Conceptual Considerations of “Space” and “Region”: Political, Economic and Social Dynamics of Region-Building

2013 ◽  
pp. 21-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Wippel
Author(s):  
John Sullivan ◽  
Sharon Croisant ◽  
Marilyn Howarth ◽  
Wilma Subra ◽  
Marylee Orr ◽  
...  

This paper is intended to complement our extended documentation and analysis of the activities of the Gulf Coast Health Alliance: Health Risks related to the Macondo Spill project Community Outreach and Dissemination Core entitled, “Building and maintaining a citizen science network with fishermen and fishing communities after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster using a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach.” We discuss nuances of CBPR practice, including trust-building, clarification of stakeholder expectations, balancing timelines and agendas, cultural fluency, and the importance of regional history—political-economic context, regulatory practices, and cultural life-ways—in creating social dynamics that overarch and underpin the entire process. We examine the unique role of knowledge-making hybrid structures like the project’s Fishermen’s citizen science network and compare/contrast this structure with other models of participatory science or deliberation. Finally, we reiterate the importance of environmental health literacy efforts, summarize project outcomes, and offer thoughts on the future roles of collaborative efforts among communities and institutional science in environmental public health.


Scholars and policymakers, struggling to make sense of the ongoing chaos in the Middle East, have focused on the possible causes of the escalation in both inter-state and intra-state conflict. But the Arab Spring has shown the urgent need for new ways to frame difference, both practically and theoretically. For some, a fundamental incompatibility between different ethno-linguistic and religious communities lies at the root of these conflicts; these divisions are thought to impede any form of political resolution or social cohesion. But little work has been done to explore how these tensions manifest themselves in the communities of the Middle East. Sites of Pluralism fills this significant gap, going beyond a narrow focus on 'minorities' to examine the larger canvas of community politics in the Middle East. Through eight case studies from esteemed experts in law, education, history, architecture, anthropology and political science, this multi-disciplinary volume offers a critical view of the Middle East's diverse, pluralistic fabric: how it has evolved throughout history; how it influences current political, economic and social dynamics; and what possibilities it offers for the future.


1982 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-499 ◽  

Starting from the fact, well-established by now, that conventional social sciences, developed in a specific social/cultural/political/economic context, cannot be relied upon to explain, analyse and understand the social dynamics in different contexts - let alone to predict the outcome of this dynamics - this paper outlines the agenda for research in social sciences in Third World countries. It identifies the areas of research and goes on to emphasize the need for evolving an alternative theory of development which, instead of insisting on industrialization and modernization at all costs, takes into account the historical and social factors in each society and sets itself goals that are both desirable and viable, and comes to grips with the needs and aspirations of the people.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edna Gusmão de Góes Brennand ◽  
Eládio José De Góes Brennand

Resumo Investiga bases conceituais para compreender a arquitetura das redes de comunicação no ciberespaço, e fluxos de informação e aprendizagens entre sujeitos no contexto das dinâmicas sociais contemporâneas. Analisa quatro eventos atuais: a mundialização da economia; a migração de pessoas ligadas a causas políticas, econômicas e religiosas; a revolução das tecnologias da informação e comunicação e a convergência tecnológica que em conjunto, permite argumentar que, na economia e na cultura globalizadas, as sociedades estão em constante turbulência, intensificando a busca de links de referência para construir “teias” de significado social. As tessituras sociais vão sendo criadas, e sua complexidade exige abordagens interdisciplinares para a compreensão de suas especificidades. Nesse contexto a disseminação da informação é cada vez mais ampliada pela capacidade de distribuição, através de nós homogêneos e estratégias de otimização de tempo de resposta aos usuários. Discute estratégias de distribuição de informação e conhecimento que possibilitam o fortalecimento de mundos associativos virtuais e o surgimento de variedades de arquiteturas de redes de informação, tanto na esfera econômica quanto na política ou social. Mostra  o mundo associativo virtual como estruturador de redes informacionais e cognitivas fazendo emergir  novas ideografias dinâmicas, num entrelaçamento de textos, hipertextos, discursos, diálogos e formas de interação. A rede complexa de fluxos de informações tece nós, fractais e hologramas dos memoriais da humanidade, misturando culturas, imaginários e formas de ser, sentir e pensar numa plêiade de possibilidades de interação de saberes.Palavra-chave arquiteturas cognitivas; convergência tecnológica; fluxos de informação; dinâmicas sociaisAbstract This article investigates conceptual bases for a better understanding of the architecture of communication networks in cyberspace and information flows between subjects, as well as learning in the context of contemporary social dynamics. It examines four current events: the globalization of the economy; the migration of people linked to political, economic and religious causes; the revolution in information technology and communication and technological convergence. Taken together, they allow us to argue that, in economy and in globalized cultures, society is in constant turbulence, intensifying the search for models in order to build connections that have a social meaning. The social weaving is being created, and its complexity requires interdisciplinary approaches to understand their specific requirements. In this context the spread of information is increasingly enhanced by homogeneous nodes and strategies for optimizing response time to users. The article discusses strategies for distributing information and knowledge, which permits the strengthening of associative virtual worlds and the emergence of varieties of architectural information networks, both in the economic and political or social spheres. Shows the virtual world as an associative structurer of information and cognitive networks, making new dynamics ideographs rise in an interweaving of text, hypertext, speeches, dialogues and forms of interaction. The complex network of information weaves nodes, fractals and holograms from the memorials of humanity. It mixes different cultures, values, ways of thinking, in a whirl of knowledge interaction possibilities.Keywords cognitive architectures; technological convergence; information flow; social dynamics 


Author(s):  
Vivienne Jabri

The reality of war has always been connected with political, economic, and social dynamics, as opposed to the notion that it is held within the confines of the battlefield. International political sociologists argue that practices of war and peace are positioned at the crux of institutional continuities and societal change, and that it is wrong to presuppose a dichotomy between the domestic and the international. As a result, scholars have become interested in the study of warfare, which, apart from military history, encompasses various themes such as the nature of human conflict and issues of defense policy, logistics, operations, and strategic planning. One particular study is International Political Sociology (IPS), a field of research that is concerned with how wars draw boundaries, how they influence political authority and trajectories of power, and how these are integrated in the global sphere. Meanwhile, International Relations (IR) is a formal subject that addresses the origin of war, how it impacts the dealings of the international system, and the institutional arrangements that might restrict or enhance war as a determinant of state relations. The study of International Relations is rife with various analytical perspectives, from realism to neo-realism and liberal internationalism, all of which exhibit how war continues to have a central place in scholarly disciplines.


Africa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-619
Author(s):  
Ian Scoones ◽  
Blasio Mavedzenge ◽  
Felix Murimbarimba

AbstractAcross Africa there has been a growth in medium-sized farms, including in Zimbabwe following the land reform of 2000. What are the prospects of such farms driving new forms of agricultural commercialization? In this article we seek to learn lessons from the past by examining the experience of ‘native purchase areas’, which were established from the 1930s in Zimbabwe. Through a detailed historical study of Mushagashe small-scale commercial farming area in Masvingo Province, the article explores the changing fortunes of farms over time. Historical information is complemented by a survey of twenty-six randomly selected farms, examining patterns of production, asset ownership and accumulation. In-depth interviews explore life histories and changes in social arrangements that have influenced agrarian change. Four broad farm types are identified, including those that are commercialized, projectized, villagized, and held or abandoned. These categories are not static, however, and the article emphasizes non-linear patterns of change. Following Sara Berry, we show how pathways of commercialization are diverse and unpredictable, influenced by interlocking conjunctures of social dynamics, generational changes and political-economic conditions. Commercialization outcomes are dependent on the intersection of relational dynamics and more structural, political economy factors. Bursts of commercialization on these farms are contingent on access to employment by farm owners, labour (hired, squatters and offspring) and, perhaps above all, money to invest. The much-hyped policy vision of a new medium-scale commercial farm sector emerging in Africa therefore must be qualified, and divergent outcomes recognized.


Almanack ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ynaê Lopes dos Santos

Abstract Rio de Janeiro stands out as one of the few cities in the Atlantic world that have managed to bring together characteristics so particular and at the same time revealing of the global dynamics that marked the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first fifty years of the next century. On the one hand, its political centrality became evident with its elevation to the thirst for colonial power (1763), its transformation into the Court of the Lusitanian Empire (1808) and its choice as the capital of the Brazilian Empire (1822), the portion “Versailles Tropical “Of Rio de Janeiro coexisted with a city that, in the words of an English traveler, more seemed the” heart of Africa “; with blacks and blacks of different origins, performing an innumerable number of activities that yielded to Rio de Janeiro the honorable title of the largest slave city in the Americas. More than harming foreign travelers unaccustomed to everyday slavery, or creating practices of “little Africa” in its territory, the strong presence of Africans and their descendants under the aegis of slavery reveals yet another facet of Rio de Janeiro: a locus of the world, in which identities, trajectories and senses of the city were in dispute. The purpose of this paper is precisely to understand the political, economic and social dynamics that characterized Rio de Janeiro as an important center of this Afro-Atlantic world


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Folan ◽  
David D. Bolles ◽  
Jerald D. Ek

AbstractThis paper examines ethnohistoric accounts and oral histories accumulated during the last 50 years concerning the movements of the mythical personage of Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcan (Kukul Can) and the role of these narratives in political ideologies between the Epiclassic and Postclassic periods. These narratives outline the movements of Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcan by way of terrestrial, celestial, and subterranean routes that connected pilgrimage centers across the Maya lowlands in the peninsula of Yucatan. Ethnographic and ethnohistoric data presented in this paper describe linkages between important political, economic, and ritual centers that had roots in pan-Mesoamerican social dynamics originating as early as the Terminal Classic or Epiclassic period. Links between cities included not just the physical intersite connections evidenced by causeways that are so prominent in the archaeological record but also intangible, mythical, and symbolic connections embodied in mythical histories of subterranean passageways and celestial umbilical cords. These accounts and oral histories highlight the importance of migration and founding events in the establishment of new cities during the major political, economic, and social reorganizations that took place after the end of the Late Classic period. As a whole, these linkages comprised a political infrastructure connecting a network of cities within the highly integrated and international Postclassic Mesoamerican world. The indigenous histories outlined in this paper complement archaeological data, reflecting an increase in internationalism, economic integration, and the spread of new religious movements beginning in the Terminal or Epiclassic periods across Mesoamerica.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Cham Nguyen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to concern the community festival of a Jing minority village in the China–Vietnam border area. Since it was designated as a national-level Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006, the festival has undergone many changes. The festival has steadily expanded and evolved, assuming characteristics of globalization. How is the globalized character of the Wanwei festival manifested? What are the forces behind the elevation of this local festival onto the register of national events and how did it turn into an event organized by the township? Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the results of the author’s research on the culture of Kinh people in Wanwei from 2000 to the present. From the anthropological approach, the author mainly uses method of participant observation and in-depth interviews. The author has observed the Wanwei communal festival from 2000 to the present, interviewing about 40 villagers in Wanwei in depth, they can be leaders, intellectuals, civil servants, officials or working people. Findings The paper is a case study of the new aspect of globalization of a village festival. The author argues that globalization can lead to a spread of global flows but in this process of globalization, villagers also want to define the local identity, they reinvent the tradition, rewrite history, create new nuances for the gods with many different purposes. Practicing the current Wanwei village festival is a vivid example of globalization from below and the politics of tradition. Originality/value The paper adds a theoretical dimension to current globalization research. The paper also points out the political, economic and social dynamics that govern the transformation of a village festival in particular and the village culture in general in the border areas. The paper is a testament to the dynamism and flexibility of villagers when participating in the current globalization process.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document