Post-apartheid South Africa is ravaged by crises of extreme unemployment, poverty, and inequality. While the majority who were politically excluded by apartheid can now choose their government through democratic elections, social and economic justice continues to elude them. Neoliberal policies which seek to reduce state expenditure on social services and promote state policies that protect the interests of big businesses at the expense of working-class and poor communities, along with corruption and abuse of power, are the primary causes of poverty (...) and unemployment. However, what is missing in the assessments of social justice since the pre-1994 democratic era is the recognition that social justice organisations have not simply disappeared, but have actually remained involved in social justice struggles. Based on information from in-depth interviews and internet sources, this article records some of the partial victories scored through these struggles, albeit in the context of generalised pauperisation of working-class and poor communities. These partial victories in the era of defeats show that these organisations, although weakened, have not given up the struggle for social justice. (shrink)

The connection between quantum mechanics and classical statistical mechanics has motivated in the past the representation of the Schrödinger quantum-wave equation in terms of “projections” onto the quantum configuration space of suitable phase-space asymptotic kinetic models. This feature has suggested the search of a possible exact super-dimensional classical dynamical system, denoted as Schrödinger CDS, which uniquely determines the time-evolution of the underlying quantum state describing a set of N like and mutually interacting quantum particles. In this paper the realization of (...) the same CDS in terms of a coupled set of Hamiltonian systems is established. These are respectively associated with a quantum-hydrodynamic CDS advancing in time the quantum fluid velocity and a further one the RD-CDS, describing the relative dynamics with respect to the quantum fluid. (shrink)

The problem is posed of the prescription of the so-called Boltzmann–Grad limit operator ) for the N-body system of smooth hard-spheres which undergo unary, binary as well as multiple elastic instantaneous collisions. It is proved, that, despite the non-commutative property of the operator \, the Boltzmann equation can nevertheless be uniquely determined. In particular, consistent with the claim of Uffink and Valente that there is “no time-asymmetric ingredient” in its derivation, the Boltzmann equation is shown to be time-reversal symmetric. The (...) proof is couched on the “ab initio” axiomatic approach to the classical statistical mechanics recently developed. Implications relevant for the physical interpretation of the Boltzmann H-theorem and the phenomenon of decay to kinetic equilibrium are pointed out. (shrink)

Si l’histoire des sages-femmes est relativement bien connue pour les XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, grâce aux ouvrages de Mireille Laget et Jacques Gélis, en revanche, pour le XIXe siècle, elle reste en grande partie à écrire. La situation parisienne a fait l’objet du livre de Scarlett Beauvalet-Boutouyrie sur la Maternité de Port-Royal et aussi de la thèse de IIIe cycle sur les sages-femmes parisiennes de Danielle Tucat, malheureusement non publiée. Pour la France profonde, on dispose d’un article...

This paper analyzes the teleological perspective articulated by Émilie du Châtelet in her Institutions de physique (1740). I argue for the decisive influence of Christian Wolff on the metaphysical conception advanced by du Châtelet in the first chapters of this work aimed at providing a consistent metaphysical foundation to the new physics. I further claim that the principle of sufficient reason plays a crucial role in this endeavor. I then show that du Châtelet initiates a significant shift in teleology: she (...) moves away from the ‘idiographic’ standpoint focused on details and singularities, and advances a new, ‘nomothetic’ teleological perspective based on the regularity of the laws of nature. (shrink)

1. Dilthey et Husserl -- 2. Schütz et Mead -- 3. Après le tournant sémiotique.

Dans son étude intitulée « Aspects du vitalisme », Georges Cangui­lhem se plaît à rappeler les dangers de l?indistinction des frontières entre le savoir biologique et la spéculation philosophique, soit que la philosophie reprenne à son compte une partie du savoir biologique positif ou de la conceptualité biologique, soit que la biologie prétende s?élever, à partir de son savoir et de ses concepts, à des considérations d?ordre philosophique 1 . Canguilhem écrit ainsi, tout d?abord à propos du philosophe : Il (...) est bien difficile au philosophe de s?exercer à la philosophie biologique sans risquer de compromettre les biologistes qu?il utilise ou qu?il cite. Une biologie utilisée par un philosophe, n?est-ce pas déjà une biologie philoso­phique, donc fantaisiste ? Et, plus loin, à propos du biologiste : Le biologiste vitaliste devenu philosophe de la biologie croit apporter à la philosophie des capitaux et ne lui apporte en réalité que des rentes qui ne cessent de baisser à la bourse des valeurs scientifiques, du fait seul que se poursuit la recherche à laquelle il ne participe plus. [?] Il y a là une espèce d?abus de confiance sans préméditation 2 . Dans les deux cas, donc, celui des deux savoirs qui prétend s?annexer ou s?élever à quelque chose de l?autre compromet ce dernier et perd lui-même de sa solidité épistémique. En même temps qu?elles visent des personnalités scientifiques tout à fait précises. (shrink)

This article approaches the city as it is lived in events rather than as it is defined by its material forms or by its standing institutions. In the plays staged in South-African townships, in Brazilian capoeira, or in a carnival parade, the constitution of « instant communities », or « communities of movement », depends upon situations that provide the initiating movement of politics. In all such cases, the city really exists and vibrates when it is attuned to the rhythm (...) of its cultural self-invention. (shrink)

As seem by the US establishment, contemporary neoliberal trends point to the “best of the worlds”, in spite of the difficulty to adapt of various regions of the world, and resistances as in Islamic countries. But overall the leadership of the US is not threatened. For committed to resistance, a first issue is whether Europe, given its democratic tradition, is susceptible of defining an alternative. But the autonomy of this region is considerably constrained by the rules of the European Union, (...) and the Atlantic “connection” remains tight. The capability of the countries of the South to confront imperialism is limited by the illusion of emerging countries concerning their insertion in the world economy, and the weakness of the less advanced. Simultaneously, new cultural trends, such as post-modernism and “culturalism” have devastating demobilizing effects. The main task on the agenda is the redefinition of a new anti-imperialist internationalism. (shrink)

Dans la philosophie antique, la φαντασία constitue une notion clé au croisement de la psychologie, de l’éthique et de l’esthétique. Deux diffi­cultés cependant surgissent pour qui veut étudier ce terme. C’est d’abord que, assez fréquent dans les textes grecs en tant que marqueur de chacun des systèmes philosophiques qui se sont succédé, il ne relève pas tou­jours de la puissance cognitive de l’âme ; c’est ensuite que le terme pose de redoutables problèmes de transferts, liés aussi bien à la s...