Ecological modernization from the actor’s perspective: Spatio-temporality in the narratives about socio-ecological conflicts in Chile

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1239-1271
Author(s):  
Fernando Campos-Medina

Studies on ecological modernization have produced a fruitful discussion concerning the connection between society and nature based on the evolution of socio-political institutions. However, the question from the individual’s perspective and their evaluation of the environmental institutions’ modernization remains unsystematically explored. This paper introduces the actor’s narratives on what I called time and space restructuration to define a sensitive method to explore the socio-ecological controversies produced by the enactment of a new environmental institution at the national level. The paper reconstructs the social discourse in relation to the exponential growth of Chilean extractive industries, which run in parallel with the government’s intent to ensure high levels of sustainability through institutional changes that occurred between 1990 and 2015. The main argument proposes that rendering the ecological modernization as a final stage of institutional improvement obscures a controversial reorganization of actions and roles at the environmental level. From this perspective, the clash between different organizations of time and space at the environmental level, among different social actors, offers a valid perspective on the re-emergence of socio-ecological conflicts.

Author(s):  
Vânia Lúcia Quadros Nascimento ◽  
Ligia Terezinha Lopes Simonian

O segmento do ecoturismo foi objeto de políticas públicas específicas para o seu desenvolvimento em âmbito nacional e em especial na Amazônia. Com este artigo, objetiva-se analisar a implementação da política pública de ecoturismo para a região Amazônica, com recorte no Programa de Desenvolvimento do Ecoturismo na Amazônia Legal (PROECOTUR), no polo Belém/Costa Atlântica. Busca-se, ainda, analisar a participação dos atores sociais nesse processo bem como a contribuição do Programa para o desenvolvimento sustentável na área em questão. Para a coleta dos dados que subsidiaram este artigo foram realizadas pesquisas bibliográfica, documental – incluindo fotografias e mapas – e pesquisa de campo. Em conclusão, tem-se, entre outros, que o processo de descontinuidade do PROECOTUR ocorreu em razão de fatores de ordem administrativa, política e econômica; que a participação dos atores não ocorreu como previsto, pois os Grupos Técnicos Operacionais (GTO) do polo não foram criados; que o turismo no polo em questão encontra-se pouco estruturado; e que a implementação do Programa não foi monitorada ou avaliada, em momento algum, pela Unidade de Gerenciamento do Programa (UGP) ou pelo Núcleo de Gerenciamento do Programa (NGP)/PROECOTUR-PA. The politics of Ecotourism in Belém/Atlantic Coast Pole (PA, Brazil) ABSTRACT: The segment of ecotourism has been the subject of specific policies for their development at the national level and in particular in the Amazon.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the implementation of the public politics of ecotourism for the Amazon Region, with a cutting out in the Development Program of the Ecotourism in the Amazon (PROECOTUR), in the Belém/Atlantic Coast Pole. Another aim is to analyze the participation of the social actors in this process, as well as the contribution of this Program for the sustainable development in the area under consideration. To collect the data that supported this article bibliographical, documentary research – including photographs and maps – and fieldwork were conducted. In conclusion, we have, among others, that the discontinuity process of PROECOTUR occurred due to administrative, political and economic factors; that the participation of the actors did not occur as expected, because the Technical Operational Groups (TOG) of the Pole were not created; that tourism on the pole in question is little structured; and that the implementation of the program was not monitored or evaluated, at some point, by the Program Management Unit (PMU) or the Center for Program Management (CPM)/PROECOTUR-PA. KEYWORDS: Ecotourism; Public Policies of Ecotourism; Planning; Development; Belém/Atlantic Coast Pole.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 272-281
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Bekh ◽  
Alla Yaroshenko ◽  
Volodymyr Muliar ◽  
Olena Stepanova ◽  
Tetiana Artimonova

The COVID-19 pandemic has defined new vectors for the development of the world community and social institutions. At the same time, the impact of the pandemic crisis on the evolution of civil society may differ significantly in the national (tactical) and global (strategic) dimensions. If at the national level there is a likely expansion of the space for public activism (medical volunteering, social assistance, etc.), then globally it is threatened by the de-intensification of international non-governmental cooperation and attempts to revise civil rights and freedoms. Today it is no longer possible to name a single area of ​​public life that has not been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Directly or indirectly, the consequences of the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 virus are experienced by everyone - government authorities, large and small businesses, citizens of the vast majority of countries. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the future of each of the social actors is largely determined today, depending on the adequacy of the response to the pandemic crisis, the ability to absorb its most painful manifestations, and, possibly, find new opportunities for development in this difficult situation. The aim of the article is to investigate the vectors of influence of the coronavirus pandemic as a factor of deformation of social time and space in the conditions of postmodern society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-366
Author(s):  
Lucía Caminada Rossetti

The article will suggest that the texts and ways of reaching some materials and perspectives in Argentina, remains at a national level. It is important to notice that in order to read criticism and theory regarding Latin American literature, Spanish from Río de la Plata separates at some point the fields. In that regard, one of the greatest assets and achievements of Argentinian literary research concerns the relationship between politics and fiction. In connection with this it might be asked how we can think of Argentinian literature without linking it to the social discourse? How can we think of the comparative field of Latin-American and Argentinian literature as one academic area of studies? In our view, comparatism seems to be one of the loneliest areas of studies in terms of the fields of theory, fiction and criticism. We thus suggest that in Argentina, literary research and criticism in general are strictly concerned with only one option: the national culture. Thus, exclusively, western theoretical frames are chosen to read literature and comparative perspectives are mostly applied to European studies. That is why I insist on the fact that comparative literary research is not represented institutionally at all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Zachary Nowak ◽  
Bradley M. Jones ◽  
Elisa Ascione

This article begins with a parody, a fictitious set of regulations for the production of “traditional” Italian polenta. Through analysis of primary and secondary historical sources we then discuss the various meanings of which polenta has been the bearer through time and space in order to emphasize the mutability of the modes of preparation, ingredients, and the social value of traditional food products. Finally, we situate polenta within its broader cultural, political, and economic contexts, underlining the uses and abuses of rendering foods as traditional—a process always incomplete, often contested, never organic. In stirring up the past and present of polenta and placing it within both the projects of Italian identity creation and the broader scholarly literature on culinary tradition and taste, we emphasize that for so-called traditional foods to be saved, they must be continually reinvented.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
V. V. Gorshkova ◽  
A. A. Melnikova

The article considers the contradictions and conflicts that are characteristic of modern Russian society. The processes of social disintegration are analyzed and interpreted as a result of fundamental social and economic transformations. The problems of economic inequality are presented in the historical perspective in close connection with the previous stages of Russia's socioeconomic development. Significant polarization of the population is one of the most significant conflict factors in modern society, which leads to an increase in protest moods and may in the long term threaten social upheavals. Nevertheless, dissatisfaction with the socio-economic situation does not lead to ideas of the unification and consolidation of society, but find expression in social conflicts. The emergence and development of social conflicts is influenced by a number of factors: economic, ethnic, religious. One of the most important characteristics of society is its social structure. After the collapse of the USSR, the previous social structure was abolished, and a new social reality was formed in Russia. When considering the stratification structure of society, most attention is paid to the middle class, which is considered the backbone of a stable society. The middle class in Russia is in the stage of formation, it is hardly possible to speak of a complete analogy with the middle class of Western society. The share of middle class in society can be estimated in different ways depending on the methodological approaches used by researchers. An important consequence of the transformation of the social structure was the problem of marginalization, since the dismantling of the old social structure and the slow formation of the new one put the social status and place in the division of labor system of many individuals into question. The sharp impoverishment of representatives of prestigious professions led to a reassessment of their situation, especially for the younger generation. When analyzing the origins of social conflicts in modern Russian society, it is necessary to consider the issue of the attitude of the broad masses of the population to power and national elites. It should be noted that power in Russia historically takes shape around specific leaders and does not have an institutional character. The most significant factor shaping the attitude towards the authorities and the elite in general in Russian society are the economic results of the market reforms that have taken place. Only a small part of the population believes that they won as a result of the changes that have taken place, the natural consequence of which is the population's distrust of the authorities and, in general, political institutions.


Author(s):  
Catrin Heite ◽  
Veronika Magyar-Haas

Analogously to the works in the field of new social studies of childhood, this contribution deals with the concept of childhood as a social construction, in which children are considered as social actors in their own living environment, engaged in interpretive reproduction of the social. In this perspective the concept of agency is strongly stressed, and the vulnerability of children is not sufficiently taken into account. But in combining vulnerability and agency lies the possibility to consider the perspective of the subjects in the context of their social, political and cultural embeddedness. In this paper we show that what children say, what is important to them in general and for their well-being, is shaped by the care experiences within the family and by their social contexts. The argumentation for the intertwining of vulnerability and agency is exemplified by the expressions of an interviewed girl about her birth and by reference to philosophical concepts about birth and natality.


Author(s):  
Samuel Freeman

This chapter argues that distributive justice is institutionally based. Certain cooperative institutions are basic: they are necessary for economic production and the division of labor, trade and exchange, and distribution and consumption. These background institutions presuppose principles of justice to specify their terms, allocate productive resources, and define fair distributions. Primary among these basic institutions are property; laws and conventions enabling transfers of goods and productive resources; and the legal system of contract and agreements that make transfers possible and productive. Political institutions are necessary to specify, interpret, enforce, and make effective the terms of these institutions. Thus, basic cooperative institutions are social; they are realizable only within the context of social and political cooperation—this is a fixed empirical fact about cooperation among free and equal persons. Given the nature of fair social cooperation as a kind of reciprocity, distributive justice is primarily social rather than global in reach.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 327-327
Author(s):  
Stefan Hopf

Abstract Modern societies can be regarded as service economies, consequently accessing services is an essential part of social and economic participation. Direct and indirect indiscrimination act as barriers to accessing and using services and one way to address these barriers is to implement anti-discrimination legislation and policy. From a sociological point of view, such policies and legal frameworks can be described as elements of the social discourse in these areas. These texts, along with their implicit and explicit interpretations of the problem, represent the official and legitimised stake of the socially available stock of knowledge of what constitutes age discrimination. Hence the shape and contribute to the general understanding of age discrimination. The study aims to investigate the interpretation patterns offered by the “supply” side, that is by those actors who in their work refer to but also (re-) shape and disseminate the problem interpretation contained in the official texts. To address this aim, focus groups with stakeholders and semi-structured interviews with legal and policy experts were conducted in Austria and Ireland. The findings highlight that experts and stakeholders’ definitions of age discrimination usually extend past legal and policy concepts. The expert and stakeholder approaches differ in their starting points for describing the problem, ranging from vulnerability considerations to human rights-based concepts and more structurally orientated needs-based criteria. Finally, the analysis also reveals a central distinguishing feature of age discrimination, namely the “de-temporalization” and “de-historicization” of the person, which is of equal importance as the de-individualization as a consequence of stereotyping


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Shay Hershkovitz

Marxist criticism is most discernible; despite the oft-repeated claim that it is now irrelevant, belonging to an age now past. This essay assumes that criticism originating in the Marxist school of thought continue to be relevant also in this present time; though it may need to be further developed and improved by integrating newer critical approaches into the classic Marxist discourse. This essay therefore integrates basic Marxist ideas with key concepts from ‘social systems theory’; especially the theory of the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann's. In this light, capitalism is conceptualized here as a ‘super (social) system’: a meaning-creating social entity, in which social actors, behaviors and structures are realized. This theoretical concept and terminology emphasizes the social construction of control and stability, when discussing the operational logic of capitalism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
V A Sironi ◽  
M A Riva

Abstract The recent epidemic caused by the Covid-19 virus, which originated in China and then spread rapidly, can rightly be defined as the real 'first' epidemic in the social era. In an increasingly globalized world other recent epidemics (but more circumscribed, even if severely more lethal, such as Ebola and Sars) have been experienced with less media and emotional involvement, while the recent epidemic due to the new coronavirus has generated deserving reactions of analysis from an anthropological and social point of view, rather than on a health aspect. In Italy the epidemic event provoked sometimes excessive and irrational psychological reactions (from an unjustified panic to an irresponsible underestimation) and a cognitive distortion on anthropological level (wrong perspective perception of the pathological event). It has also generated disproportionate social repercussions at national level (refusal of stay for subjects coming from the lands in which diseased people are present) and at international level (foreclosure of landing of Italian tourists in some foreign countries). There was also incorrect medical information (confusion between infected - asymptomatic and/or non-hospitalized paucisymptomatic -, real patients with important symptoms - hospitalized - and sometimes in need of intensive care, subjects - the elderly and carriers of other serious diseases - died not for but with the Covid-19 infection) generated and amplified also by the pounding informative role of the mass media and by the news (often inaccurate and generating fake-news) spread in real time through social media. Key messages Irrational reactions must be avoided. Correct medical information are indispensable.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document