Tracce di geografia sociale: l’anomalia italiana

A series of clues suggests that the concerns that would have converged, over time, under the academic label of “social geography” were already well present, over a century ago, also in Italian geography, albeit often under other denominations. While the denomination of social geography was used in Italy, likewise very soon, but to indicate something quite different from what we can understand today. This contribution therefore intends to propose an attempt at clarification on the level of official definitions and above all, at the same time, to trace and contextualize the first organic proposals, in Italy, of what we today would define social geography.

Foundations of the Theory of Emergency Situations

The basic terms underlying the theory of emergency management are analyzed. The advantages and disadvantages of official definitions are considered, in particular, the data in the law of 21.12.1994 No. 68-FZ (Federal Law), in GOST (State Standard) R 22.0.02-2016, as well as in the number of authoritative foreign sources (Webster's dictionary, encyclopedia Britannica, Cambridge dictionary, Oxford dictionary, documents of the European Commission, etc.). The consequences of the legislative definition of an emergency in No. 68-FZ are investigated. The etymological, epistemological and gnoseological basis of the concepts of emergency, safety and danger, risk and uncertainty are analyzed. There is a great deal of variation in the interpretation of the concepts of safety and danger in sources of different origin and the illegality of mixing or substituting these concepts.

How is avalanche danger described in public avalanche forecasts? Analyzing textual descriptions of avalanche forecasts in Switzerland

Efficient communication in public avalanche forecasts is of great importance to clearly inform and warn the public about expected avalanche conditions. In Europe, avalanche danger is communicated using a pyramid, starting with ordinal categories of avalanche danger, and progressing through avalanche-prone locations and avalanche problems to a danger description. In many forecast products, information relating to the trigger required to release an avalanche, the frequency or number of potential triggering locations, and the expected avalanche size, are described exclusively in the danger description. These danger descriptions are, however, the least standardized part of avalanche forecasts. Taking the perspective of the avalanche forecaster, and focusing particularly on terms describing these three characterizing elements of avalanche danger, we investigate firstly which text symbols are used to describe these elements, and secondly how these descriptions relate to the forecast danger level. We do so through the perspective of the semiotic triangle, relating a referent (the avalanche situation) through thought (the processing process) to symbols (the textual danger description). We analyzed almost 6000 danger descriptions in avalanche forecasts published in Switzerland and written using a structured catalog of phrases with a limited number of words. Text symbols representing information describing these three elements were labeled and assigned to ordinal classes by Swiss avalanche forecasters. These classes were then related to avalanche danger. Forecasters were relatively consistent in assigning labels to words and phrases with Cohen's Kappa values ranging from 0.67 to 0.87. Nonetheless, even experts were not in complete agreement about the labeling of terms and were less likely to agree on terms not used in official definitions. Avalanche danger levels were categorized relatively consistently using words and phrases, with for example avalanche size classes increasingly monotonically with avalanche danger. However, especially for danger level 2-Moderate, information about key elements was often missing in danger descriptions. In general, the analysis of the danger descriptions showed that extreme conditions are more frequently described in detail than intermediate values, highlighting the difficulty of communicating conditions that are neither rare nor frequent, or neither small nor large. Our results provide data-driven insights that could be used to refine the ways in which avalanche danger could and should be communicated, especially to recreationalists, and provide a starting point for future studies of how users interpret avalanche forecasts.

Improvisation

Contrary to many popular and even official definitions, improvisation is possible only by way of musicians being situated within an improvisational tradition and working with pre-existing musical elements. It is never purely spontaneous. This chapter argues that improvisation is grounded in everyday, practical human activity which is itself—more broadly—improvisational in nature. We improvise on the basis of what Aristotle terms phronesis, practical wisdom or the ability to act appropriately in a given situation. As something we do together, improvisation is fundamentally an ethical phenomenon. In this chapter, improvisation is seen as a musical dialogue that requires “taste” both for its aesthetic beauty and its ethical engagement. At its core is respect for the tradition in which it arises, for other people with whom one improvises, and for those who improvise by listening.

Prison Gangs

Prison gangs are often formally referred to as “security threat groups” or “disruptive groups.” Compared to street gangs, they are understudied criminal organizations. As is the case with many organized criminal groups, official definitions of prison gangs tend to be broad, typically defining one as any group of three or more people who engage in disruptive behavior in a carceral setting. Many prison gangs, however, have other, distinct characteristics, such as having formed or matured in adult prisons, being composed primarily of adults, having a clear organizational structure that allows the gang to persist, and having a presence both in and out of prison. Research on prison gangs has been sporadic and focuses primarily, though not exclusively, on the United States. The first studies of inmate life occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, and in prisons that did not have modern incarnations of prison gangs. Until the 1980s, only a few academics described the existence of prison gangs or, their precursor, cliques. The 1980s and early 1990s saw the first studies of prison gangs, notably Camp and Camp’s historical study of prison gangs within the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s and Fong and Buentello’s work that documented the foundation and evolution of prison gangs in the Texas prison system in the 1980s. These studies marked some of the first, and last, significant, systematic studies of prison gangs until the new century. The 21st century brought renewed attention to security threat groups, as scholars from a variety of disciplines, including sociology, criminology, and economics, engaged in the study of prison society and how inmate groups influence it. Some of these scholars introduced new methodologies to the study of prison gangs, thereby significantly increasing the available knowledge on these groups. Research on prison gangs has expanded to consider four broad categories: defining prison gangs and describing their formation and evolution; evaluating prison gangs’ organizational structure and governance in carceral and free settings; assessing the role of prison gangs on reoffending; and gauging how to control prison gangs both in and out of prison.

How Extreme Is the Precautionary Principle?

The precautionary principle has often been described as an extreme principle that neglects science and stifles innovation. However, such an interpretation has no support in the official definitions of the principle that have been adopted by the European Union and by the signatories of international treaties on environmental protection. In these documents, the precautionary principle is a guideline specifying how to deal with certain types of scientific uncertainty. In this contribution, this approach to the precautionary principle is explicated with the help of concepts from the philosophy of science and comparisons with general notions of practical rationality. Three major problems in its application are discussed, and it is concluded that to serve its purpose, the precautionary principle has to (1) be combined with other decision principles in cases with competing top priorities, (2) be based on the current state of science, which requires procedures for scientific updates, and (3) exclude potential dangers whose plausibility is too low to trigger meaningful precautionary action.

Definições oficiais para esportes de aventura e esportes radicais no Brasil

INTRODUÇÃO: De estudos monográficos sobre os detalhes da rotina de adeptos de práticas aventura que ganhavam visibilidade nas décadas de 1970 e 1980, passando pelo debate terminológico para a adoção de uma expressão que as congregasse na década de 1990; mais recentemente observam-se estudos comparativos entre modalidades e com foco em diferentes marcadores sociais da diferença, que problematizam a desigualdade nas condições de acesso e prática, e suas diferentes dimensões políticas. No Brasil, neste ínterim, uma Comissão de Esporte de Aventura do extinto Ministério do Esporte foi criada, embora não tenha logrado articulação para manter as atividades por mais de um ano.OBJETIVO: Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar a constituição e supressão das ações da Comissão de Esportes de Aventura do Ministério do Esporte, em especial a elaboração das definições oficiais para esportes de aventura e esportes radicais. MÉTODOS: Análise documental das fontes acerca da elaboração das primeiras políticas públicas brasileiras para práticas de aventura encontradas especialmente no Diário Oficial da União e websites oficiais de entidades membros da Comissão, tais como Conselho Nacional de Educação Física e Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte e entrevistas em profundidade com agentes do campo.RESULTADOS: Devido a desacordo de algumas instituições de administração esportiva com os órgãos de turismo sobre a regulamentação das práticas de aventura, o Ministério do Esporte criou, em 2006, a Comissão de Esportes de Aventura (CEAV), a pedido de seus representantes de entidades esportivas. A CEAV teve como objetivo geral a elaboração de uma padronização dos conceitos e técnicas utilizados por confederações, federações e associações já existentes no Brasil. A intenção era elaborar as mais completas normas de segurança e sustentabilidade. No entanto, a comissão encerrou atividades apenas na primeira fase do processo e seus objetivos não foram alcançados.CONCLUSÃO: Uma série de motivos desarticulou a CEAV, entre eles a reorganização do organograma do Ministério e saída do cargo dos principais agentes a apoiarem a iniciativa, além da dificuldade interna de consenso entre agentes muito diversos.ABSTRACT. Official definitions for adventure sports and radical sports in Brazil.BACKGROUND: From monographic studies on the details of the routine of each adventure activity that gained visibility in the 1970s and 1980s, through the terminological debate on the adoption of an expression that brought them together in the 1990s, more recently, comparative studies between sports have been observed focusing on different social markers of difference and inequality in access and practice conditions and their different political dimensions. In the meantime, the Adventure Sports Commission of the now defunct Ministry of Sports of Brazil was created, although it has not been able to maintain the activities for over a year.OBJECTIVE: This article aims to analyze the constitution and suppression of the actions of the Adventure Sports Commission of the Brazilian Ministry of Sport.METHODS: Document analysis of sources on the elaboration of Brazilian public policies for adventure practices found in the Official Gazette and official websites of the National Council of Physical Education and the Brazilian College of Sport Sciences and in-depth interviews with field agents. RESULTS: Due to disagreement with the tourism authorities on the regulation of adventure sports, the Ministry of Sport created, in 2006, the Adventure Sports Commission (CEAV), at the request of representatives of sports associations. CEAV aimed to develop a standardization of the concepts and techniques used by confederations, federations and associations already existing in Brazil. The intention was to disseminate these concepts in events that sought to standardize safety and sustainability standards. However, the commission closed its activities unofficially and its objectives were not achieved.CONCLUSION: A number of reasons disrupted CEAVV, among them the reorganization of the Ministry’s organization chart and the departure of the main agents to support the initiative, as well as the internal difficulty of consensus among very diverse agents.

Conclusion

This chapter summarizes arguments concerning the shifting and negotiated nature of military fencelines in Okinawa. It explains that due to the ongoing antibase movement, intimate everyday effects of the U.S. military presence, including military international sex, marriage, and family, attract popular scrutiny and become subject to military and community surveillance and regulation. The adeptness with which military couples circumvent official definitions and control by crossing military fencelines reveals the limits of state institutional power and U.S. military empire. The chapter also traces the historical emergence and transformation of popular imagery and stereotypes of U.S. military men, Okinawan women, and military international sex and marriage from the early years of the U.S. occupation through the postreversion era. It analyzes how racialized and sexualized stereotypes of U.S. military men exist in connection with family opposition to military marriages in the present time.

Who’s Homeless and Whose Homeless?

What does the persistent construction of ‘the homeless’ and the revitalised term ‘our homeless’ include, imply, and exclude in Swedish political debate? And how is it politically and morally related to other houseless groups in the country? These questions are approached through an analysis of minutes from the Swedish Parliament 2015–2019. Inspired by Simmel’s (1908/1965) definition of ‘the poor’ as those who get (or would get) public assistance as poor, I claim that in Swedish political discourse, ‘(our) homeless’ comprise only those to whom the society acknowledges a responsibility to give shelter, thereby excluding the tens of thousands of people without homes that are temporarily accommodated by other authorities, private providers or individuals—or not at all. Although official definitions are housing-related, migrants without homes tend to be defined outside the ‘homeless’ concept, as well as from the municipalities’ responsibilities. I will argue that the reasons for this are institutional: regulations and their interpretation, coupled with traditions to care for only ‘our’ people which, in turn, are fortified by current nationalist sentiments.

Plagiarism Defined?

This multiple case study examines seven institutional documents from universities in four countries (Australia, China, Finland and Germany) with the aim of determining how plagiarism is defined in these institutional contexts. This research expands on previous analyses of university plagiarism policies in the Anglosphere (e.g., Kaktiņš, 2014; Sutherland-Smith, 2011), and particularly the notion that institutional definitions of plagiarism contain “six elements” (Pecorari, 2002). Using the six elements model of plagiarism as a theoretical basis, the documents in this study were analysed using deductive content analysis. The findings of this analysis revealed that the definitions of plagiarism were consistent across the contexts, with all policies containing five of the six elements in their definitions. At two institutions, however, the element of intentionality was not addressed in the definition of plagiarism. Furthermore, the extent of discussion of certain elements of plagiarism (e.g., the need for source acknowledgement), and an emphasis on “good academic practice” across the documents revealed the need for ongoing research that considers how institutions construct official definitions of plagiarism.