Balzac and the crime of the powerful

This paper proposes a journey through some of the many novels written by Honoré de Balzac, through the mythic constitution of his world, his epic which summons up the same recurrent circle of figures: his ‘human comedy’ will offer surprising insights for a better understanding of the crimes of the powerful

Pratiques de vote et pensées politiques des électeurs durant les élections de 2010 au Burundi

Il existe un consensus scientifique concernant le fait que les processus électoraux peuvent faciliter la démocratisation mais peuvent également être la source d’instabilité ou encore amener un régime autoritaire. Généralement, ces processus sont analysés en mettant l'accent sur les acteurs et les institutions politiques macros. Cet article présente toutefois une analyse par le bas du processus électoral de 2010 au Burundi par le biais de l’analyse des resultats d’un sondage représentatif de l'électorat burundais. Les resultats révèlent l’existence de deux tendances régionales sur le plan de la "mobilisation politique". En plus, quatre grands "groupes d’électeurs" peuvent être distingués au sein du territoire burundais. Bien que la motivation "générique", c'est-à-dire l'exercice des droits civiques grâce à des élections, soit très répandue dans l'ensemble de ces groupes d’électeurs et les diverses regions du pays identifiées, les resultats révèlent qu'une partie importante de l’électorat est désintéressée ou alors caractérisée par des comportements et des pensées populistes ou clientélistes. Les résultats indiquent également l’existence d’un fossé entre la perception des preoccupations de la classe politique et les aspirations de la population ordinaire. Situées dans le contexte de vingt années de transition politique au Burundi, ces pratiques "pragmatiques" et "populistes" et les modes de pensée politique observés au niveau local durant le processus électoral de 2010 révèlent le danger d’une instrumentalisation de ces tendances par des "forces" antidémocratiques et/ou violentes. En second lieu, se pose également la question de savoir comment démocratiser en substance la transition politique du Burundi, donc aussi dans les pratiques et les pensées populaires locales.

Pontifications on power

The author welcomes feedback on this essay at [email protected]. Copyright (c) 2022 by Frederick E. Balzac, Jr.Written as a "reflection" on a weekend course at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh, "Sexuality, Power & Relationships," taken in the spring of 2018 and led by Prof. Butterfly Blaise and students in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies, this essay contrasts attitudes toward and behaviors involving such topics as sex, sexuality, gender identity, and relationships in the 1960s and 70s, when the author, Fred Balzac, was coming of age, and the late 2010s. The essay links these changed interpersonal attitudes and behaviors to such global and national challenges as climate change, rising economic inequality and the impoverishment of half the population, despair and alienation as evidenced by the opioid crisis and neglect of veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the decaying of American democracy, arguing that ruthless corporatism and unrestrained capitalism are at the root of many of the social problems discussed in the course at SUNY Plattsburgh. Contending that while the contemporary focus on issues such as gender identity and intersectionality encompass important and necessary struggles for the freedom and empowerment of all peoples, the essay concludes that, to address the global/national as well as the interpersonal problems they face, the younger generations—including Balzac's then-23-year-old son and his peers in the weekend course—will have to take on the corporate-capitalist power structure.NASUNY PlattsburghGender & Women's StudiesN/

Social innovation for biodiversity: a literature review and research challenges

There are calls for social innovation to help with the effort to halt biodiversity loss. However, research on social innovation and biodiversity is dispersed and covers a multitude of disciplines. A systematic overview of research on social innovation and biodiversity is missing and this paper contributes by focusing on social innovation to tackle the drivers of biodiversity loss and unsustainability. The paper reviews research on social innovation in changing land use (agriculture, forestry, aquatic ecosystems and cities), in tackling exploitation of organisms (fishing, hunting, harvesting), and in addressing threats of climate change, pollution and invasive species. Across these drivers, we find a) a strong emphasis on social innovation as civic action for changing practices in addressing unsustainability, b) that social innovation research tends to focus on local experimentation although there are bodies of literature on policy-driven innovations and consumer/producer-driven innovations, and c) that there is very little research taking a critical perspective to explore negative or unintended consequences of social innovation. Drawing on the review, we propose three cross cutting issues that can be a focus for future research, practice and supportive policy: social innovation for nature-based solutions, social innovation for participatory governance, and social innovation for technology that tackles biodiversity loss