On the contemporary – and contemporary art history. A review of Terry Smith, What Is Contemporary Art

This analysis of Terry Smith’s 'What Is Contemporary Art?' evaluates Smith’s ongoing project to theorise contemporary art around the theme of multiple, interconnected temporalities. It questions how this ‘contemporaneity’ differs from the classic teleologism of modernism and postmodern relativism and suggests that Smith’s categories may be valuable for understanding other cultural areas, such as contemporary music. It then raises methodological problems associated with charting the terrain of contemporary art and how they overlap with economic considerations, arguing that the task implies particular forms of privilege that may threaten the autonomy of critical analysis, but that Smith’s work goes some way toward exposing this problem

Morag J. Grant and Férdia J. Stone-Davis (éds.), The Soundtrack of Conflict: The Role of Music in Radio Broadcasting in Wartime and in Conflict Situations

The Soundtrack of Conflict, a new anthology edited by M. J. Grant and Férdia J. Stone-Davis, explores the presence of radio music broadcasting in war and conflict situations. The book comprises papers from a 2011 conference organised by Göttingen University’s “Music, Conflict and the State” research group. Fifteen short chapters approach the topic from myriad angles, presenting case studies from the second World War through to the present, crossing three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. W..

Morag J. Grant and Férdia J. Stone-Davis (éds.), The Soundtrack of Conflict: The Role of Music in Radio Broadcasting in Wartime and in Conflict Situations

The Soundtrack of Conflict, a new anthology edited by M. J. Grant and Férdia J. Stone-Davis, explores the presence of radio music broadcasting in war and conflict situations. The book comprises papers from a 2011 conference organised by Göttingen University’s “Music, Conflict and the State” research group. Fifteen short chapters approach the topic from myriad angles, presenting case studies from the second World War through to the present, crossing three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. W..

Diminishing returns or appropriate treatment strategy? - An analysis of short-term outcomes after pain clinic treatment

In the United Kingdom patients with chronic pain are frequently managed in anaesthetist-led outpatient pain clinics. In many of these clinics the emphasis is on medical therapies (analgesics and psychotropic drugs, TENS, acupuncture and nerve blocks) with patients trying a series of different therapies until relief is achieved or further attempts at physical treatments are discontinued. The sequential trial of different treatment modalities presents clinicians with a problem. Patients who receive little benefit from (say) the first three treatments tried might be expected to be less likely to gain benefit from the next treatment modality. The presence or absence of such 'diminishing returns' from treatment will influence when therapeutic efforts based on the medical model of pain should be abandoned. This study examined basic outcome data on 1912 patients seen in a single Scottish pain clinic between 1987 and 1994. The data were analysed to assess whether the success of treatment modalities depended on whether they were used as a first-choice treatment or were given after previous therapeutic attempts had failed. Diminution in success rates was generally not large although this varied between therapies. No fall-off in success rates was seen for antidepressants, acupuncture or sympathetic nerve blocks. However, the other nerve blocks all showed falling success rates when they were used as fourth- or fifth-line treatments. That little diminution of success rates was seen warrants further investigation. Pain clinics need good information on the success or otherwise of late treatment so that they can devise rational pain management strategies covering multiple therapies and appropriate criteria for ending medical interventions. These findings suggest that allowing patients access to multiple pain therapies may well be an appropriate management strategy.</p

I. Thèse

Le Bouffos Stéphanie. I. Thèse. In: Revue juridique de l'Ouest, 2004-2. p. 293