Survivre après la Shoah: l’enjeu des Bagages de sable d’Anna Langfus

Society for French Studies conference
Liverpool, July 2008

Caractérisation des matériaux latéritiques pour une meilleure utilisation en Afrique

In spite of the fact that the laterite masonry was often used for building, during the colonial period, the laterite rock is rarely studied. To resolve the economic and environmental problems, concerning the concrete or cinder block construction in Africa, this material can be again a local resource. The objective is to determine the hydro-thermo-mechanical properties of laterite rocks linking with the local geological conditions, to investigate the possibilities to be used in construction housing, sufficiently able to resist to limited loads and to give thermal comfort inside. Some preliminary results are presented here.

Der deutsche Lebensstandard während des Ersten Weltkrieges in historischer Perspektive: Welche Rolle spielten Konsumentenpräferenzen?

After the outbreak of war in 1914 and the subsequent blockade implemented by British navy, the German economy faced serious food shortages leading to famine-like conditions, especially towards the end of the war. As a response to these shortages, the German authorities introduced and implemented socialist policies such as price ceilings and food rations. This study focuses on the inefficient use of high-quality foodstuffs by members of lower social strata by discussing consumer decisions during the First World War from a microeconomic perspective. The German rationing system provided small, but valuable – measured by black market prices – quantities of superior foodstuffs. Especially meat could have been traded on flourishing black markets for greater quantities of inferior staple foods such as bread and potatoes. In this paper I argue that a more efficient use of rations by the poor could have improved their nutritional situation.