The Enduring Relevance of Mauss’ Essai sur le don

The author rereads Mauss’ “Essay on the Gift” to focus on the essential differences between the archaic gift and the modern gift, the first of which is the separation between people and things. In fact, if in so-called primitive societies the gift is a “total welfare” (religious, economic, social, political), in modern societies the circulation of things becomes autonomous and we find the gift in the sphere of primary ties and, only partially, in those of the market and the state. The paradox of the gift, which Mauss emphasises, is its being a mélange of obligation and freedom: why do we in turn give when we receive something as a gift? This aspect – reciprocating the thing received – in Māori society is referred to as “hau” and contains the identity of the giver: the gift encloses, in a way, the self of the giver. For Mauss, even in modern society, presenting something to someone implies presenting something of the Self. Even when it comes to the gift between strangers, such as the gift of blood or the gift of organs, it expresses the social identity of the giver and the recipient, since it can be perceived as society’s recognition of a general gift or of the recipient’s belonging to this society

L’actualité de l’« Essai sur le don »

Au début de son célèbre « Essai », Mauss oppose le don chez les archaïques au don dans nos sociétés. Mais au fur et à mesure qu’il progresse, il est porté à remettre cette opposition de plus en plus en question. Nous suggérons dans ce texte que Marcel Mauss a ainsi ouvert la voie à l’étude du don moderne, notamment avec la notion indigène de hau.At the beginning of his famous Essay, Mauss contrasts the gift in archaic times with the gift in our own societies. But as he advances, he tends increasingly to question this comparison. We suggest in this text that Marcel Mauss has thus opened the way to the study of the modern gift, particularly with the indigenous concept of hau.Al principio de su famoso Ensayo, Mauss opone el don de los arcaísmos al don de nuestras sociedades. Pero a medida que progresa, lleva a poner de nuevo ésta oposición cada vez más en cuestión. Sugerimos en este texto que Marcel Mauss a abierto la vía al estudio del don moderno, en particular, con el concepto indígena de hau

Ce qui se passe aux frontières de l’État et de la société

La crise de l’État-providence a conduit à une remise en question des rapports entre l’État et la société. Les travaux sur ce thème demeurent cependant le plus souvent théoriques. Dans ce texte, nous amorçons une discussion sur cette question à partir des résultats d’une recherche sur les rapports concrets qui s’établissent entre les agents de l’État (en l’occurrence les employés d’un centre local de services communautaires - CLSC) et les membres de la communauté à laquelle ils s’adressent. Cette analyse conduit à une vision différente de la dynamique actuelle des rapports entre l’État et la société

Qui a peur de la communauté?

La laïcité est beaucoup associée à la mentalité et à la culture françaises. En établissant quelques différences majeures qui marquent les modèles juridiques français (démocratie directe) et anglo-saxon (démocratie représentative) l'auteur montre comment la méfiance des français pour la notion de communauté vient de l'absence d'une vision de la société existant par elle-même, indépendamment du pouvoir politique et de l'Etat. Cette utopie de la communauté à l'échelle des grands nombres exclus les communautés « concurrentes » et verse dans une hypertrophie de la Raison, oblitérant tout autre aspect du réel qui pourrait permettre d'organiser le social autrement. L'école laïque prétend former à la liberté de penser par la seule Raison.Laicity is often associated with the mentality and the culture of the French. In establishing some of the major differences that distinguish the French juridical model (direct democracy) from the Anglo-saxon model (representative democracy), the author shows how the mistrust of the notion of community by the French, arises from the lack of a vision of a society which exists by itself, independent from political power and from the State. This Utopia of the community on a large scale excludes " rival " communities and falls into a hypertrophy of Reason, forgetting all other aspects of reality that could permit a different kind of social organization. The lay school claims this formation through the liberty of thinking by Reason alone

The Analysis Of Comments Received By The BIS On Principles For Sound Liquidity Risk Management And Supervision

The market turmoil that began in mid-2007 re-emphasized the importance of liquidity to the functioning of financial markets and the banking sector. In June 2008, the Basel Committee of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released a consultative document on Principles for Sound Liquidity Risk Management and Supervision. Interested parties were invited to provide written comments by the end of July 2008. As a result, the Committee received many comments for publication by 30 different commenters. Our analysis first indicates that comments were formulated on each of the 17 principles discussed in the consultative document. Second, comments were also made in each of the five separate defined areas of focus covered by the 17 principles. Third, the results of our analysis reveal that opinions on different principles differed the most when commenters were separated into four distinct categories: banking trade associations, regulatory supervisors, individual financial institutions, and others (consultants, academics, accounting associations, and financial information providers). Last but not least, the results of the study indicate that commenters’ opinions, both within a category and between categories, differed the most in the two following defined areas of focus: measurement and management of liquidity risk and public disclosure of quantitative information on liquidity risk management

La formation de la communauté urbaine de Québec et le rôle de l'État dans la restructuration des pouvoirs locaux

Parlant récemment des gouvernements métropolitains, B.M. Gross a qualifié cette idée de « morte mais non encore enterrée ». Dans le même sens, aux États-Unis, bien des observateurs et des promoteurs des gouvernements métropolitains semblent abandonner tout espoir de réaliser une telle structure et songent à d'autres formules pour solutionner les problèmes de gouvernement des grandes agglomérations. Cependant, à la fin de l'année 1969, l'Assemblée nationale du Québec adoptait trois projets de loi créant deux gouvernements métropolitains (communautés urbaines de Québec et Montréal) et un gouvernement régional (communauté régionale de l'Outaouais). De plus, le Ministère des affaires municipales songe à étendre ce système et à doter la province d'une structure de gouvernement régional et métropolitain.Il est étonnant de constater qu'au moment où on abandonne l'idée de gouvernement métropolitain aux États-Unis, le Québec réussisse à doter ses deux plus grandes agglomérations d'une telle structure politico-administrative et veuille étendre ce système aux différentes régions du Québec. En analysant les principales caractéristiques du processus de formation de la Communauté urbaine de Québec, ce travail vise à dégager les facteurs socio-politiques qui facilitent au Québec une telle transformation des structures politiques locales et à apporter quelques réflexions sur le fonctionnement futur du nouveau gouvernement métropolitain

The Informational Content Of Voluntary Embedded Value (EV) Financial Disclosures By Canadian Life Insurance Companies

The informational content and relevance to external stakeholders of voluntary financial disclosures by commercial banks is now becoming more widely recognized. For instance, banks voluntary disclosures of liquidity, interest rate and market risk metrics have been bound to be closely associated with market value of equity and credit ratings. So far, there has been very scarce published research on investigating the informational content and relevance to external stakeholders of voluntary financial disclosures by life insurance companies. In order to improve upon this situation, this paper studies and reports the informational content of voluntary embedded value (EV) financial disclosures by Canadian life insurance companies. As opposed to traditional statutory balance sheet and earnings reporting, EV voluntary disclosure attempts to estimate the present value of future earnings generated by a life insurers current book of various insurance businesses. The preliminary results presented in this study indicate that EV voluntary financial disclosures communicate intrinsic informational content and provide value relevance to external stakeholders in the sense that they were found to be closely associated with life insurers market value of equity

Analysis And Comments On The Consultative Document: International Framework For Liquidity Risk Measurement, Standards And Monitoring

The market turmoil that began in mid-2007 re-emphasized the importance of liquidity to the functioning of financial markets and the banking sector. In December 2009, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released a consultative document entitled: “International Framework for Liquidity Risk Measurement, Standards and Monitoring”. Interested parties were invited to provide written comments by April 16th 2010. Given our interest in promoting sound liquidity risk management and supervision, three members of the Chair responded to the BIS request. Today, we share with you a summary of our analysis and comments. Our work first supports the adoption  of the BCBS proposals on two new liquidity risk management standards which take the form of a 30-day minimum liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) combined with a one-year minimum net stable funding ratio (NSFR), both to be accompanied by a mandatory set of market-related monitoring tools. Second, we share with you several general comments and suggestions we formulated on the following topics: the need for better coordination, both domestically and internationally between macro and micro-prudential supervision, the need to formulate more precise liquidity risk requirements on foreign currency funding, the importance and usefulness of public financial disclosure, suggestions on extending the use of market-related monitoring rules and metrics. Third, we also share with you more specific comments and suggestions formulated on the following topics : areas of further work like intra-group and cross border liquidity risk management, selling to gauge market liquidity, clarifying LCR and NSFR  definitions, credit rating downgrades, and defining required stable funding categories. Fourth, the results of the analysis support the need to promote a more level business and supervisory playing field for all internationally active banks. Last but not least, we draw the risk-return and financial implications for Canadian banks of the adoption of the BCBS proposals for liquidity risk management and supervision

The Informational Content Of Voluntary Embedded Value (EV) Financial Disclosures By Canadian Life Insurance Companies During The Recent Period Of Market Turmoil

The informational content and relevance to external stakeholders of voluntary financial disclosures by commercial banks is now becoming more widely recognized. For instance, banks voluntary disclosures of liquidity, interest rate and market risk metrics have been found to be closely associated with market value of equity and credit ratings. So far, there has been very scarce published research on investigating the informational content and relevance to external stakeholders of voluntary financial disclosures by life insurance companies during the recent period of market turmoil. In order to improve upon this situation, this paper updates previous findings and reports on the informational content of voluntary embedded value (EV) financial disclosures by Canadian life insurance companies during the 2000-2010 time period. As opposed to traditional statutory balance sheet and earnings reporting, EV voluntary disclosure attempts to estimate the present value of future earnings generated by a life insurers current book of various insurance businesses. The preliminary results presented in this study indicate that recent EV voluntary financial disclosures failed to communicate intrinsic informational content and to provide value relevance to external stakeholders in the sense that they were not found to be closely associated with life insurers market value of equity and credit ratings during the recent 2007-2010 period of market turmoil