The Song Is Still a ‘Weapon’: The Portuguese Identity in Times of Crises

Young ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-31
Author(s):  
Paula Guerra
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Social Intervention ◽  
Heuristic Principle

This article examines a set of Portuguese songs that ‘sing’ the economic, financial and social crises in Portugal in the post-2008 period. This work underlies a heuristic principle: to demonstrate how artistic manifestations—in this case, the songs in several (sub-)genres of popular music—are themselves a means and an object of social intervention, demarcating a specific, defined space in the acknowledgment and revelation of social problems, and in the contestation, deconstruction and accusation of problems that deal with social reality. We demonstrate that these songs seek to denounce and sometimes incite social change with the aim of creating transformation. They are therefore signs of a specific space—identity producers—and not just an echo of social reality. Insurgent songs instigate readings, narratives and deconstructions of reality, and they are simultaneously significant elements of a collective identity.

scholarly journals SEREIAS DISTÓPICAS. UM ENSAIO SOBRE A RELEVÂNCIA DA DISTOPIA NAS CRIAÇÕES ARTÍSTICAS CONTEMPORÂNEAS PORTUGUESAS / Dystopian mermaids: an essay on the relevance of dystopia in contemporary Portuguese artistic creations

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (40) ◽  
pp. 393-407
Author(s):  
Paula Guerra
Keyword(s):  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Intervention ◽  
Heuristic Principle ◽  
The Moment

No seu ensaio intitulado Amanhã chegam as águas (2005), Rui Zink declara que o “mar avança, alagando territórios da Europa, onde já não há países. As decisões são tomadas pela Nova Bruxelas”. Portugal é - no momento da narração - apenas uma estreita “fímbria de terra”. Ora, inspirados por esta incisão distópica, iremos abordar as canções integrantes do álbum cognominado O país a arder lançado em 2019 pela banda Sereias. Ao trabalho que aqui apresentamos esteve subjacente uma finalidade assente num princípio heurístico primordial: o de demonstrar de que forma as manifestações artísticas – neste caso, em particular, estas canções – constituem, elas próprias, matéria e objeto de intervenção social, demarcando um espaço próprio, definido e específico na revelação de problemáticas sociais e na reprodução dos problemas que atravessam a realidade social.Palavras-Chave: Canção; Identidades; Distopia; Pop-rock; Portugal.AbstractIn his essay entitled Tomorrow the waters arrive (2005), Rui Zink declares that the “sea advances, flooding territories in Europe, where there are no countries anymore. Decisions are made by New Brussels”. Portugal is - at the moment of the narration - just a narrow “land border”. Now, inspired by this dystopian incision, we will approach the songs that are part of the album known as O País a arder (The country on fire) released in 2019 by the band Sereias. The work presented here was based on a primordial heuristic principle: to demonstrate how artistic manifestations - in this case, in particular, these songs - constitute themselves, matter and object of social intervention, demarcating their own space, defined in the revelation of social problems and in the reproduction of the problems that cross social reality.Keywords: Song; Identities; Dystopia; Pop-rock; Portugal.

scholarly journals Exhaustion and possibility. The wor(l)dlyness of social work in (G)local environment worlds during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 54-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona B Livholts
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Writing Genres

Exhaustion is not about being tired. It is an intense feeling of restlessness, of insomnia, and awakening when I ask myself: have I exhausted all that is possible? Such a state of restlessness and wakefulness represents a turning point for having enough, and opens for new possibilities to act for social change. This reflexive essay departs from the notion that the language of exhaustion offers a wor(l)dly possibility for social work(ers) to engage in critical analytical reflexivity about our locations of power from the outset of our (g)local environment worlds. The aim is to trace the transformative possibilities of social change in social work practice through the literature of exhaustion (eg. Frichot, 2019 ; Spooner, 2011 ). The methodology is based on uses of narrative life writing genres such as poetry, written and photographic diary entrances between the 4th of April and 4th of June. The essay shows how tracing exhaustion during the pandemic, visualises a multiplicity of forms of oppression and privilege, an increasing attention and relationship to things, and border movements and languages. I suggest that social work replace the often-used terminology of social problems with exhaustive lists to address structural forms of racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, which has been further visualized through death, illness, violence, and poverty during the pandemic. I argue that the language of exhaustion is useful for reflexivity and action in social work practice through the way it contributes to intensified awareness, attention, engagement, listening, and agency to create social justice.

scholarly journals The Impacts of Socioeconomic Crisis in Portugal on Social Protection and Social Work Practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13198
Author(s):  
Inês Casquilho-Martins
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Social Intervention ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Structured Interviews

The effects of the international crisis brought economic and financial risks, as well as consequences for human, social and sustainable development. This study aims to analyse the effects of social intervention with families since the 2008 crisis in Portugal. Through a qualitative approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with social workers (23), to identify the main impacts of the crisis and the adopted social intervention practices. We highlight a new increase in social problems and the growth of vulnerable groups facing an unprepared social protection system. The Portuguese case reveals that the effects of austerity have shown a decline in the welfare and benefits system, leading to worsened social problems, such as increased poverty and unemployment, as well as social inequalities. Social Work was required to respond to these consequences, although organisational contexts and austerity measures constrained practitioners’ autonomy. By reflecting on this critical period, we seek to contribute to better social protection and assistance models in the face of the current and future crisis. In this sense, Social Work practice ensures a means to guarantee fundamental rights and social justice, preparing social workers and social intervention for new challenges in crisis contexts.

FROM ELIZABETH GASKELL’S MARY BARTON TO HER NORTH AND SOUTH:PROGRESS OR DECLINE FOR WOMEN?

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pearl L. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Social Conflicts ◽  
Social Purpose ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mature Work ◽  
North And South

ASSESSMENTS OF ELIZABETH GASKELL’S two novels of social purpose typically conclude that North and South, published in 1855, is a more mature work stylistically and ideologically than Mary Barton, published in 1848. North and South is said to integrate the narrative modes of romance and realism more effectively than Mary Barton (Felber 63, Horsman 284), and to provide a more complicated narrative structure (Schor, Scheherezade 122–23), a more complex depiction of social conflicts (Easson 59 and 93) and a more satisfactory resolution of them (Duthie 84, Kestner 170). North and South is also said to deal with “more complex intellectual issues” (Craik 31). And the novel’s heroine, Margaret Hale, has been seen as Gaskell’s most mature creation — a woman who grows in self-awareness as she adapts to an alien environment (Kestner 164–166) and, unlike Mary Barton, becomes an active mediator of class conflicts (Stoneman 120), the central consciousness that brings together “the lessons of social change and romance” (Schor, Scheherezade 127).1 The reconciliation of these conflicts she inspires through her influence over both mill owner and worker has been praised as a more effective and credible narrative resolution to the social problems depicted in the novel than the reconciliation between mill owner and worker in Mary Barton (David 36).

Social Change, Social Problems, and Demands for Knowledge

2012 ◽  
pp. 292-314
Author(s):  
Neil J. Smelser ◽  
John S. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Problems

Examining Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Whitney Sanford
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Intentional Communities ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
Social Tensions ◽  
Community Ties

Examining change explores some of the social tensions around aging, food, and consumerism that contemporary intentional communities address. The chapter offers a brief historical overview of social change in the US, but focuses on contemporary anxieties that have motivated the formation of more recent intentional communities. While independence is a critical American value, many people crave stronger community ties, especially as they age. Similarly, a newly food-aware U.S. public wants the freedom to experiment with foods such as raw milk, but demands the safety that accompanies regulated foods, demonstrating tensions between risk, regulation, and authority. This chapter outlines why some people want change and how intentional communities are testing solutions to social problems.

Highlife Saturday Night: Popular Music and Social Change in Urban Ghana by Nate Plageman

Ghana Studies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-225
Author(s):  
Marceline Saibou
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Saturday Night

scholarly journals Social Entrepreneurship and Sport in Romania: How Can Former Athletes Contribute to Sustainable Social Change?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4688
Author(s):  
Pompiliu-Nicolae Constantin ◽  
Rares Stanescu ◽  
Monica Stanescu
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Former Athletes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
Common Action

Social entrepreneurship is an underrated subject in the field of sports. For Romanian society, the fall of communism opened up new opportunities in the entrepreneurial domain. At the same time, entrepreneurship began to intersect with sports, and the results were often productive. Sport is seen as a domain that could inspire entrepreneurship through its principles. The similarities between these two fields have created the perspective of common action in sport and entrepreneurship, and this coexistence has improved during times of social change. After 1989, Romania was confronted with many challenges at the societal level, and sport offered a way to address and to tackle social problems. Through sport, some athletes decided to contribute to issues of individuals or communities. They assumed the status of a social entrepreneur, and developed activities that could inspire others. This paper intends to gather examples of such social entrepreneurship from Romania, and to identify the elements that lead to success. The research takes into consideration case studies from various domains, and this diversity helps us to better understand the challenges of Romanian sport when it interacts with social entrepreneurship.

“Change Agents” on Two Wheels: Claiming Community and Contesting Spatial Inequalities through Cycling in Los Angeles

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 965-982
Author(s):  
Jennifer Candipan
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Urban Cycling

This study uses participant observation to examine how an all–female collective in Los Angeles uses urban cycling culture as a way to contest inequalities and advocate for social change in communities of color. Bridging the literatures on gentrification and social movements, I examine how the collective uses the bicycle as a unifying tool to draw disparate individuals together and, through the group's practices and rituals, generates a shared sense of collective identity and politicized consciousness embedded within the uneven spatial development of Los Angeles. I demonstrate how this politicized consciousness drives a collective spirit of resistance that challenges gentrification by reimagining and re–embodying space through organized actions and everyday practices. I find that organized anti–gentrification resistance is not merely reactionary, but rather entails pre–figurative action and visioning for space and community. Overall, findings speak more broadly to how communities of color facing exclusion and marginalization make claims to space and community.

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