scholarly journals São Paulo’s 2013 water crisis: a socially constructed disaster risk

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-181
Author(s):  
Izabela Penha de Oliveira Santos ◽  
Ana Paula Fracalanza ◽  
Robert Coates ◽  
Jeroen Warner
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Water Crisis ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Disaster Scenario ◽  
Release Model

Frequent cases of water scarcity in Brazil reveal a water governance and administration crisis. During the water crisis (2013-2016), the São Paulo Metropolitan Region experienced a disaster scenario. This article analyses how it was constituted as a socially constructed disaster episode. A case study was carried out in the Novo Recreio neighbourhood (Guarulhos, SP) through ethnographic observations, interviews, and newspaper articles. The results were analysed based on the Pressure and Release Model (PAR). It was concluded that the water crisis period in SPMR has disproportionately affected the Guarulhos population, especially in Novo Recreio. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that public policies and the neighbourhood's territorial formation are related to its population's current frail living conditions and increased socio-environmental vulnerability in the face of continuous water scarcity, thus corroborating the social construction of the risk of water scarcity.

scholarly journals Syrian Refugees, Water Scarcity, and Dynamic Policies: How Do the New Refugee Discourses Impact Water Governance Debates in Lebanon and Jordan?

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussam Hussein ◽  
Alberto Natta ◽  
Abed Al Kareem Yehya ◽  
Baha Hamadna
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Water Crisis ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Syrian Crisis ◽  
Humanitarian Interventions ◽  
The Impact

Since the Syrian crisis and the so-called “Arab Spring”, new discourses have been created, sparking the discursive water governance debates around water scarcity and hydropolitics. In Lebanon and Jordan—where most water resources are transboundary, and where most Syrian refugees have flown in—new discourses of climate change and especially of Syrian refugees as exacerbating water scarcity are emerging, shaping water governance debates. The aim of this paper is to engage in comparative discourse analysis about narratives of water crises and refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. This study is novel because of the focus on the new discourse of refugees in relation to water governance debates in both Lebanon and Jordan. This paper finds that in both countries the new discourses of refugees do not replace previous and existing discourses of water crisis and scarcity, but rather they build on and reinforce them. This paper finds that the impact these discourses had on the governance debates is that in Lebanon the resources mobilized focused on humanitarian interventions, while Jordan focused on development projects to strengthen the resilience of its water infrastructure and its overall water governance system.

Social Investment and the causes of energy poverty: are cooperatives a solution?

2019 ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Michael Willoughby ◽  
José Millet-Roig ◽  
José Pedro García-Sabater ◽  
Aida Saez-Mas
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Energy Prices ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
The Face

This chapter is about a successful energy co-operative in Spain. With rising poverty and energy prices among the most expensive in Europe and, the cooperative not only provides a reliable source of clean energy to consumers, but also forms a central part of the community in which it is situated. The case study points to a need for private enterprises to collaborate with local authorities and social services to provide solutions to drastic situations of poverty that are still prevalent, particularly in areas of Southern and Eastern Europe. The Spanish energy cooperative demonstrates one way in which the social economy can help to shape the future of the welfare state in the absence of state funding and in the face of national policies that are not well aligned.

WALTER MORRELL AND THE NEW DRAPERIES PROJECT, c. 1603–1631

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL ZELL
Keyword(s):  
Privy Council ◽  
Rural Industry ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Sources ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Stuart England ◽  
Rural Unemployment ◽  
Economic Thinking

This article explores the lengthy and convoluted history of a Jacobean project to set the idle poor to work making ‘new draperies’. Although the projector, Walter Morrell, convinced the Cecils, King James, and the privy council of the social and fiscal benefits of his scheme, he failed to persuade the Hertfordshire gentry. This case study in the formulation of crown economic policy, and in ‘Stuart paternalism’, draws upon Morrell's own detailed, unpublished treatise, as well as conventional political sources, and shows how the combination of ‘commonwealth’ rhetoric and progressive economic thinking could sway crown policy-making. It also demonstrates once again the limits of conciliar authority in early Stuart England. In the face of sustained provincial non-compliance, the privy council had neither the machinery nor the stomach to force the Hertfordshire elite to implement government policy and give meaningful support to a government-backed projector. And despite their inability to deal with growing rural unemployment, the Hertfordshire magistrates were unwilling to experiment with rural industry as a solution.

scholarly journals The politics of platform power in surveillance capitalism: A comparative case study of ride-hailing platforms in China and the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 205943642110467
Author(s):  
Ngai Keung Chan ◽  
Chi Kwok
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Behavioral Predictions

This article uses a comparative case study of two ride-hailing platforms—DiDi Chuxing in China and Uber in the United States—to explore the comparative politics of platform power in surveillance capitalism. Surveillance capitalism is an emerging economic system that translates human experiences into surveillance assets for behavioral predictions and modifications. Through this comparative study, we demonstrate how DiDi and Uber articulate their operational legitimacy for advancing their corporate interests and visions of datafication in the face of legal uncertainty. Although DiDi and Uber are both “sectoral platforms” in urban mobility with similar visions of datafication and infrastructuralization, we highlight that they deploy different discursive legitimation strategies. Our study shows that Uber adopts a “confrontational” strategy, while DiDi employs a “collaborative” strategy when they need to legitimize their data and business practices to the public and regulatory authorities. This study offers a comparative lens to examine the social and political dynamics of platform firms based in China and the United States and, therefore, contributes to understanding the various aspirational logic of platform thinking in different political contexts.

scholarly journals Governing complexity and environmental justice: lessons from the water crisis in Metropolitan São Paulo (2013-2015)

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Henrique Campello Torres ◽  
Pedro Luiz Côrtes ◽  
Pedro Roberto Jacobi
Keyword(s):  
Water Governance ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Water Crisis ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Government ◽  
Governance Processes ◽  
The Impact

The paper presents a discussion on the water crisis that occurred between 2013 and 2015 in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, the lack of integrated natural resources planning, and the reaction of social actors affected by the crisis. The region was affected by an extreme hydrological and climatological event, which was combined with the unsustainable management of water resources. The paper addresses, initially, the dynamics of water governance in the region, and the main aspects related to water availability and climate dependence that caused the water crisis. Then, we present an analysis of the process that led to the water crisis and its main developments, which is based on the follow-up of the different moments of the crisis and dialogues with its relevant stakeholders. The results indicate the relevance of emphasizing issues on matters such as the lack of transparency and highlight the role of societal initiatives. We conclude the paper with a proposition to discuss governance processes that can contribute to the development of more effective initiatives in order to reduce the impact of this visible change in water regimes, strengthen transparent management, and promote a more democratic interaction between social actors and the government.

A case study of unquiet translators

Target ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Monzó-Nebot
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Gray Area ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Made In

Abstract Remarkable efforts have been made in Translation and Interpreting Studies to test the subservient habitus hypothesis formulated by Simeoni (1998) in his seminal work. In the face of increasing evidence that translators tend to reproduce a given society’s or community’s prevalent norms and contribute to the stability of such norms (Toury 1978), subversive translation practices have been reported (Delabastita 2011; Woods 2012) and indeed promoted as a way of fostering social and cultural change (Levine 1991; Venuti 1992). However, insights into how translators’ subservient or subversive habitus develop and depart from each other are still lacking. In order to shed light on this gray area, this article scrutinizes the contrasts between the habitus of professional legal translators who acquiesce to and who reject the norms governing their positions in the field. Special attention is given to those who decide to abandon the translation field. Their behavior is examined by relating habitus to forms of socialization and studying the implications of their strategies. Based on a case study drawn from interview data, this article focuses on the social practices of resistance and rebellion vis-à-vis subservience, and the impact of both on translation workplaces, work processes, and translators’ futures.

Building social capital for constructive adaptive capacity under social stress

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 247-253
Author(s):  
Yutong Wang ◽  
Pakon Ko ◽  
Nancy Law
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face

PurposeThis study examines how a school progressively built its social capital for agile adaptation to provide inclusive and effective fully online learning provisions through intentionally enhancing its architecture for learning.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a case study to examine how school A was able to respond rapidly and progressively to the demand for quality online learning provisions in the face of unanticipated school closure with an uncertain end date. Video recordings of online school sharing sessions, interviews and documents provided by the school constituted data sources for this study.FindingsIn creating a collective new norm for the implementation of online learning, a school needs to enhance both structural and cognitive aspects of its social capital. School A achieved this through intentional changes to its architecture for learning (i.e. organizational structure, interaction mechanisms, mediating artifacts and technology) when deliberating measures to deliver the changes under periods of serious social stress.Originality/valueAdaptive capacity is a core demand on the social capital of schools and organizations under the “new normal” when the future is unpredictable. This paper uncovers the connection between a school's architecture for learning and its adaptive capacity.

What's the Fuss about Social Constructivism?

Episteme ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
John Dupré
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Many ◽  
Social Construction Of Science

The topic of this paper is social constructivist doctrines about the nature of scientific knowledge. I don't propose to review all the many accounts that have either claimed this designation or had it ascribed to them. Rather I shall try to consider in a very general way what sense should be made of the underlying idea, and then illustrate some of the central points with two central examples from biology. The first thing to say is that, on the face of it, some doctrine of the social construction of science must self-evidently be true. The notion of science as progressing through the efforts of solitary geniuses may have had some plausibility in the seventeenth century, but it has none today. Science is a massively cooperative, social, enterprise. And surely it is constructed. Scientific knowledge doesn't grow on trees; it is produced through hard work by human agents. Putting these two banal points together we conclude that science is socially constructed.

scholarly journals The social construction of refugees & asylum-seekers: a case study of South Africa.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Anne McDonough McDonough
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
South African ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Social

Refugees/asylum-seekers are socially constructed as being economically, politically and culturally threatening to the nation-state in which they seek asylum. Evidence of this social construction can be found in media, statements by public officials and in opinion polls. By synthesizing the results of research we can identify the commonalities amongst discourses from different nation-states. This allows us to see how refugees/asylum- eekers serve nation building in general. A case study of South Africa is used to show how this discourse relates to the South African nation-building exercise, with particular references to the xenophobic violence of May 2008. What emerges from the case study is that despite evidence that this framework is a good fit for thinking critically about instances of xenophobia in South Africa, there is also evidence of a counter discourse about refugees/asylum-seekers that casts them as deserving of compassion and generosity.

scholarly journals Landscape As A Resource For Squat Farming

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attila TÓTH ◽  
L’ubica FERIANCOVÁ
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Urban Structures ◽  
Scientific Mission ◽  
The Social ◽  
Land Cultivation

Abstract The contemporary Urban Agriculture (UA) is represented by a range of diverse farming typologies taking place in the urban environment. Nowadays, there is an unconventional form of UA called squat farming. The research object of this paper is represented by the case study of Can Masdeu which stands for a squatted and cultivated land at the northern city border of Barcelona. The goal of our Short Term Scientific Mission carried out in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region was to define and study diverse typologies of UA at different levels and scales. One of these types is represented by the ongoing phenomenon of squat farming. Concerning this form, there are two main research questions: 1) How are landscape and urban structures influenced and formed by the activity of land cultivation? and 2) How is the social dimension of squat farming structured – who are the users, what is their motivation, aim and vision? To answer the first research question, we applied spatial and perceptual analyses, and concerning the second research question, the users have been interviewed within discussions and questionnaires. The results include characteristics of spatial and social dimensions of squat farming described on the case study of Can Masdeu.

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