*** PHILIPPE D. GROSJEAN: Le Créatorat. Un nouveau paradigme pour la vie en société. BoD - Books on Demand (12/14 rond-point des Champs Elysées, F-75008 Paris. Tel: (49-40) 534335-11 - Fax: 534335-84 - email: info@bod.de - Internet: http://www.bod.fr ). 2013, 187 pp, €25. ISBN 978-2-322-03337-9.
Engineer by training, indefatigable civil society activist Philippe Grosjean really sets the cat amongst the pigeons in this book, which Omar Aktouf, professor of management at HEC Montreal, describes in the preface as overwhelming in the etymological sense of the word. He is right, because the author calls for the 'abolition of paid labour, as happened in the past for slavery.'
Philippe Grosjean clearly aims to be the bearer of a new utopia. And is he wrong, in the face, as he puts it, of the multiform ecological, financial, economic, social, moral and ethical crisis that the wise who rule the world are suffering with the formulae of the past? He takes his own inspiration from Nobel Prize Winner Ilya Prigogine and philosopher Isabelle Stengers who call in their book, La Nouvelle Alliance, for thinking outside the box and re-thinking the dominant paradigm when it no longer provides pertinent solutions to the problems being faced. Doesn't this apply to all the people trying to boost growth, create jobs and reduce sovereign debt? It is against the backdrop of the impotence of the wise who rule Europe and the world to escape from what looks like an impasse of civilisation that rather suggests what Prof. Aktouf calls a Copernican revolution of the paradigm of modern life as a society.
Initially, making an unexpected detour to examine the complementarity of economic laws, physics and thermodynamics, Philippe Grosjean observes that 'human labour is the use of concomitant and irreversible deterioration of one's own inherent energy-material that human beings deliberately consent to in order to obtain a given result.' He then examines 'human action,' the sum of human labour over a life-time, in the light of the work of American philosopher, mathematician and economist David Ellerman on inalienable rights, particularly the unalienable right of ownership that human beings hold, he says, over the result of all their conscious and deliberate actions. On this basis, he argues and explains in the next three chapters that the capitalist system in the western world, because it regards paid employment contracts as sacred, has violated the fundamental principles underlying private property, democracy and the theory of honest contracts. Unable to bear this any longer, he suggests substituting for salaried employment or 'salariat,' what he terms 'creatorat,' a neologism like professorate or rectorate, that expresses the principle that in the name of the inherent dignity of the human being, they should self-employ themselves in all circumstances and wear a permanent creator's hat within human society, whatever the purpose of their action.
It is in times of crisis that utopias tend to flourish. No matter what fate is reserved for them by time, they all have the merit of making one think, which is positive in itself, but Philippe Grosjean, a pragmatic dreamer, goes further because in the afterward he draws up a veritable institutional battle plan for allowing 'cooperatives of creators' to become the rule within the European Union. He recommends repeating the strategy of the Bosman ruling. Although it had a fair number of problematic or even negative consequences, he suggests following this example in order to get the European Court of Justice or the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to issue a 'creatorat' ruling to sanction the illegitimacy of paid employment contracts and wield the death blow to Wall Street-style capitalism. Hence his appeal to lawyers, trade unionists, academics and defenders of the social solidarity economy who want to join this new genre of crusade.
Michel Theys
*** Confrontations Europe (227 bld. Saint-Germain, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 43173283 - Fax: 45561886 - Email: confrontations@confrontations.org - Internet: http://www.confrontations.org ). 2013, October-December, n° 103, 46 p., 7 €.
The last book, 'Europe, réveille-toi!' (see European Library 10970/1026 dated Tuesday 26 November 2013), published by the founder of the Confrontations Europe association, Philippe Herzog, takes pride of place in this issue, but many other of the covered subjects also merit readers' attention. Centrist senator Jean Arthuis look at where France is going, while Carole Ulmer examines the question in more detail by asking whether France is ready to be re-founded on the basis of Europe. The answer is 'not certain,' explains the director of studies at Confrontations Europe who recommends the creation of an economic government of the eurozone and a minima review of the EUROPE 2020 Strategy to promote 'essential regional public goods' and 'cooperative practices.' Similar views are expressed by Sylvie Goulard MEP who, examining 'France in the mirror of the German elections,' wonders whether the recriminations about German strength are not smewhat out of place, because Germany's strength is amplified by 'French weakness.' She reminds people that before criticising the Germans, as happens in France, of having become less European or more selfish, some people should ask whether we ourselves, Italians and others, have always been reliable, democratic European partners in solidarity who have given Germany the desire to build Europe. There are three noteworthy special reports, on labour, the 'democratic European stakes' in Poland, which is 'seeking its path' in the energy and industrial domain, and, finally, the partnership between Europe and Africa. The review publishes the interview of Commissioner Michel Barnier that he granted to Agence Europe on the great bank reforms (see the newsletter dated 26 September 2013).
(MT)
*** Politique. Revue de débats. ASBL Politique (9 rue du Faucon, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5386996 - Email: secretariat@politique.eu.org - Internet: http://politique.eu.org ). November/December 2013, No. 82, 84 pp, €9. Annual subscription: €40.
The latest issue of this progressive Belgian review opens with ideas developed by US anthropologist David Graeber, who reconciles a prestige academic career (Yale University and then the London School of Economics) with an anarchic-tinged activism over the long-term history of debt, on which subject he has written a book. He explains in the book and in the interview with this review that there is a moral logic underlying the construction of the notion of debt, because all debt is in fact is a promise that has to be paid, of course, but not at any cost. He explains that repaying a debt for a State, for example, cannot be done at the cost of health or the country's inhabitants' food. Also, the fact that he or she failed to keep his election promises has never prevented a politician from being re-elected. Hence the moral statute of debt is, in his view, illegitimate and acts committed in its name are absolutely immoral, as many people these days would agree. Many would also agree with his comment that it would be a mistake to live through this period without the strength of utopia. Sociologist Mateo Alaluf returns to his denunciation of 'bullshit jobs,' meaning jobs that have no economic sense and have prevented the Keynesian promise of technological progress reducing the working week to fifteen hours at the end of the twentieth century from materialising.
(PBo)
*** Futuribles. L'anticipation au service de l'action. Futuribles Sarl (47 rue de Babylone, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 53633770 - Fax: 42226554 - email: revue@futuribles.com - Internet: http://www.futuribles.com ). November-December 2013, No. 397, 138 pp, €22. Annual subscription: €115. ISBN 978-2-84387-410-9.
In this issue, future prospects review, Futuribles, is even more forward-looking than usual. Along with articles on areas of concern in France, ranging from social protection to pension reform via corporate difficulties, there are revelatory assessments on the trans-humanist or even post-humanist revolution, that might be taking off under almost everyone's nose. Firstly, a number of scientists have written an article under the title 'The pillars of a new humanism,' in which they compare and contrast our world with the limits of the planet's ecosystem. They call for a reconciliation of mankind with the resources in his environment, and hence for the pursuit at global level of a type of development that allows the planet to survive. More radical still is the approach taken by Jean-Michel Besnier, who raises the question of the very survival of the human race which, at the same time as it is experiencing the rise of nanotechnology, biotechnology, computer and cognitive science, asks whether human beings are destined to disappear, or increased through implants to boost their capacities, or are they destined to be replaced by a new species, the post-human, that is artificially produced by the cutting edge of technoscience? A disturbing question that might keep one awake at night, to which this professor of ethics and philosophy provides both wise and impassioned answers.
(MT)
*** STAVROS LIGEROS: Áðü ôçí êëåðôïêñáôßá óôç ÷ñåïêïðßá (De la kleptocratie à la faillite). Editions Patakis (38 Pan. Tsaldari Str., GR-10437 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3650000 - Fax: 3650069 - email: info@patakis.gr - Internet: http://www.patakis.gr ). ' Sciences sociales et politiques' series. 2012, 424 pp, €17-50. ISBN 978-960-164-377-9.
The debt crisis in Greece marked the collapse of a virtual development model that had turned into a characteristic of the ambient kleptocracy, with its share of garbage, irrationalism, parasitism, arbitrary decisions and impunity. Greece is not the black sheep of the eurozone, however, but only the weakest link in a chain that is not as strong as it looks. The author says that at a time when the euro is threatened by the systemic crisis currently under way, Greece is the only EU member state where shock therapy is being applied and where people have attempted to unpick the EU acquis. The results of this experimenting will determine the future not only of society on the periphery of the European Union, but also society at the very heart of Europe. Well-known editorialist on the Kathimerini newspaper, Stavros Ligeros goes back in this book to the roots of the crisis before moving on to analyse various aspects and characteristics of it. He verifies whether the dilemma was really a choice between 'memorandum and bankruptcy,' and whether the bitter cup of debt was really the only solution. After assessing the consequences of the crisis in terms of the legitimacy of power, he considers scenarios for the country's potential bankruptcy or exit from the eurozone. (AKa)
*** KOSTAS LAPAVITSAS (Ed.): ÑÞîç ; (Rupture?) ÄéÝîïäïò áðü ôçí êñßóç ôçò åõñùæþíçò (Moyen de sortir de la crise de la zone euro). Editions Livanis (98 Solonos, GR-10680 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3661200 - Fax: 3617791 - email: webmaster@livanis.gr - Internet: http://www.livanis.gr ). 2012, 182 pp, €10. ISBN 978-960-14-2452-1.
What is special about the euro as a global reserve currency? What future is lining up for the people undergoing austerity programmes in Europe? Why do some people say that Greece must exit the eurozone? What would happen to pay and pensions the day after Greece leaves the eurozone? Would devaluation of the new drachma inevitably lead to a fall in the working person's income? How could the primary deficit be covered without borrowing from overseas? These are some of the many questions examined in this collection of essays by economists. They aim to provide a scientifically backed alternative to the unprecedented impasse in which Greek society currently finds itself. The recommended path aims to help the vast majority of Greeks who have seen their living standards sorely affected because, as the authors point out, euro-austerity is not a one-way street.
(AKa)
*** YANNIS PRETENTERIS: Ï øõ÷ñüò åìöýëéïò (La guerre civile froide). Ôá ðñüóùðá êáé ôá ãåãïíüôá ðïõ äéÝëõóáí ìéá ÷þñá (Les personnes et les événements qui ont déchiré le pays). Editions Patakis (see above). 'Sciences sociales et politiques' series. 2012, 221 pp, €10-50. ISBN 978-960-16-4752-4.
Three years ago, Greece collapsed an immediately became the target of parvenus. The social tragedy that arose from this has become a cold civil war that is carried out without armed conflicts or clashes, but with passion, fanaticism and internal strife. This is the view of the author, the director of the To Vima newspaper and presenter of a television programme, who examines in this book how the collapse happened and why the whole country fell so easily and so drastically. The story begins in 2009 and ends with the double elections of May and June 2012.
(AKa)
*** VERA PALEA: Financial Reporting under IAS/IFRS Theoretical Background and Capital Market Evidence. A European Perspective. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2013, 173 pp, €50.80. ISBN 978-3-0343-1403-
Written by a researcher at Turin University specialising in finance and accounting, this book examines one of the most important and most controversial events in the recent history of compatibility, namely the adoption of IAS/IFRS financial reporting rules that are now the norm in the European Economic Area under a November 2008 regulation. Taking the viewpoint of an investor, Vera Palea describes the theoretical background to these rules and studies their impact and their utility as financial information for investors, along with what they cost companies. The author also examines the largely controversial issue of fair value accounting. Very useful explanations that will help investors in their decision-making and help companies get access to the widest and most profitable financial markets. (Aka)