Suchergebnisse

The article analyzes the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV) as a specific security technology created to deal with the ecological threat of biodiversity loss. Built in 2008 inside the Arctic Circle, the SGSV serves as a backup for 1,700 agricultural gene banks around the world. If seed collections are lost due to natural disasters or human error, the gene banks can request copies of their varieties from Svalbard and restore their collections to continue the endeavour of plant breeding. The article focuses on the particular temporal politics expressed in the SGSV. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann's reflections on time, it is argued that the SGSV opens up the possibility of reversing events by expanding the duration of the present. By separating seeds from their ecological connections on the one hand and controlling their metabolic processes through the use of cold on the other, an enduring temporal zone is created that allows modern society to control the unpredictable and irreversible dynamics of life and undo its emergent effects. The SGSV therefore materializes what is herein called the politics of reversibility.

A proposta deste artigo é contribuir com o debate acerca das formas ocultas de assalariamento decorrentes da financeirização da produção, a partir da abordagem de Cadeias Globais de Valor (CGV). Esta abordagem mira os novos expedientes de externalização das atividades produtivas das empresas transnacionais oportunizados pela desregulamentação financeira. A pesquisa circunscreve-se à deslocalização dos trabalhos de inovação através de novas modalidades de aplicações financeiras direcionadas a microempresas inovadoras, tomando como objeto as startups de base tecnológica, nas quais esses investimentos têm sido mais atuantes. O objetivo foi evidenciar que tal expediente denota um novo tipo de assalariamento por peça, assinalado pela produção sob encomenda (just in time), e impulsionado pelo capital financeiro. No caso, a peça é circunstanciada nos projetos encomendados para atender à incrementação da produtividade das empresas líderes das CGV e, com isso, a rentabilidade de seus acionistas. O instrumento mais utilizado para captar esses investimentos são os Editais de Inovação agenciados por políticas de governança e empreendedorismo, cujo principal pilar são as parcerias público-privadas. A análise de dois editais dessa natureza permitiu constatar que esses atuam como um meio de conectar encomendas corporativas a trabalhadores autônomos, servindo como um artifício para disfarçar processos de terceirização dos laboratórios de inovação das grandes marcas e disponibilizar força de trabalho qualificada sem despesas trabalhistas. Assim, riscos e custos laborais são transferidos às startups proponentes, ao mesmo tempo em que as deixa permanentemente disponíveis para novos pedidos, reiterando o paradigma do trabalho intermitente e sem direitos, característico do capitalismo contemporâneo.

Le présent article rend compte des résultats d'une recherche menée auprès de professionnels chargés de l'accompagnement de mineurs isolés étrangers. La démarche entreprise permet de vérifier l'hypothèse d'entraves systémiques à l'accès aux droits de ces jeunes étrangers, pourtant accueillis au sein d'établissements ayant vocation à leur protection et à leur inclusion. La littérature sociologique convoquée offre l'occasion d'expliquer les logiques sociales au fondement des pratiques professionnelles observées. Relues sous l'angle des violences institutionnelles, on constate que ces dernières s'imposent tant aux jeunes accueillis qu'aux professionnels qui les accompagnent.

The life and work of a remarkably versatile and pioneering South African thinker Mongameli Anthony Mabona (1929) is a singular South African scholar with an exceptional life path. Yet, he is a wrongly forgotten figure today. British imperialism and apartheid shaped the world into which he was born and, to a large extent, these powers carved out his destiny for him. Nevertheless, a curious set of coincidences enabled him to obtain a tertiary education as a priest, to pursue his doctoral studies in Italy and to befriend Alioune Diop. He is one of the first published philosophers of Anglophone Africa and holds doctorates in theology and anthropology. His opposition to institutionalized racism – an opposition which included his co-authoring the 1970 "Black Priests' Manifesto" – eventually led to his exile. This book is the first study of any kind devoted to Mabona. It documents his life and offers a synoptic reading of his scholarly and poetic work.

Genocide targets lives and also aims to destroy cultures. Hence, refugees do not only save their bare lives, as the common notion of a refugee in need of individual protection assumes; they also engage in various collective practices to safeguard their cultural heritage from destruction. As an expression of self-consciousness against genocidal violence, this process of rescue becomes a part of that very cultural heritage and thus fundamentally alters its meaning. To develop a better understanding of this complex process, this article first develops general thoughts on refugee agency and cultural survival. Secondly, to exemplify the variety of such efforts and their cultural meaning, this article examines how European Jews, and particularly the General Jewish Labor Bund, attempted to save Yiddish culture and material collections on the secular history of European Jews during the 20th century. In conclusion, it argues that in addition to the individualized perception of a refugee, we need to consider collective cultural rescue as an integral part of refugee politics.