Democracy and technological politic in the risk society

New technologies generate risks, for the evaluation of which various mechanisms have been developed; the most frequent of these mechanisms consists of advice from committees of experts to the bodies whose role is to decide whether a new technology should be implemented or not. Such committees try to measure the magnitude of the threats that accompany the introduction of a new technology in order that the policy-makers may take their decisions in the light of the reports of the experts. The legitimacy of such reports is not only found in the technical capacity of its authors, but also in the impartiality of their recommendations. On numerous occasions, nevertheless, the effective presence of this evaluation finds itself today under suspicion. There are various methods that can be employed to try to resolve this problem. Firstly by reinforcing the mechanisms on which the technocratic evaluation of the risk are based; for example, through transparency in the selection of the experts. Secondly, by means of the incorporation of democratic mechanisms in the scientific-technological policy. The exposure of the internal conditions to the dynamics of the technological change that make possible the institutionalised involvement of society in the control of risk, as well as of the mechanisms to realise it are the principal subjects of this work

The Fertility Decline in Switzerland 1870 – 1930. A study of cultural and economic variables using panel data.

This study analyzes the impact of socioeconomic and cultural variables on marital fertility for Switzerland in the period comprising 1870 – 1930. Using panel data techniques the analysis shows that variables measuring industrialization had an impact in declining fertility as well as cultural variables such as religion and language

Enclosures and Fertility in Southern Sweden. Were peasants consciously regulating their decisions regarding family size?

This study analyzes the total fertility rate for twenty parishes in southern Sweden from 1785-1840 and its relationship with the enclosure movement. The analysis shows that the total fertility rate increases after enclosures took place. The explanation of these results is that peasants forsaw a profitable economic future because of the change in property rights and the change in the way agriculture was carried ou

BLOCO HISTÓRICO, CRISE ORGÂNICA, E EMERGÊNCIA DO NOVO POVO BRASILEIRO

No trabalho a que o leitor ora tem acesso, são delineadas algumas questões levantadas no Seminário comemorativo IGS/B que motiva a edição do presente livro. Pela própria natureza do seminário, convocado sob a urgência colocada pelo golpe institucional em curso no país, a elaboração do texto implicou um deslocamento do trabalho teórico “programado” para entrar na complexa seara da análise de conjuntura. Trata-se, portanto, de uma elaboração em curso, na forma de hipóteses de trabalho que requerem precisões, complementações e argumentações certamente mais rigorosas. Espero poder consolidar estas argumentações em trabalho posterior. Recebido em 23 de novembro de 2016Aceito em 03 de dezembro de 2016Editado em 15 de dezembro de 201

O conceito de objetividade em Gramsci

The paper discusses Gramsci’s treatment of the objectivity issue in the Prison Notebooks, initially suggesting the existence of two poles of theoretical tension within the Marxist tradition until then: the Theses on Feuerbach and its critique of metaphysical materialism and the kind of philosophical materialism that drains into Soviet Marxism. From this initial position, in the first part of the article, the concepts of praxis, “active side” of human thought, becoming and objectivity are discussed. In the second part is addressed, first, the positioning on the concept of matter and philosophical materialism, underlining Gramscian criticism of the deterioration of Marxism by the metaphysical search for a “first philosophy” and the battle to reintegrate it into the Marxist perspective of praxis, without thereby adopting an idealist position; secondly, it shows how, recovering the Labriolian idea of Marxism’s self-sufficiency, Gramsci erodes to such an extent the bases of historical materialism in the criticized form that the tradition itself must be called by another name: philosophy of praxis.El trabajo discute el tratamiento de la cuestión de la objetividad realizada por Gramsci en los Cuadernos de la Cárcel, sugiriendo inicialmente la existencia de dos polos de tensiones teóricas en el interior de la tradición marxista hasta entonces: las Tesis sobre Feuerbach y su crítica al materialismo metafísico y el tipo de materialismo filosófico que desagua en el marxismo soviético. A partir de esta posición inicial, en la primera parte del artículo son discutidos los conceptos de praxis, “lado activo” del pensamiento humano, devenir y objetividad. En la segunda parte es abordado, en primer lugar, el posicionamiento sobre el concepto de materia y el materialismo filosófico, subrayando la crítica gramsciana al deterioro del marxismo por la búsqueda metafísica de una “primera filosofía” y la batalla por reintegrarlo a la perspectiva marxista de la praxis, sin por esto adoptar una posición idealista; en segundo lugar, se muestra cómo, recuperando la idea labrioliana de autosuficiencia del marxismo, Gramsci erosiona hasta tal punto las bases del materialismo histórico en la forma criticada que la propia tradición debe ser denominada ya con otro nombre: filosofía de la praxis

Il nodo latinoamericano dell’egemonia: da “Pasado y Presente” al seminario di Morelia (1980). Per i quarant’anni di Los usos de Gramsci di Juan Carlos Portantiero

The primary purpose of this article is to discuss the theoretical and political role of the hegemony and political alternatives seminar, organised by the Institute of Social Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Morelia Michoacán in February 1980 (The Morelia Seminar). The meeting is considered to be a high point (empirically and symbolically) in the synthesis of the discussion on the Gramscian concept of hegemony in Latin America, concept destined to be a central to the profound process of political and cultural renewal of the Left in Latin America. Secondly, among the historical set of events and theoretical discussions condensed in the seminar, the article highlights the strategic importance of the text "The Uses of Gramsci" by Juan Carlos Portantiero, forty years after its publication. The essay of this Argentinean Gramscian sociologist is considered, in the paper set before the reader, as a basic text for the renewal of the theoretical foundations for a revolutionary project in Latin America, based on the consideration that socialism means an expansion and radicalisation of democratic practices in all spheres of social life.Keywords: Morelia Seminar; Hegemony; The uses of Gramsci; Juan Carlos Portantiero; Latin American Left

Harmer, Tanya y Alfredo Riquelme Segovia (eds.). 2014. Chile y la Guerra Fría global. Santiago de Chile: RIL Editores [324 pp.].

La obra reseñada constituye un aporte fundamental para comprender distintos procesos políticos y sociales de la historia de Chile durante el siglo XX, en el marco de la Guerra Fría. Para ello, se compone de variados estudios que consideran diferentes perspectivas y focos de análisis sobre temas relevantes, siendo un esfuerzo novedoso y de alta calidad, pues promueven una visión integradora de los fenómenos ocurridos en Chile, a través de las relaciones e interacciones entre múltiples actores ..

Monitorización continua del pH miocárdico durante la parada cardiaca isquémica: su importancia para la evaluación de las diferentes soluciones cardiopléjicas. Estudio experimental

Tesis doctoral inédita leída el 13-1-1990 en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Cirugí