The Case of Audouin’s Gulls at Punta de la Banya

Author(s):  
Daniel Oro

To illustrate the argument of the book, this chapter discusses the case study of the collapse of the world’s largest local population of the Audouin’s gull, a social bird. This bird was considered the world’s most endangered gull at the end of the 1960s. Its population was estimated at only 1,000 breeding pairs scattered in tiny colonies on remote rocky islets in the Mediterranean, where the species was confined. In 1981 the gulls established a colony at Punta de la Banya peninsula, and only 14 years after colonization, the patch held more than 10,000 breeding females and almost 75% of the total world population. Lack of competition and predation and a large number of resources determined a patch of high quality, which attracted immigrant gulls from the outside and allowed gulls to reproduce at very high rates. A perturbation regime caused by the arrival of carnivores caused the local population to crash due to runaway dispersal to other patches. The link between the social process of collective dispersal and the nonlinear collapse is demonstrated by a population model that uses optimization methods. Before the onset of dispersal by social copying, the population showed a long transient phase during which resilience mechanisms were activated.

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 77-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Fien

Any discussion of curriculum should consider the social setting, especially the relationship between schools and society and its influence on curriculum decisions…. Curriculum decisions take place in a complex social setting, through demands that are imposed by society and filter down to schools (Ornstein and Hunkins, 1988: 114).Context is an important element in understanding the nature of the curriculum in any field and its goals. Thus, Cornbleth (1988: 89) describes curriculum as “an ongoing social activity shaped by various contextual influences within and beyond the classroom”. She argues that curriculum is a “contextualized social process” which:… cannot be understood adequately … without attention to its setting or context. Curriculum is contextually shaped…. (C)urriculum emerges from the dynamic interaction of action, reflection and setting (Cornbleth, 1990: 6-7)Similarly, Berlak and Berlak (1981: 24) write of the need to investigate teachers' decision making in terms of “the social, cultural and political forces and structures that are omnipresent in all social situations”. Sharp and Green (1975) argue that comprehensive explanations of teaching require an investigation of the “sociology of situations, their underlying structure and interconnections and the constraints and contingencies they impose” (p. 25).


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
IAN GREENER

This paper examines the social learning models of policy of Hall and May attempting to create a synthesis of the best elements of each. We then apply the revised model to three specific instances of macroeconomic policy in Britain; the introduction of ‘Keynesian-plus’ policy in the 1960s, the movement from Keynesianism to monetarism, and the experiment with monetarism in the 1980s. In each case study, the degree of policy change is assessed, and possible reasons for that level of change explored. We conclude that a more social constructionist approach is required to understand the link between policy instruments, indicators, and paradigms, and, alongside this, a greater need to understand the implications of the assumptions underlying policy.


Author(s):  
Arthur Crucq

In this paper processes of appropriation and commodification are discussed from the perspective of subcultures and their relation to class. Dr. Martens boots are discussed as a specific case-study. They were appropriated in the 1960s by British Skinheads to signify their working-classness. Besides being functional, design objects are apparently endowed with meaning and these can vary depending on different modes of appearance, on different styles. Today Dr. Martens, is primarily a fashion-item. This calls into question to what extent commercialization undermines the potential of design objects to be endowed with meaning. By critically discussing recent scholarly literature on subcultures and style I will explain how in recent decades the dynamics of the neo-liberal market economy with its emphasis on consumption, facilitated a further commodification of style-objects as desirable value-objects. What will be argued successively is that appropriation and commodification in late capitalist society might obscure but not obliterate the social realities of class that lie hidden beneath the flux of images in which we are engulfed today.


Author(s):  
Daria Settineri

In this article, the author, based on concrete factual material, explores the specifics of modern migration processes considered within an urban area localized in Palermo (Sicily). In the context of this complex heterotopic space, resorting to the conceptual apparatus of M. Foucault, this kind of rhizome, if we operate with the concepts of J. Deleuze and F.Guattari, the author analyzes the actions of various actors of power – local and transnational – which dominate in this closed socio-urban environment, outlined by the framework of certain city blocks, – formal and informal, institutionalized and not, state and extra-state, legal and illegal, political, social, ecclesiastical, economic, criminal, the objects of projection and manifestation of which are migrants (primarily illegal) concentrated in these urban areas, who coexist there with the local population. The author also studies reactions of “newcomers” to the factors that affect them, including their ways of understanding and familiarizing with of their new place of residence as a micro- and the macrocosm, in all the diversity and complexity of the social connections that permeate this habitat and the factors that affect it.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Diena Al-Dogom ◽  
Rami Al-Ruzouq ◽  
Bahareh Kalantar ◽  
Karen Schuckman ◽  
Saeed Al-Mansoori ◽  
...  

A clear understanding of the spatial distribution of earthquake events facilitates the prediction of seismicity and vulnerability among researchers in the social, physical, environmental, and demographic aspects. Generally, there are few studies on seismic risk assessment in United Arab Emirates (UAE) within the geographic information system (GIS) platform. Former researches and recent news events have demonstrated that the eastern part of the country experiences jolts of 3-5 magnitude, specifically near Fujairah city and surrounding towns. This study builds on previous research on the seismic hazard that extracted the eastern part of the UAE as the most hazard-prone zone. Therefore, this study develops an integrated analytical hierarchical process (AHP) and machine learning (ML) for risk mapping considering eight geospatial parameters—distance from shoreline, schools, hospitals, roads, residences, streams, confined area, and confined area slope. Experts’ opinions and literature reviews were the basis of the AHP ranking and weighting system. To validate the AHP system, support vector machine (SVM), decision tree (DT), and random forest (RF) classifiers were applied to the datasets. The datasets were split into 60 : 40 ratio for training and testing. Results show that SVM has the highest accuracy of 79.6% compared to DT and RF with a “predicted high” precision of 87.5% attained from the model. Risk maps from both AHP and ML approaches were developed and compared. Risk analysis was categorised into 5 classes “very high,” “high,” “moderate,” “low,” and “very low.” Both approaches modelled relatable spatial patterns as risk-prone zones. AHP approach concluded 3.6% as “very high” risk zone, whereas only 0.3% of total area was identified from ML. The total area for the “very high” (20 km2) and “high” (114 km2) risk was estimated from ML approach.


Author(s):  
Randal F. Schnoor

Like other insular religious movements such as Hutterites and Amish, Hasidic communities are faced with the challenge of preserving their distinctive ideals in a technologically advanced, capitalist world. Studies done in the 1960s and 1970s documented the success of Hasidim in safeguarding their convictions and creating well-functioning communities in contemporary North America. Recent evidence has demonstrated, however, that unprecedented growth rates are presenting significant challenges to Hasidim trying to sustain their way of life. Focusing on a case-study of the Hasidic community of Outremont, a residential neighbourhood in central Montreal, this paper outlines the social and economic challenges facing the community and argues that, while some important changes have been implemented, there is a need to modify survival strategies further in order to maintain community viability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Aisha Malik

First created in the context of state-controlled broadcast television of the 1960s, the Urdu serial drama form has proven enduringly popular in Pakistan. This article examines how institutional changes, including the appearance of nongovernmental organisations in this space, have altered the production and reception of these serial dramas and their thematic content, which has recently included such highly charged topics as sexual abuse, harassment and rape. First, I look at how transnationally funded content has impacted modes of production in a liberalised and deregulated Pakistani television industry. Second, I give a case study of the internationally funded drama serial Udaari as an example of agenda setting television intended to create public dialogue and galvanise change, to which I give the name feminist edutainment (FE) that intentionally recalls the form of entertainment education (EE) associated with the work of Miguel Sabido. Finally, I draw on my ethnographic research to argue that contemporary serial dramas, while engaging a domestic reception space primarily occupied by women, have expanded into the online space through the social media activism of feminist influencers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-169
Author(s):  
Marsha L. Richmond

The marriage of Sally Peris Hughes (1895–1984) and Franz Schrader (1891–1962) in November 1920 launched a highly successful scientific collaboration that lasted over four decades. The Schraders were avid naturalists, adroit experimentalists, and keen theoreticians, and both had long, productive, and fruitful careers in zoology. They offer an extraordinarily rich case study that provides an insightful view of the work carried out in several areas of the life sciences from the 1920s to the 1960s—fieldwork, cytology, cytogenetics, and entomology—as well as critical aspects of the social world of contemporary science. By focusing on the fieldwork the couple carried out in Mexico and Central America in the late 1920s and early 1930s, this paper seeks to illuminate how this collaborative scientific marriage embodies a collective, complex, and integrated personal and social arrangement that served to enhance both knowledge production and disciplinary development in several areas of science. It also reveals ways in which marriage could serve as a means to help both parties navigate and negotiate restrictive sociocultural norms and institutional arrangements in science involving gender, power, and authority in the early twentieth century.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155868982110144
Author(s):  
A. M. Dencer-Brown ◽  
R. M. Jarvis ◽  
A. C. Alfaro ◽  
S. Milne

With a rising world population and pressure on ecosystems due to development, researchers need sophisticated and integrated approaches for conducting sustainability research. We outline a mixed methods practical sustainability research framework, defined as an equal-priority social–ecological methodology, whereby both community engagement and integrated biodiversity assessments are constructed to identify sustainability trade-offs. We illustrate the framework’s use for investigating the social–ecological trade-offs between preserving and removing temperate mangroves in New Zealand. We used a multistage mixed methods design with three stages to generate knowledge and identify social–ecological trade-offs. Our case study illustrates an operational approach for local mangrove management and regional coastal sustainability. Working with communities affected by ecosystem change through participatory research proved key to knowledge exchange and colearning.


2019 ◽  
pp. 307
Author(s):  
Roberto Narváez Collaguazo

La antropología jurídica remite su ámbito de investigación e interpretación a los sistemas jurídicos que establecen el orden interno de las sociedades, y tiene en la etnografía un método de investigación que permite un acercamiento sistemático a las prácticas y particularidades culturales de los grupos sociales, analizándolos y desarrollando una descripción que nos permite una comprensión de sus aspectos culturales. La antropología jurídica utiliza la etnografía como un método para comprender el orden social y los sistemas legales imperantes en un grupo humano. El estudio de caso nos remite al pueblo waorani que habita la Amazonía ecuatoriana, contactado en la década del sesenta del siglo anterior y en proceso de cambio cultural, con influencia de preceptos religiosos evangélicos y de moral occidental. Después de más de cincuenta años de contacto, una institución del orden social tradicional, la guerra, mantiene vigencia y se expresa como un espacio de reafirmación cultural en un contexto moderno, con un nuevo marco simbólico y referentes históricos y tradicionales previos al contacto. La guerra, para los waorani, es un articulador social que otorga prestigio a sus participantes y rememora el ethos tradicional waorani siendo una expresión vigente de la cultura tradicional.Ethnography: a research instrument in legal anthropology.A case of amazon peopleAbstractLegal anthropology refers its research and interpretation field to legal systems establishing the internal order of societies, and – in ethnography – it has a research method with a systematic approach to cultural practices and particularities of social groups, analyzing and describing them for understanding its cultural aspects. Legal anthropology uses ethnography as a method for understanding the social order and legal systems prevailing in a human group. The case study refers us to the Waorani people who live in the Ecuadorian Amazon, contacted in the 1960s and in process of cultural change, influenced by evangelical religious precepts and Western morality. After more than fifty years of contact, an institution of the traditional social order, i.e. war, remains valid and expressed as a cultural reaffirmation in a modern context, with a new symbolic framework and historical and traditional references prior to contact. For the Waorani, war is a social articulator giving prestige to its participants and recalling the traditional Waorani ethos, being a current expression of the traditional culture.Keywords: Ethnography, war, Amazonian peoples, interculturality, culturaltradition.A etnografia: instrumento de pesquisa em antropologia jurídica. O caso de um povo amazônicoResumoA antropologia jurídica remete seu âmbito de pesquisa e interpretação aos sistemas jurídicos que estabelecem a ordem interna das sociedades, e tem na etnografia um método de pesquisa que permite uma aproximação sistemática às práticas e particularidades culturais dos grupos sociais, analisando-os e desenvolvendo uma descrição que nos permite una compreensão de seus aspectos culturais. A antropologia jurídica utiliza a etnografia como um método que lhe permite uma compreensão da ordem social e dos sistemas legais imperantes em um grupo humano. O estudo de caso nos remete ao povo waorani que habita a Amazônia equatoriana, contatado na década do sessenta do século anterior e em processo de mudança cultural, com influência de preceitos religiosos evangélicos e de moral ocidental. Depois de mais de cinquenta anos de contato uma instituição da ordem social tradicional, a guerra, mantém vigência e se expressa como um espaço de reafirmação cultural em um contexto moderno, com um novo marco simbólico e referentes históricos e tradicionais prévios ao contato. A guerra, para os waorani, é um articulador social que outorga prestígio a seus participantes y rememora o ethos tradicional waorani sendo uma expressão vigente da cultura tradicional.Palavras-chave: Etnografia, guerra, povos amazônicos, interculturalidade,tradição cultural.


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