Suchergebnisse

International audience ; Under Article 156.II.2 of the French Tax Code, introduced by the Budget Bill of 1959, tax authorities, approved by the Conseil d'État (French administrative supreme court), refuse to deduct, from the personal income tax base, alimonies whose payment is not required by Articles 205 to 211 of the French Civil Code. Such an interpretation creates social misery and glaring injustice. Since 1960, there have been around 50 official questions to the Government by French members of Parliament on the subject, often emphasizing the injustice of the situation. Yet, this clause of the French Tax Code should be interpreted differently. Indeed, Civil Law provides that natural maintenance obligations become civil ones when they are acknowledged (the payment implying an acknowledgment). Therefore, once they are acknowledged, they should be deducted. In reality, the provision was originally more or less imposed on Parliament, in the context of the last huge reform of personal income tax law, which was largely approved in principle. The Parliament did not trust the tax administration with this provision however, so the relevant commission removed it, but the Government required that this provision would be voted in alongside the entire law, and guaranteed that the administration would interpret it in a way which would be highly advantageous for taxpayers, reaching beyond the cases that are our concern here. Yet, not only did the administration act in a directly contradictory way to this, it has also misinformed members of Parliament, in particular by telling them that reform would not be technically possible. Meanwhile, many taxpayers, sometimes in wretched situations, were unjustly affected and were pressured into not helping their dependents, and into relying on social welfare instead, which increased public spending. This is therefore a legal tragedy since the rule applied by tax authorities is against material and moral interests of taxpayers and against those of society.Parliament should assert its ...

This article investigates the long-term historical impact of missionary activity on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. On the one hand, missionaries were among the first to invest in modern medicine in a number of countries. On the other hand, Christianity influenced sexual beliefs and behaviors. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant and Catholic missions in the early 20th century, as well as their health investments. Using a number of different empirical strategies to address selection in missionary locations and into health investments, we show that missionary presence has conflicting effects on HIV today. Regions close to historical mission stations exhibit higher HIV prevalence. This negative impact is robust to multiple specifications accounting for urbanization, and we provide evidence that it is specific to STDs. Less knowledge about condom use is a likely channel. On the contrary, among regions historically close to missionary settlements, proximity to a mission with a health investment is associated with lower HIV prevalence nowadays. Safer sexual behaviors around these missions are a possible explanatory channel.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, intergenerational relations remain a key aspect of the future development and sustainability of the European social model. In the present paper, patterns of intergenerational support and the main driving factors behind individuals' transfer behavior are explored. In particular, the data form the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe are utilized to shed light on the main factors behind the likelihood and intensity of social support, and financial help provided to and received from other family members by ageing and elderly Europeans. The analysis also takes into consideration patterns and factors correlated with grandparenting activities. Finally, special attention is devoted to the condition of those individuals who are sandwiched between care obligations toward their elderly parents and young adult children. It is shown that the likelihood of the exchange of support between family generations is highest in Scandinavian countries and lowest in Southern Europe. The intensity of support follows an opposite North-South gradient. In addition, relevant gender-related inequalities are documented. In general, time-demanding support obligations are more likely to fall on the shoulders of women in the early stage of their later life, while mainly benefitting elderly men.

Population fluctuations of rodents have always aroused human interest due to their importance in ecosystems and human welfare. However, their scientific study became especially relevant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when Robert Collet and Charles S. Elton described periodic eruptions of lemmings and voles. Since then, hundreds of theoretical, experimental, and field works have provided a basis for understanding the mechanisms underlying the different population fluctuations observed in nature. However, the generality of these mechanisms across different species and geographic areas remains one of the greatest unknowns in ecology; posing a problem for understanding natural ecosystems, as well as for managing species and their effects on human welfare. This dissertation takes advantage of the vast amount of data and knowledge on vole population dynamics to test the existence of general demographic mechanisms, as well as to identify predictors of events such as plagues to better understand and manage these species. This dissertation compiles nearly 70 years of capture-mark-recapture data from 17 trapping areas with weekly, biweekly and monthly sampling frequency from five populations of four vole species in North America and Europe (M. agrestis = 4 sampling areas or spatiotemporal replicates, M. ochrogaster = 4, M. pennsylvanicus = 5 and M. townsendii = 4); being to date the largest database of rodent demographic data with high temporal resolution (monthly resolution or higher). Subsequently, this dissertation analyses whether part of the inter-annual fluctuations is produced by common demographic mechanisms in different species and geographic areas (e.g. similar variations in survival, reproduction or migration). But to do so, it first overcomes one of the main obstacles in the study of population dynamics of rodents and many other species, the relatively low number of observations to make models sufficiently complex and informative to understand population dynamics. Specifically, this thesis proposes an extension of traditional capture-mark-recapture models, using regularization techniques widely used in different fields of statistics such as in the calculation of random effects, in order to estimate demographic parameters under conditions of relatively low data availability. With this new analysis tool, whose usefulness goes far beyond the study of rodent demography (e.g. elusive species or species with low densities such as some endangered species), this dissertation estimates the abundances and vital rates of the four vole species in the 17 sampling areas at a fine enough temporal scale to study biological models that allow an adequate understanding of their population dynamics. This dissertation uses these estimated demographic parameters to evaluate the existence of common general patterns. The results show not only the existence of such common demographic mechanisms, but also suggest their great relevance; reopening an interesting debate on the relative importance of common and specific factors in the origin of population fluctuations. Furthermore, by testing predictions of the most accepted hypotheses in the scientific community, it showed that feeding and social interactions are more likely underlying these common demographic patterns. Finally, the dissertation shows how theoretical knowledge about population dynamics can be used to solve or mitigate a human welfare problem, such as vole outbreaks. Specifically, this dissertation identifies an early warning signal capable of predicting outbreaks of the common vole (M. arvalis) one year in advance in Castilla y León (Spain). This predictor facilitates farmers and regional government to take preventive measures to mitigate the impact of vole outbreaks in crop fields. Complementarily, this dissertation proposes an approach to solve an important but little discussed problem in applied ecology, which is that erroneous predictions entail costs for users. This dissertation proposes an approach to measure the usefulness of predictors in decision making by considering their hit and error rate (statistical aspect) as well as the expenses, effectiveness, and indirect effects of the treatment to be applied based on the predictions (management aspect). This last contribution aims that scientific researches proposing predictive models explicitly indicate their usefulness for each potential user; which can enhance and improve its use in applied ecology. In general, this dissertation focuses on vole population dynamics from a basic, theoretical, and applied ecology point of view. On the one hand, it provides fundamental theoretical knowledge to understand the generalities of vole population dynamics, as well as vole outbreaks in Mediterranean environments. On the other hand, it provides diverse conceptual and analytical approaches with great multidisciplinary utility. All this together makes the present dissertation an important key piece in future research in various fields of science. ; Las fluctuaciones poblacionales de roedores han despertado siempre el interés humano debido a su importancia en los ecosistemas y en el bienestar humano. Sin embargo, su estudio científico empezó a ser especialmente relevante a finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX cuando Robert Collet y Charles S. Elton describieron las erupciones periódicas de lemmings y topillos. Desde entonces, cientos de trabajos teóricos, experimentales y de campo han proporcionado una base para entender los mecanismos que subyacen a las diferentes fluctuaciones poblacionales observadas en la naturaleza. Sin embargo, la generalidad de estos mecanismos a lo largo de las diferentes especies y áreas geográficas sigue siendo una de las mayores incógnitas de la ecología; lo que supone un problema para comprender los ecosistemas naturales, así como para gestionar las especies y sus efectos en el bienestar humano. Esta tesis aprovecha la amplia cantidad de datos y conocimientos sobre las dinámicas poblacionales de topillos para testar la existencia de mecanismos demográficos generales, así como para identificar predictores de eventos como las plagas que permitan entender y gestionar mejor estas especies. En primer lugar, esta tesis recopila casi 70 años de datos de captura-marcado-recaptura en 17 áreas de muestro con frecuencia de muestreo semanal, quincenal y mensual de cinco poblaciones de cuatro especies de topillos en Norteamérica y Europa (M. agrestis = 4 áreas de muestreo o réplicas espacio-temporales, M. ochrogaster = 4, M. pennsylvanicus = 5 y M. townsendii = 4); siendo hasta la fecha la mayor base de datos demográficos de roedores con alta resolución temporal (i.e., resolución mensual o mayor). Posteriormente, esta tesis analiza si parte de las fluctuaciones interanuales se producen por mecanismos demográficos comunes en diferentes especies y áreas geográficas (e.g. variaciones similares en la supervivencia, reproducción o migración). Pero para ello, antes supera uno de los principales obstáculos en el estudio de la dinámica poblacional de los roedores y de muchas otras especies, la relativa baja cantidad de observaciones para realizar modelos lo suficientemente complejos e informativos para entender las dinámicas poblacionales. En concreto, esta tesis propone una extensión de los modelos de captura-marcado-recaptura tradicionales, mediante el uso de técnicas de regularización ampliamente utilizadas en diferentes campos de la estadística como en el cálculo de los efectos aleatorios, y así poder estimar parámetros demográficos en condiciones de relativa baja disponibilidad de datos. Con esta nueva herramienta de análisis, cuya utilidad va mucho más allá del estudio de la demografía de roedores (e.g. especies esquivas o con bajas densidades como algunas en peligro de extinción), esta tesis estima las abundancias y tasas vitales de las cuatro especies de topillo en las 17 áreas de muestro a una escala temporal lo suficientemente fina como para poder estudiar modelos biológicos que permitan una adecuada comprensión de sus dinámicas poblacionales. Esta tesis utiliza esos parámetros demográficos estimados para evaluar la existencia de patrones generales comunes. Los resultados muestran no sólo la existencia de tales mecanismos demográficos comunes, sino que también sugieren su gran relevancia; reabriendo un interesante debate sobre la importancia relativa de los factores comunes y específicos en el origen de las fluctuaciones poblacionales. Además, esta tesis pone a prueba las predicciones de las hipótesis más aceptadas en la comunidad científica sobre los factores causales que subyacen a las variaciones demográficas (e.g. la alimentación, la depredación o las interacciones sociales). Los resultados sugieren que el alimento y las interacciones sociales podrían ser los factores causales detrás de las variaciones en las tasas vitales que producen los patrones comunes. Por último, la tesis muestra cómo el conocimiento teórico sobre la dinámica poblacional puede utilizarse para resolver o mitigar un problema de bienestar humano, como las plagas de topillos. En concreto, esta tesis identifica una señal de alerta temprana capaz de predecir las plagas de topillo campesino (M. arvalis) con un año de antelación en Castilla y León (España). Este predictor facilita que agricultores y gobierno regional tomen medidas preventivas para mitigar el impacto de las plagas de topillo en los campos de cultivo. Complementariamente, esta tesis propone un enfoque para solventar un problema importante pero poco discutido en ecología aplicada como es que las predicciones erróneas conllevan gastos para los usuarios. En particular, esta tesis propone un enfoque para medir la utilidad de un predictor en la toma de decisiones considerando la tasa de acierto y error (aspecto estadístico) y los costes, efectividad, y efectos indirectos del tratamiento que se aplicará en base a las predicciones (aspecto de gestión). Esta última contribución tiene como objetivo que las investigaciones científicas que proponen modelos predictivos indiquen explícitamente su utilidad para cada posible usuario; lo que puede potenciar y mejorar el uso de predictores en ecología aplicada. En general, esta tesis se centra en las dinámicas poblacionales de topillos desde un punto de vista de la ecología básica, teórica, y aplicada. Por un lado, proporciona un conocimiento teórico fundamental para entender las generalidades en las dinámicas poblacionales de topillos, así como de las plagas de topillos en ambientes mediterráneos. Por otro lado, proporciona diversos enfoques conceptuales y analíticos con una gran utilidad multidisciplinar. Todo esto junto hace que la presente tesis pueda ser una pieza importante clave en investigaciones futuras de diversos campos de la ciencia.

The work sheds light on the largely under-investigated puzzle of the distributional impact of EU economic governance on the budget structures of the Member States. The overarching research question is: Is the impact of the Stability and Growth Pact neutral to the composition of domestic public spending? In addressing the EU-MS fiscal puzzle the thesis considers three main research questions: 1. when and how the SGP affects the composition of national budgets. 2. if and how the SGP has affected the domestic composition of public expenditures during the Great Recession and Eurozone crisis. 3. if and how the impact of the SGP changes across different domestic political, institutional and economic conditions. The thesis brings together the literature of the domestic determinants of national fiscal policy with that on the Economic and Monetary Union. Firstly, the disaggregate assessment of where the bite of the EU economic governance framework lands back at home sheds some light on how the Pact fulfils its policy objectives of promoting at the same time fiscal discipline and inclusive growth. Within this context, it contributes to the rich debate on the subordination of social objectives to economic ones at the hand of the EU fiscal surveillance regulatory framework. At the same time, it evaluates the claim of a detrimental effect of the Pact on investment and growth, linked to the lengthening and worsening of the severe downturn in the context of the Great Recession and Eurozone crisis, as well as the divergence between core and periphery. Building on the well-established findings on the interplay between (national) fiscal rules and the political, institutional, and economic context the analysis provides a causal empirical assessment over the panel of the EU28 from 1995 to 2018 of whether and under which conditions the EU economic governance framework impacts the structure of the budgets of the Member States. In considering both a synthetic indicator of changes to the budget structure, disaggregated impact on all budget lines (e.g. health, education, social protection, etc.), and on broad components associated with investments, transfers, and the mitigation of inequalities, the analysis provides a rare comprehensive picture of which elements are affected at all and where comparatively the highest toll emerges within the components of national spending. The main results are the following: • EU economic governance is far from being neutral in affecting the budget structure of the Member States; • Its impact on the national fiscal policy mix is heterogeneous over time - increasing substantially with the latest wave of reform - and scope, limited predominantly to Eurozone countries under EDP surveillance and aligning quite poorly with prescriptions of the CSRs; • Budgetary dynamics do not escape the bind of the EDP in times of crisis, rather the framework is the most impactful in such circumstances, generating substantial spending restructuring which is both pro-cyclical and detrimental for inclusive growth, as well as for geographical convergence; • Heterogeneity in the effect of the Pact extends to domestic circumstances, with political characteristics of the government (e.g. small budget distances, high alternation) and a unitary institutional structure as a precondition for any impact to materialise, while in the economic domain, alike for the crisis, the restraint of the SGP materialises especially in countering expansionary pressures such as those of ageing and unemployment. Findings refute the widespread argument within the literature of a limited impact of the supranational fiscal governance framework given the poor track record of compliance with the deficit targets of the Stability and Growth Pact. Conversely, the work contributes a more sophisticated account of the EU economic governance framework. It distinguishes not only membership to the EMU and the Eurozone but also close supranational budgetary surveillance under the Excessive Deficit Procedure. Additionally, it accounts for the heterogeneous effects of the Pact over its life and two substantial reforms. While an effect that runs against fiscal discipline is somewhat confirmed for EU and Eurozone membership, EDP surveillance emerges as the key driver of a consolidation-driven restructuring effect on national budget structures. Such dynamic, however, is far from homogeneous across time and place: being under the EDP leads to changes in the fiscal policy mix only within the Eurozone and after the 2011 reform when excluding the period of the crisis. Second, the analysis investigates the alignment between the effect on the national budget structure of the supranational fiscal rule and the policy coordination within the Semester comparing the distributive effect of the Pact with the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) in selected Member States. Overall, the negative impact of the EDP on inequality mitigating measures and investment and specifically on health, education, and social protection, more often than not clashes with the CSRs in the considered Member States. Heterogeneities both in the impact of the EDP on the budget structure in the post-2011 period across the core and periphery and the CSRs imply, however, a more substantial disconnect between the two arms of the EMU for the Southern Member States, supporting the narrative of a particularly detrimental effect of the Pact on social spending and inequality. Third, a further contribution is the granular analysis of dynamics in times of crisis unveiling whether the escape clauses shield domestic budget structures from any shock at the hands of the supranational fiscal rule or rather instead the national fiscal policy mix is affected. The analysis offers a rare detailed account of the cost of the SGP in times of crisis for specific budget components and their relative penalization at the hands of austerity policies, allowing to pinpoint if investments have been preserved at the expenses of social policies and those mitigating inequality, together with the intergenerational distributions of fiscal discipline. The results contradict the hypothesis of national budgets escaping from the claws of the pact during economic downturns. Rather, during the crisis more marked restructuring of the fiscal policy mixes emerges, as the EDP surveillance has a significant and sizeable impact on the budget structure and some of the key budget lines of interest even before the 2011 reform in times of crisis. The analysis reveals that not all spending is equally affected, as while EDP surveillance acts to (nearly fully) contain the recessionary upward push on spending, for example, in the domains of education and social protection, it more than compensates for the crisis for another key budget line such as health. As a result, divergences emerge in the constraining effect of the Pact on transfers, investment, and inequality mitigation. The first is only negatively impacted by the EDP surveillance in times of crisis, while the remaining categories always feel the constraining influence of the Pact which is further strengthened during the Great Recession. The already bleak picture for an inclusive and growth-enhancing investment rich recovery hides substantial divergences between core and periphery explored in details in the dissertation, as southern countries carry the worst prospect in terms of full containment of transfers and slashing of investments, with an intergenerational cost shouldered especially by youth. Finally, the work considers as well the interplay between the supranational level and the national context, identifying how the characteristics of the governing coalition (i.e. ideology, the range within the government and alternation), the federal- unitary institutional nature, along with fiscal rule strength preferences in the Member States, and the demographic and employment conditions affect the transmission of the supranational commitments within the Stability and Growth Pact onto the domestic budget structure. In doing so it uncovers as well which national configurations and conditions are conducive to a (restraining) impact of the SGP on national spending and the fiscal policy mix. Findings show that national political context facilitating changes to the budget structure (i.e. small coalition ranges and high alternations) are associated with a larger impact of the EDP surveillance on the fiscal policy mix, which loses significance under less favourable political conditions. A similar pattern emerges for ideology, with somewhat moderate governments as a precondition for any impact of the EDP surveillance, which is more sizeable on the left side of the spectrum. In the institutional arena unitary countries are more conducive to restructuring their budgets when falling under EDP surveillance, while conversely, national fiscal rule preferences show a complementarity between the extent to which countries prefer fiscal discipline on their own and the Pact, with EDP surveillance affecting more substantially the Member States with a laxer approach to spending. Finally, the demographic pressure and that of high unemployment stiffen the budget structure increasing the barriers against a restructuring effect of the Pact. However, from the opposite perspective - alike for the crisis - the constraining power of EDP surveillance is quite remarkable, containing their budgetary implications. To that effect, the EDP enacts substantial convergence across various levels of unemployment and old-age dependency rate. As such, the thesis confirms that while effects are heterogeneous and dependent on the national context, the Pact for Eurozone countries under EDP surveillance is far from a minor nuisance but rather a powerful force capable of substantially restraining if not annihilating key pressures such as that of demography, unemployment, and even the crisis. The thesis is structured as follows. After introducing the purpose and relevance of the work in Chapter One, Chapter Two situates the analysis within the extant literature on the domestic determinants of the budget structure, fiscal rules, and the EU economic governance, which inform and ground the research questions and hypotheses presented in Chapter Three. From such premises, the methodological approach and research design are outlined in Chapter Four touching on the key empirical challenges and mitigation strategies deployed in assessing such a complex ecosystem. Four empirical chapters follow. Chapter Five uncovers heterogeneities in the effect of the EU economic governance over its different configurations (e.g. Eurozone, EDP surveillance) and subsequent regulatory framework (i.e. initial, post- 2005, and post-2011), together with the (mis)-alignment across the effect of the Pact on domestic budget structures and the prescriptions of the Country-Specific- Recommendations. Chapter Six and Seven are dedicated to the assessment of the effect of the Pact during the Great Recession and Eurozone crisis, evaluating whether - against the expectations derived from the escape clauses - any impact on the budget structure emerges at all during the crisis, considering as well at a granular level where the bite of the EU economic governance at crisis lands across budget lines. Chapter Seven continues along the same line considering the distributional effects on investments, transfers, and inequality mitigation during the crisis, taking a closer look at the social dimension and how the intergenerational balance of spending is altered. Chapter Eight concludes the empirical analysis evaluating the interaction between the Pact and the national context uncovering which political, institutional, and economic domestic configurations are most conducive to the impact of the SGP. Finally, Chapter Nine situates the key findings of the thesis in the context of the reform debate on the Pact and fiscal governance more in general, considering as well the insights and outlook for the future of political and economic integration which can be drawn for the unprecedented challenge of the Covid-19 crisis and (partial) policy evolution for the pandemic response.

In Hidden Depths, Professor Penny Spikins explores how our emotional connections have shaped human ancestry. Focusing on three key transitions in human origins, Professor Spikins explains how the emotional capacities of our early ancestors evolved in response to ecological changes, much like similar changes in other social mammals. For each transition, dedicated chapters examine evolutionary pressures, responses in changes in human emotional capacities and the archaeological evidence for human social behaviours. Starting from our earliest origins, in Part One, Professor Spikins explores how after two million years ago, movement of human ancestors into a new ecological niche drove new types of collaboration, including care for vulnerable members of the group. Emotional adaptations lead to cognitive changes, as new connections based on compassion, generosity, trust and inclusion also changed our relationship to material things. Part Two explores a later key transition in human emotional capacities occurring after 300,000 years ago. At this time changes in social tolerance allowed ancestors of our own species to further reach out beyond their local group and care about distant allies, making human communities resilient to environmental changes. An increasingly close relationship to animals, and even to cherished possessions, appeared at this time, and can be explained through new human vulnerabilities and ways of seeking comfort and belonging. Lastly, Part Three focuses on the contrasts in emotional dispositions arising between ourselves and our close cousins, the Neanderthals. Neanderthals are revealed as equally caring yet emotionally different humans, who might, if things had been different, have been in our place today. This new narrative breaks away from traditional views of human evolution as exceptional or as a linear progression towards a more perfect form. Instead, our evolutionary history is situated within similar processes occurring in other mammals, and explained as one in which emotions, rather than 'intellect', were key to our evolutionary journey. Moreover, changes in emotional capacities and dispositions are seen as part of differing pathways each bringing strengths, weaknesses and compromises. These hidden depths provide an explanation for many of the emotional sensitivities and vulnerabilities which continue to influence our world today.

In Hidden Depths, Professor Penny Spikins explores how our emotional connections have shaped human ancestry.
Focusing on three key transitions in human origins, Professor Spikins explains how the emotional capacities of our early ancestors evolved in response to ecological changes, much like similar changes in other social mammals. For each transition, dedicated chapters examine evolutionary pressures, responses in changes in human emotional capacities and the archaeological evidence for human social behaviours.
Starting from our earliest origins, in Part One, Professor Spikins explores how after two million years ago, movement of human ancestors into a new ecological niche drove new types of collaboration, including care for vulnerable members of the group. Emotional adaptations lead to cognitive changes, as new connections based on compassion, generosity, trust and inclusion also changed our relationship to material things. Part Two explores a later key transition in human emotional capacities occurring after 300,000 years ago. At this time changes in social tolerance allowed ancestors of our own species to further reach out beyond their local group and care about distant allies, making human communities resilient to environmental changes. An increasingly close relationship to animals, and even to cherished possessions, appeared at this time, and can be explained through new human vulnerabilities and ways of seeking comfort and belonging. Lastly, Part Three focuses on the contrasts in emotional dispositions arising between ourselves and our close cousins, the Neanderthals. Neanderthals are revealed as equally caring yet emotionally different humans, who might, if things had been different, have been in our place today.
This new narrative breaks away from traditional views of human evolution as exceptional or as a linear progression towards a more perfect form. Instead, our evolutionary history is situated within similar processes occurring in other mammals, and explained as one in which emotions, rather than 'intellect', were key to our evolutionary journey. Moreover, changes in emotional capacities and dispositions are seen as part of differing pathways each bringing strengths, weaknesses and compromises. These hidden depths provide an explanation for many of the emotional sensitivities and vulnerabilities which continue to influence our world today.

When social security is established to provide pensions to parents, their reliance upon children for future financial support decreases, and their need to save for retirement also falls. In this study, the expansion of pension coverage from the state sector to the non-state sector in urban China is used as a quasi-experiment to analyze the intergenerational impact of social security on education investments in children. In a difference-in-differences framework, a significant increase in the total education expenditure is found to be attributable to pension expansion. The results are unlikely to be driven by other observable trends. They are robust to the inclusion of a large set of control variables and to different specifications, including one based on the instrumental variable method.

Nous assistons actuellement au peuplement des zones périurbaines de la planète par des centaines de millions d'individus. Cette évolution pose de redoutables problèmes et des difficultés inédites pour les politiques publiques. Si les effets de la périurbanisation sont relativement bien connus dans les pays du Nord, les analyses dédiées aux pays du Sud sont bien moins développées. L'ouvrage « Territoires périurbains : développement, enjeux et perspectives dans les pays du Sud » permet de lever un coin du voile sur cette problématique et sur les grands défis que la périurbanisation pose pour le Sud en général et pour l'Afrique centrale en particulier. L'ouvrage débute en cherchant à clarifier ce qu'il faut exactement entendre par « territoire périurbain ». À la suite de cette mise en contexte, il se poursuit par cinq parties organisées autour des problématiques des ressources naturelles, de la sécurité alimentaire, de la santé publique, des services publics et de l'aménagement des territoires. Pour chacune de ces problématiques, des chercheurs spécialisés issus de disciplines variées apportent des contributions qui, tout en soulignant l'ampleur des défis, permettent la mise en avant de solutions innovantes pour améliorer la gouvernance et le bien-être des populations. Cet ouvrage s'adresse d'abord aux chercheurs préoccupés par les défis du développement. En parallèle, par les pistes pour l'action publique qu'il esquisse, il ne manquera pas d'également intéresser les décideurs et les praticiens qui opèrent dans le contexte des territoires périurbains des pays du Sud.

Désormais, la plupart des descriptions des SHS repose moins sur un schéma présentant quelques grandes orientations en conflit, que sur les objets traités et les choix théoriques non limités aux frontières des disciplines premières. Le choix politique d'encourager la recherche française à s'investir dans le programme européen « Horizon 2020 », mobilise sans difficulté les SHS, qui retrouvent dans les thématiques communes des objets familiers et suscite aussi de nombreuses réflexions projectives de la communauté scientifique à partir desquelles l'Alliance Athéna a travaillé. Le présent document entend sur la base d'une explicitation du régime de connaissances propre aux SHS, montrer l'ampleur de leur implication potentielle dans les mobilisations de la connaissance qui concernent toutes les sciences. Une première analyse globale des forces du domaine permet d'émettre des propositions propres à améliorer la capacité des SHS à s'impliquer dans les défis actuels. Ce rapport est à l'image de ce qu'exige le futur : il s'inscrit dans un processus d'intelligence collective qui privilégie la coopération, la complémentarité des compétences et l'appropriation des résultats de la recherche3, il se veut une contribution à l'effort pour surmonter la crise actuelle.Rapport dirigé par Jacques Commaille et Françoise Thibault.

Dans un contexte de profond renouvellement du système de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur, les opérateurs pertinent du domaine des sciences humaines et sociales, ensemble disciplinaire que l'on dit souvent insuffisamment organisé tant la tradition du travail individuel y est ancrée, ont en particulier à réfléchir sur les questions de structuration des SHS. On peut observer cette structuration et ses effets à divers niveaux : les personnes, les projets, les équipes, les institutions, et les réseaux. Pour ce faire, l'Alliance Athéna a mis en place un groupe « structuration des sciences de l'homme et de la société (SHS) », qui devait plus particulièrement travailler sur les questions suivantes : a) Mécanismes institutionnels de la concertation entre les acteurs pertinents pour la structuration de la recherche en SHS, b) Interfaces de la recherche SHS (SDV Sciences de la vie, Maths/STIC technologie de l'information et de la communication, Sciences de la terre.), c) Emploi scientifique SHS (gestion de l'emploi et des carrières par les opérateurs concernés) ; d) Politique des réseaux de recherche (en France, à l'échelle européenne, à l'échelle internationale), e) Rôle des MSH sur les sites (rapports avec la gouvernance de chaque site), à l'échelle nationale et internationale. Au fil de l'examen des différents thèmes, le groupe Structuration de l'alliance Athéna s'est emparé de la question d'équilibre entre une polarisation inéluctable du système de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur et le principe de développement partagé dont les universités implantées sur l'ensemble du territoire sont porteuses. Rapport dirigé par François Weil et Chantal Cases.

Longtemps considérées en France comme des sciences pouvant fonctionner avec peu de moyens, les SHS ont été absentes des grands plans d'équipements pour la recherche. La question des infrastructures a été présentée dans les différents rapports consacrés aux SHS comme une difficulté jamais réellement surmontée. Les constats de pénurie ont concerné les bibliothèques de recherche puis les outils informatiques nécessaires aux sciences sociales. Des réalisations notables mais éparses ont cependant vu le jour sans pouvoir répondre à tous les besoins des chercheurs. La publication, en décembre 2008, de la première feuille de route nationale sur les infrastructures de recherche constitue un tournant dans la politique même si cette dernière n'a pas été immédiatement suivie d'effets sur le terrain. A l'instar de tous les grands domaines scientifiques, des très grandes infrastructures de recherche (TGIR) y étaient identifiées et reconnues comme stratégiques pour le développement des sciences humaines et sociales, toutes étant étroitement liées au développement des sciences et technologies de l'information et de la communication. En effet, si pendant de nombreuses années, la bibliothèque a constitué le principal grand instrument pour de nombreuses disciplines du domaine, il n'est plus de pratique scientifique qui puisse se dispenser des ressources et services apparus avec les STIC. Archives et bibliothèques numériques, bases bibliographiques et enquêtes sociologiques accessibles en ligne, les documents concernés sont très divers allant des plus traditionnels jusqu'aux plus expérimentaux comme les épi-journaux ou les « revues-blogs ». Plus fragiles que par le passé, ces données et documents numériques imposent pour être accessibles de façon pérenne, un ensemble de traitements qui tiennent compte à la fois du travail scientifique lui-même et des évolutions techniques.La réflexion lancée par le ministère de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche au début de l'année 2011 pour l'élaboration de la stratégie nationale ...

Rezension von: Sabine Andresen / Rita Casale / Thomas Gabriel / Rebekka Horlacher / Sabina Larcher Klee / Jürgen Oelkers (Hrsg.): Handwörterbuch Erziehungswissenschaft, Weinheim/Basel: Beltz 2009, 924 S.