John Gray is now established as one of the UK's leading political thinkers. For over a decade he has been asssociated with the ideas and think-tanks of the New Right. In this book he presents both a criticism of the ideological excesses of New Right ideology and a radical critique of the New Right itself, developed from the standpoint of traditional conservatism. All the major thinkers and themes of the New Right are examined, together with many major issues of current public policy - such as the growth of the underclass, the future of the welfare state and the role of government in education a.
Fin dalla formulazione della teoria della tragedy of the commons di Garrett Hardin nel 1968, assistiamo, sia in ambito accademico sia nella società, a un rinnovato interesse per i commons, le forme collettive o comunitarie di gestione delle risorse ambientali. Questa tesi illustra il funzionamento di queste particolari istituzioni, concentrandosi su un caso di studio italiano, le cosiddette partecipanze agrarie emiliane, indagate adottando una prospettiva antropologica di lungo periodo. Se negli ultimi decenni si sono moltiplicate le ricerche etnografiche e gli studi sperimentali volti a spiegare il grado di performance raggiungibile dai commons, poca attenzione è stata data ai modi in cui questi si formano e si modificano nel tempo per adattarsi a situazioni ecologiche, economiche, politiche e sociali differenti. Sostenendo la necessità di adottare una metodologia il più possibile interdisciplinare, in cui l'antropologo dialoga con la storia, l'economia, la demografia e altre discipline, le domande che guidano la ricerca sono le seguenti: quando, dove e come sono emerse queste particolari istituzioni? Per quali motivi e in che modo sono cambiate nel corso del tempo? Quali fattori hanno permesso loro di continuare ad esistere o, al contrario, le hanno condannate all'estinzione? Quali conseguenze i commons recano all'ambiente e alla popolazione locale nel lungo periodo? In che modo il rapporto tra queste comunità umane e il loro ambiente forgia identità, memorie e comportamenti condivisi? Un'analisi di lungo periodo delle partecipanze agrarie emiliane evidenzia la complessità del fenomeno, in cui i principi di cooperazione sono sempre coesistiti con forti tensioni e conflitti sia interni che esterni, e dove le strategie di gate keeping ed esclusione dei non membri hanno portato nel corso dei secoli a modificare la struttura dei commons, la composizione della popolazione e l'ambiente circostante. ; Since the formulation of the "tragedy of the commons" theory by Garrett Hardin in 1968, we are witnessing, both in the academic world and the society, a renewed interest in the commons, the collective or communal forms of management of environmental resources. This thesis describes the functioning of these particular institutions, focusing on an Italian case study, the so-called "partecipanze agrarie" of Emilia, investigated by adopting a long term anthropological perspective. While during the last decades ethnographic and experimental studies tried to explain the level of performance reached by the commons, scarce attention has been given to the ways in which the commons are formed and change over time to adapt to different ecological, economic, political and social situations. Arguing the need to adopt an interdisciplinary methodology, where anthropology merges with history, economics, demography and other disciplines, the questions that guide the research are the following: When, where and how have the commons emerged? For what reasons and in what way have they changed over time? What factors have helped them to survive or, on the contrary, have condemned them to extinction? What consequences do the commons bring to the environment and to the local population in the long run? How has the relationship between these human communities and their environment forged identities, memories and a shared behavior? A long term analysis of the "partecipanze agrarie" highlights the complexity of the phenomenon, in which principles of cooperation have always coexisted with strong tensions and conflicts, both internal and external, and where gate-keeping strategies and the exclusion of non-members have led to modify over the centuries the structure of the commons, the composition of the population and the surrounding environment.
Familiarizes the reader with the emerging subject of ecological economics and provides an overview of how ecological economics differs from environmental and resource economics. Proceeds to then review two new environmental and resource economics textbooks, a book on ecological economics and one on the subject of environmental policy in developing economies.
In a reply to Reimund Schwarze's comment (see abstract) on his view of the role of common law (CL) in environmental issues (see abstract 95P10015), Sollner defends his claim that CL is not suited for this area. Contrary to Schwarze's critique, statutory liability is favored over CL liability, & it is argued that CL remains an inefficient means of dealing with the majority of large-number cases. Furthermore, it is suggested that the CL success stories cited by Schwarze would not have been possible without the simplified & standardized precedents established by statutory law. CL is also criticized for its inherent bias in favor of the polluter, regardless of previous outcomes. It is concluded that although the dichotomy of small- vs large-number cases may seem arbitrary, this distinction is essential to evaluating the historical & potential efficiency of common & statutory law cases. 6 References. T. Sevier
