UNESCO Courier articles from March 1996

UNESCO Courier archives from March 1996

Henri Atlan: the frontiers of science. (French biologist)(Interview)
March 1, 1996... The French biologist Henri Atlan, professor of biophysics at the University of Paris VI and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has won an international reputation for his research on the self-organization of cells and artificial intelligence....

The seeds of hate. (racism and nationalism after World War II)
March 1, 1996... Crisis in the modern world is fanning the embers of racism and nationalism In the wake of the Second World War and, later, of decolonization, Western societies had reason to believe that racism in their countries would gradually fade away....

Racism and anti-racism.
March 1, 1996... The strangely ambiguous relationship between two incompatible ideas The term "racism" seems to have been introduced into the English language in 1938 in a translation of a book by the German writer Magnus Hirschfeld which had appeared in German...

The affirmative action debate.
March 1, 1996... In the U.S.A., government action to combat workplace discrimination against minorities faces growing criticism The civil rights revolution in the United States was primarily a struggle for liberty, not equality. It sought to dismantle the...

An unscientific notion. (concept of race)
March 1, 1996... A geneticist explains why the concept of race is not valid for human populations Racism is based on two assertions which are presented as facts. First, that the human species is made up of very distinct groups with different biological...

'Beneath the dark sun of racism...': Elias Canetti. (novelist, dramatist and philosopher)(Interview)
March 1, 1996... The novelist, dramatist and philosopher Elias Canetti (1905-1994), who wrote in German, was born at Ruschuk in Bulgaria. His parents were Sephardim, Jews of Spanish origin. In 1981, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Swedish...

Race, history and culture.
March 1, 1996... One of the world's leading anthropologists, Claude Levi-Strauss twice set forth his ideas on racism for UNESCO, first in Race and History (1952) and later in Race and Culture (1971). On the following pages we publish long extracts from these two...

A plea for tolerance.
March 1, 1996... Article 1 Meaning of tolerance 1.1 Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and...

The rights of future generations.
March 1, 1996... The extent to which future generations will be able to enjoy their rights will depend on the moral and intellectual choices made by present generations - on whether we do our duty to our children and our children's children. Time to act For...

The golden stones of Salamanca. (Salamanca, Spain)
March 1, 1996... Famed for its university and its cultural life, the Spanish city of Salamanca has an outstanding architectural heritage. Its historic centre was registered on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1988. Salamanca first appears in history as...

Waste-free manufacturing - feasible goal or wild goose chase?
March 1, 1996... According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), world economic output is expected to double between now and 2010. In developing countries it is anticipated to nearly triple. It is vital, therefore, to identify...

A sense of jubilation: Isabelle Leymarie talks to Teresa Laredo. (Bolivian pianist and harpsichordist)(Interview)
March 1, 1996... The internationally known Bolivian pianist and harpsichordist Teresa Laredo studied at the Academia Santa Cecilia in Rome (Italy) and the Mozarteum in Salzburg (Austria), and later taught at the Conservatory in Geneva (Switzerland). She recently...

The image and the word.
March 1, 1996... The notion that the book and the printed word are in rapid decline gained its widest currency following the spectacular success of the image and the media of visual communication - the cinema, television, advertising displays, strip cartoons,...