Contenu du sommaire : Vers quel désordre mondial ?

Serge Latouche, From Economic Globalization to Social Decomposition Behind the empty slogans of the New World Order is a disturbing decomposition of planetary organization. Two major tendencies, opposed but not contradictory, are at work : the unification of the world market and disintegration of social systems. The internationalization represented by the development of the multinationals has undermined the foundations of nation states. At the same time, the rising intensity of ethnic, cultural and religious demands is accentuating the emerging chaos. Relatively few encouraging signs are evident on this horizon.

Susan George, Old Institutions and New Disorders : The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund at the End of the Twentieth Century The financial and political power of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund comes mainly from the indebtedness of the weak countries. This financial domination leads to all the other forms of domination and is why the development model promoted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund must be subjected to serious criticism.

Bernard Hours, Ghetto Guards : The NGO Mercenaries of the Global Village The role of the NGOs in the ideological mutations affecting North-South relations for several decades can be seen in the genesis, development and crisis of the ideology of thirdworldism. Changes in the NGOs during the 1980s indicate that they are seen as instruments of a ritualized solidarity that leads to ruptures while articulating a need for communication. As such, they must be seen as part of the macro-ideological dimension of North-South relations.

Jean Masini, The Untouchable Multinationals The multinational companies must maximize products in a conflictual environment. As they are a major source of these tensions, the multinationals must constantly find ways to adapt their economic strategies to the political conditions created by them. Although national governments follow these adaptations, attempting to profit from them, it is difficult to anticipate decisions that are made privately. Nevertheless, the creation of free-trade zones in Western Europe and North America represents parallel attempts to increase the competitive position of European and North American multinationals in relation to those of Japan. But will this strategy be successful ?

Jacques Charmes, The Informal Sector : New Concern for Development Policies ? The "informal sector" is an expression invented to denote small scale economic activities undertaken by rural migrants for whom the capitalist and urban administrative sector has not been able to furnish regular employment. Although it was supposed to disappear when modernization occur ed, the economic crisis and structural adjustments to it made the informal sector the most dynamic of the economy. Jacques Charmes, The Informal Sector : New Concern for Development Policies ? Although it was supposed to disappear when modernization occur ed, the economic crisis and structural adjustments to it made the informal sector the most dynamic of the economy.

Michel Galloux, Economy and Religion : The Islamic Project The phenomenon of the Islamic banks and their interesting solutions to the problems posed by bank profit can be interpreted in different ways. In order to understand it, one must study their modalities of intervention as far as savings collection and utilization is concerned and the limits placed on these practices by the Egyptian state.

Guy Béney, Order through Disorder, or the "Globalizing" Temptation The present threat to the world's environment has encouraged the creation of a "geocracy" intending to establish control over the entire planet. This effort, mainly on the part of the "North", masks anew a techno scientific will to domination with a utilitarian good conscience. This new form of "westernization" risks putting into jeopardy the most elementary rights of the peoples of the Earth least capable of adapting to the new conditions.

Hartmut Elsenhans, The New North-South in the New International System Despite the triumph of welfare state capitalism in the rivalry with statist real socialism, the economic impact of the capitalist center on the rest of the world is not sufficient for creating the conditions for capitalist growth. The rentier state will continue to exist in the South despite decreasing volumes of rent. The persistence of poverty in the South will erode the bargaining power of labor also in the North with the result of transferring the rentier state of the South to the North.

Dimitri Uzunidis, Reflections on the Efficacity of Science and Technology in Developing Countries The acquisition and use of western technologies have been considered means of accelerating development in the Third World. In reality, only the "Newly Industrialized Countries" have benefitted from the transfer of technology. In these countries, state authorities and businesses unite to develop the national capacity for scientific and technical potential. The scientific and technical effort of these countries is conditioned by their economic and political relations with the industrialized countries. The efficacity of the national capacity for scientific and technical potential of these countries is limited by the need to keep-up with technological developments, which are controlled by the industrialized countries.

Jean-Louis Margolin, The Autonomy of Politics and the End of Politics : From Eastern Europe to the New Industrial Countries of the Far East It is more than one step from Eastern Europe to the Far East, but these two regions are comparable. Over the long term, their economic development reveals a surprisingly similar pattern. However, on the political level, hopes for certain kinds of changes have succumbed to an elementary consensus linked to contrived national identifications. Is it, then, the "end of history" ? Perhaps temporarily. Jean-Louis Margolin, The Autonomy of Politics and the End of Politics : From Eastern Europe to the New Industrial Countries of the Far East a surprisingly similar pattern. However, on the political level, hopes for certain kinds of changes have succumbed to an elementary consensus linked to contrived national identifications. Is it, then, the "end of history" ? Perhaps temporarily.

René Lourau, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl : A Reconsideration Revealed in his Posthumous Writings The anthropological work of Lucien Lévy-Bruhl was based on the idea of essential differences, an assumption that led him to implicitly justify the domination of colonizers over the colonized. But at the end of his long life, Lévy-Bruhl realized that he had made a mistake in concluding that the affective, mythical or mystical "participations" composing the "primitive mentality" were typical of an "inferior" or "prelogical" mentality. The "civilized mentality" was equally composed of affects or myths, however different.