School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences

About: School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences is a facility organization based out in Villejuif, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Politics & Context (language use). The organization has 1230 authors who have published 2084 publications receiving 57740 citations. The organization is also known as: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales & EHESS.

The anthropology of extreme violence: the crime of desecration

Abstract: The aim here is to examine whether or not the crime of cruelty, or the crime of profanation, is a distinctive form of political violence. What spurred this inquiry was the testimony (on which I have worked) of the surviving victims of ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. “Cruel” crimes appear to belong to a non-historical and non-political stratum of meaning; they form part of the ordinary fabric of “trivial” events in times of peace and seem far removed from any historical significance. We therefore have to examine whether there is an anthropo-logical difference between two violent acts, or between two possible meanings of the same act of violence, seen within their specific context. For such purposes, a look at literature is extremely useful for the ethnologist of crimes of profanation who is out to supplement the legal definition of crimes against humanity. This applies to some of the writings of Chateaubriand.

A History of Virulence: The Body and Computer Culture in the 1980s

Abstract: Analysing both mainstream and underground computer-related press sources from 1982 to 1991, a discursive core is displayed revolving around contamination and sexually transmissible diseases. The "computer virus" metaphor, popularized in that period, came to resonate with mounting moral panic over the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These anxieties about the body are then conceptualized (and historically contextualized) along two dimensions : 1) the political proximity between HIV/AIDS activists and computer hackers during the FDA clinical trials controversy of 1987-88 ; 2) the ideological reinforcement provided by academic progressive elements to these political actions.

Thinking about ‘style’ in the ‘post‐stylistic era’: reconstructing the stylistic context of chauvet

Abstract: Summary. Over the past decade, new radiocarbon dating from several art caves has conflicted with the traditional stylistic sequence of Palaeolithic art. Using Chauvet as a paradigm, some archaeologists have suggested that stylistic approaches to Palaeolithic art should be rejected in favour of more sophisticated methods, such as AMS radiocarbon dating. Contrary to this proposal, we suggest that the high antiquity of the Chauvet paintings (dated to c.32,000 years BP) does not necessarily imply the end of all stylistic approaches to Palaeolithic art. Taking the recent discoveries (2003) at the site of Hohle Fels and the attribution of the Palaeolithic engravings of the cave of l'Aldene to the Aurignacian (2005) into account, we suggest that the Chauvet paintings can be placed within an Aurignacian stylistic context. Throughout this analysis, we propose some critical thoughts on the concept of ‘style’ and discuss some ways in which stylistic approaches can be used to improve our knowledge of Palaeolithic art.

The Social Efficiency Of Instruments For The Promotion Of Renewable Energies In The Liberalised Power Industry

Abstract: This paper compares the social efficiency of the two main regulatory instruments used to promote renewable energy sources in electricity generation (RES-E), taking into consideration their role in promoting the preservation of the climate. They are based on a purchase obligation and act either by price (feed-in tariffs) or by quantity (RES-E quotas). In their reference design, the instruments show different performances in several dimensions: market incentives intensity, control of the cost for consumers, safeguards of RES-E investments, and conformity with the new market regime of the electricity industry. The comparison shows that neither instrument offers an optimal solution in each of these dimensions. In particular, the intrinsic qualities of the quotas instrument that are put forward to mandate its adoption by the EU members are overestimated. A government will thus select an instrument in accordance with the relative importance of its objectives: environmental policy versus cost control by market pressure. © 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation © CIRIEC 2006.

On real economic freedom

Abstract: Among the various concepts of freedom important for economics, ranking or measuring the freedom of choice provided by budget sets has an important place. The volume ranking has strange properties and cannot be justified by unit invariance and symmetry. The pointed distance (of the budget hyperplane from the origin along some line) provides a measure or ranking that coincides with the standard “purchasing power” or real income. The linear price index is practically unavoidable for measuring or ranking freedom. This is applied to the determination of income distribution and taxation implied by the equal freedom of choice of different domains. Concepts of equal or compared potential freedoms and utility-freedom relate freedom analysis to the basic classical concepts of fair allocation (equity-no-envy, egalitarian equivalence, etc.). The crucial difference between the two opposite concepts of invariance in comparisons is emphasized.