La figura teórica de Bolívar Echeverría: crítica de la economía política y crítica a la modernidad capitalista / The theoretical figure of Bolívar Echeverría: criticism of political economy and criticism of capitalist modernity

Este trabajo pretende dejar de manifiesto la existencia de una figura o estructura teórica dentro de la obra del marxista latinoamericano Bolívar Echeverría, que muestre su organicidad interna y lógica argumental. A través de cuatro momentos (los fundamentos, núcleo, ramales o derivas y resultados), se recorre la totalidad de su producción teórica, siguiendo dos elementos estructurales; por un lado, el modo especifico en que el autor leyó la "crítica de la economía política" de Karl Marx, y, por el otro, su intento por desarrollar una crítica a la modernidad capitalista desde la cultura política, a partir de los fundamentos de su lectura de Marx. This work tries to show the existence of a figure or theoretical structure within the work of the Latin American Marxist Bolívar Echeverría, which shows its internal organicity and logical argument. Through four moments (foundations, nucleus, branches or drifts and results), the entirety of its theoretical production is covered, following two structural elements; on the one hand, the specific way in which this author read Karl Marx's critique of political economy, and, on the other, his attempt to develop from it, a critique from political culture to capitalist modernity.

Tropical Flânerie & the Creative Asian City: a perambulation of literature

The flâneur became a literary figure of 19th century Paris and was taken up as a theoretical figure in the early 20th century. During these periods the city was undergoing massive social, architectural and infrastructural change. Today, the notion of the flâneur is experiencing a renaissance as cities are undergoing significant restructuring towards creative industries and economies. At the same time, two distinctive aspects of the theory of the flâneur are facing critique. One is to do with geography. The theory is based on cities of the global north, such as Paris, London and New York, and thus inherently entwined with the colonial metropole. The other aspect concerns gender. The flâneur invokes a masculine gaze, and the possibility of a female flâneuse remains under debate.The current century has been witness to the rapid growth of cities, including in the tropics and Asia. This literature review – in the style of a perambulation – explores flânerie with examples of tropical Asian cities. Singapore is of special interest as it strives to become a ‘renaissance city’ – a global city of the arts, based on creative industries and economies. As a theory and method of critically meandering the creative city, flânerie offers a way of engaging and contributing to an ethnography of urban life. Furthermore, such a method may usefully rework the notion of the gaze of the flâneur to include the use of photography.

Imaginative Theory

The literary theory of the medieval schools, found in academic prologues or commentaries, is often articulated in an analytical and explicit language. However, in both Latin and vernacular literary texts literary self-theorization may also be expressed in figured and metaphorical form. An example would be Guillaume de Machaut’s “Prologue,” but other widespread and recognizable literary theoretical figures include the dream, the mirror, the reading of a book, or the conversation overheard. It is important for scholarship in Middle English literature to focus more on these “imaginative” articulations of literary theory. This article examines one particular literary-theoretical figure, the chanson d’aventure (“the song of adventure”), which, depending on how it is put together, can perform an array of literary self-commentaries.

Exclusion Individuality or Individualization by Inclusion?

The contribution begins with some remarks on the unavoidable deconstruction of the concepts of subjectivity and of the autonomuos subject as the key concepts of modern western philosophical thought. A sociological perspective has to start where the strong concept of subjectivity ends. It has both to emphasize the societal background of the empirical underdetermination of the individual and to describe this as a new form of social determination. A sociological perspective begins with the description of the conditions for that what the philosophical concept of subjectivity treats as its uncondonditional foundation. That means that sociology begins with the discovery of the empirical individual within social structures. After this the paper reconstructs the theoretical figure of individuality and individualization from the perspective of Luhmann’s systems theory. The second step shows that individuality is more than what is meant by exclusion individuality. This includes a reflection on the individualizing effects of inclusion routines of the function systems in modern society. The last point makes some brief conclusions concerning empirical research on individualization processes.

Effect of growth rate on the physiological rates of a chemostat-grown rotifer Encentrum linnhei

The physiological rates of a normally omnivorous marine rotifer, Encentrum linnhei, were measured under the steady-state chemostat conditions in which the physiological state of the food-algae was kept constant whilst the rotifer growth rate was changed to preset levels. The specific clearance rate ranged between 50 and 100 μl/μg rotifer C/day (1.5–3.0 μ/rot/day) and varied hyperbolically with growth rate, a similar curve was obtained with the specific ingestion rate which varied between 1–2 μg C/μg rot C/day. A mean respiration rate of 0.45 μg C/μg rot C/day was obtained from oxygen consumption measurements. About 60‰ of ingested energy was found to be egested as paniculate matter and 9–4 °0 dissipated as heat, the latter comparing with a theoretical figure of 4–5‰.From rates, transfer efficiencies were obtained giving a mean net growth efficiency (K2) of 38‰ and a mean overall growth efficiency (K1 of 15‰. A curvilinear increase of Kl with growth rate contrasts with linear and hyperbolic responses found with brachionid rotifers.