 1970. £3.lb25.

Feeding the Russian Fur Trade. By James R. Gibson. 9 1/2 × 6 1/4, xix + 337 pp. Maps and tables. Bibliography. Index. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Milwaukee and London, 1969. £7.lb15.

AMERICA

Venezuela: Search for a Middle Ground. By R. E. Crist and E. P. Leahy. 13 × 20 cms. 128 pages. Searchlight Books, Van Nostrand, New York &; London. 95p.

EDUCATIONAL

Visual Geographies Book 2: The British Isles. Revised Edition. By Leonard Cundall. 9 3/4 × 7 1/2, 47 pp. Evans Bros., London, 1970. 26p.     

Actualités

Cet article traite du match de football ayant opposé l'équipe de France à son homologue algérienne le 6 octobre 2001 au Stade de France. Basée sur l'analyse de quatre quotidiens nationaux (Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération et L'Équipe), l'étude cherche à comprendre les représentations des relations franco-algériennes dans la presse écrite française. Il s'agit de saisir les manières dont les journaux problématisent la rencontre en construisant des catégories et des classements particuliers. L'enquête révèle ainsi la mise en scène d'un système de perception social et politique fondé sur des séparations et des hiérarchies culturelles, nationales et sociales. Plus précisément, la presse véhicule l'idée de « choc des civilisations ». Elle instaure également un rapport de domination symbolique entre les deux pays à l'avantage de la France. Enfin, elle valorise pour l'Hexagone un modèle d'intégration des individus basé sur la séparation public/privé et sur la responsabilité individuelle.     

Ex-Ante Analysis of the Regional Impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy: A Rural–Urban Recursive Dynamic CGE Model Approach

A recursive dynamic regional Computable General Equilibrium model is developed to assess the economic impacts of two Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) scenarios in six NUTS-3 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) (NUTS-1: major socio-economic regions, NUTS-2: basic regions for the application of regional policies, NUTS-3: small regions for specific diagnoses) regions of the European Union (EU). The main goal of the analysis is to assess the scenario effects (change in production, prices, income, employment) in the rural and urban parts of these regions as well as on the different sectors. The two scenarios analysed are related to a 30% reduction in Pillar 1 (market measures and direct support to farmers) support and the introduction of an EU-wide flat rate level of Pillar 1 support complemented by a 45% increase in Pillar 2 (Rural Development Policy) funds. Results show that the overall gross domestic product effects are not significant, due to the relatively low importance of both the agricultural sector and CAP spending in the regional economies. However, impacts on the agricultural sector are quite important and differ according to the nature of the policy shock. Also, the structural characteristics of each case study influence the rural–urban and sectoral spillovers, including impacts on region-specific agricultural activity.