Rethinking Leninism

This special section on ‘Rethinking Leninism’ emerges from sessions organized at the Society for Socialist Studies’ Annual Meetings, held at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in May 2009 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The articles re-consider Lenin’s legacy, suggesting new ways of understanding his political thought and the implications for political strategies on the left today

Soviet Pins: Souvenirs as Spoils in the Triumphal Procession

In Moscow today, old Soviet pins, which had once been awarded to school kids as a rite of passage, are sold as souvenirs to tourists. These pins are an example of the many ruins of the Soviet Union that have experienced a metamorphosis: they connote an entirely new set of meanings that have supplanted their previous significance without any change in their material form. This article explores the transformation of these “cultural treasures” through the creative output of another Soviet “ruin”: the post-Stalinist philosopher, Evald Ilyenkov, whose work challenged the hegemony of Soviet Diamat, but has not been adequately studied in the West

Institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of budget. Symmetrical analysis of rhetoric associated to the introduction of budget and “beyond budgeting”

Cet article analyse symétriquement le processus d'institutionnalisation des budgets qui a eu lieu de 1930 à 1960 et le processus de désinstitutionalisation entrepris par le Cam-i depuis les années 1990. La recherche se focalise sur les rhétoriques développées par les différents acteurs en insistant particulièrement sur la similitude des arguments avancés. Ainsi, la turbulence de l'environnement est invoquée pour mettre en place des budgets mais aussi pour les supprimer. De même, la volonté de libérer les managers du carcan bureaucratiques est une idée avancée pendant la phase d'institutionnalisation et de désinstitutionnalisation.histoire, budget, institutionalisation, deinstitutionalisation, beyond budgeting

Wrinkling instability of vesicles in steady linear flow

We present experimental observations and numerical simulations of a wrinkling instability that occurs at sufficiently high strain rates in the trembling regime of vesicle dynamics in steady linear flow. Spectral and statistical analysis of the data shows similarities and differences with the wrinkling instability observed earlier for vesicles in transient elongation flow. The critical relevance of thermal fluctuations for this phenomenon is revealed by a simple model using coupled Langevin equations that reproduces the experimental observations quite well.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures + 2 video

The role of actor-networks in the diffusion of management accounting innovations: a comparative study of budgetary control, GP method and Activity-Based Costing in France

This research is concerned with the diffusion of management accounting innovations viewed as a process of actor-network building and translation. The aim is to better understand the nature of accounting change. Using Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we analyze two innovations that have had different fates in France. These innovations are the Georges Perrin method (GPM) and Activity-Based Costing (ABC). We are particularly concerned with the dynamic of actor-networks throughout the diffusion processes of these innovations. We show how problematization, interessement, enrolment and mobilization take many, and often very surprising, forms for diffusion to occur.Innovation ; Actor-Network Theory ; Diffusion ; Translation ; ABC ; GP method

Actor-networks and the diffusion of management accounting innovations : a comparative study.

This research is concerned with the diffusion of management accounting innovations viewed as a process of actor-network building and translation. The aim is to better understand the nature of accounting change. Using Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we analyze two innovations that have had different fates in France. These innovations are the Georges Perrin method (GPM) and Activity-Based Costing (ABC). We are particularly concerned with the dynamic of actor-networks throughout the diffusion processes of these innovations. We show how problematization, interessement, enrolment and mobilization take many, and often very surprising, forms for diffusion to occur.Innovation; Activity-Based Costing (ABC); Accounting; GP method;

Fluid Vesicles in Flow

We review the dynamical behavior of giant fluid vesicles in various types of external hydrodynamic flow. The interplay between stresses arising from membrane elasticity, hydrodynamic flows, and the ever present thermal fluctuations leads to a rich phenomenology. In linear flows with both rotational and elongational components, the properties of the tank-treading and tumbling motions are now well described by theoretical and numerical models. At the transition between these two regimes, strong shape deformations and amplification of thermal fluctuations generate a new regime called trembling. In this regime, the vesicle orientation oscillates quasi-periodically around the flow direction while asymmetric deformations occur. For strong enough flows, small-wavelength deformations like wrinkles are observed, similar to what happens in a suddenly reversed elongational flow. In steady elongational flow, vesicles with large excess areas deform into dumbbells at large flow rates and pearling occurs for even stronger flows. In capillary flows with parabolic flow profile, single vesicles migrate towards the center of the channel, where they adopt symmetric shapes, for two reasons. First, walls exert a hydrodynamic lift force which pushes them away. Second, shear stresses are minimal at the tip of the flow. However, symmetry is broken for vesicles with large excess areas, which flow off-center and deform asymmetrically. In suspensions, hydrodynamic interactions between vesicles add up to these two effects, making it challenging to deduce rheological properties from the dynamics of individual vesicles. Further investigations of vesicles and similar objects and their suspensions in steady or time-dependent flow will shed light on phenomena such as blood flow.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 201

N-3 (Omega-3) Fatty Acids in Postpartum Depression: Implications for Prevention and Treatment

A growing body of clinical and epidemiological evidence suggests that low dietary intake and/or tissue levels of n-3 (omega-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are associated with postpartum depression. Low tissue levels of n-3 PUFAs, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are reported in patients with either postpartum or nonpuerperal depression. Moreover, the physiological demands of pregnancy and lactation put childbearing women at particular risk of experiencing a loss of DHA from tissues including the brain, especially in individuals with inadequate dietary n-3 PUFA intake or suboptimal metabolic capabilities. Animal studies indicate that decreased brain DHA in postpartum females leads to several depression-associated neurobiological changes including decreased hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor and augmented hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responses to stress. Taken together, these findings support a role for decreased brain n-3 PUFAs in the multifactorial etiology of depression, particularly postpartum depression. These findings, and their implications for research and clinical practice, are discussed