Possibilities of a Territorial Ordering for the Transition in Nicaragua

1985 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
J L Coraggio

The object of this paper is an analysis of the possibilities of a politically oriented territorial transformation in the process of building a new state in Nicaragua. Three central questions are posed. How should the struggle of popular sectors be connected with the contradictions associated with territorial organization? Is there an autonomy of the spatial, that is, is spatial concentration simply a product of capitalism? Does the construction of socialism necessitate decentralization, or does spatial concentration remain in socialism because it is a universal tendency associated with the nature of technology? Not even neoclassical conceptions of territorial organization, nor those of the new Marxist school (which analyzes the society–space relationship in universal terms), are effective in orienting popular struggles. To advance the analysis of the relationship between the political and the territorial, we require an examination of concrete situations. In the paper are thus presented some basic concepts relating to the territorial or spatial and the social, the specific relationship between a society in transition and space; the present territorial transformations in Nicaragua and the problems and contradictions they have generated are then analyzed. It is argued that it is political orientation that should regulate the definition of new patterns of territorial organization. Spatial structures show a certain rigidity which retards transformation and they therefore cannot be part of the revolutionary project, but must rather be a consequence of the social transformations. Regionalization is an end-state and not a point of departure. If the politico-administrative structures do not coincide with those of production and reproduction, it will be difficult to establish a substantive democracy and decentralization.

Author(s):  
Oleksii Chepov ◽  

The qualitative and clear definition of the legal regime of the capital of Ukraine, the hero city of Kyiv, is influenced by its legislative enshrinement, however, it should be noted that discussions are ongoing and one of the reasons for the unclear legal status of the capital is the ambiguity of current legislation in this area. Separation of the functions of the city of Kyiv, which are carried out to ensure the rights of citizens of Ukraine and the functions that guarantee the rights of the territorial community of the city of Kyiv. In the modern world, in legal doctrine and practice, the capital is understood as the capital of the country, which at the legislative level received this status and, accordingly, is the administrative and political center of the state, which houses the main state bodies and diplomatic missions of other states. It is the identification of the boundaries of the relationship between the competencies of state administrations and local self-government, in practice, often raises questions about their delimitation and ways of regulatory solution. Peculiarities of local self-government in Kyiv city districts are defined in the provisions of the Law on the Capital, which reveal the norms of the Constitution in these legal relations, according to which the issue of organizing district management in cities belongs to city councils. Likewise, it is unregulated by law to lose the particularity of the legal status of the territory of the city. It should be emphasized that the subject of administrative-legal relations is not a certain administrative-territorial entity, but the social group is designated - the territorial community of the city of Kiev, kiyani. Thus, the provisions on the city of Kyiv partially ignore the potential of the territorial community.


Thesis Eleven ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-90
Author(s):  
Peter Murphy

The article reviews the social theory of Harry Redner with particular reference to his view of the relationship between high literacy (book culture) and civilization. The question is posed whether, alongside book culture, an axial-type metaphysical culture is also key to the definition of civilization.


2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 43-81
Author(s):  
Patrizia Calefato

This paper focuses on the semiotic foundations of sociolinguistics. Starting from the definition of “sociolinguistics” given by the philosopher Adam Schaff, the paper examines in particular the notion of “critical sociolinguistics” as theorized by the Italian semiotician Ferruccio Rossi-Landi. The basis of the social dimension of language are to be found in what Rossi-Landi calls “social reproduction” which regards both verbal and non-verbal signs. Saussure’s notion of langue can be considered in this way, with reference not only to his Course of General Linguistics, but also to his Harvard Manuscripts.The paper goes on trying also to understand Roland Barthes’s provocative definition of semiology as a part of linguistics (and not vice-versa) as well as developing the notion of communication-production in this perspective. Some articles of Roman Jakobson of the sixties allow us to reflect in a manner which we now call “socio-semiotic” on the processes of transformation of the “organic” signs into signs of a new type, which articulate the relationship between organic and instrumental. In this sense, socio-linguistics is intended as being sociosemiotics, without prejudice to the fact that the reference area must be human, since semiotics also has the prerogative of referring to the world of non-human vital signs.Socio-linguistics as socio-semiotics assumes the role of a “frontier” science, in the dual sense that it is not only on the border between science of language and the anthropological and social sciences, but also that it can be constructed in a movement of continual “crossing frontiers” and of “contamination” between languages and disciplinary environments.


Author(s):  
Amal Adel Abdrabo

There is a new trend taking place in Egypt over the last decades that is attempting to establish a new culture of development arguing for a knowledge-based development of Egyptian society. Consequently, Egyptian society has begun to witness the emergence of different policies, national strategies, and mega development projects that try to translate these policies into reality. But the question that remains is what type of knowledge, and in which context, should be developed? In this vein, this research serves two purposes. First, it contests the notion of knowledge while using a new method of inquiry that creates an opening for an alternative-more-humanized sociology that opposes the dominant sociological perspective that studies people as quantitative objects. The research uses institutional ethnography to provide new-actor-related insights and interpretations while exploring the social momentum within Egyptian society. Second, the research seeks to investigate the relationship between the desire to transform Egypt into a knowledge-based society through the knowledge precincts projects, following the global agenda, and the creation of a political, social, and cultural environment that allows knowledge to thrive, leading to more social justice and equity. In the end, the research asks: What is the definition of ‘knowledge' provided by the Egyptian government through its different developmental policies? How does it function inside the knowledge precincts projects? It also asks: Does Egypt's commitment to large scale programs through knowledge precincts reveal an authoritarian inclination?


Author(s):  
Marilda Azulay Tapiero ◽  
Vicente Mas Llorens

The system of tourist settlements on the Mediterranean coast presents a great complexity, as well as its geographical, landscape, morphological, urban and architectural conditions like for the varied way of relating to it the social and economic groups involved. The purpose of the communication is to expose the research about the need and the possibility of actions providing tourist settlements with urban and territorial cohesion, and enabling new proposals where what is decisive is not only acting on the parties but, globally, on the conditions that defines the scenes of action. In order to deal with the complexity of the tourist development on the Valencian Mediterranean coast, we proposed, as a first step, the identification of settlement types where, contrary to the buildings type, it will be necessary to apply mechanisms that take into account there are structures in the process of evolution. As Giorgio Grassi (1973) already said, a classification is not a type but allows an approximation to it. This has allowed the development of a “Typological Map of Tourist Settlements in the Comunidad Valenciana” where situate case studies while reading the territory as a whole and each settlement in relation to others settlements. A map to add data, based on the definition of parameters related to structure, urban form and architecture, but also to the relationship with the coastal physical environment, and selected for their capacity to provide data for the research purposes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 235-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Reeves

The US Department of Homeland Security’s new “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign displays a renewed drive to redistribute surveillance responsibilities to the public. Using this campaign as its point of departure, this article examines the relationship between conditions of sovereign governance and public lateral surveillance campaigns. As the police and other sovereign institutions have receded from their traditional public responsibilities, many surveillance functions have been assumed by the lay population via neighborhood watch and other community-based programs. Comparing this development with the policing functions of lateral surveillance during the Norman Conquest, this article provides a historically grounded analysis of the potential for this responsibilization to fracture the social by transforming communal bonds into technologies of surveillance power.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Reed ◽  
Pam Smith ◽  
Margaret Fletcher ◽  
Angela Bradding

This article aims to deconstruct the concept of dignity in a way that is meaningful, in particular to nurses and other health workers who seek to promote the dignity of children in their care. Despite the emphasis in a variety of codes and policies to promote dignity, there is a lack of a clear definition of dignity in the literature. In particular there is little reference to dignity, theoretically or empirically, as it relates to children. Without clarity it is not possible to act in an ethical way on behalf of children whose dignity could otherwise be compromised. The theoretical position taken has evolved from the medico-nursing and philosophical discourse concerning the nature of human dignity and more recent sociological texts that discuss the social construction of the child and childhood. The article is further influenced by additional insights derived from an ethnographic pilot study at a large district general hospital. This study was undertaken in an attempt to appreciate the subjective experience of dignity by children, and to begin to address the empirical gap in the literature and promote discussion. The concept of a macro and a micro dignity is discussed, together with the role of the nurse in articulating the relationship between the two. The importance of control and witnesses in the experience of dignity is discussed and, finally, also the ethical implications when seeking to promote the dignity of children.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Slee ◽  
Jon Hopkins ◽  
Nico Vellinga

This paper reviews the applicability of Florida's creative class concept to rural Scotland. It builds on recognition that environmental quality is a powerful attractant to businesses and in-migrants in Scotland, although to date no Scottish analysts of rural regeneration have used Florida's terminology or ideas to any significant degree. This is in spite of compelling evidence that, with uncontroversial modifications to the definition of the creative class, his analysis of the relationship between the presence of creative class members and growth can be confirmed in rural North America. The paper explores some of the challenges of the creative class hypothesis, including defining membership. It recognises some of the difficulties encountered in trying to ascertain the direction of causation with respect to the creative class: are members attracted to areas by the demand for employment or because of the social and environmental qualities of particular places? The paper also recognises that creative class ideas may not resonate especially strongly with endogenous (i.e. internally originating) development ideas, which are more rooted in strong place-based communities as vectors of growth than mobile incomers. The paper highlights three main areas of research to address these questions.


1997 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 635-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Weiler

In this article, Kathleen Weiler reflects on the historiography of Country Schoolwomen, her recent study of women teachers in rural California. Using a broad definition of feminist research, Weiler summarizes some of the most salient issues currently under debate among feminist scholars. She raises questions about the nature of knowledge, the influence of language in the social construction of gender, and the importance of an awareness of subjectivity in the production of historical evidence. Using several cases from Country Schoolwomen, Weiler discusses the importance of considering the conditions under which testimony is given, both in terms of the dominant issues of the day — for example, the way womanliness or teaching is presented in the authoritative discourse — and the relationship between speaker and audience. She concludes that a feminist history that begins with a concern with the constructed quality of evidence moves uneasily between historical narrative and a self-conscious analysis of texts.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Viglianisi

The Program of the development of the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria, can not be guided from simple considerations of quantitative type, but it must take into account the existing system of material and immaterial relations, that are the result of a series of sectorial issues organization, of the social and economic dynamics, until the cultural identities. Above all, the transport system has always an important role for development and control of a territorial System / Organization [1]. The integrated approach transport-territory, still now not at all took for granted, must become an opportunity to pursue for the competitiveness development of metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria. One of the asserted factors of competitiveness of a metropolitan area must be that of local transports. For these reasons, the present contribution puts as goal the deepening of urban metropolitan links of Reggio Calabria with the various systems of relationship between the municipalities, it has come to generate an idea of Territorial Organization of the future metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria. Also, the methodological course is based on analysis of supply of transport on the critical till to come to the definition of the first hypothesis of vision.


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