*** PAUL H. RAY, SHERRY RUTH ANDERSON: L'émergence des Créatifs Culturels. Enquête sur les acteurs d'un changement de société. Editions Yves Michel (BP 3, F-05300 Barret-le-Bas, France). 2001, 512 pages, FF 145. ISBN 2-913492-10-X.
Imagine that in the middle of the United States there suddenly appears a country as large as France. A country that has its own culture, rich and varied, its own way of life, values and perception of the world - all of it resolutely new. A country that has its own heroes and its own vision of the future. (…) Now, imagine something else: there is a new country, as large and culturally rich, but nobody sees it… Thus begins this book, translated from American, which is an invitation to the discovery of a new world being formed, the Santa Maria in contemporary Colomb. This new country and its citizens have presented themselves to Paul Ray, Doctor in sociology and graduate in anthropology, through an investigation lasting over more than ten years. During the 90s (and after personal work that had already given him the bug), he thus leads and analyses the results of an investigation covering the United States which, sponsored by the Fetzer Institute and the Institute for Noetic studies, covering the role of values linked to the transformation of American society; then, he also helped to undertake a study on the role of values and preoccupations centred on ecological sustainability in American society, study supported by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Presidential Council for Sustainable Development. So much work that has allowed him to discern the emergence of a new cultural sub-group, to draw the contours of a new population, which, without being conscious of its existence, creates one individual at a time a new culture. With the support of an enlightened feminine eye, the psychoanalyst Sherry Ruth Anderson who was professor of psychiatry and President of a women's support organisation (she is also the co-author of a book entitled The hidden female side of God), Paul Ray then undertook individual in-depth meetings that have allowed him to dive into the heart of the personal stories of those people susceptible of being Cultural Creators. Thus our two figures have managed - and this book bears witness to it - to isolate and understand this terra incognita rich with a growing population turned towards the ecology, feminine values, social and psychospiritual development.
For the authors, no doubt: these women and men are, from innovation to innovation, in the process of creating a new culture for the 21st Century. It is them which, ceaselessly, develop new cultural and surprising solutions, while the modernist system in which we live proves incapable, to use the words of an editor who, beyond his profession, adheres to this vision of a changing world, to counter the humane and ecological dead ends it has generated. Women and men (but - and this is not without importance! - more so women than men…) live with other expectations, other references, and other desires. Who include in their lives planetary and ecological perspectives, which manifest a true concern for spiritual and psychological development. Who take a highly critical distance from the main institutions of modern life, including the notions of right and left in politics and a rejection of materialism and external signs of wealth…
Who are these Cultural Creators? To answer this, the authors wanted to go beyond opinions and attitudes, elements that change as quickly as the summer winds. They have divided at the level of values and visions the world that shape the lives of people, these fundamental structures which, they, change a lot compared to the surrounding world being only 5% (minority!) in the 1960s; and they are now 26%. This is a massive increase at the scale of a civilisation, where the main developments are measured in centuries. What are these values that they develop? Firstly, they are at the origin of the present popularity for personal authenticity, namely the concordance between the acts of a person and those they say and believe. They then enjoy learning in an intimate and personal manner, while marrying idealism and activism (75% of them are committed to charitable activities) as well as globalisation and ecology. Women are, on the other hand, at the heart of there world in that they adopt nearly systematically a female way of seeing things, more open towards the other (and, moreover, 60% of the Cultural Creators are women). 50 million American Cultural Creators are spread, according to the authors, in 25 million advanced individuals - who are concerned with both social justice and the development of the personal life, for whom the sacred includes individual enlightenment and solidarity - and 25 million ecologists (our Greens?), less directly involved. So many people, lives that are enlightened in the work.
For Ray and Anderson, this new sociological group has taken root in the United States, along side the Modernists - largely a majority - and the Traditionalists. Is this phenomenon strictly American? It is true that the ideas, which it carries, have marked the last election campaign for Bill Clinton (but in no way his successor…). Furthermore, an investigation carried out in Europe by the former DG X in the Commission on request from the forward looking cell that certain European phenomenon could also be explained by this social or even civilization development. This investigation - whose results have been released in… the United States - has regardless been the object of no interest within the Commission, which preferred to remain silent. Is this the clue of a conflict of the paradigm within this supposedly… post-modern institution?
Michel Theys
*** THOMAS MOORE: Quand le monde retrouve son âme. La Renaissance du Livre (52 chaussée de Roubaix, B-7500 Tournai. Tel: (32-069) 891555 - Fax: 891550 - E-mail: rdl@larenaissance dulivre.com). "Les Chemins de la connaissance" series. 2001, 264 pages, BEF 895. ISBN 2-8046-0476-4.
Thomas Moore is, without a doubt, one of the Cultural Creators discussed in the previous book. At the intersection of spirituality - inspired by the writings of Marsilio Ficino, of the Florentine Renaissance - and by Jungian psychology, this former monk born in Detroit, today psychotherapist after having taught at the University of Dallas and having been a researcher at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, works in this collection of small essays towards reanimating modern sensitivity by reintroducing the Soul and fundamental myths. His book begins, there, where the thought process of the French choreographer Maurice Béjart ends: No civilisation can live without myths. Ours tried, it failed. Myths are the phoenix that are always reborn from their ashes, transformed, mutated, but eternal. The contemporary age needs this land of eternity, where myths talk of the Gods of our childhood…
(MT)
*** EUGEN DREWERMANN: A contre-courant. La Renaissance du Livre (see details above). "Les Chemins de la connaissance" series. 2001, 113 pages, BEF 595. ISBN 2-8046-0475-6.
Born in Germany in 1940, Eugen Drewermann is a rebel. No doubt this theologian also belongs to the category of the Church of Rome and its guilty dogmas, in his eyes, betray that true evangelical message. This book is the very humane testimony of a thinker fully emersed in his century.
(MT)
*** PAUL HAINSWORTH (Edited by): The Politics of the Extreme Right. From the Margins to the Mainstream. Pinter (Wellington House, 125 Strand, London WC2R 0BB. Tel: (44-20) 74205555 - Fax: 72407261). 2000, 322 pages, GBP 50 (hardback) or GBP 15.99. ISBN 1-8556-7459-9.
The prophecy of Bertold Brecht seems, sadly, to be coming true. The stomach of the horrible beast is more full than ever before. The extreme right spreads across Europe. Written under the leadership of a specialist from the academic world (he teaches at the University of Ulster), this book bears witness to this. Though it goes further, as the authors also try to explain the causes and set out links between the various neo-fascist movements that are expanding. They are called Front National in France, Vlaams Blok in Belgium, FPÖ in Austria, Lega Nord in Italy… Behind a common ideology fed by xenophobia, conservatism and populism these movements pursue disparate objectives, sometimes contradictory. Separatism in Belgium and Italy, nostalgia for the nation-State in France or Serbia, or even anti-State in the United States. This collective work, without being exhaustive, works towards explaining why certain countries, certain regions, seem more favourable breeding grounds to the emergence of extreme right movements. At the time when Europe presents itself as the champion of democracy, freedom, tolerance and cohabitation, it is good to recall that this project is fragile. It is also good to better understand the mechanisms that increasingly push voters into the arms of this extreme right of which it would be dangerous, even criminal, to underestimate it ability to cause damage.
(DDF)
*** PETER KEMPEES: A Systematic Guide to the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights. 1997-1998, Volume IV. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Kluwer Law International (P.O. Box 85889, 2508 CN Den Haag. Tel: (31-78) 6546454). 2000, 966 pages. ISBN 90-411-1223-5.
This summary, the fourth of its kind, covers the rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights in 1997 and 1998, before the entry into force of Protocol 11 of the Convention, which will increase the number of rulings made each year and whose text is included in the volume. The rulings presented in this work are classified according to Article in the Convention for the protection of human rights and the safeguard of fundamental freedoms. Preceded by a detailed table of contents and a users note, the work includes, among others, a theme based index, a table of judgments from 1960 to 1998 in alphabetical orders. For 1997 and 1998 they are added by chronological order. A working tool for reference purposes.
(LD)
*** JEAN-FRANCOIS RENUCCI: Droit européen des droits de l'homme. Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence (31 rue Falguière, F-75741Paris Cedex 15. Tel: (33-1) 46338985 - Fax: 56541649 - E-mail: e.j.a@wanadoo.fr). 2001, 696 pages, FF 190, EUR 28.97. ISBN 2-275-01930-8.
Professor at the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis where he is a member of the Research Centre on the rights of European organisations and the Commission for the study of the European Communities, the author has formed this Guide in order to familiarise students - but the book also targets legal officials and practitioners - with a side of law that occupies an increasingly important place in judiciary debates, both on the national and European levels.
(MT)
*** JACK BEATSON, YVONNE CRIPPS (Edited by): Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Information. Essays in Honour of Sir David Williams. Oxford University Press (Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP. Tel: (44-01865) 556767 - Internet: http://www.oup.com ). 2000, 421 pages. ISBN 0-19-826839-4.
Tribute paid to Sir David William, vice-Chancellor at Cambridge University, during his seventeenth birthday. This work - which comes from a conference organised by the Centre for Public Law at this venerable university - sees very high-ranking lawyers look at two fundamental principals, freedom of expression and freedom of information, which play an increasingly central and unavoidable role in modern democracies. Eminent figures from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and, of course, the United Kingdom, through their contributions tackle, in-depth, themes such as the freedom of expression and religion, the political leaders and the press, the protection of political speech, free press and fair trials, the freedom of expression in the legal order of the Union and in EU relations with third countries, the relationship between the protection of these freedoms as they are assured in Great Britain and guaranteed in the other countries of the Commonwealth as well as the United States, in the European Union and under the European Human Rights Convention, which will be precious for representatives of the academic world, practitioners of law and the political world.
(MT)
*** Rapport 2001. La liberté de la presse dans le monde. Reporters sans frontières (diffusion: Dif'Pop', 21 ter rue Voltaire, F-75011 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40242131 - Fax: 40241588). 2001, FF 90, BEF 540,CHF 24. ISBN 2-908830-57-4.
For ten years, Reporters sans frontières fights to promote freedom of the press in the world. Its annual report - which covers, this year, the attacks against freedom of the press in 146 countries and which is released with the support of the European Commission - has become a reference in this area. Last year, 32 journalists have been killed for their opinions or in the exercising of their profession. Dozens of others are imprisoned for the same reasons. At the head of this sad hit-parade comes Burma, qualified as the largest prison for journalists in the world. More generally, Asia is more respectful of these rights, though China experiences a particularly concerning situation, and with black spots such as Sierra Leon and Cuba. Even Europe is not safe from loosing track. The former USSR has the lion's share. Though Spain also experiences difficult moments: ETA pursues its exactions against the journalists' accused of "coolness towards separatism". Proof, if there is any that the attacks against the freedom of the press are not the sole preserve of the States. This report by RSF is formed on a country-by-country basis and also structured by a very widespread network. A precious guide, not only for the world of the press, but also for all those keen to be informed on democracy around this planet.
(DDF)
*** The Council of Europe (Council of Europe publications, F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex) has published the following documents:
***Right to a fair trial. July 2000, "Democratic science and techniques" series, N° 28, 167 pages. ISBN 92-871-4296-3.
The right to a fair trial is a fundamental element to the legal order, guaranteed both by the national constitutions and by the European human rights convention. The reports published in this volume have been presented at Brno, during a seminar dedicated to the European constitutional heritage. Members of the constitutional courts from twenty countries took part. They demonstrate the convergence of the approaches and the universal nature of the values guaranteed by a fair trial.
***1999-2000: 10th anniversary of the European Commission for Democracy through Law. Speeches. 2000, 35 pages.
The European Commission for Democracy through Law (also called the "Venice Commission") is a consultative body on constitutional law. Created within the Council of Europe, it is made up of independent experts from some fifty Member States. It celebrates its 10th anniversary on 10 May 2000. Born after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it played a vital role in the adopting of constitutions in accordance with the standards of the European constitutional heritage in the eastern part of the continent. This brochure reproduces the speeches made on this occasion.
*** Societies in conflict: the contribution of law and democracy to conflict resolution - Sociétés en conflit: la contribution du droit et de la démocratie au règlement des conflits. "Science et technique de la démocratie" series, N° 29. October 2000, 211 pages. ISBN 92-871-4444-3.
In summary: collective and individual security in the Balkans, ensure the safety of the human being in conflict situations, the role of international law in the settlement of disputes between States, Moldova: two conflicts, Bosnia Herzegovina: multiethnic or multinational?, the Kosovo crisis and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
*** Liaisons sociales Europe. Groupe Liaisons (Service diffusion: BP 52, F-92502 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex. Tel: (33-1) 41299991 - Internet: http: //http://www.liaisons.sociales.com ). 9/22 May 2001, N° 32, 8 pages. Annual subscription: FF 3,200, EUR 457.35.
The restructuring plans of Danone and Marks & Spencer as well as numerous social plans to come mobilise the European Commission and the European Parliament over the revision of the Directive on European works councils in the direction of enhancing the latter. This Letter explains that this revision could foresee provisions that upset employers, notably with regards to the content and scope of consultation and, even worse, in case of failure to respect their obligations to inform and consult.
*** Actualité des Services Publics en Europe. Lettre des Entreprises Européennes de Réseaux. ASPE Europe (36 rue de Laborde, F-75008 Paris. Fax: (33-1) 43876891 - E-mail: aspe@club-internet.fr). Mai 2001, N° 78, 16 pages. Annual subscription: FF 3,200.
In summary: MPs want to integrate energy efficiency into the Lisbon strategy, European transport remains insufficiently "green", the MPs debate the opening-up of public transport, "Telecommunications package: the power of national regulators is enhanced", Europe that treads water at the Stockholm summit, traditional postal services, which still has some good days ahead of it, combined transport has more than doubled in thirteen years, airport fees and Commission powers…
National reviews in short
*** La voce delle regioni. March/April 2001, Brussels. It is an unquestionable fact that cultural diversity represents a precious heritage for the whole of Europe. Another expression of this wealth is the diversity of languages, including those of the minorities. *** La lettre d'information. April 2001, Paris. In summary: the French National Assembly adopts a text that protects the heritage, the Cannes festival under the gaze of social sciences, youth jobs, music fair, Culture 2000: favouring cultural networks and the European forum for young creation. *** Look Japan. April 2001, Tokyo. Until now, Japanese NGOs had little power compared to their international counterparts. For 20 years, many intellectuals claim that Japan does not have the verve for volunteer work. However, projects flourish. *** Comuni d'Europa. April, 2001 Rome. Reason and emotions at the service of an idea, which does not die. For Roberto Di Giovan Paolo, deputy Secretary General of AICCRE, he is not a certainty that Italy is ready for the confederation. Other issues broached: more on Mad Cow, the mare nostrum of the global village…