Suchergebnisse

This is the first book to systematically analyse the different concepts of the social developed by Durkheim, Marx and Weber, suggesting that debates surrounding this concept are still very much alive

This book outlines A.N. Whitehead's philosophy of process and uses it to re-orient a range of topics within social theory, namely: the relation of language and the body; sexual difference and conceptions of nature; the question of realism; the concept of the social; and capitalism as process.

This book outlines A.N. Whitehead's philosophy of process and uses it to re-orient a range of topics within social theory, namely: the relation of language and the body; sexual difference and conceptions of nature; the question of realism; the concept of the social; and capitalism as process

This article argues that all judgements or statements about social class are inherently moral in that they implicitly advocate how people should (or should not) act. The argument extends Bourdieu's linking of social class and representation by introducing Dewey's intertwining of morality and habit. It is suggested that Kant's apparently distinct critiques have set up three domains – knowledge, morality, aesthetics – which modern thought has treated as radically discrete. Although successful in linking the objective and the aesthetic (social class and its representation), Bourdieu was unable to incorporate the moral. Dewey's reconceptualization of morality and habit is presented as able to overcome this limitation. The introduction of morality is intended to reflect the contingent and complex operations of social class. The article aims to destabilize contemporary conceptions of social class by clarifying the enduring moral aspect which supports its conceptualization and existence.

In this paper, I argue that we need to rethink how we conceive of death as "inevitable". There are two main strands to my analysis. First, I use the work of Stengers to trace the complex and, occasionally, contradictory ways in which the concept of entropy was developed within physics in the 19th and 20th century. I argue that this has led to a general but ill-conceived notion of the universe as wasting away, as dying. This is a form of inevitability which has infected our understanding of what constitutes the death of individual humans. I then turn to the contrast that Whitehead draws between creativity and "perpetual perishing". I suggest that this contrast might help us to develop a wider, more coherent, approach to thinking about the status of death, and its supposed inevitability. In the final section, I reflect upon my father's death in 2013 in light of some of the concepts and problems raised throughout the paper.

The overall objective of this report – and the survey, workshop and follow-up analysis upon which it is based - is to provide national policy actors with a tool to increase their ability and confidence to implement the CBD/NP and ITPGRFA/MLS in mutually supportive ways.

In 2014, Bioversity International and the ABS Capacity Building Initiative led a series of interactions on the mutually supportive implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). These interactions included a survey among national focal points of both international agreements in 15 African countries, a four-day workshop, and a follow up analysis of inputs provided by workshop participants. This publication is the report of the four-day workshop held on 3-6 June 2014, at FAO, Rome, with 75 participants, including experts and representatives of stakeholder groups (farmers, academia, governments, regional governmental organizations), national focal points for the CBD, the Nagoya Protocol and the ITPGRFA, and members of the Secretariats of the CBD and the ITPGRFA. The core of these events were the 'tandems': pairs or small teams of national focal points for the Nagoya Protocol and the ITPGRFA from a single country working together. The workshop included presentations by independent experts and stakeholders whose daily activities are affected by access and benefit-sharing (ABS) regulations, and discussions on small working groups on hypothetical scenarios that evidenced overlaps and grey areas in the implementation of the ITPRGFA and the Nagoya Protocol. The 'tandem' approach and the work through hypothetical scenarios led to interesting reflections and proposals on the mutually supportive implementation of both international agreements. A publication that draws on the scenarios and the discussions held at the workshop was released in English, French and Spanish in 2017, Russian in 2018 and Arabic in 2019, with the title "Mutually supportive implementation of the Nagoya Protocol and the Plant Treaty: Scenarios for consideration by national focal points and other interested stakeholders".

This paper will suggest that the work Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) provides a fruitful resource for understanding the philosophical development and validity of scientific concepts through an analysis of their socio-historical location. The paper will address two key elements of Whitehead's thought. One element is "The Bifurcation of Nature" and the paper traces the influence that this conceptual compromise has had on philosophy and science through its reinforcement of the division between the natural and the social sciences. The second element is the status of abstraction in thought and existence. The article will outline Whitehead's argument that it is necessary to pay attention to the social environment which both enables and inhibits thought if historical epistemology is to develop novel yet analytically strong concepts.

The paper highlights lessons learned over the last thirty years establishing a governance structure for the global crop commons that are of relevance to current champions of the microbial commons. It argues that the political, legal and biophysical situation in which microbial genetic resources (and their users) are located today are similar to the situation of plant genetic resources in the mid-1990s, before the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources was negotiated. Consequently, the paper suggests that it may be useful to look to the model of global network of ex situ plant genetic resources collections as a precedent to follow – even if only loosely – in developing an intergovernmentally endorsed legal substructure and governance framework for the microbial commons.

The paper highlights lessons learned over the last thirty years establishing a governance structure for the global crop commons that are of relevance to current champions of the microbial commons. It argues that the political, legal and biophysical situation in which microbial genetic resources (and their users) are located today are similar to the situation of plant genetic resources in the mid-1990s, before the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources was negotiated. Consequently, the paper suggests that it may be useful to look to the model of global network of ex situ plant genetic resources collections as a precedent to follow – even if only loosely – in developing an intergovernmentally endorsed legal substructure and governance framework for the microbial commons.

For decades, industry lobbyists and governments have been mounting pressure on other countries to offer stronger protection for foreign owned intellectual property. This paper seeks to sow dissent among those who feel that the NAFTA and TRIPS agreements represent the triumph of strong intellectual property rights over domestic policy-making alternatives. Focusing on patent law, in particular, this article argues that there are a wide range of policy options open to patent granting countries which both circumscribe patent holder's rights and comply with TRIPS and NAFTA. More specifically, the author argues that TRIPS and NAFTA signatories continue to enjoy relatively broad discretion to legislate compulsory licensing and mandatory local working conditions.