Actions of resiliencia opposite to the housing policies in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina: the social organizations, the institutions, and the massive evictions

The current housing problems in the city of Buenos Aires revolves around two phenomena, the precariousness and the evictions, in a context that is conceived like housing emergency. In response to this situation, some institutional organisms and certain social organizations with territorial roots in the south of the city, began to take forward actions of resilience opposing to the massive evictions, which take place as consequence of the real-estate pressure, and were concerning to the hotels, pensions, tenancies, and usurped houses of this zone of the city. It will be analyzed the actions of resilience displayed by them in their individual and collective dimensions and their relation to housing policies.

Spatial Inequalities and Social Utility: Mobility Efforts and Accessibility in Greater Santiago

Emergent phenomena such as urban sprawl, travel intensification and loss of cohesion in contemporary metropolises, impose stronger constraints on its inhabitants. Among them, travel and location capabilities become a fundamental factor of social integration and a multiplier of income inequalities. The simultaneous analysis of housing-travel efforts and accessibility to urban opportunities in Greater Santiago shows that these dimensions are closely related and exert an important influence on spatial mobility and inequalities among its inhabitants. Furthermore, a theoretical model of displacements, considering income and location, confirms the importance of proximity and non-motorized transport in order to optimize daily mobility strategies of households. Overall, the empirical and theoretical results presented show the need to implement coordinated planning strategies between the housing and transport sectors, addressing not only travel acceleration, but mainly the consistency between accommodation and opportu  ties location. The creation of such planning tools could be a more sustainable alternative than current growth trends in Greater Santiago.

Hacia una visión dinámica de la ‘legalización’ de la política internacional: revisión crítica de la bibliografía

El concepto de legalización fue desarrollado recientemente por el neoliberalismo institucional como una forma especial de institucionalización de las relaciones internacionales. Los autores neoliberales caracterizan la legalización a partir de las categorías utilizadas por H. L. A. Hart para distinguir el derecho de otros mecanismos de control social, como el poder y la moral. En Hart, estas categorías responden a una finalidad normativa: reconstruir teóricamente el derecho como un sistema independiente de la voluntad y de las convicciones de quienes lo interpretan y aplican. Sin embargo, esta separación entre lenguaje y práctica jurídica desconoce importantes contribuciones de la tradición analítica en filosofía del lenguaje, en cuanto a la relación entre lenguaje y realidad. En particular, termina reduciendo el derecho a simples formas y textos vacíos, y con ello desconoce que a través de las prácticas jurídicas se va dando significado a los textos normativos.Adoptar esta visión del derecho al estudio de las relaciones internacionales tiene, al menos, una consecuencia metodológica: el simple análisis formal del texto de los tratados no permite comprender el efecto del derecho internacional en el comportamiento de los Estados. Para entender las relaciones entre el derecho internacional y el comportamiento estatal es necesario describir la manera como se construye el significado de los textos a través de la práctica jurídica de los Estados. En tal sentido, resultaría útil redefinir la agenda de investigación neoliberal en relación con la legalización y enfocarse en la forma como los Estados y los tribunales internacionales construyen el significado de los tratados y demás normas internacionales.-----The concept of legalization was recently developed by neoliberal institutionalism as a special kind of institutionalization of international politics. Neoliberals built the concept of legalization using the analytical tools developed by H. L. A. Hart to distinguish law from other mechanisms of social control, like power and morals. Within Hart’s theory, such tools have a normative function: theoretically rebuilding law as a system of rules that is independent from the will and the beliefs of those who interpret and apply legal rules. However, Hart’s resulting separation of legal texts from legal practice obscures important contributions that the analytical tradition in philosophy of language has made to the understanding of the relation between language and reality. Specifically, such a separation reduces law to simple forms and texts disregarding the extent to which legal practice gives meaning to legal texts.Adapting Hart’s conception of law to International Relations has at least one important methodological consequence: the formal analysis of treaties cannot explain the influence of international law over state behavior. To understand the influence of international law on state behavior, one must previously describe the relation between legal practice and the meaning of legal texts. Thus, a redefinition of neoliberal research agenda on legalization should focus on the way States and international courts construct the meaning of treaties and other international norms.

Occupational therapy and its relevance in social projects. relationships, learning and opportunities: collection of experiences of University of Alberta Mscot students in Bogotá, Colombia

Occupational therapists are equipped to promote wellbeing through occupation and to enable participation and meaningful engagement of people in their social and physical environments (WFOT, 2012). As such, the role of the occupational therapists is profoundly linked to the social, cultural and environmental characteristics of the contexts in which occupations take place. The central role that context plays in occupational performance creates an interesting dichotomy for the occupational therapist: on one hand, a profound understanding of cultural and social factors is required from the Occupational Therapy (OT) in order to develop a meaningful and successful collaboration with the person; on the other hand, the ability of the occupational therapists to recognize and explore the contextual factor of an occupation-person dyad transcends cultural and spatial barriers. As a result, occupational therapists are equipped to engage in international collaboration and practice, and as such face unique and enriching challenges. International fieldwork experiences have become a tool through which occupational therapists in training can develop the critical skills for understanding the impact of cultural and social factors on occupation. An OT student in an international fieldwork experience faces numerous challenges in leading a process that is both relevant and respectful to the characteristics of the local context: language, cultural perceptions of occupation and personhood, religious backgrounds, health care access, etc. These challenges stand out as ethical considerations that must be considered when navigating an international fieldwork experience (AOTA, 2009). For more than five years now, the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (FRM) of the University of Alberta (UoFA) and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario (UR), Bogota, Colombia, have sustained a productive and meaningful international collaboration. This collaboration includes a visit by Dr. Albert Cook, professor of the FRM and former dean, to the UR as the main guest speaker in the International Congress of Technologies for Disability Support (IBERDISCAP) in 2008. Furthermore, Dr. Cook was a speaker in the research seminar of the Assistive Technology Research Group of the Universidad del Rosario. Following Dr. Cook’s visit, Professors Liliana Álvarez and Adriana Ríos travelled to Edmonton and initiated collaboration with the FRM, resulting in the signing of an agreement between the FRM and the UR in 2009, agreement that has been maintained to this day. The main goal of this agreement is to increase academic and cultural cooperation between the UR and the UofA. Other activities have included the cooperation between Dr. Kim Adams (who has largely maintained interest and effort in supporting the capacity building of the UR rehabilitation programs in coordinating the provision of research placement opportunities for UR students at the UofA), an Assistive Technology course for clinicians and students led by Dr. Adams, and a research project that researched the use of basic cell phones to provide social interaction and health information access for people with disabilities in a low-income community in Colombia (led by Tim Barlott, OT, MSc, under the supervision of Dr. Adams). Since the beginning, the occupational therapy programs of the Universidad del Rosario and the University of Alberta have promoted this collaboration and have strived to engage in interactions that provide further development opportunities for students and staff. As part of this process, the international placement experience of UofA OT students was born under the leadership of: Claudia Rozo, OT program director at UR, placement and academic leadership of Elvis Castro and Angélica Monsalve, professors of the occupational therapy program at UR; and Dr. Lili Liu, OT department director at UofA, Cori Schmitz, Academic coordinator of clinical education at the UofA; and Tim Barlott and Liliana Álvarez leading the international and cross-cultural aspect of this collaboration.This publication summarizes and illustrates the process of international placement in community settings in Colombia, undertaken by occupational therapy students of the University of Alberta. It is our hope that this document can provide and document the ethical considerations of international fieldwork experience, the special characteristics of communities and the ways in which cultural and social competences are developed and help international students navigate the international setting. We also hope that this document will stimulate discussion among professional and academic communities about the importance and richness of international placement experiences and encourage staff and students to articulate their daily efforts with the global occupational therapy agenda.