Stockholm Noir: Neoliberalism and Gangsterism in Easy Money

2015 ◽  
pp. 104-118
Author(s):  
Michael Tapper
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Social Success ◽  
German Sociologist ◽  
Horatio Alger ◽  
Common Lands ◽  
Twentieth Century Europe

The gangster story is a warped Horatio Alger tale. Carl Freedman notes that it connects to the mystery of the origins of capitalism in what Karl Marx called ‘primitive accumulation’, the consciously repressed history about how common lands and natural resources were privatised and how companies, backed up by national armed forces, plundered non-European continents of their riches. The greedy and ruthless gangster’s rise to social success is but a small-scale reflection of the genocides and the violent redistribution of wealth that gave birth to modern-day capitalism. Gangsterism is also the ultimate expression of what the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies called Gesellschaft. While his other key concept Gemeinschaft describes the ‘natural’ personal relations and values often found in rural communities, Gesellschaft stands for the ‘constructed’ impersonal relations through business and formal interaction that characterise life in the urban capitalist era. As national identity became a central issue in twentieth-century Europe – Fascism being the most extreme ideological project – gangsters and other social, legal and moral transgressors were often defined in popular culture as an alien intrusion of an otherwise idyllic Gemeinschaft.

BEYOND THE TOURIST EXPERIENCE: ANALYZING THE IMAGINATION OF PLACE AND TRAVEL IN EVERYDAY LIFE

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
The Self ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Individual State ◽  
Imaginary World ◽  
Tourism Research ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article advocates a new agenda for (media) tourism research that links questions of tourist experiences to the role and meaning of imagination in everyday life. Based on a small-scale, qualitative study among a group of seventeen respondents of diverse ages and backgrounds currently residing in the Netherlands, we offer an empirical exploration of the places that are of importance for people’s individual state of mind and investigate how these places relate to (potential) tourist experiences. The combination of in-depth interviews and random-cue self-reporting resulted in the following findings: 1) all our respondents regularly reside in an elaborate imaginary world, consisting of both fictional and non-fictional places; 2) this imaginary world is dominated by places which make the respondents feel nostalgic; 3) in this regard, the private home and houses from childhood are pivotal; 4) the ‘home’ is seen as topos of the self and contrasted with ‘away’; 5) the imagination of ‘away’ emerges from memories of previous tourist experiences, personal fantasies and, last but not least, influences from popular culture. We conclude that imagining and visiting other locations are part of a life-long project of ‘identity work’ in which personal identities are performed, confirmed and extended. By travelling, either physically or mentally, individuals anchor their identity - the entirety of ideas about who they are, where they come from and where they think they belong - in a broader, spatial framework.

scholarly journals Using network analysis to analyse the complex interaction of factors causing the failure of small-scale water infrastructure (SWI) in the rural areas of South Africa

Water SA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (3 July) ◽  
Author(s):  
DC Sambo ◽  
A Senzanje ◽  
K Dhavu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Water Services ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Technical Community ◽  
Drying Up

Some parts of the rural areas of South Africa are receiving water services below the legislative standards stipulated in the Water Services Act (1997) of South Africa. This is because small-scale water infrastructures (SWI), including standpipes, handpumps and windmills, are failing to supply adequate water in rural communities for various activities that enhance their livelihoods. This is due to technical, community, institutional, and environmental factors. Literature indicates that these factors are complex in nature. However, research on their complex interactions has been limited. Therefore, the complex interactions of the factors causing SWI failure were investigated and analysed in this study. A qualitative research approach was employed to investigate the factors that cause failure of SWI. The network approach combined with graph theory and the community structure method were used to generate a theme and domain network that allowed for a systematic analysis and interpretation of the causes of SWI failure in the study area. The major causes of failure identified include: (i) the use of a top-down approach to implement water projects in rural communities without consultation, (ii) sharing of SWI in high numbers due to the limited number of SWI available/functional, resulting in overloading and increased breakdowns, and (iii) drying up of water sources due to poor siting leading to vandalism of SWI. Overall, the causes of SWI failure are as a result of the complex interactions of different categories of factors. The theme and domain network is a powerful tool that can be used represent and analyse the complex interactions. It is therefore imperative for interventions aiming to improve rural water supply to analyse the complex interactions of the causes of SWI failure to understand the underlying problems at a level of a system, in order to propose suitable solutions.

Determinants of small-scale farmers’ intention to adopt insect farming for animal feed in Colombia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
S. Espinosa Diaz ◽  
S. Speelman ◽  
R. Moruzzo ◽  
H. De Steur
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Alternative Feed ◽  
Feed Production ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
Acceptance Model

While it is recognised that insect farming as an alternative feed production system can yield substantial benefits for rural communities, farmers will ultimately have to decide whether to adopt these systems or not. This study aims to understand the factors that influence the intention of farmers to adopt insect farming for animal feed in the context of a developing country. Building upon two well-established theories (theory of planned behaviour and technology acceptance model), a survey was administered with 100 small-scale farmers in the region of Santander, Colombia. Findings demonstrate that the majority of farmers are positively oriented towards the implementation of this alternative feed production strategy. Both psychological and technology-oriented aspects related to this innovative practice play a crucial role in decision-making of small-scale farmers. Thereby, adoption intention was mainly determined by their subjective norms and perceived ease of use, with education and importance of feed attributes as significant external variables.

The tension between global GHG emissions of animal source foods, sustainability, and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (057) ◽  
Author(s):  
Constanza Gutiérrez-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Livestock Sector ◽  
The Caribbean

Abstract The livestock sector faces an important challenge in the medium and long term since it must satisfy an increasing demand for animal products as a result of the increase in population and the world economy but safeguarding natural resources and at the same time minimizing the environmental contamination, especially the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributed to livestock husbandry. For Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), this becomes more relevant given the importance of the sector for the food security of rural communities, particularly for small-scale producers. In this manuscript, we address the main challenges of LAC in this context, from a global perspective that includes the demographic, economic, cultural, and environmental effects. The biggest global challenge for the LAC livestock sector for the coming decades is how to satisfy the growing human demand for animal protein in a sustainable way maintaining the food security of their communities. The efforts to achieve these goals require focusing on improving the efficiency of both animal husbandry and production systems. Therefore, it is necessary to implement technologies of sustainable intensification and it is urgent that those who make political decisions become aware of these issues.

Revitalising the self-sufficient household economy: the Social Land Programme in Hungary

2019 ◽  
pp. 165-178
Author(s):  
Judit Csoba ◽  
Flórián Sipos
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
Social And Physical Environment

The authors introduce the Social Land Programmes, Hungary. Social Land Programmes aim to strengthen self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on social aid by helping people with no financial means to engage with small-scale agriculture. The case study investigated eight rural communities participating in a Social Land Programme. Innovative features include bottom up organisation designed and carried out locally (in contrast to top-down public employment programmes in Hungary). For local leaders, producing food and improving living standard are its main points. They also see various other benefits that include improving the social and physical environment and passing on positive role models within the family. However, they consider national goals of increased employment and self-sustainability to be over optimistic.

The Language of Tokens and the Making of Marriage

Rural History ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana O'hara
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
The South ◽  
Extensive Information ◽  
Pictorial Representations

In the study of popular culture, the significance of gifts and tokens in the making of marriage has not been given the attention it deserves. The surviving artefacts alone merit closer examination and the role of such objects in dramatic and pictorial representations has yet to be adequately explored. If their full social and symbolic importance is to be understood, however, a close examination is necessary of acts of giving in precisely defined historical contexts. The richly detailed evidence of ecclesiastical depositions surviving for the diocese of Canterbury permits just such an examination. This evidence provides examples from rural communities in woodland, downland, marshland and lowland pays in Kent to the south and east of the River Medway, and shows their connections with local towns. And among these, the case ofDivers v. Williamsprovides unusually extensive information.

Parallel Tracks and Fraught Encounters

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascha Bueno-Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Internal Armed Conflict ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Feminist Movements

This chapter examines the struggles and gaps between the protagonism of rural Andean women, or campesinas, and the priorities of the human rights and feminist movements in Peru as they try to address the ever-growing number of victims and survivors of the internal armed conflict. The armed conflict pitted the armed forces versus the Shining Path; both sides demanded allegiance from rural communities. From the beginning, campesinas were at the forefront of local efforts to denounce human rights violations and address the needs of affected people with the help of church groups and human rights advocates. Peruvian human rights and feminist movements presented the strongest potential for taking on the defense of campesinas' rights. This chapter considers how social exclusions marginalized campesina voices in the transitional justice process and how and why, despite campesina protagonism and human rights and feminist movements' best intentions, the gender-based violence directed at campesinas during the armed conflict slipped through the cracks. It also looks at the founding of the Women for Democracy, or Mujeres por la Democracia (MUDE), in 1997.

scholarly journals Sources of Inefficiency in Small-Scale Irrigation in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teshager Sisha ◽  
Surafel Dillie
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Abstract Increased production, food security, poverty reduction, and rural economic development can be supported by increasing efficiency in the use of scarce resources and technologies. Promoting small-scale irrigation practices may provide opportunities to improve the efficient utilization of land and labor. This paper assesses the extent of technical efficiencies of two household irrigation technologies: rope & washer and pulley practiced by farmers in two pilot areas of rural communities in Ethiopia. Stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) was used to estimate efficiency levels and identify the factors affecting inefficiencies. Labor and land are found to have contributed a greater share in the quantity of production of the crops under study. Plough repetition and experience in irrigation also contributed significantly to increased output. The results obtained from the stochastic frontier analysis indicate that farmers are operating at a significantly lower mean efficiency level of 70%, indicating the existence of room for increased production without additional investment. Distance to the nearest market, female household head, higher dependency ratio and using rope & washer (compared to pulley) increases the likelihood of being inefficient, whereas higher educational attainment of the head of the household and irrigation experience reduces the probability of inefficiency.

scholarly journals Municipal Solid Waste as a valuable recycled asset for small-scale electricity production in rural communities

2019 ◽  
pp. 92-106
Author(s):  
Valter Silva ◽  
João Cardoso ◽  
Paulo Brito ◽  
Luís Tarelho ◽  
José Luz
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Biomass Supply

Municipal solid waste provides an opportunity for electricity production. This strategy provides the rural communities a potential waste-to-energy opportunity to manage its costly residues problem, turning them into a valuable recycled asset. To address this issue, a techno-economic study of an integrated system comprising gasification of Acacia residues and Portuguese Municipal Solid Waste (PMSW) with an Internal Combustion Engine-Generator (ICEG) for electricity generation at small-scale (100 kW) was developed. Current studies only devote attention to biomass residues and do not explore MSW potential to eschew biomass supply shortage. Conventional systems are generally part of biomass supply chains, limiting flexibility and all year operation for their operators. Experimental data was gathered at a downdraft gasifier to provide a clear assessment of particle and tar concentration in the syngas and levers conditioning a satisfactory ICE operation. Once the potential of using Acacia residues and PMSW has been proven during gasification runs testing, and validation, a set of new conditions was also explored through a high-fidelity CFD model. We find that residues blends have the highest potential to generate high-quality syngas and smallest exposure to supply disruption. Despite both substrates showing potential at specific conditions, they also present individual drawbacks which will be best mitigated by executing a hybrid supply comprising the mix of substrates. An economic model coupling the financial indicators of net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and the payback period (PBP) considering a project lifetime of 25 years was developed. Cost factors include expenses with electricity generation, initial investment, amortizations and operation and maintenance (containing fuels costs). Revenues were estimated from electricity generated and sales to the national grid. A sensitivity analysis based on the Monte Carlo method was used to measure the economic model performance and to determine the risk in investing in such venture. The risk appraisal yielded favorable investment projections, with an NPV reaching positive values, an IRR superior to the discount rate and PBP lower than the project life span. This work allowed to confirm the positive effect of the generation of energy from downdraft gasification plants on a small-scale. Regardless of the project’s feasibility, the economic performance depended to a large extent on the electricity prices which present considerable variability and are subject to political decisions.

scholarly journals Precision for Smallholder Farmers: A Small-Scale-Tailored Variable Rate Fertilizer Application Kit

Agriculture ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelle Van Loon ◽  
Alicia Speratti ◽  
Louis Gabarra ◽  
Bram Govaerts
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Variable Rate ◽  
User Friendliness ◽  
The Right

Precision agriculture technology at the hands of smallholder farmers in the developing world is often deemed far-fetched. Low-resource farmers, however, are the most susceptible to negative changes in the environment. Providing these farmers with the right tools to mitigate adversity and to gain greater control of the production process could unlock their potential and support rural communities to meet the increasing global food demand. In this study, a real-time variable rate fertilizer application system was developed and tested as an add-on kit to conventional farm machinery. In the context of low investment costs for smallholder farmers, high user-friendliness and easy installment were the main concerns for the system to be viable. The system used nitrogen (N)-sensors to assess the plant nutrient status on the spot and subsequently adjust the amount of fertilizer deposited according to the plant’s needs. Test bench trials showed that the add-on kit performed well with basic operations, but more precision is required. Variability between N-sensors and metering systems, combined with power fluctuations, created inaccuracies in the resulting application rate. Nevertheless, this work is a stepping stone towards catalyzing the elaboration of more cutting-edge precision solutions to support small-scale farmers to become successful, high producing agro-entrepreneurs.

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