Reflecting on the Limits of Marxian Topography with Althusser and Negri

This article, starting from the specific question of the insufficiencies of the Marxian topography, will try to show that between the two theoretical dispositifs there is a relation of “proximity in difference”. On the one hand, both authors come to see an “ontological breakthrough” as the only way to refound revolutionary theory. On the other, their different views of historical temporality impose two contrasting “ontological solutions”. In the conclusion, I will present the hypothesis that there existsan “aporetical complementarity” between the two theoretical proposals, a privileged ground on which to extend the comparison of the two ontological proposals – aleatory materialism versus constituent ontology – formulated by the two authors in the early 1980s

Ray Flynn's Legacy: American Cities and the Progressive Agenda

Raymond Flynn won Boston's mayoralty in 1983 after a virtual tie in the preliminary election, as he and Mel King led a field of nine, each with approximately 29 percent of the votes. Both were neighborhood activists who had been in the state legislature. Both had been underdogs in the preliminary election, but defeated a better financed developer-friendly candidate. In the general election Flynn, white and from South Boston, won handily over King, a black who was on the faculty at MIT. The Boston Globe, endorsing Flynn, argued that he was in a better position to reach out to South Boston conservatives. One King supporter, perhaps unsurprised by the outcome, commented: "...they elected the two most pro neighborhood people as finalists and then what followed was ... neighborhood forums where you were hearing different theories of community empowerment and organizing ... it was really an education for the whole populace." In this retrospective, Peter Dreier, a housing activist who became Flynn's housing policy advisor, describes the results as they unfolded in City Hall: significant accomplishments against a troubled history marred by the busing conflicts of the previous decade

Althusser’s Scientism and Aleatory Materialism

This paper argues that the reading of Althusser which finds a pronounced continuity in his conception of the relations among science, philosophy, and politics is the correct one, this essay will begin with an examination of Althusser’s “scientism.” The meaning of this term (one that differs slightly from contemporary usages) will be specified before showing how and in what way Althusser’s political philosophy between 1960 and 1980 can be described as “scientistic.” The next section details the important political role Althusser assigned to the sciences and particularly to the science of historical materialism during this period. This accomplished, the arguments of interpreters who emphasize the apparent difference in Althusser’s attitude towards science before and after 1980 will be considered. Here, possible reasons for such a reading will be rehearsed. Next, with the support of recently published and archival documents, this essay will engage in a close and comparative reading of Althusser’s texts from the 1970s and 1980s that have as their subject the relations among philosophy, science, and politics. This survey will show the continuity in Althusser’s position vis-à-vis the sciences: namely, that if we want good (i.e. desired) socio-politico-economic changes to result from our political actions, then it is necessary to engage in social scientific research or, at the very least, to consult such research and to use this knowledge in our political decision making. All this serves to support the conclusion that Althusser’s “new” political philosophy from the 1980s is not really so new. On the contrary, his writings on the materialism of the encounter and aleatory materialism represent prolongations and elaborations of positions and ideas already developed in the 1960s and 1970s and that include a mostly consistent understanding of the relations between scientific knowledge and political action. This is true even if the rhetorical and philosophical style in which these ideas are put forth in the 1980s differs from the ways in which these ideas were introduced during the prior two decades

Records of the Pacific Bearded Brotula, Brotula clarkae, from Southern California

Volume: 108Start Page: 163End Page: 16

A Mid-Holocene Fauna from Bear Den Cave, Sequoia National Park, California

Test excavation of floor fill deposits in the first room in Bear Den Cave, Sequoia National Park, produced fossiliferous sediments down to at least 40 cm depth. Radiocarbon analysis of charcoal from this layer indicates an earlymiddle Holocene age of 7220 CAL BP. The fossil accumulation represents prey recovered from generations of ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) dung. Microvertebrate remains include salamanders, lizards, snakes, and mammals. The recovery of Aneides ferreus/vagrans from early-middle Holocene deposits in Bear Den Cave is a first for this species group. Equally interesting is the recovery of Plethodon sp. Neither taxa live in the Sierra Nevada today. The fossil-rich deposits of Bear Den Cave indicate that future paleoecological studies will be productive in Sequoia National Park

Biological Assessment of Tecate Creek (U.S.–Mexico) with Special Regard to Self-Purification

Macroinvertebrate organisms were sampled at four sites on Tecate Creek (U.S.–Mexico) and quantitatively evaluated using the SIGNAL-w (Stream Invertebrate Grade Number—Average Level-weighted) index. A morphological assessment of the stream structure was also carried out. Bioindication by SIGNAL reflected a very low water quality in the upper three sampled stream reaches, but with a significant improvement by the last site on the Rio Alamar, but only to a grade of critical to high pollution over a flowing distance of 29 km. Levels of BOD and ammonium-N at the Rio Alamar (Toll Bridge) site remained quite high, 56 mg/L and 48 mg/L, respectively. Metal levels also generally decreased as the water flowed downstream to the the Rio Alamar. Despite the fact that Tecate Creek has a quite natural morphological structure, solid inorganic surfaces and aquatic macrophytes (as settlement area) are mostly absent in Tecate Creek. This lack of stable habitats prevents the development of an effective biofilm which would significantly enhance self-purificatio