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Les proportions de femmes dirigeant un ménage, vivant seules ou restées célibataires sont des éléments-clé de la structure sociale de toute société. La présente étude veut établir combien de femmes étaient à la tête d'un foyer dans l'Angleterre pré-industrielle ; elle recherche également combien de veuves, à l'opposé des veufs, vivaient seules, ou, alternativement, avec le ménage de leurs enfants. Des comparaisons sont proposées entre l'Angleterre d'autrefois et celle d'aujourd'hui, ainsi qu'entre l'Angleterre et d'autres pays européens aujourd'hui. Ces comparaisons sont basées sur la proportion de ménages dirigés par des femmes et sur la proportion des femmes par âge qui étaient à la tête d'un foyer.
Il en résulte deux conclusions. La première, c'est qu'il y a peu de différence dans la fréquence avec laquelle des femmes restées célibataires ou devenues veuves étaient à la tête de ménages en Angleterre à la fin du XXe siècle ou à l'époque pré-industrielle. La seconde, c'est qu'il y a d'importantes différences entre les pays européens dans les années 1970 quant à la proportion de femmes chefs de ménage : l'Angleterre et la Suède occupent chacune une place originale ; l'Allemagne de l'Ouest a une proportion de femmes chefs de ménage plus élevée que la France.

Ya'acov Oved, The future society according to Kropotkin.
This article reviews the development of Peter Kropotkin's views on the future society since 1873, and traces the stages of the elaboration of his anarcho-eommunist vision. Kropotkin's theory of mutual aid as a factor of survival is presented as the basis of the world view which buttresses the structure of the future society. A special attention is given to the notions of the spontaneous character of the transitional stage of the social revolution preliminary to the emergence of the new society. The article describes extensively the values and social structures which will be embedded in the post-revolutionary era. Subjects such as the system of rewards according to needs, the integration of industry and agriculture, the combina- tion of manual and intellectual work, the integral education, and women's liberation, are presented as highlights of the character and scope of this Utopian vision. The article concludes with an evaluation and criticism of Kropotkin's approach based on the assessment of contemporary scholars as well as rivals and anarchist partners.

Building upon the experience of the Convention for the elaboration of the Charter of fundamental rights and upon the suggestions of the White Paper on European Governance, this article puts forward proposals for a better involvement of the 'civil society' in the system of the European Union. It offers a general diagnosis of the misunderstandings surrounding the notion of 'civil society' and the relationship of representative democracy to participatory democracy. It then draws some lessons from the experiment in deliberative democracy which led to the drafting of the Charter of fundamental rights. Finally, it focuses on the contribution the organisations of the civil society can make to good governance in the European Union. Altogether, the proposals presented tend to encourage a better structuration of the actors of the civil society. Such a structuration, the article concludes, although it is usually considered with suspicion even by those whom it would most benefit, must be seen instead as a condition for the effective exercise of whichever participatory rights might be granted to the organisations of the civil society.

Building upon the experience of the Convention for the elaboration of the Charter of fundamental rights and upon the suggestions of the White Paper on European Governance, this article puts forward proposals for a better involvement of the 'civil society' in the system of the European Union. It offers a general diagnosis of the misunderstandings surrounding the notion of 'civil society' and the relationship of representative democracy to participatory democracy. It then draws some lessons from the experiment in deliberative democracy which led to the drafting of the Charter of fundamental rights. Finally, it focuses on the contribution the organisations of the civil society can make to good governance in the European Union. Altogether, the proposals presented tend to encourage a better structuration of the actors of the civil society. Such a structuration, the article concludes, although it is usually considered with suspicion even by those whom it would most benefit, must be seen instead as a condition for the effective exercise of whichever participatory rights might be granted to the organisations of the civil society.