Contenu du sommaire : Diversité et représentations

In 1929 hardly any sociological research studied the crisis and, to date, there is very little on the present situation. At the moment, the economists in particular have developed two types of argument. One focuses on the very recent period, the other deals with the past thirty-five years. Sociology is not lacking in ways and means to study the crisis but it must update its categories and recognize the importance of new objects.

This article aims to demonstrate the effects of references to an imagined democracy in South Africa and in Brazil by focusing on the gap between democratic ideals and social reality. In both countries the ideals of reconciliation and of racial democracy do not correspond to the contours of the actual social situation revealed by democracy. This does not prevent these ideals from acting as a constituting force at the core of many of the tensions in democratic dynamics. First we will examine the issues at stake in the interpretations of mixed race. We shall then consider how the way in which ordinary people relate to racial discrimination varies in the two countries. The last part will deal with the controversies created by affirmative action and the issue of memory in South Africa.

This article recalls the gradual recognition of age as grounds of discrimination and as an aspect of diversity in France over the past decade. We begin by studying this emergence through the two dynamics – the concern for older workers employment rate and the anti-discriminatory dynamic – as defined by the European Union Legislation in which they originate. While the former has had a limited impact on the diffusion of the concept of age discrimination, competing with the notion of age management, the latter, initially more discrete, has been finally more operational. We then present three cases studies which aim to show how the concepts of discrimination and diversity in relation to age have been appropriated in different contexts : associations for over-50s, the National Employment Agency, major firms. Finally, we discuss the ambivalence of the age discrimination condemnation in the French public debate.

It is often postulated that even in an age of generalized mobility, spatial proximity facilitates the creation of a social bond. The enduring prevalence in rural municipalities of dwellers who have now relationship with their neighbours leads us to relativize – after others – this « spatial » / « social » nexus. In this regard, we acknowledged the importance of the « local », of which we consider two complementary features : the attachment to a living environment and the voluntary membership in a community. The growing interest for the « local » is however challenged by the presence of anonymous individuals, that we interpret less as an expression of a desire to live with one's own socio-economic groupthan as an assumed choice expression of a desire to live with one's own socio-economic.

The category of narrative syndrome as constructed here is mobilized as an aspect of the sociology of knowledge, of forms of conscience and of sensibility. It aims to promote an understanding of the subjective genesis of worldviews and of the mode of existence of the social individuals in the world, in relation to the fundamental narratives which found their identity. This analysis, at once genealogical and constructivist, brings into play the theories of Halbwachs and also draws inspiration from phenomenology and psychoanalysis, in order to apprehend the actors'internal perceptions, emotions and cognitions as part and parcel of the situations in which they occur. These syndromes can be observed in real life and in literature alike, they are the context within which the experience of discourse and the discourse of experience are inextricably linked in the perpetual narration of the events of the world.

One of the main features of the contemporary forms of exercising power has made itself particularly obvious through the implementation of systems where individuals are put in the position of active subjects/agents of their actions, thereby encouraging them to assume a growing number of responsibilities, which can be described as the logical and necessary consequences of their actions. The field of modern biopolitics has yielded numerous examples of the implementation of such systems, in stark contrast with the more visible and coercive forms of exercising constraint that were the norm in the past. Would it be reasonable to infer that individual agents are incapable of approaching these post-coercive configurations of power from a critical perspective ? We will show on the basis of an empirical survey, both qualitative and quantitative, of DNA « donors » for medical research - that the frames of perception and interpretation of individuals as well as their resistance strategies tend to reach a raised level of awareness when confronted with potential power imbalances that could arise from an ethical and juridical procedure known as informed consent – a procedure a priori designed to serve their autonomy and freedom of choice.

In present-day societies inter-personal conflicts assume many different configurations. The contexts in which confrontation and resolution take place are multiple, while, at the same time, the number of professional killers is increasing. Homicides related to the practice of resorting to gunmen are found in political campaigns, unrequited love situations, family feuds, « suspected » persons, etc. A planned murder involves two persons : the gunman who commits the crime and the interested party who pays the gunman for the criminal act. This article analyses these practices and endeavors to understand the changes and continuity in contemporary urban society. The articles divulged by the press and interviews with people directly or indirectly involved in the cases reveal changes in gunmen's practices and their links with the social interaction in the urban world. We demonstrate that not only the hired killers and their sponsors are changing but so are the victims. These changes are shaping this practice into a kind of diffuse violence which basically results in a growing number of people resorting to the use of professional killers.