Marxismo e filosofia: algumas considerações sobre os textos políticos Merleau-Pontyanos do pós-guerra

A tentativa merleau-pontyana de aproximação do marxismo, empreendida nos idos do pós-guerra, é perpassada por constante ambigüidade. Não obstante o propósito do filósofo de se filiar à teoria de Marx, suas análises políticas revelam-se distantes de suas intenções. Concebendo a história como uma aventura que escapa a qualquer esquema racional, Merleau-Ponty questiona, desde seus primeiros escritos, a dialética marxista entre lógica e contingência na história. A tensão interna que dilacera os textos do autor nos anos 40, anunciando (e preparando) a recusa da teoria da revolução estampada mais tarde nas Aventuras da Dialética, permite indagar se esse desfecho dos anos 50 não teria sido, ao invés de um corte no interior da obra, o resultado necessário dessa tentativa problemática de aproximação do marxismo a partir de categorias que lhe são estranhas (próprias às filosofias da existência e à fenomenologia).

The interorganizational virtual organization: Defining a Weberian ideal

The concept of the virtual organization (VO) has engendered great interest in the literature, yet there is still little common understanding of the concept, as evidenced by the multitude of labels applied to VOs. In this article, we focus on a “Weberian-ideal-type” definition of the interorganizational VO, posited in our earlier work (Kasper-Fuehrer and Ashkanasy 2001). We argue, however, that this definition left unanswered critical questions relating to the nature and effects of interorganizational VOs. We answer these questions here by explicating the terms in the definition and deriving ten corollaries, or “natural consequences” of our definition. The corollaries posit that interorganizational VOs are temporary in nature, are network organizations, are independent, and are based on swift trust. We suggest further that interorganizational VOs enable small to medium enterprises to exploit market opportunities, and enable VO member organizations to create a value-adding partnership. We also identify information and communication technology (ICT) as the essential enabler of VOs. Finally, we argue that interorganizational VOs act as a single organizational unit and that they therefore constitute a uniquely distinguishable organizational form. We conclude with suggestions for further research, including trust, organizational behavior, transaction economics, virtual HRM, and business strategy.

Three theories of liberalism for the three theories of federalism. A Hegelian turn

This paper links different political liberal theories, considered from the perspective of their moral ontology, with federal democracies. After giving a brief description of these theories, I discuss their relationship with the theoretical and institutional models of federalism. As methodological tools, the paper introduces some Hegel’s political concepts and deals with their potential application to the analysis of federalism, taken into account the case of minorities in multinational democracies. I postulate the need for a moral and institutional refinement of liberal-democratic patterns that is better able to accommodate national pluralism than has so far been achieved by traditional constitutionalism.