Chagas Disease in Argentina: Reciprocal Construction of Social and Scientific Problems

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Kreimer ◽  
Juan Pablo Zabala

This article intends to study the possibilities and limitations of scientific knowledge as a factor of social development in peripheral societies. We challenge the idea that the only promotion of scientific knowledge is a legitimate and adequate method to overcome the social problems that many people in Latin America are subjected to. Instead, we propose to investigate the relationships among the social actors involved in the production and circulation of scientific knowledge. We take the case of Chagas disease, a recurring theme in the public agenda since the 1950s, to show how the issue has emerged and has been taken in by public policies related to the production of scientific knowledge. We analyse the different viewpoints and conceptions about the disease, and how they moulded the different institutional initiatives of intervention into the problem. We assume that the practices associated with these mechanisms condition the type of knowledge produced and its possible uses.

Author(s):  
Egor Sergeevich Shushakov

The object of this research is the concept of evolutionary development of the universe of P. Teilhard de Chardin and the concept of “liquid” reality” of Z. Bauman. The subject is the methodology of P. Teilhard de Chardin and his idea of the future of social development, as well as Z. Bauman’s description of the key characteristics of globalization. Emphasis is placed on the methodology of P. Teilhard de Chardin (interaction of tangential and radial energies), as within the framework his concept, the social, biological and physical phenomena do not have fundamental differences and abide the general universal laws. In broad outlines, the article reconstructs the idea of P. Teilhard de Chardin on social development and the theses of Z. Bauman about the key characteristics of modern globalization. The novelty of the research lies in the attempt to present the methodology of P. Teilhard de Chardin as acceptable for modern science and highlight its predictive power; as well as in comparative analysis of the ideas of Z. Bauman and P. Teilhard de Chardin on the processes of global social integration. The following conclusions are made: both scholars advance the idea on the progressing polarization of society; 2) globalization in their works correlates with the process of individualization of social actors, and defense of own identity.


Author(s):  
Felipe Gaytán Alcalá

Latin America was considered for many years the main bastion of Catholicism in the world by the number of parishioners and the influence of the church in the social and political life of the región, but in recent times there has been a decrease in the catholicity index. This paper explores three variables that have modified the identity of Catholicism in Latin American countries. The first one refers to the conversion processes that have expanded the presence of Christian denominations, by analyzing the reasons that revolve around the sense of belonging that these communities offer and that prop up their expansion and growth. The second variable accounts for those Catholics who still belong to the Catholic Church but who in their practices and beliefs have incorporated other magical or esoteric scheme in the form of religious syncretisms, modifying their sense of being Catholics in the world. The third factor has a political reference and has to do with the concept of laicism, a concept that sets its objective, not only in the separation of the State from the Church, but for historical reasons in catholicity restraint in the public space which has led to the confinement of the Catholic to the private, leaving other religious groups to occupy that space.


2018 ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Albert W. Dzur

Institutions shape how citizens think about the social problems they handle, repelling public awareness and involvement by performing tasks in ways that neutralize the citizen’s role. Democratic professionals seek to change this dynamic by building access points and infusing citizen agency at critical junctures throughout major public institutions. The kind of citizen–professional collaborations democratic professionals aim to foster directly address the kinds of counter-democratic tendencies that reinforce callousness and make social problems difficult to handle. The motivations of democratic professionals can be understood through the theory of participatory democracy, which draws attention to the hazards representative governments create by thinking and acting for citizens. Participatory democrats acknowledge the difficulties of fostering civic agency in modernity and attempt to theorize how citizens can occupy a more active role in contemporary political culture and take up a civic responsibility for the public goods and social harms produced by their institutions.


Author(s):  
Irena Luobikienė

Scientists, national politicians and specialists from Lithuania and other countries identified the main determinants of the social development of the territories of Lithuania, the problems of the society, which have been influenced by this development, and possible trends of change. Although the social development of Lithuanian territories is determined by a "bundle" of social problems, the focus of the article is on those that may affect the availability of education in the most sparsely populated districts of Lithuania. The aim of this article is to reveal the prospects of education availability in the most sparsely populated areas of Lithuania in the context of the social development of the country's territories. The main problem question related to this is what prospects for the availability of education in the most sparsely populated areas of the country presuppose the social development of Lithuania's territories. In order to achieve the aim of the article, the design of the research was based on the theoretical analysis of the problem raised and a secondary analysis of the data in the field. The main findings of the research reflect the situation in the field of study, and the conclusions of the research drawn on the basis of them provide an assessment of the prospects of education accessibility in the most sparsely populated areas of Lithuania.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivonaldo Leite

This paper aims to present a general perspective of the actions developed by the Uruguayan Broad Front, which has been defined as an example of reformed left in Latin America. The Broad Front has governed Uruguay since 2005 and has implemented several alternative and innovative policies. Methodologically, the paper is empirically supported by data and information derived of interviews conducted in Montevideo, as well of the analysis of official documents.  Among the results found out, it can be highlighting the following sample: 1) innovative programmes focused on most disadvantaged young children and their families like Uruguay Crece Contigo [Uruguay grows with you] have been successfully put in place and scaled up; 2) the institution of the Salary Councils (tripartite councils made up of government representatives, businesses and workers) stimulated the formalization of work and the rise in salaries, as well as the strengthening  of unions; 3) the creation of the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES) as a new centralized social authority, which shares jurisdiction with the Social Security Bank (BPS) and the Ministry of Health; 4) in the face of the failure of the so-called drug war, the regulation of the cannabis market was approved during the term of President José Mujica. Conclusively, it’s affirmed, for instance, that the Broad Front perspectives and the policies it has implemented in Uruguay have instituted a new conception of the left in Latin America.


Author(s):  
Liliia Klos ◽  
Nataliia Nazar

Introduction: At the final stage of administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine, it is important to realistically assess the social needs and social problems that exist in newly created territorial communities. Territorial communities should be based on healthy families and healthy individuals, whose initiative will help ensure the continued social development of the community. In its turn, the community should be built on the principles of friendly to its own citizens, meeting their needs, first of all, the needs of the least protected categories - children, people with disabilities and chronic diseases, elderly people. Therefore, integrated social services based on the principles of preserving and promoting health are a tool for solving social problems in the community (Klos, Khudoba, Shkoliar, 2019, p. 26). Purpose. The purpose of the study is to show the importance of using integrated social services in the community based on the principles of preservation and promotion of health as an important means of promoting territorial community development and social development of the country.Methods. The study used theoretical methods of research, in particular, the search and collection of statistical information on the formation, normalization and approval of the composition of territorial communities; collection and analysis of sources on the problem of social services and social protection of the population of territorial communities; systematization of sources and their analysis by blocks of tasks; analysis, comparison, synthesis and implementation of the results of the study of social services based on the principles of promoting and preserving community health.Results. Within the framework of the U-LEAD Program with Europe and the ICO Partnership Every Child, the project “Community for Human: Enhancing Communities' Competence for the Development of Social Services” and understanding the peculiarities of organizing social support for vulnerable segments of the UTC population through the implementation of the social services model. Among the objectives of the project were, inter alia, to study the status of providing local communities with social workers, the range of social services provided in the community, taking into account the real needs of the population in social assistance (ICO Partnership for Every Child, 2019, p. 5-6).The study covered 245 projected territorial communities in Ukraine. Because most communities did not have the information to make appropriate decisions about the services they needed, a special methodology was used to assess the needs of the population in social services. An appropriate tool for monitoring the needs of the population in social services was developed and tested at the Oxford Policy Management Consortium with the participation of the Every Child Partnership, in collaboration with UNICEF, and with financial support from the European Union. The aggregate index of providing the population with social services of the population of the UTC is determined by the set of indicators: the index of provision of social services for children and families with children; index of provision of social care services for orphans and children deprived of family care; the index of provision of social services for the elderly; index of provision of social services for persons with disabilities; index of provision of social services to persons in need of adaptation and integration (reintegration); index of provision of social services to persons in need of emergency or crisis intervention (ICO Partnership for Every Child, 2019, p. 28).Mostly communities use the resource of available social services already at their disposal, their range is limited and needs improvement and review, taking into account real social problems and needs of consumers. An important tool for addressing the issues that are relevant to UTC members is those based on the principles of preserving and promoting health. In particular, social prevention, community representation services, crisis and emergency intervention, social support / patronage, asylum, home care, day care, supported living.Conclusion: The study of the results of the mentioned project and the current state of providing territorial communities with social services lead to the conclusion that there is a high level of community needs for social work professionals who are able and able to provide integrated social services in the community on the grounds of preservation and promotion of health. To do this, professional training of skilled social workers for the provision of integrated social services in the community should be stepped up


Author(s):  
Vilson Menegon Bristot ◽  
Gisele Da Silva Rezende da Rosa ◽  
Gilberto Tonetto ◽  
Nilzo Ivo Ladwig ◽  
Juliano Bitencourt Campos ◽  
...  

The objective of this work was to analyze the socio-environmental conflict that develops in the community of Rio Carvão, in the municipality of Urussanga, in the south of the State of Santa Catarina. The conflict involves residents of the community and the company UM Urussanga Minérios Ltda. In the locality there are environmental liabilities arising from the activity of mining coal carried out in the past, currently the atmospheric pollution caused by the emission of gases from the processing of coal is directly impacting the lives of residents. The methodology used was based on historicity, temporality, characterization and context, seeking to establish a dialogue with the environmental and social sciences. It was identified that the social actors of the conflict are the Rio Carvão Community Association versus the UM company, with the involvement of the Public Ministry and the municipal government, represented by the city council of Urussanga. The conflict has historical origins in the use and appropriation of natural resources, enhanced by the increase in the emission of gases by the company that found itself in the community due to the harmful way it has been developing its activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 00004
Author(s):  
Setiawati Setiawati ◽  
Jamaris Jamaris ◽  
Rusdinal Rusdinal

This research is motivated by the low participation of parents in the development of children's prosocial activities in the arena of public facilities, which results in poor prosocial abilities of children. This can be seen from the behavior of early childhood who like to monopolize the game, not patiently waiting for their turn, likes to hit friends, and does not like friends, do not want to share and so forth. The purpose of this study was to describe the factual conditions of child prosocial development due to public play by the family so far. P.The approach used is qualitative with the type of case. The setting of this study was carried out in Singgalang Padang complex, while the research subjects were parents who brought their young children to play in public play facilities. Researchers were key instruments, and data collection techniques used participatory observation, in-depth interviews. Data analysis techniques using qualitative analysis. The results showed that parents had not participated in the social development of children in the public play arena. There are several reasons for parents why they do not carry out the prosocial development of their children, among them they argue that: (1) it is not yet time, the social development of children is done, because they are still too small. (2). Even if directed they don't understand, (3) there are parents who think that they don't know that social development needs to be done since the child is still small (4) There are parents who don't want to know about the situation and they are more focused on children themselves. Suggestions in this study need to provide information to parents or caregivers about children's social development early on in the public play arena.


Author(s):  
Roger Haight

Also known as theology of liberation, liberation theology is simultaneously a social movement within the Christian Church and a school of thought, both of which react against human suffering due to poverty and various forms of oppression. The essence of liberation theology consists in an interpretation of Christian salvation that retains its transcendent eschatological content and draws out its historical dimensions and their implications for personal life, the social sphere and the public action of the Church. Salvation contains various levels of liberation. Liberation theology is most commonly associated with Latin America, where it emerged during the 1960s. As both movement and theology, it is at present a worldwide phenomenon, taking on different characteristics according to culture, situation, the kind of oppression that predominates, and concrete political and social exigencies. Although some liberation theologians have employed Marxist language as a tool for social analysis, the underpinnings of liberation theology lie in Christian faith. Liberation theology is predominately Roman Catholic in Latin America because of the Catholic majority; but as a movement and a school of thought it unites Catholic and mainstream Protestant Churches. Evangelical Christians are often antipathetic to liberation theology because of their individualism and other-worldliness.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document