scholarly journals "Nourishing ourselves and helping the planet": WWOOF, Environmentalism and Ecotopia: Alternative Social Practices between Ideal and Reality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elisabeth Kosnik
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Ecological Society ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Trend

<p>A growing number of people around the world are becoming familiar with the phenomenon of ‘World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms’ (WWOOF). This movement originated forty years ago in England, but has since spread around the world. Estimations suggest that WWOOF currently has more than 90,000 signed-up members internationally. Over the last four decades WWOOF has developed as part of an environmentalist social trend in contemporary, although predominantly Western, societies. The members of WWOOF largely share a green, “ecotopian” attitude towards nature, living in the country, and the sustainable use of resources, health and nutrition, anti-consumerism and anti-capitalist ideals. This thesis is the first comprehensive ethnographic study of this international phenomenon. In it I provide an analysis of the complexities of this environmentalist social trend, and the interconnections between environmental, socio-economic, and political processes within WWOOF.  By applying a combination of methods, including participant observation as a WWOOFer in Austria and New Zealand, interviews and informal conversations with WWOOFers, hosts, directors, and voluntary organisers, as well as the founder of WWOOF herself, and the analysis of documents produced by WWOOF groups, and e-mail interviews with a number of WWOOF directors, I was able to gain a multi-sited and multi-layered perspective of the international WWOOF movement. In this analysis I ask where the ideals of WWOOF originated and how the morality of “ecotopian” thinking informs the lifeworlds of the participants. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the international WWOOF movement as it is experienced, narrated, and negotiated by its members. It demonstrates the tensions between ideals and lived reality, the contradictions and compromises, and the vast range of interpretations of their ideals that lead to internal conflict. In trying to overcome these tensions, social practices emerge that blur the boundaries between “ecotopian” green values and mainstream attitudes. I argue that by engaging in a range of alternative environmental, social, political, and economic practices the members of the WWOOF movement feel that, despite some contradictions and necessary compromises, they at least partially succeed in achieving the aims and ideals of WWOOF and their visions for a greener lifestyle and ecological society.</p>

scholarly journals "Nourishing ourselves and helping the planet": WWOOF, Environmentalism and Ecotopia: Alternative Social Practices between Ideal and Reality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elisabeth Kosnik
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Ecological Society ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Trend

<p>A growing number of people around the world are becoming familiar with the phenomenon of ‘World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms’ (WWOOF). This movement originated forty years ago in England, but has since spread around the world. Estimations suggest that WWOOF currently has more than 90,000 signed-up members internationally. Over the last four decades WWOOF has developed as part of an environmentalist social trend in contemporary, although predominantly Western, societies. The members of WWOOF largely share a green, “ecotopian” attitude towards nature, living in the country, and the sustainable use of resources, health and nutrition, anti-consumerism and anti-capitalist ideals. This thesis is the first comprehensive ethnographic study of this international phenomenon. In it I provide an analysis of the complexities of this environmentalist social trend, and the interconnections between environmental, socio-economic, and political processes within WWOOF.  By applying a combination of methods, including participant observation as a WWOOFer in Austria and New Zealand, interviews and informal conversations with WWOOFers, hosts, directors, and voluntary organisers, as well as the founder of WWOOF herself, and the analysis of documents produced by WWOOF groups, and e-mail interviews with a number of WWOOF directors, I was able to gain a multi-sited and multi-layered perspective of the international WWOOF movement. In this analysis I ask where the ideals of WWOOF originated and how the morality of “ecotopian” thinking informs the lifeworlds of the participants. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the international WWOOF movement as it is experienced, narrated, and negotiated by its members. It demonstrates the tensions between ideals and lived reality, the contradictions and compromises, and the vast range of interpretations of their ideals that lead to internal conflict. In trying to overcome these tensions, social practices emerge that blur the boundaries between “ecotopian” green values and mainstream attitudes. I argue that by engaging in a range of alternative environmental, social, political, and economic practices the members of the WWOOF movement feel that, despite some contradictions and necessary compromises, they at least partially succeed in achieving the aims and ideals of WWOOF and their visions for a greener lifestyle and ecological society.</p>

scholarly journals Molecular tools and DNA barcoding for conservation

Lankesteriana ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Gigot
Keyword(s):  
Dna Barcoding ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Molecular Tools ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
The World

The Darwin Initiative (DI) for the Survival of Species promotes biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of resources around the world (http://www.darwin.gov.uk). 

scholarly journals Monitoring the implementation of a Municipal Policy on Complementary and Integrative Practices: the main challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmencita Ignatti ◽  
Eunice Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Doctoral Program ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
World Health ◽  
Municipal Policy ◽  
The World ◽  
Institutional Aspects ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract This paper is an excerpt of an ethnographic study conducted within a doctoral program in a Complementary and Integrative Practices referral unit located in Peruíbe-SP, Brazil. It presents an analysis of the implementation of a Municipal Policy on Complementary and Integrative Practices (MPCIP), including participant observation of meetings held with workers and managers, field diaries, documents from the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, legislation, and reports of those involved. The analysis was based on hermeneutic interpretation (GEERTZ, 1989), and the main challenges faced during the process are presented. Even though the format of the MPCIP in Peruíbe meets national and international requirements, it only warranted legal-institutional aspects. Despite advancements in policy development, there remain political and operational challenges to its implementation and expansion, which shall be overcome to fully implement Complementary and Integrative Practices in the city’s health service.

Skateboarding LA

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory J. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Talented People ◽  
Architectural Features ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
The World ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Do So

Skateboarding LA is about professional street skateboarding, a highly refined, athletic, and aesthetic pursuit, from which a large number of people profit. (Skateboarding has been estimated to be a $5 billion annual industry.) Street skateboarders see the world differently because they are skating on it, and to do so they creatively interpret architectural features—ledges, banks, gaps, stairs, and handrails—in order to perform tricks. The tricks they perform are filmed and photographed and then disseminated to a global subculture via numerous platforms—videos, magazines, social media, websites. Skaters do this to increase their reputations, and hence their earnings. This ethnographic study of skateboarding, based upon over eight years of participant observation in Los Angeles, offers thick cultural description that provides outsiders some insight into the process of this complex, but mostly misunderstood subculture. The themes of this research revolve around the idea of subculture careers, subculture media, subculture enclaves, and subculture community, all of which call for a reassessment of much of the existing literature surrounding the sociological and political significance of subcultures. This detailed study of skating was facilitated by the author’s relationship to his key informant, former professional skater Aaron Snyder, who is also his younger brother. Together they show that more than petty vandalism and exaggerated claims of destruction, skateboarding creates opportunities for skaters the world over and draws highly talented people to cities where professional skateboarders congregate.

The 1945 World Order – Process with «Open» Continuation

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-79
Author(s):  
V. T. Yungblud
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Order ◽  
International Order ◽  
International Terrorism ◽  
Bipolar Structure ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The World ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War

The Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations, established by culmination of World War II, was created to maintain the security and cooperation of states in the post-war world. Leaders of the Big Three, who ensured the Victory over the fascist-militarist bloc in 1945, made decisive contribution to its creation. This system cemented the world order during the Cold War years until the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the destruction of the bipolar structure of the organization of international relations. Post-Cold War changes stimulated the search for new structures of the international order. Article purpose is to characterize circumstances of foundations formation of postwar world and to show how the historical decisions made by the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition powers in 1945 are projected onto modern political processes. Study focuses on interrelated questions: what was the post-war world order and how integral it was? How did the political decisions of 1945 affect the origins of the Cold War? Does the American-centrist international order, that prevailed at the end of the 20th century, genetically linked to the Atlantic Charter and the goals of the anti- Hitler coalition in the war, have a future?Many elements of the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations in the 1990s survived and proved their viability. The end of the Cold War and globalization created conditions for widespread democracy in the world. The liberal system of international relations, which expanded in the late XX - early XXI century, is currently experiencing a crisis. It will be necessary to strengthen existing international institutions that ensure stability and security, primarily to create barriers to the spread of national egoism, radicalism and international terrorism, for have a chance to continue the liberal principles based world order (not necessarily within a unipolar system). Prerequisite for promoting idea of a liberal system of international relations is the adjustment of liberalism as such, refusal to unilaterally impose its principles on peoples with a different set of values. This will also require that all main participants in modern in-ternational life be able to develop a unilateral agenda for common problems and interstate relations, interact in a dialogue mode, delving into the arguments of opponents and taking into account their vital interests.

Dirk J. Wolfson. Public Finance and development Strategy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1979. Pp. xiv+264.

1982 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-257
Author(s):  
Zafar Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Johns Hopkins University ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Council

The world in its politico-economic aspects is run by policy-makers who have an academic background in law or public administration or other related social disciplines including economics. Only rarely would a majority of the policy-makers be trained in economics. In the making of economic policy, the basic choices before the policy-makers are political and they transcend the narrow concerns of economists regarding optimal use of resources. These considerations in no way downgrade the relevance of economic analysis in economic policy-making and for the training of policy-maker in economics. Policy-makers need economic council to understand fully the implications of alternative policy options. In this book, Wolfson attempts to educate policy-makers in the areas of public finance and development strategy. The analysis avoids technicalities and is kept to a simple level to make it understandable to civil servants, law-makers and members of the executive branch whom Wolfson refers to as policy-makers. Simplicity of analysis is not the only distinguishing mark of this book. Most other books on public finance are usually addressed to traditional public finance issues relating to both the revenue and expenditure sides of the budget and neglect an overall mix of issues dealing with the interaction of fiscal policy with economic development. Wolfson in this book explicitly deals with these issues.

Information Component of Disintegration Processes in Spain and Great Britain: the Comparative Aspects

2019 ◽  
pp. 142-154
Author(s):  
Vasyl Karpo ◽  
Nataliia Nechaieva-Yuriichuk
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Practical Interest ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
World Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Propaganda ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The World ◽  
Ancient Times

From ancient times till nowadays information plays a key role in the political processes. The beginning of XXI century demonstrated the transformation of global security from military to information, social etc. aspects. The widening of pandemic demonstrated the weaknesses of contemporary authoritarian states and the power of human-oriented states. During the World War I the theoretical and practical interest toward political manipulation and political propaganda grew definitely. After 1918 the situation developed very fast and political propaganda became the part of political influence. XX century entered into the political history as the millennium of propaganda. The collapse of the USSR and socialist system brought power to new political actors. The global architecture of the world has changed. Former Soviet republic got independence and tried to separate from Russia. And Ukraine was between them. The Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine was the start point for a number of processes in world politics. But the most important was the fact that the role and the place of information as the challenge to world security was reevaluated. The further annexation of Crimea, the attempt to legitimize it by the comparing with the referendums in Scotland and Catalonia demonstrated the willingness of Russian Federation to keep its domination in the world. The main difference between the referendums in Scotland and in Catalonia was the way of Russian interference. In 2014 (Scotland) tried to delegitimised the results of Scottish referendum because they were unacceptable for it. But in 2017 we witness the huge interference of Russian powers in Spain internal affairs, first of all in spreading the independence moods in Catalonia. The main conclusion is that the world has to learn some lessons from Scottish and Catalonia cases and to be ready to new challenges in world politics in a format of information threats.

Young Muslim America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muna Ali
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Cultural Citizenship ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Muslim American ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Community Culture ◽  
Identity Studies ◽  
Anthropology Of Islam ◽  
Dominant Narratives

This book explores the identities, perspectives, and roles of the second and subsequent generations of Muslim Americans of both immigrant and convert backgrounds. As these younger Muslims come of age, and as distant as they are from historical processes that shaped their parents’ generations, how do they view themselves and each other? What role do they play in the current chapter of Islam in a post-9/11 America? Will they be able to cross intra-community divides and play a pivotal role in shaping their community? Culture figures prominently in the discussions about and among Muslims and is centered on four dominant narratives: 1) culture is thought to be the underlying cause of an alleged “identity crisis,” 2) it presumably contaminates a “pure/true” Islam, 3) it is the cause for all that divides Muslim American immigrants and converts, which could be remedied by creating an American Muslim community and culture, and 4) some Americans fear an “Islamization of America” through a Muslim cultural takeover. In this ethnographic study, Muna Ali explores these questions through these four dominant narratives, which are both part of the public discourse and themes that emerged from interviews, a survey, social and traditional media, and participant observation. Situating these questions and narratives in identity studies in a pluralistic yet racialized society, as well as in the anthropology of Islam and in the process and meaning of cultural citizenship, Ali examines how younger Muslims see themselves and their community, how they negotiate fault lines of ethnicity, race, class, gender, and religious interpretation within their communities, and how their faith informs their daily lives and how they envision a future for themselves in post-911 America.

scholarly journals Challenges and Prospects of Using Treated Wastewater to Manage Water Scarcity Crises in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1971
Author(s):  
Asad Sarwar Qureshi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Forage Crops ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
The World

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are located in the driest part of the world with an annual per capita water availability of 500 m3 compared to the world average of 6000 m3. Agricultural water demand, which is more than 80% of the total water consumption, is primarily met through the massive exploitation of groundwater. The enormous imbalance between groundwater discharge (27.8 billion m3) and recharge (5.3 billion m3) is causing the excessive lowering of groundwater levels. Therefore, GCC countries are investing heavily in the production of nonconventional water resources such as desalination of seawater and treated wastewater. Currently, 439 desalination plants are annually producing 5.75 billion m3 of desalinated water in the GCC countries. The annual wastewater collection is about 4.0 billion m3, of which 73% is treated with the help of 300 wastewater treatment plants. Despite extreme water poverty, only 39% of the treated wastewater is reused, and the remaining is discharged into the sea. The treated wastewater (TWW) is used for the landscape, forestry, and construction industries. However, its reuse to irrigate food and forage crops is restricted due to health, social, religious, and environmental concerns. Substantial research evidence exists that treated wastewater can safely be used to grow food and forage crops under the agroclimatic conditions of the GCC countries by adopting appropriate management measures. Therefore, GCC countries should work on increasing the use of TWW in the agriculture sector. Increased use of TWW in agriculture can significantly reduce the pressure on freshwater resources. For this purpose, a comprehensive awareness campaign needs to be initiated to address the social and religious concerns of farming communities and consumers. Several internal and external risks can jeopardize the sustainable use of treated wastewater in the GCC countries. These include climate change, increasing costs, technological and market-driven changes, and regional security issues. Therefore, effective response mechanisms should be developed to mitigate future risks and threats. For this purpose, an integrated approach involving all concerned local and regional stakeholders needs to be adopted.

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