The Metaphysics Experiment attempts to explicate a theory and history of universalism in modern physics, through an analysis of its conception of nature. Understood as an axiomatic and hegemonic metaphysical premise through four hundred years of scientific and political history, universalism is defined in terms of its general and persistent claim to nature or truth as an ahistorical reality. Thus, I argue that universalism is directly implicated in, not opposed to, the (Christian) monotheistic conception of God. Moreover, universalism constitutes the logic according to which nature is differentiated from history, culture, and politics. It thus constructs both sides of the same ostensible oppositions in the so-called science and culture wars that determine much of today’s politics of nature. The scientific and political dominance of universalism is demonstrated through a history in five acts. Using the current Large Hadron Collider experiment in Geneva as a principal case study in Act 1, and drawing on contemporary philosopher of science, Isabelle Stengers, I consider four pivotal historical moments in the history of physics and metaphysics that determine the universalist claims of this contemporary experiment. In Act 2, the mid-20th century development of Albert Einstein’s General Relativity framework and Big Bang Theory is read against Martin Heidegger’s critique of identity logic. In Act 3, the mid-17th century emergence of the mathematical universe in modern science and philosophy, through Galileo Galilei and René Descartes, is read against Benedict Spinoza’s univocal metaphysics. In Act 4, the late 19th century invention of particle or quantum physics is read against Henri Bergson’s idea of mind-matter dualism. Finally, in Act 5, considering the contemporary use of natural constants in physics, the insights of Michel Serres, Bruno Latour, Peter Sloterdijk, Heidegger, Stengers and Spinoza are drawn together to problematize the modern historical role of physics and its metaphysical constitution of nature. Beyond these historical event-scenes, I also offer a theoretical explication of five logics, demonstrated individually Act by Act, that comprise different dimensions of science in action. Thus, physics is considered historically both as theoretical and experimental practice and as a form of political mobilization.

Several scholars are now examining the emergence of ecology as a means for achieving tighter governmental regulations under the label of what they call green or eco-governmentality. Adopting Michel Foucault’s historical ontology, one of their critiques consists in problematizing the notion of Nature at the core of environmental debates as a political construct modulated by the historical conditions in which it finds itself. One implication of this is that “Nature” has no normative implications except the ones we collectively fantasize about. Such a critique is often perceived as a threat by many environmentalists who are struggling to develop a global and intercultural perspective on environmental destruction. This dissertation suggests that Foucault’s critical project should be examined from a more thoroughly ecological standpoint, leading toward the adoption of a broader, less ethnocentric and anthropocentric ontology. It explores the possibility of rethinking the concept of Nature at the core of political ecology from the standpoint of a relational ontology rather than an historical ontology. It argues that a relational ontology offers a possible alternative to historical ontology by posing our relations to “Nature” not through the metaphysic of will and temporality assumed by Foucault (by which he asserts a universal state of contingency and finitude to deploy his critical project), but through a holistic understanding of Nature in terms of inter-constitutive relations. By being relational instead of historical, a relational ontology contributes to the formulation of open-ended and dynamic worldviews that do not operate against the backdrop of a homogenizing form of temporal universalism or constructivism, but rather poses the immanent differences and processes of diversification we are experiencing as the unifying and harmonizing principle by which we can rethink a more thorough egalitarian and non-anthropocentric standpoint for ecological thinking. Such a differential—yet shared—understanding of Nature could facilitate the development of an intercultural and non anthropocentric perspective on environmental destruction.

Les relations franco-libyennes, sont passées par des périodes de coopération, de tension parfois et même de conflit. Ces mêmes relations ont notamment connu des périodes de coopération et de voisinage au cours du 17ème siècle. Elles ont également traversé des périodes de conflits armés à la fin du 19ème siècle et au début du 20ème siècle, entre certaines tribus libyennes et les forces françaises sur le territoire du Tchad. La France a également joué un rôle important dans la libération de la Libye avec les forces alliées au cours de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Et après des périodes de conflits, les relations franco-libyennes oscillent entre la coopération et le conflit. Le manque de stabilité des relations politique, économique et culturel. et la Libye maintenant représente le meilleur choix de coopération avec les pays européens de l'autre bord de la Méditerranée et de travail commun pour la sécurité du bassin méditerranéen. Aujourd'hui, l'occasion est offerte de renforcer cette relation, surtout que les deux parties partagent plusieurs intérêts communs de la politique étrangère des deux pays qui appellent à un travail commun, tels que l'Afrique, l'Union Africaine, le dossier De l'immigration clandestine, la coopération méditerranéenne, le dialogue Cinq + Cinq et l'Union du Maghreb Arabe.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1714. Adviser: Walter Feinberg. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-152) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Within the dominant culture, culture tends to be given more weight to explain the behaviour of members of cultural minorities than members of the dominant culture. Drawing on the work of Sherene Razack, Leti Volpp and Anne Phillips, I examine two possibilities as to why this may occur: racism and multicultural overreach. I then determine that there needs to be an approach which public authorities can employ to unpack the relationship between culture and autonomy in an individual’s decision making process. Drawing on the work of Will Kymlicka, Natalie Stoljar and Susan Meyers, and utilizing resources from liberal multiculturalism and relational autonomy, I develop a method to assess the relationship between culture and autonomy which I term critical distance. I analyze four cases involving the decision making process of culture minorities and use critical distance to assess how culture and autonomy inform an individual’s decision making process.

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of two recent sub-constitutional acts of recognition extended by the Canadian and Spanish governments towards Quebec and Catalonia, respectively. Specifically, the thesis examines a 2006 resolution by the Canadian House of Commons recognizing “that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada” and the 2006 Catalan Statute of Autonomy, an act that contained similarly ambiguous language regarding nationhood and wider state unity. Both acts are conceptualized as the by-products of an ongoing tension that characterize the Quebec-Canada and Catalonia-Spain relationships, between a rigid and monistic interpretation of the Canadian and Spanish states that operates at the constitutional level, and a more open and multinational interpretation that operates at the sub-constitutional level. The thesis concludes that both the Canadian and Spanish states could benefit from reconceptualising national recognition struggles as an ongoing and necessary feature of free and democratic multinational societies.

During the last decade, the University of Victoria (UVic) in British Columbia, Canada has developed several policies that aim to recruit and retain Indigenous students. UVic is a leader in a wider Canadian trend of encouraging Indigenous youth to complete high school and pursue post-secondary education, but ensuring that universities are safe spaces for Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge is a significant challenge, particularly given the historical roles that universities have held in colonisation. Universities’influence extends beyond their campuses, as the majority of Canadian business, media, and political leaders train in universities. If universities are to develop a positive relationship with Indigenous peoples, then, one must also consider the kind of education that non-Indigenous students receive. This thesis draws together the work of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, using UVic as a case study, to examine Indigenousuniversity relationships, discussing both positive developments and areas for improvement.

Increasingly implied within currents of so-called 'post-structural' or 'post-modern' theory is a particular conception of how to pursue social and political change based on seeking out and encouraging more flexible and heterogeneous epistemological categories and modes of action. This paper develops and explores this conception of change through bringing together theoretical threads, particularly the work of Alberto Melucci on Contemporary Social Movements, with empirical, specifically the political actions taken in response to the disappearances of women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

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