GENERAL THEORY OF MODERNITY AND AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

U prvom dijelu sažeto se prikazuju temeljni pojmovi opće ili meta/strukturne teorije modernog društva: metastruktura, struktura i sistem. U kritičkom sučeljavanju s Marxom i Habermasom autor najprije objašnjava svoju glavnu teorijsku inovaciju, pojam metastrukture kao najopćenitije pretpostavke i kao značajku moderne epohe u kojoj se nejasno i postupno nameće službena lozinka slobode-jednakosti-racionalnosti: lozinka javne društvenosti kojom u posljednjoj instanci upravljaju norme zajedničke riječi, u kojoj svi sudjeluju kao jednaki. Pritom se ta diskurzivna neposrednost nužno očituje preko dvostrukog posredovanja: ekonomskog razuma (tržište/organizacija) i pravno-političkog uma (interindividualna i centralna kontraktualnost). U tom je smislu metastruktura postavljena pretpostavka moderne klasne strukture; ona nije temelj te strukture, nego njezina referentna fikcija. Međutim ona se nužno preokreće u svoju suprotnost – u eksploataciju, dominaciju i otuđenje – u društvu koje se naziva kapitalističkim. Struktura tog društva iskazuje dvostruku bipolarnost, podjelu na klasu koja vlada i na klasu nad kojom se vlada, ali i podjelu unutar same vladajuće klase na pol tržišta kao klasnog činitelja (vlasnici) i na pol organizacije kao drugog klasnog činitelja (upravljači i kompetentni). Podređena klasa nije tek puko mnoštvo pasivnih “podvlaštenih”, nego “fundamentalna klasa” kao pozitivan politički akter. Za razliku od klasne strukture, koja nužno postoji u okrilju neke države-nacije, sistemu-svijetu svojstveno je to da on metastrukturnu pretpostavku stalno narušava, izopačujući modernost države-nacije: barbarstvo centara nad periferijama imanentno je centrima samim. Nužan ishod te povijesne tendencije jest država-svijet. Ona ne ukida ni države-nacije ni sistem-svijet, a već se ocrtava na obzorju kao konačno geopolitičko ozbiljenje te društvene logike moderne. U drugom dijelu autor ukratko pokazuje kako se ta metastrukturna hipoteza razvija u njegovim novijim istraživanjima konkretnije naravi na područjima povijesti (nastajanje modernog oblika društva počevši od gradova-država XIII. st. u Italiji), sociologije i politike (odnos društvenih klasa i političkih stranaka) te kulture (opća teorija ideologija). U tim se analizama pokazuje kako struktura tvori ključ sistema-svijeta, a ne obrnuto, u smislu po kojem bi cjelina objašnjavala dio: sistem (država-nacija) može se primjereno razumjeti samo polazeći od strukture (klasne). Kapitalistički totalitet, budući da ga nije moguće otprve metastrukturno organizirati, nije se mogao pojaviti kao prostor što ga, na način carstva, okuplja jedna institucionalno ujedinjena volja, nego samo kao pluralna cjelina, sistemska pluralnost država-nacija.The first part of the article gives a summary account of the basic concepts of general or meta/structural theory of modern society: metastructure, structure, system. In a critical confrontation with Marx and Habermas, the author starts by explaining his main theoretical innovation – the concept of metastructure, as the most general supposition and a trait of the modern epoch in which the official watchword of liberty-equality-rationality vaguely and gradually comes to the fore: it is the watchword of public sociability which is, in the final instance, determined by the norms of the common word, in which all participate as equals. This discursive immediacy necessarily becomes manifest through a double mediation: of economic understanding (market/organisation) and of legal-political reason (interindividual and central contractuality). In that sense, metastructure is the set supposition for the modern class structure; it is not its basis, but its referential fiction. However, it inevitably turns into its opposite – into exploitation, domination, alienation – in the society which calls itself ‘capitalist’. The structure of such a society reveals a double bipolarity, a division into a ruling class and a ruled class, but also a division within the ruling class itself into the market pole as the first class factor (proprietors) and the pole of organisation as the second class factor (managers and ones who are competent). The subordinated class is no mere multitude of passive “ruled ones”. It is the “fundamental class” as a positive political actor. As opposed to class structure, which necessarily exists in a state-nation, it is characteristic of the world-system that it constantly impairs the metastructural supposition, distorting the modernness of the state-nation: the barbarism of centres in relation to peripheries is immanent to the centres themselves. The inevitable result of this historical tendency is the world-state. It abolishes neither the state-nations nor the world-system, and it is already appearing on the horizon as the final geopolitical realization of this social logic of modernity. In the second part of the article, the author briefly shows how the metastructural hypothesis is developed in his more recent and concrete research into the areas of history (the emergence of the modern form of society starting from the 13th-century Cities-states in Italy), sociology and politics (relation between social classes and political parties), and culture (general theory of ideologies). These analyses show that structure is key to the world-system, and not vice versa, in the sense where the whole would explain the part: the system (statenation) can be adequately understood only from the starting point of (class) structure. Since the capitalist totality cannot be metastructurally organised in one go, it could not emerge as a space which is brought together, like an empire, by one institutionally unified will, but only as a plural whole, a systemic plurality of state-nations

Catégories et méthode dans la théorie de la valeur de Marx (sur la dialectique)

Dans cette thèse, nous analysons l œuvre de la maturité de Marx, spécialement en ce qui concerne la théorie de la valeur, du point de vue des catégories et de la méthode, et à partir d une perspective qui conçoit les aspects théoriques et méthodologiques comme subordonnés à l analyse du contenu ou de l objet de la recherche. Nous approfondissons notamment, dans la formulation des abstractions qui apparaissent dans la première Section du Capital, le rôle de la découverte de la catégorie de force de travail, où, d une manière non pas explicitée par la forme d exposition des premiers chapitres, se trouvent inclus les rapports historiques dans lesquels les abstractions de Marx se concrétisent. Ensuite, nous mettons à l épreuve les résultats analytiques ainsi obtenus, en questionnant, entre les interprétations de la pensée de Marx, surtout celles qui partent d une perspective épistémologique et qui conçoivent la méthode comme construction ou logique régentant les phénomènes. Pour cette tâche nous avons recours aux derniers écrits de Lukács, spécialement ceux sur l ontologie de l être social, qui, tout en échappant à la démarche d Engels qui valorise la dialectique comme méthode ou logique, permettent de saisir le caractère réel des abstractions marxiennes sans tomber, pour autant, dans une conception philosophique de type empiriste ou mécaniste.In this thesis we analyse Marx s work of maturity, especially his theory of value, from the point of view of the categories and of the method, and starting from a perspective which considers the theoretical and methodological aspects as dependent from the analysis of the content or of the object of research. In the formulation of the abstractions that appear in the first section of Capital, we study in detail particularly the role of the discovery of the category of labour force, that, in a way not made clear by the form of exposition of the first chapters, includes the historical relationships inside which Marx s abstractions made themselves concrete. Afterwards we test the analytical results we achieved, examining, among the interpretations of Marx s thought, especially those which start from an epistemological point of view and conceive the method as a construction or as a logic ruling the phenomena. To fulfil this task, we turned to Lukács last works, especially the ones on the ontology of the social being, that, avoiding Engels procedure of bringing out dialectic as a method or as a logic, make understandable the real nature of Marx s abstractions without ending nevertheless in an empiristic or mechanistic philosophical conception.NANTERRE-PARIS10-Bib. élec. (920509901) / SudocSudocFranceF

The GnRH system : importance for precocious puberty in children

We discuss here the secular early onset of puberty in children, the central mechanisms of puberty as well as the clinical aspects of central precocious puberty in children. How to suspect it, how to explore it and how to treat it are the main topics of this articleAprès avoir rappelé les mécanismes centraux de la puberté, nous nous focalisons sur les aspects cliniques de la puberté précoce centrale chez l’enfant. Comment la suspecter, comment l’explorer, comment la traiter : voilà les points qui sont développés dans cet articl

Gender and class in Britain and France

This article examines the treatment of women's oppression in feminist theory, focusing on the engagement of second wave feminists with the concept of class and its relation to gender. This examination is carried out with reference to British and French feminisms, identifying the main trends and shifts that have developed over the last 35 years and noting that while these are undoubtedly influenced by a particular national context they are also shaped by increasing European integration and social, political and cultural exchanges at a global level. The authors find evidence of a number of similarities in the questions that feminist theorists have asked in Britain and France but also demonstrate that there are significant differences. They conclude that areas of convergent theoretical interests will extend along with cross-border flows of peoples and information

Faecal pharmacokinetics of orally administered vancomycin in patients with suspected Clostridium difficile infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oral vancomycin (125 mg qid) is recommended as treatment of severe <it>Clostridium difficile </it>infection (CDI). Higher doses (250 or 500 mg qid) are sometimes recommended for patients with very severe CDI, without supporting clinical evidence. We wished to determine to what extent faecal levels of vancomycin vary according to diarrhoea severity and dosage, and whether it is rational to administer high-dose vancomycin to selected patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We recruited hospitalized adults suspected to have CDI for whom oral vancomycin (125, 250 or 500 mg qid) had been initiated. Faeces were collected up to 3 times/day and levels were measured with the AxSYM fluorescence polarization immunoassay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifteen patients (9 with confirmed CDI) were treated with oral vancomycin. Patients with ≥4 stools daily presented lower faecal vancomycin levels than those with a lower frequency. Higher doses of oral vancomycin (250 mg or 500 mg qid) led to consistently higher faecal levels (> 2000 mg/L), which were 3 orders of magnitude higher than the MIC₉₀of vancomycin against <it>C. difficile</it>. One patient receiving 125 mg qid had levels below 50 mg/L during the first day of treatment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Faecal levels of vancomycin are proportional to the dosage administered and, even in patients with increased stool frequency, much higher than the MIC₉₀. Patients given the standard 125 mg qid dosage might have low faecal levels during the first day of treatment. A loading dose of 250 mg or 500 mg qid during the first 24-48 hours followed by the standard dosage should be evaluated in larger studies, since it might be less disruptive to the colonic flora and save unnecessary costs.</p