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This book is devoted to discussion of the views of Pierre Musso and starts with a central chapter written by Musso, entitled Network Ideology: from Saint-Simonianism to the Internet . Pierre Musso is a French philosopher and is one of the most original thinkers in the history of the network society. His thought develops a critique of information and communication technologies through their imaginaryand social representations and of the information society, based on the network metaphor.The main question on which Musso has focused his attention is how the network metaphor is one of the most powerful ways of understanding the complex societies in which we live. Showing characteristic attention to detail, and drawing on the history of ideas, political philosophy and sociology, Musso traces the genealogy of the network imaginary, and points out that it did not emerge with the Internet. He shows how its modern roots can be found in Henri de Saint-Simon and his disciples, engineers and entrepreneurs such as Michel de Chevalier, and Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, who developed channel networks, railroads, and the telegraphic network in France in the nineteenth century.In addition to the central piece written by Musso, the book includes a general introduction and six commentaries from experts on information technologies and networks. It displays a wide range of perspectives from a diverse set of authorsin terms of nationalities and universities, as well as disciplinary backgrounds.

Este artigo procede a uma crítica à inovação impulsionada, desde as décadas finais do século xx, como grande projecto das sociedades. O texto apresenta duas contribuições principais para a elucidação do que está em causa nesse empreendimento. A primeira consiste em sustentar que a orientação para a inovação é uma política económica, de carácter neoliberal, que tem como objectivo o aumento da produtividade e dos lucros, através da anexação da ciência e da tecnologia, e abrindo o caminho aos mercados de novos âmbitos do mundo natural e da vida humana. A segunda é sugerir que o projecto da inovação é uma nova manifestação de historicismo, mais propriamente de historicismo tecno-liberal. O texto conclui com a defesa da necessidade de avaliar as políticas da inovação segundo valores adequados para alcançar fins socialmente equitativos e ecologicamente viáveis.

This article analyses the metamorphoses of the religious element in contemporary western societies. Acknowledging the idea that the constitution of a political community implies feelings of union and identification of religious character, I proceed to the definition of the concepts of secular religion, civil religion and political religion. I also argue that a political community, and the legitimisation of power and authority in a democracy, requires secular cults according to the imperatives proper to the formation of an open and cohesive society. Other contemporary cults, like the ones born of the illusions of technology, in the free market and in the trivialities of the mass media, are considered phenomena that render the sacred futile and impoverished. ; Este artículo analiza las metamorfosis del elemento religioso en las sociedades occidentales contemporáneas. Admitiendo la idea de que la constitución de una comunidad política implica sentimientos de unión e identificación de corte religioso, se procede a la definición de los conceptos de religión secular, religión civil y religión política. Se defiende también que una comunidad política, y la legitimación del poder y autoridad en una democracia, requieren cultos seculares acordes con los imperativos propios de la formación de una sociedad abierta y cohesionada. Otros cultos contemporáneos, como los que nacen de las ilusiones de la tecnología, en el mercado libre y en las trivialidades de los mass media, son considerados fenómenos que hacen fútil lo sagrado y lo empobrecen.

Nas sociedades contemporâneas, obtemos informação, conhecimento e cultura quando lemos livros, jornais e revistas impressos ou on-line, ouvimos rádio e podcasts, vemos filmes e televisão, visualizamos mensagens e imagens em smartphones e tablets, e preservamos histórias, ficções, músicas, investigações, documentos e fotografias em computadores, entre muitas outras formas de comunicação. E interagimos uns com os outros quando, por exemplo, falamos ao telefone, enviamos e-mails, textos e fotos pela Internet ou lecionamos, estudamos e fazemos encomendas através dessa rede. Vastos domínios da comunicação estão, pois, enquadrados, abrangidos ou inclusivamente dependentes de máquinas, sistemas tecnológicos e instituições a que chamamos média e plataformas tecnológicas. O propósito principal deste ensaio é elaborar uma reflexão sobre o processo de longa duração, desde o nascimento dos média modernos à Internet, que alterou profundamente a comunicação humana, desincrustando-a das relações sociais. Que nexos e estruturações são possíveis de encontrar entre as invenções tecnológicas na esfera da comunicação, as instituições que se desenvolveram a partir das suas potencialidades e as condições sociais, económicas e políticas que são o seu contexto? Existem tendências discerníveis relativamente às implicações para a comunicação do seu envolvimento pela tecnologia, pelos média e pela economia? Ao longo deste percurso, quais foram os significados da comunicação que se estabeleceram?

The current European Union reapproval procedure for glyphosate is developed as a case study testing whether the 12 precautionary lessons identified by European Environment Agency research as needed to avoid unnecessary harm to society have been incorporated into current regulatory approaches. The working hypothesis that those lessons have not been learnt to a significant degree could not be falsified. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Abstract

The decision to incinerate hazardous industrial waste in cement plants (the socalled 'co-incineration' process) gave rise to one of the most heated environmental conflicts ever to take place in Portugal. The bitterest period was between 1997 and 2002, after the government had made a decision. Strong protests by residents, environmental organizations, opposition parties, and some members of the scientific community forced the government to backtrack and to seek scientific legitimacy for the process through scientific expertise. The experts ratified the government's decision, stating that the risks involved were socially acceptable. The conflict persisted over a decade and ended up clearing the way for a more sustainable method over which there was broad social consensus – a multifunctional method which makes it possible to treat, recover and regenerate most wastes. Focusing the analysis on this conflict, this paper has three aims: (1) to discuss the implications of the fact that expertise was 'confiscated' after the government had committed itself to the decision to implement co-incineration and by way of a reaction to the atmosphere of tension and protest; (2) to analyse the uses of the notions of 'risk' and 'uncertainty' in scientific reports from both experts and counter-experts' committees, and their different assumptions about controllability and criteria for considering certain practices to be sufficiently safe for the public; and (3) to show how the existence of different technical scientific and political attitudes (one more closely tied to government and the corporate interests of the cement plants, the other closer to the environmental values of reuse and recycling and respect for the risk perception of residents who challenged the facilities) is closely bound up with problems of democratic legitimacy. This conflict showed how adopting more sustainable and lower-risk policies implies a broader view of democratic legitimacy, one which involves both civic movements and citizens themselves.

Neste arquivo apresentamos o dossiê: "A sociologia como ontologia do presente: teoria, metateoria e análise crítica".