Intertwined cultural demands of immigrants and minority nations

Since at least the last two decades of the 20th century, the normative debate on multiculturalism has been one-dimensional. It has deployed arguments related to cultural demands either linked to feminism and sub-cultural identities, immigration or national minorities. Little attention has been given to the relations between these dimensions, and how they effect each other in putting forward demands to the nation-state. The purpose of this article is to analyse the interaction between cultural demands of immigrants and minority nations. The basic objective of this paper is to give an overview of different reflections coming from three basic contributors: J. Carens, W. Kymlicka and R. Bauböck.

Redefinición del espectador cinematográfico en relación al audiovisual contemporáneo. Un nuevo agente en la producción cultural

El cine se enfrenta, hoy, a múltiples retos en su propia configuración, acompañando un frenético desarrollo tecnológico. Se ha convertido en matriz de la multiplicación audiovisual contemporánea. En este contexto es preciso redefinir al espectador como sujeto que encarna hoy nuevas funciones y ocupa espacios variados en el conjunto de la producción cultural.Se apuesta por una redefinición del espectador cinematográfico en relación a la evolución del audiovisual digital -sus implicaciones tecnológicas y narrativas- y la relación de ambos con las instituciones de la producción cultural contemporánea -sus políticas de acceso y estrategias de adaptación-.Esta aproximación se fundamenta en el reconocimiento de la capacidad productiva de este nuevo agente cultural y las correspondencias que esta evolución implica respecto al panorama audiovisual contemporáneo.

Pot modificar un canvi urbanístic l'economia d'un barri? : El cas de Ciutat Vella i el cluster cultural

Tots hem sentit a parlar del canvi del Raval en aquests últims anys. Actualment la majoria del jovent no només hi estudia sinó que hi passa la major part del seu tempsd’oci, en bars, restaurants, museus, galeries d’art, comerços...Nosaltres ens hem preguntat: Per què el Raval ha canviat tant? S’han fet molts treballs, molts estudis, s’han intentat trobar les diverses causes que han produït aquest fenòmen.Més específicament ens hem preguntat: Pot ser que degut a la construcció del cluster cultural format pel MACBA i el CCCB, entre d’altres, s’hagi produït aquest canvi?Així doncs, en aquest treball intentarem contestar ambdues preguntes. Intentarem ser precisos, concisos, breus i clars; esperem que us resulti interessant.

Actituds lingüístiques i identitats en construcció de joves immigrants xinesos i llatinoamericans a l’escola catalana

Aquest projecte ha investigat el procés de construcció de la identitat lingüística i cultural dels joves llatinoamericans i xinesos a partir de l’anàlisi de les seves actituds lingüístiques i percepcions respecte a la identitat cultural i els usos lingüístics propis. Hem escollit joves d’ensenyament secundari procedents de dos contextos diferenciats: (a) llatinoamericans que entren en el sistema educatiu amb ple domini d’una de les llengües oficials, el castellà, i (b) xinesos que inicien estudis als centres sense dominar cap llengua romànica. La recerca s’ha dut a terme amb una perspectiva etnogràfica en dos centres escolars on conviuen joves d’orígens lingüístics i culturals diferents. Gràcies als vincles creats amb docents dels centres, hem pogut posar en pràctica una metodologia d’observació participant en diversos espais escolars. També hem realitzat entrevistes a joves llatinoamericans i xinesos durant les quals hem investigat pràctiques lingüístiques i experiències quotidianes al centre relacionades amb l’aprenentatge de llengües, així com actituds vers les llengües oficials i les llengües de l’entorn familiar i vers la pluralitat d’identitats a Catalunya. Tot i que en un inici teníem la intenció d’entrevistar joves autòctons, finalment ens hem concentrat només en joves immigrants amb l’objectiu de maximitzar els recursos humans i pressupostaris. Mitjançant observacions i entrevistes amb docents, hem esbrinat com interpreten i aborden els reptes de la diversitat. En el cas d’un centre, també hem entrevistat la mediadora social que facilita les relacions entre els progenitors i el centre. Mitjançant entrevistes amb progenitors dels joves, hem investigat usos i actituds lingüístiques d’ells i dels seus fills, així com actituds al nucli familiar vers la pluralitat cultural i identitària a Catalunya. Les entrevistes han estat transcrites, traduïdes i analitzades en relació a les observacions de camp, tot tenint en compte estudis i marcs teòrics previs.

Organisational Values as "Attractors of Chaos": An Emerging Cultural Change to Manage Organisational Complexity

Business organisations are excellent representations of what in physics and mathematics are designated "chaotic" systems. Because a culture of innovation will be vital for organisational survival in the 21st century, the present paper proposes that viewing organisations in terms of "complexity theory" may assist leaders in fine-tuning managerial philosophies that provide orderly management emphasizing stability within a culture of organised chaos, for it is on the "boundary of chaos" that the greatest creativity occurs. It is argued that 21st century companies, as chaotic social systems, will no longer be effectively managed by rigid objectives (MBO) nor by instructions (MBI). Their capacity for self-organisation will be derived essentially from how their members accept a shared set of values or principles for action (MBV). Complexity theory deals with systems that show complex structures in time or space, often hiding simple deterministic rules. This theory holds that once these rules are found, it is possible to make effective predictions and even to control the apparent complexity. The state of chaos that self-organises, thanks to the appearance of the "strange attractor", is the ideal basis for creativity and innovation in the company. In this self-organised state of chaos, members are not confined to narrow roles, and gradually develop their capacity for differentiation and relationships, growing continuously toward their maximum potential contribution to the efficiency of the organisation. In this way, values act as organisers or "attractors" of disorder, which in the theory of chaos are equations represented by unusually regular geometric configurations that predict the long-term behaviour of complex systems. In business organisations (as in all kinds of social systems) the starting principles end up as the final principles in the long term. An attractor is a model representation of the behavioral results of a system. The attractor is not a force of attraction or a goal-oriented presence in the system; it simply depicts where the system is headed based on its rules of motion. Thus, in a culture that cultivates or shares values of autonomy, responsibility, independence, innovation, creativity, and proaction, the risk of short-term chaos is mitigated by an overall long-term sense of direction. A more suitable approach to manage the internal and external complexities that organisations are currently confronting is to alter their dominant culture under the principles of MBV.

Art i part :la figura del/la professional de l'educació social en processos de desenvolupament cultural comunitari

Anàlisi de la figura de l'educador/a social en processos de desenvolupament comunitari a partir d'experiències diverses a Catalunya

Banks and development: Jewish communities in the Italian Renaissance and current economic performance

Are differences in local banking development long-lasting? Do they affect long-term economic performance?I answer these questions by relying on an historical development that occurred in Italian cities during the 15thcentury. A sudden change in the Catholic doctrine had driven the Jews toward money lending. Cities thatwere hosting Jewish communities developed complex banking institutions for two reasons: first, the Jews werethe only people in Italy who were allowed to lend for a profit and, second, the Franciscan reaction to Jewishusury led to the creation of charity lending institutions, the Monti di Pietà, that have survived until today andhave become the basis of the Italian banking system. Using Jewish demography in 1500 as an instrument, Iprovide evidence of (1) an extraordinary persistence in the level of banking development across Italian cities (2)large effects of current local banking development on per-capita income. Additional firm-level analyses suggestthat well-functioning local banks exert large effects on aggregate productivity by reallocating resources towardmore efficient firms. I exploit the expulsion of the Jews from the Spanish territories in Italy in 1541 to arguethat my results are not driven by omitted institutional, cultural and geographical characteristics. In particular,I show that, in Central Italy, the difference in current income between cities that hosted Jewish communitiesand cities that did not exists only in those regions that were not Spanish territories in the 16th century.

On the cultural transmission of corruption

We provide a cultural explanation to the phenomenon of corruption in the framework of an overlapping generations model with intergenerational transmissionof values. We show that the economy has two steady states with different levels of corruption. The driving force in the equilibrium selection process is the education effort exerted by parents which depends on the distribution of ethics in the population and on expectations about future policies. We propose some policy interventions which via parents' efforts have long-lasting effects on corruption and show the success of intensive education campaigns. Educating the young is a key element in reducing corruption successfully.

Is the person trade-off a valid method for allocating health care resources? Some caveats

The Person Trade-Off (PTO) is a methodology aimed at measuring thesocial value of health states. The rest of methodologies would measure individualutility and would be less appropriate for taking resource allocation decisions.However few studies have been conducted to test the validity of the method.We present a pilot study with this objective. The study is based on theresult of interviews to 30 undergraduate students in Economics. We judgethe validity of PTO answers by their adequacy to three hypothesis of rationality.First, we show that, given certain rationality assumptions, PTO answersshould be predicted from answers to Standard Gamble questions. This firsthypothesis is not verified. The second hypothesis is that PTO answersshould not vary with different frames of equivalent PTO questions. Thissecond hypothesis is also not verified. Our third hypothesis is that PTOvalues should predict social preferences for allocating resources betweenpatients. This hypothesis is verified. The evidence on the validity of themethod is then conflicting.