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La competitivite est devenu un credo, le nouvel evangile de societes aujourd'hui dominant le monde. Son ideologie se fonde sur la litanie de la sainte trinite : liberalisation, deregulation et privatisation. Cette ideologie a eu pour effets le renforcement de la primaute de la logique de guerre entre entreprises et entre nations, le detournement du role de l'etat, l'affaiblissement considerable de la democratie, la legitimation du principe d'exclusion, la marchandisation de la vie, l'extension de la violence culturelle. Il est clair que la competitivite ne peut pretendre gouverner la vie economique, politique et sociale de nos pays. Le 11 septembre 2001 a precisement montre que le monde construit a l'enseigne de la mondialisation de la competitivite a ete marque par des logiques de violence et qu'il fallait en finir avec cette ideologie, en ouvrant une grande periode d'innovation politique et sociale dans trois directions : le champ de l'humanite, le champ des biens communs et le champ de l'education, de l'information et de la communication.

The thesis here submitted for debate and criticism is as follows: if today's governing principles that inspire policy choices and priority setting in our societies (which claim to be “knowledge- based societies”) are to remain in place in the course of the coming five to ten years, the relative position of the less developed regions (and cities) vis-a-vis the most developed ones will again deteriorate, even though per capita real purchasing power might also slightly increase in the less developed regions. The if-hypothesis, however, is not the only possible pattern of future developments. Because present economic and political leaders are, in general, the promoters and supporters of today's predominant principles, the only way to make possible alternative future developments based on solidarity, sustainability and democracy is that citizens themselves take the initiative, locally and globally, to modify present practices and define new goals and new priorities. In consideration of the results obtained in recent years by civil social movements and protests, one may reasonably consider it as a possible scenario.

(1998). The limits of European Union competition policy. New Political Economy: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 292-295.

The first part of this article presents a brief analysis of the reasons why the immense amount of technological innovation in (old and new) industrialized countries does not seem to have contributed to any increase in social welfare. It is argued that the support from the political system to multinational firms' strategies for globalization is too affirmative, for reasons that are more of an ideological than of an economic nature. Thus, in the second part of the article the contours of a transnational politics are outlined, in an attempt to show how technological innovation can serve the development of a new social welfare around the globe.

Globalization as a new phenomenon is structurally different from internationalization and multinationalization. It takes multiple forms and encompasses several processes. Four new specific features are discussed: (a) the shift from the history of 'the wealth of the nations' to the history of 'the wealth of the world'; (b) the notion that globalization implies the end of 'nation capitalism' and the gradual emergence of a 'global capitalism'; (c) instead of a truly genuine globalization, one sees a process of 'triadization' of the economy on a world level; and (d) the emergence of the enterprise as the most powerful player. The multiplicity of aspects and novelty of globalization means that there is a need for a 'theory' of globalization. To that end a brief systematic assessment of various major implications and consequences of today's globalization is presented. The fundamental weakness of present globalization is the growing dissociation between economic power organized on a world basis by global networks of enterprises and political power which remains organized at the national level.

An analysis of six possible alternative world scenarios, which might characterize the evolution of our societies in the four decades to come, reveals the need for the development of a Social Global Contract. The most important policy goal does not relate to higher competitiveness in the global economic wars, but should be concerned with creating more common wealth to satisfy the material and immaterial needs of the world's population. The Social Global Contract means the start of a process that favors the establishment of a cooperative system of global governance. To that end a set of practical tasks to be implemented within the framework of four major global contracts are identified and discussed.

À partir d’un parallèle entre l’eau et l’éducation définies comme des biens communs, l’auteur interroge les finalités que se donnent les systèmes éducatifs. Ont-ils pour objectifs d’éduquer à la citoyenneté entendue comme la reconnaissance du droit de chacun à la vie ? Visent-ils à apprendre aux jeunes que l’autre est « nécessairement pluriel ? » Se donnent-ils les moyens, dans leurs projets pédagogiques, d’insister sur la notion de responsabilité perçue non comme une obligation mais comme un choix constructif ? L’auteur plaide pour un projet pédagogique inspiré d’un paradigme sociétal communautaire de partage. Starting from a comparison of water and education, both defined as common property, the author examines the goals education systems set themselves. Is their goal to educate for citizenship, understood as the recognition of the right to life for all? Do they aim to teach the young that the other is “necessarily plural”? Do they allow themselves, in their pedagogical projects, to stress the notion of responsibility, viewed not as obligation but as constructive choice? The author argues for a pedagogical project inspired by a societal paradigm of community sharing. A partir de una comparación paralela entre el agua y la educación, definidos como bienes comunes, el autor estudia las finalidades que se fijan los sistemas educativos. ¿Su objetivo radica en educar a la ciudadanía, considerada como el reconocimiento del derecho de cada uno a la vida? ¿Pretenden enseñar a los jóvenes que el otro es “necesariamente plural”? ¿Se dotan de los medios necesarios, en sus proyectos pedagógicos, para insistir en la noción de responsabilidad, considerada una opción constructiva en lugar de una obligación? El autor defiende un proyecto pedagógico inspirado de un paradigma societario comunitario del reparto.

The aim of the present paper is to analyze the current processes of internationalization, multinationalization, and globalization of R&D activities with the aim of identifying new forms, if any, of the global organization of science and technology. Special attention will be paid to interfirm behavior, the role of the state, and global scientific and technological cooperation. The main thesis is that current processes are characterized by

The globalization of the economy is a process driven by the enterprise. As enterprises form networks of alliances they tend to create huge oligopolistic structures on a global scale. Although these global enterprises are not subject to national norms, it is evident that a new alliance is growing up between the enterprise and the state. In the context of fierce international competition, enterprises need the support of the state, which is able to ensure that its 'national champions' enjoy optimum conditions for development; in return, successful enterprises are the state's best guarantee of national independence. But through this alliance the enterprise has acquired a totally new legitimacy, approaching that formerly reserved for the state, while the state finds itself engaged in global economic competition, which lacks adequate regulatory procedures. There is also a growing disassociation between globalized economic power on one hand, and political power conjned within national borders, on the other. Ther...

In this paper we will submit the following thesis to the reader’s reflection. The crisis of the paradigm of the industrial society that has manifested itself since the mid-seventies, has favoured since thirty years the promotion and dissemination throughout the world of two new global paradigms: the paradigm of information society and the paradigm of sustainable development. Both new paradigms, having quite different roots and aims, have developed quite independently the one from the other, i.e., without clear-cut opposition nor convergence occurring.

The economy seems to have increasingly lost any sense of purpose. Gone is the goal of reconstruction that was the uppermost in the post-war period. Gone too is the goal of growth for its own sake, which has forfeited all credibility since the 1960s and is nowadays defended by nobody. It was replaced as of the 1970s and 1980s by the aim of ’qualitative growth’; but for hundreds and hundreds of millions of people it is a mere delusion, being regarded as the latest invention of the rich societies of the North in their own interests! The same goes for the goal of development. After these long years of crisis (seemingly in no hurry to go away), of large-scale unemployment (particularly among those under 25 and over 50 years of age), of growing poverty (over 80 million people affected in the 0 ECD countries), of cities crammed and jammed almost to choking point, of drug addiction and crime (including State crime), the soul-searching goes on everywhere. Development of what? Economic development? But of whom and by whom? Social development? But where is it? For that matter, are economists and industrialists equipped to talk about this and can they in fact do so?

Die Wirtschaft scheint in zunehmendem Mase jeden Sinn fur ihre Zweckbestimmung verloren zu haben. Dahin ist das Ziel des Wiederaufbaus, die oberste Prioritat in der Nachkriegszeit. Dahin ist auch das Ziel des Wachstums um seiner selbst willen, das seit den sechziger Jahren jede Glaubwurdigkeit verloren hat und heute von niemandem mehr verteidigt wird. Es wurde in den siebzigern und achtzigern durch das Ziel des qualitativen Wachstums ersetzt, wobei allerdings fur Hunderte Millionen von Menschen die Betonung auf dem „qualitativen Wachstum“ eine pure Illusion ist, die sie als nichts anderes ansehen als die neueste Erfindung der reichen Gesellschaften des Nordens zum Schutz ihrer eigenen Interessen. Das gleiche gilt fur das Ziel der Entwicklung. Nach zwanzig Jahren Arbeitslosigkeit im grosen Stil (insbesondere unter Menschen im Alter unter 25 und uber 50), zunehmender Armut (betroffen sind mehr als 150 Millionen Menschen in den OECD-Staaten), fast bis zum Ersticken vollgepfropften und vollgestopften Stadten, Drogensucht und Kriminalitat (einschlieslich Staatskriminalitat) ist allenthalben eine Gewissenserforschung ausgebrochen. Entwicklung von was? Von wem und durch wen? Soziale Entwicklung? Aber wo bleibt sie?

The first section describes two major concepts concerning the role of technical change, and in particular of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in productivity gains and growth. Present trends in real life, however, do not correspond to the theories. The second section, therefore, deals with the “gap” between theory and reality.

Seit wir im Jahre 1979 unsere Arbeit aufnahmen, haben wir die Frage nach der Akzeptanz der Technologie als solche nie gestellt, da unserer Ansicht nach die Betonung des Aspekts der ‚Akzeptanz‘ einen falschen Ansatz dargestellt hatte, denn damit wurde implizit vorausgesetzt, das die Technologie ein Faktum ist, ein Vorgang, der auserhalb der Gesellschaft ablauft, unabhangig von den Werten, Strategien und Entscheidungen des Menschen, und auf den es nur zwei mogliche ‚Reaktionen‘ gibt: Annahme oder Ablehnung. Unter diesen Umstanden hatten folglich die Behorden die Aufgabe, sich fur die Akzeptanz einzusetzen, wahrend derjenige, der eine bestimmte Art von Technologie bzw. ihre Anwendung ‚ablehnt‘, die heutige Welt nicht ganz verstanden hat und unfahig ist, sich umzustellen oder an die neuen Anforderungen anzupassen, die durch den technologischen Fortschritt unumganglich geworden sind.

Pour comprendre la nature et les enjeux de la question regionale en ce debut de XXIe siecle, une mise en perspective historique sur une periode malgre tout relativement courte mais riche en mutations profondes les trente dernieres annees me parait utile. Pour cette raison, la premiere section de cet article portera sur la question regionale en Europe occidentale "il y a trente ans environ". Je montrerai, dans la deuxieme section, les changements intervenus entre-temps, ce qui permettra egalement de definir la nature et les enjeux de la question regionale tels qu'ils se manifestent a l'heure actuelle. Dans la troisieme section, il sera question de formuler quelques hypotheses sur les possibles evolutions au cours des 10-15 prochaines annees sans pretendre pour cela de proposer une construction rigoureuse de scenarios coherents pour le devenir des "regions" en Europe.

The FAST programme, launched by the European Communities in 1979, is aimed at developing and testing a tool for identifying long-term directions for RD the deep change in the nature of service activities; and the evolution of agricultural techniques and food processing. The programme brings together researchers, national administrations and industries in a futures-oriented research programme: it should provide the basis for outlining concrete proposals for developing European Community strategies.

La cuestión del empleo y cómo se relaciona con los cambios tecnológicos en la producción y con los cambios sociales en el trabajo se trata como problema en toda la Europa occidental. Las distintas teorías que procuran hacer proyecciones sobre el futuro del empleo, particularmente en lo que se refiere a los efectos de la tecnología de información, se repasan de forma crítica. Se sugiere una nueva dirección teórica, basándose en el establecimiento de dos equilibrios: (1) entre las nuevas bases de la economía mundial y el desarrollo específico de sistemas económicos locales; y (2) entre las innovaciones procesales (eficacia, modernización) y las innovaciones de producto (nuevos mercados y demandas). Las posibilidades proporcionadas por las nuevas tecnologías para una estructuración del trabajo más significativa se consideran más importantes que la meta del empleo total.

I was asked to answer three main questions: (a) how the research programme was designed and its priority subject areas identified (FAST is focused on three main subject areas: work and employment, information society, “bio-society”)1). (b) the criteria and procedures for the choice of the spefcific topics within the three main subject areas in addition to in-house work (FAST includes 30 research projects carried out by external contractors). (c) how the research work and its results were evaluated and assessed.

Rispetto alla scelta dicotomica fra un pubblico oramai in crisi e un privato sempre più invadente, la sfida accolta dal concetto di comune è quella di porsi come alternativa tanto all'individuale quanto all'universale, valorizzando ciò che si costituisce nell'interazione tra soggetti e superando in tal modo sia le spinte egoistiche dell'individualismo (che fa di ogni persona un individuo isolato dalla collettività) che le tendenze omologanti dell'universalismo. In virtù di questa peculiare posizione rispetto alle logiche comuni, le pratiche di sapere volte alla creazione di uno spazio comune di condivisione e partecipazione acquistano un valore ed un significato politico dirimente.

La voce opera una ricognizione delle minoranze linguistiche in italia, inquadra la problematica nella rete normativa internazionale e offre le fondamentali coordinate costituzionali del tema. Nella disamina delle minoranze riconosciute, sono precisati i connotati di attribuzione della soggettività politico-amministrativa, della definizione di ambito territoriale e rilevazione d’appartenenza e della coufficialità delle lingu, nonché degli idiomi protetti. Quanto alle facoltà d’uso della lingua della minoranza, lo scritto delinea i sistemi scolastici e universitari, gli strumenti di mantenimento del contesto linguistico ed esamina la precarietà delle garanzie coesive: proporzionale etnica e preferenza per i residenti.