Frontiers of Existence

This article introduces a new concept, ‘frontiers of existence’, to highlight and demand more attention be placed on the lives of human and other-than-human beings whose possibilities to exist are extinguished or radically and negatively transformed at resource and commodity frontiers and demand more attention be placed on this. What happens to existences at these places has not been a central focus in prior studies utilizing political economy, political ecology, or other approaches for studying frontiers. This article is makes a theoretical contribution, by arguing that the research on resource frontiers should more fully recognize more fully the redistributions of existences caused by major landscape changes. The analysis is based on field research since 2004 on the expansion of monocultures and deforestation in Brazil and the effect of this on existences. Four key questions for the existential analysis of frontiers are suggested, and their application is briefly demonstrated through ethnographic material collected in November and December 2019, in the Amazon and Cerrado regions of Mato Grosso State in Brazil. Keywords: resource frontiers, ethnocide, deforestation, political ontology, global land grabbing, frontiers of existence, forests

The Problem of the Totalitarian Nature of the Information Society in the Context of its Influence on Social Institutions

The article discusses the features of the process of transformation of human consciousness and educational culture in the conditions of the modern information society in the context of digitalization. By using such concepts, the theory of postmodernism and existentialism, the authors prove the legitimacy of the explication of these theories on the processes of transformation of human consciousness and radical changes in educational culture. At the same time, the necessity of critical reflection on the processes and phenomena from the perspective of the basic values of human life, such as love, moral values, creativity, is emphasized. The role of independent and systemic thinking as a condition for selfrealization is also proved. The phenomenology of modern consciousness, intertwined with the phenomena of technology, is the basis of the existential analysis of consciousness. According to the authors, it is an utmost technological and utilitarian orientation of consciousness. Consciousness today is a reflection of the technological orientation of society and this cannot but affect the educational culture, which is becoming technological. The information space modulates the independence of thinking as a support for authoritative opinions, awakening the needs for material well-being, to the detriment of the dialogic nature of thinking and the independence of thinking.

Estudiar Online en Contexto de Pandemia Covid-19

La pandemia por Covid-19 ha provocado un fuerte impacto en los hábitos, rutinas, desplazamientos, modos de relacionarse presentes en la actividad de estudio. Se analiza desde la perspectiva de la Teoría Histórico Cultural de la Actividad (THCA), las experiencias vividas por estudiantes de la educación superior en Chile, y se discute sobre la incidencia relativa de factores estructurales y procesuales asociados, con especial énfasis en el desarrollo de estrategias de autoregulación, y el rol de mediadores en el enfrentamiento de las exigencias académicas y temporales. -- The purpose of this work is to characterize the experiences related to the meaning of life that elderly women with feelings of loneliness build. Through qualitative methodology, the narratives were examined under the four Fundamental Motivations of Existential Analysis by Alfried Längle, which revealed a loss of meaning of life and a lack of connection with the world. Findings show a great pain due the loss in the quality of affective relationships with their immediate surroundings, where they do not teel recognized or appreciated. Even when a weak meaning of life is observed, these women struggle to find a reason to live.

Mujeres adultas mayores. Una visión desde la subjetividad de las protagonistas en relación a su sentido de vida y el sentimiento de soledad

El propósito de esta investigación fue caracterizar las vivencias en torno al sentido de vida que construyen las mujeres adultas mayores con sentimientos de soledad. Mediante una metodología cualitativa, las narrativas resultantes fueron examinadas bajo las cuatro Motivaciones Fundamentales del Análisis Existencial de Alfried Längle. Éstas develaron una pérdida de relación con la vida y una falta de conexión al mundo. Los hallazgos muestran una dolorosa pérdida en la calidad de las relaciones afectivas con su entorno más inmediato, donde no se sienten reconocidas ni apreciadas. Aun cuando se observa un débil sentido de vida, estas mujeres luchan por encontrar un para qué vivir. -- The purpose of this work is to characterize the experiences related to the meaning of life that elderly women with feelings of loneliness build. Through qualitative methodology, the narratives were examined under the four Fundamental Motivations of Existential Analysis by Alfried Längle, which revealed a loss of meaning of life and a lack of connection with the world. Findings show a great pain due the loss in the quality of affective relationships with their immediate surroundings, where they do not teel recognized or appreciated. Even when a weak meaning of life is observed, these women struggle to find a reason to live.