International civil society actors in Genetically Modificied Organisms as a field of struggle: a neo-gramscian study in Brazil and the United Kingdom

Since the international financial and food crisis that started in 2008, strong emphasis has been made on the importance of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) (or “transgenics”) under the claim that they could contribute to increase food productivity at a global level, as the world population is predicted to reach 9.1 billion in the year 2050 and food demand is predicted to increase by as much as 50% by 2030. GMOs are now at the forefront of the debates and struggles of different actors. Within civil society actors, it is possible to observe multiple, and sometime, conflicting roles. The role of international social movements and international NGOs in the GMO field of struggle is increasingly relevant. However, while many of these international civil society actors oppose this type of technological developments (alleging, for instance, environmental, health and even social harms), others have been reportedly cooperating with multinational corporations, retailers, and the biotechnology industry to promote GMOs. In this thesis research, I focus on analysing the role of “international civil society” in the GMO field of struggle by asking: “what are the organizing strategies of international civil society actors, such as NGOs and social movements, in GMO governance as a field of struggle?” To do so, I adopt a neo-Gramscian discourse approach based on the studies of Laclau and Mouffe. This theoretical approach affirms that in a particular hegemonic regime there are contingent alliances and forces that overpass the spheres of the state and the economy, while civil society actors can be seen as a “glue” to the way hegemony functions. Civil society is then the site where hegemony is consented, reproduced, sustained, channelled, but also where counter-hegemonic and emancipatory forces can emerge. Considering the importance of civil society actors in the construction of hegemony, I also discuss some important theories around them. The research combines, on the one hand, 36 in-depth interviews with a range of key civil society actors and scientists representing the GMO field of struggle in Brazil (19) and the UK (17), and, on the other hand, direct observations of two events: Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, and the first March Against Monsanto in London in 2013. A brief overview of the GMO field of struggle, from its beginning and especially focusing in the 1990s when the process of hegemonic formation became clearer, serves as the basis to map who are the main actors in this field, how resource mobilization works, how political opportunities (“historical contingencies”) are discovered and exploited, which are the main discourses (“science” and “sustainability” - articulated by “biodiversity preservation”, “food security” and “ecological agriculture”) articulated among the actors to construct a collective identity in order to attract new potential allies around “GMOs” (“nodal point”), and which are the institutions and international regulations within these processes that enable hegemony to emerge in meaningful and durable hegemonic links. This mapping indicates that that the main strategies applied by the international civil society actors are influenced by two central historical contingencies in the GMO field of struggle: 1) First Multi-stakeholder Historical Contingency; and 2) “Supposed” Hegemony Stability. These two types of historical contingency in the GMO field of struggle encompass deeper hegemonic articulations and, because of that, they induce international civil society actors to rethink the way they articulate and position themselves within the field. Therefore, depending on one of those moments, they will apply one specific strategy of discourse articulation, such as: introducing a new discourse in hegemony articulation to capture the attention of the public and of institutions; endorsing new plural demands; increasing collective visibility; facilitating material articulations; sharing a common enemy identity; or spreading new ideological elements among the actors in the field of struggle.

A Avenida Paulista como pólo de expressões públicas e coletivas na cidade de São Paulo

O presente relatório discute uma das significativas dimensões da avenida Paulista na cidade de São Paulo: sua crescente ocupação para manifestações políticas, articuladas principalmente por categorias profissionais como bancários, funcionários públicos, professores e metalúrgicos, além de outras mais abrangentes como os protestos pelo impeachment, liderados por setores estudantis. O principal objetivo é analisar a visibilidade privilegiada adquirida por essas manifestações, e por conseguinte a importância desse espaço em sua dimensão pública na metrópole.

Federalismo fiscal: uma análise das relações intergovernamentais quanto ao atendimento das demandas sociais - o caso brasileiro

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as relações entre as esferas de governo no Brasil, quanto ao provimento das demandas sociais. O foco do estudo reside nas relações que resultam em externalidades negativas, significando perdas para o bem-estar coletivo, que vai de encontro às pretensões da nova Carta Constitucional, promulgada em 1988. O exame das relações intergovernamentais é realizado sob a perspectiva de internalização das instituições ao modelo de análise, promovendo uma maior compreensão quanto aos comportamentos adotados pelas unidades federativas e, por conseguinte, seus resultados nos cenários político, econômico e social, em função do jogo federativo que se faz presente.

Vida e morte no direito brasileiro : uma reflexão sobre a relação entre dogmática jurídica e estrutura dos tribunais a partir da decisão da ADPF n. 54

This paper analyzes the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) Decision (ADPF n. 54) in which the court, by majority of votes, stated that the termination of the pregnancy of an anencephalic fetus does not constitute a crime of abortion. The paper analyzes the arguments used by the judges in their opinions to show that they agree on the conclusion, but strongly disagree on their reasons, with the result that the court remains deeply divided on the legal concept of life. The paper then points to the fact that the possibility of different majority positions regarding the decision and the arguments that justify it is not accidental, but the result of the court’s structure, which does not guarantee the collective rationality of the court’s decisions.

A efetividade das decisões da corte interamericana de direitos humanos em relação ao direito à propriedade coletiva de comunidades indígenas e tribais

O presente trabalho analisará o cumprimento das decisões da Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos sobre o direito à propriedade coletiva de comunidades indígenas e tribais. Para isto será caracterizado em primeiro lugar o direito à propriedade coletiva no Sistema Intermaericano de Direitos Humanos. Em seguida serão analisadas as sentenças, abordado os fatos de cada caso e as medidas determinadas pela Corte. Os relatórios de monitoramento do cumprimento das decisões serão analisados, determinando quais medidas estabelecidas pela Corte foram cumpridas para que seja discutida a eficácia das decisões da Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos sobre este direito.