L'a(rche)tipico Brian O'Nolan. Comico e riso dalla tradizione al post-

This study aims at analysing Brian O'Nolans literary production in the light of a reconsideration of the role played by his two most famous pseudonyms ,Flann Brien and Myles na Gopaleen, behind which he was active both as a novelist and as a journalist. We tried to establish a new kind of relationship between them and their empirical author following recent cultural and scientific surveys in the field of Humour Studies, Psychology, and Sociology: taking as a starting point the appreciation of the comic attitude in nature and in cultural history, we progressed through a short history of laughter and derision, followed by an overview on humour theories. After having established such a frame, we considered an integration of scientific studies in the field of laughter and humour as a base for our study scheme, in order to come to a definition of the comic author as a recognised, powerful and authoritative social figure who acts as a critic of conventions. The history of laughter and comic we briefly summarized, based on the one related by the French scholar Georges Minois in his work (Minois 2004), has been taken into account in the view that humorous attitude is one of man’s characteristic traits always present and witnessed throughout the ages, though subject in most cases to repression by cultural and political conservative power. This sort of Super-Ego notwithstanding, or perhaps because of that, comic impulse proved irreducible exactly in its influence on the current cultural debates. Basing mainly on Robert R. Provine’s (Provine 2001), Fabio Ceccarelli’s (Ceccarelli 1988), Arthur Koestler’s (Koestler 1975) and Peter L. Berger’s (Berger 1995) scientific essays on the actual occurrence of laughter and smile in complex social situations, we underlined the many evidences for how the use of comic, humour and wit (in a Freudian sense) could be best comprehended if seen as a common mind process designed for the improvement of knowledge, in which we traced a strict relation with the play-element the Dutch historian Huizinga highlighted in his famous essay, Homo Ludens (Huizinga 1955). We considered comic and humour/wit as different sides of the same coin, and showed how the demonstrations scientists provided on this particular subject are not conclusive, given that the mental processes could not still be irrefutably shown to be separated as regards graduations in comic expression and reception: in fact, different outputs in expressions might lead back to one and the same production process, following the general ‘Economy Rule’ of evolution; man is the only animal who lies, meaning with this that one feeling is not necessarily biuniquely associated with one and the same outward display, so human expressions are not validation proofs for feelings. Considering societies, we found that in nature they are all organized in more or less the same way, that is, in élites who govern over a community who, in turn, recognizes them as legitimate delegates for that task; we inferred from this the epistemological possibility for the existence of an added ruling figure alongside those political and religious: this figure being the comic, who is the person in charge of expressing true feelings towards given subjects of contention. Any community owns one, and his very peculiar status is validated by the fact that his place is within the community, living in it and speaking to it, but at the same time is outside it in the sense that his action focuses mainly on shedding light on ideas and objects placed out-side the boundaries of social convention: taboos, fears, sacred objects and finally culture are the favourite targets of the comic person’s arrow. This is the reason for the word a(rche)typical as applied to the comic figure in society: atypical in a sense, because unconventional and disrespectful of traditions, critical and never at ease with unblinkered respect of canons; archetypical, because the “village fool”, buffoon, jester or anyone in any kind of society who plays such roles, is an archetype in the Jungian sense, i.e. a personification of an irreducible side of human nature that everybody instinctively knows: a beginner of a tradition, the perfect type, what is most conventional of all and therefore the exact opposite of an atypical. There is an intrinsic necessity, we think, of such figures in societies, just like politicians and priests, who should play an elitist role in order to guide and rule not for their own benefit but for the good of the community. We are not naïve and do know that actual owners of power always tend to keep it indefinitely: the ‘social comic’ as a role of power has nonetheless the distinctive feature of being the only job whose tension is not towards stability. It has got in itself the rewarding permission of contradiction, for the very reason we exposed before that the comic must cast an eye both inside and outside society and his vision may be perforce not consistent, then it is satisfactory for the popularity that gives amongst readers and audience. Finally, the difference between governors, priests and comic figures is the seriousness of the first two (fundamentally monologic) and the merry contradiction of the third (essentially dialogic). MPs, mayors, bishops and pastors should always console, comfort and soothe popular mood in respect of the public convention; the comic has the opposite task of provoking, urging and irritating, accomplishing at the same time a sort of control of the soothing powers of society, keepers of the righteousness. In this view, the comic person assumes a paramount importance in the counterbalancing of power administration, whether in form of acting in public places or in written pieces which could circulate for private reading. At this point comes into question our Irish writer Brian O'Nolan(1911-1966), real name that stood behind the more famous masks of Flann O'Brien, novelist, author of At Swim-Two-Birds (1939), The Hard Life (1961), The Dalkey Archive (1964) and, posthumously, The Third Policeman (1967); and of Myles na Gopaleen, journalist, keeper for more than 25 years of the Cruiskeen Lawn column on The Irish Times (1940-1966), and author of the famous book-parody in Irish An Béal Bocht (1941), later translated in English as The Poor Mouth (1973). Brian O'Nolan, professional senior civil servant of the Republic, has never seen recognized his authorship in literary studies, since all of them concentrated on his alter egos Flann, Myles and some others he used for minor contributions. So far as we are concerned, we think this is the first study which places the real name in the title, this way acknowledging him an unity of intents that no-one before did. And this choice in titling is not a mere mark of distinction for the sake of it, but also a wilful sign of how his opus should now be reconsidered. In effect, the aim of this study is exactly that of demonstrating how the empirical author Brian O'Nolan was the real Deus in machina, the master of puppets who skilfully directed all of his identities in planned directions, so as to completely fulfil the role of the comic figure we explained before. Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen were personae and not persons, but the impression one gets from the critical studies on them is the exact opposite. Literary consideration, that came only after O'Nolans death, began with Anne Clissmann’s work, Flann O'Brien: A Critical Introduction to His Writings (Clissmann 1975), while the most recent book is Keith Donohue’s The Irish Anatomist: A Study of Flann O'Brien (Donohue 2002); passing through M.Keith Booker’s Flann O'Brien, Bakhtin and Menippean Satire (Booker 1995), Keith Hopper’s Flann O'Brien: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Post-Modernist (Hopper 1995) and Monique Gallagher’s Flann O'Brien, Myles et les autres (Gallagher 1998). There have also been a couple of biographies, which incidentally somehow try to explain critical points his literary production, while many critical studies do the same on the opposite side, trying to found critical points of view on the author’s restless life and habits. At this stage, we attempted to merge into O'Nolan's corpus the journalistic articles he wrote, more than 4,200, for roughly two million words in the 26-year-old running of the column. To justify this, we appealed to several considerations about the figure O'Nolan used as writer: Myles na Gopaleen (later simplified in na Gopaleen), who was the equivalent of the street artist or storyteller, speaking to his imaginary public and trying to involve it in his stories, quarrels and debates of all kinds. First of all, he relied much on language for the reactions he would obtain, playing on, and with, words so as to ironically unmask untrue relationships between words and things. Secondly, he pushed to the limit the convention of addressing to spectators and listeners usually employed in live performing, stretching its role in the written discourse to come to a greater effect of involvement of readers. Lastly, he profited much from what we labelled his “specific weight”, i.e. the potential influence in society given by his recognised authority in determined matters, a position from which he could launch deeper attacks on conventional beliefs, so complying with the duty of a comic we hypothesised before: that of criticising society even in threat of losing the benefits the post guarantees. That seemingly masochistic tendency has its rationale. Every representative has many privileges on the assumption that he, or she, has great responsibilities in administrating. The higher those responsibilities are, the higher is the reward but also the severer is the punishment for the misfits done while in charge. But we all know that not everybody accepts the rules and many try to use their power for their personal benefit and do not want to undergo law’s penalties. The comic, showing in this case more civic sense than others, helped very much in this by the non-accessibility to the use of public force, finds in the role of the scapegoat the right accomplishment of his task, accepting the punishment when his breaking of the conventions is too stark to be forgiven. As Ceccarelli demonstrated, the role of the object of laughter (comic, ridicule) has its very own positive side: there is freedom of expression for the person, and at the same time integration in the society, even though at low levels. Then the banishment of a ‘social’ comic can never get to total extirpation from society, revealing how the scope of the comic lies on an entirely fictional layer, bearing no relation with facts, nor real consequences in terms of physical health. Myles na Gopaleen, mastering these three characteristics we postulated in the highest way, can be considered an author worth noting; and the oeuvre he wrote, the whole collection of Cruiskeen Lawn articles, is rightfully a novel because respects the canons of it especially regarding the authorial figure and his relationship with the readers. In addition, his work can be studied even if we cannot conduct our research on the whole of it, this proceeding being justified exactly because of the resemblances to the real figure of the storyteller: its ‘chapters’ —the daily articles— had a format that even the distracted reader could follow, even one who did not read each and every article before. So we can critically consider also a good part of them, as collected in the seven volumes published so far, with the addition of some others outside the collections, because completeness in this case is not at all a guarantee of a better precision in the assessment; on the contrary: examination of the totality of articles might let us consider him as a person and not a persona. Once cleared these points, we proceeded further in considering tout court the works of Brian O'Nolan as the works of a unique author, rather than complicating the references with many names which are none other than well-wrought sides of the same personality. By putting O'Nolan as the correct object of our research, empirical author of the works of the personae Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen, there comes out a clearer literary landscape: the comic author Brian O'Nolan, self-conscious of his paramount role in society as both a guide and a scourge, in a word as an a(rche)typical, intentionally chose to differentiate his personalities so as to create different perspectives in different fields of knowledge by using, in addition, different means of communication: novels and journalism. We finally compared the newly assessed author Brian O'Nolan with other great Irish comic writers in English, such as James Joyce (the one everybody named as the master in the field), Samuel Beckett, and Jonathan Swift. This comparison showed once more how O'Nolan is in no way inferior to these authors who, greatly celebrated by critics, have nonetheless failed to achieve that great public recognition O’Nolan received alias Myles, awarded by the daily audience he reached and influenced with his Cruiskeen Lawn column. For this reason, we believe him to be representative of the comic figure’s function as a social regulator and as a builder of solidarity, such as that Raymond Williams spoke of in his work (Williams 1982), with in mind the aim of building a ‘culture in common’. There is no way for a ‘culture in common’ to be acquired if we do not accept the fact that even the most functional society rests on conventions, and in a world more and more ‘connected’ we need someone to help everybody negotiate with different cultures and persons. The comic gives us a worldly perspective which is at the same time comfortable and distressing but in the end not harmful as the one furnished by politicians could be: he lets us peep into parallel worlds without moving too far from our armchair and, as a consequence, is the one who does his best for the improvement of our understanding of things.

Influenza dell'Omeostasi Idrico-Elettrolitica sul Ciclo Veglia-Sonno

During the wake sleep (W-S) cycle in mammals, the alternation of the different states, wake, NREM sleep (NREMS) and REM sleep (REMS), is associated not only with electroencephalographic or behavioural changes, but also with modifications in the physiological regulations of the organism. The most evident change is the existence of a suspension of the somatic and autonomic thermoregulatory responses during REMS. Since thermoregulation is prevalently controlled by the Preoptic Area-Anterior Hypothalamus (PO-AH), its suspension during REM sleep has been taken as a sign of an impairment of the hypothalamic integrative activity that could explain the modifications in physiological regulation observed in this sleep stage. The recent finding from our laboratory that the secretion of the antidiuretic hormone arginine-vasopressin (AVP) in response to a central osmotic stimulation is quantitatively the same throughout the different stages of the W-S cycle, has shown that hypothalamic osmoregulation is not suspended during REMS. In order to clarify the extent of the hypothalamic involvement in the regulation of the W-S cycle, we have studied the effects of three days of water deprivation and of two days of recovery during which animals were allowed a free access to water, on the architecture of the W-S cycle. The condition of water deprivation represents a severe challenge involving neuroendocrine and autonomic hypothalamic regulations. In contradiction with thermoregulatory studies, in which it has been clearly demonstrated that a thermal challenge selectively reduces REMS occurrence, the results of this study show that REMS occurrence is mildly reduced only in the third day of water deprivation. The most striking effects produced by water deprivation appear to concern NREMS, which shows a selective and significant reduction in its slow EEG activity (delta-power) but not in its duration. The recovery period is mainly characterized by a disruption of the normal circadian rhythm of REMS occurrence and by a rebound of the delta power in NREMS. Thus, an autonomic challenge different from those related to thermoregulation and an endocrine challenge as the continuous secretion of AVP show to exert different effects on the stages of the wake-sleep cycle. Also, this study demonstrates that the impairment of the hypothalamic integrative activity thought to characterize the occurrence of REMS only involves thermoregulatory structures.

The abuse of intellectual property rights and regulations in China: a law and economic analysis

From the institutional point of view, the legal system of IPR (intellectual property right, hereafter, IPR) is one of incentive institutions of innovation and it plays very important role in the development of economy. According to the law, the owner of the IPR enjoy a kind of exclusive right to use his IP(intellectual property, hereafter, IP), in other words, he enjoys a kind of legal monopoly position in the market. How to well protect the IPR and at the same time to regulate the abuse of IPR is very interested topic in this knowledge-orientated market and it is the basic research question in this dissertation. In this paper, by way of comparing study and by way of law and economic analyses, and based on the Austrian Economics School’s theories, the writer claims that there is no any contradiction between the IPR and competition law. However, in this new economy (high-technology industries), there is really probability of the owner of IPR to abuse his dominant position. And with the characteristics of the new economy, such as, the high rates of innovation, “instant scalability”, network externality and lock-in effects, the IPR “will vest the dominant undertakings with the power not just to monopolize the market but to shift such power from one market to another, to create strong barriers to enter and, in so doing, granting the perpetuation of such dominance for quite a long time.”1 Therefore, in order to keep the order of market, to vitalize the competition and innovation, and to benefit the customer, in EU and US, it is common ways to apply the competition law to regulate the IPR abuse. In Austrian Economic School perspective, especially the Schumpeterian theories, the innovation/competition/monopoly and entrepreneurship are inter-correlated, therefore, we should apply the dynamic antitrust model based on the AES theories to analysis the relationship between the IPR and competition law. China is still a developing country with relative not so high ability of innovation. Therefore, at present, to protect the IPR and to make good use of the incentive mechanism of IPR legal system is the first important task for Chinese government to do. However, according to the investigation reports,2 based on their IPR advantage and capital advantage, some multinational companies really obtained the dominant or monopoly market position in some aspects of some industries, and there are some IPR abuses conducted by such multinational companies. And then, the Chinese government should be paying close attention to regulate any IPR abuse. However, how to effectively regulate the IPR abuse by way of competition law in Chinese situation, from the law and economic theories’ perspective, from the legislation perspective, and from the judicial practice perspective, there is a long way for China to go!

Modernismi Litici 1922-1942. La pietra nell'Architettura Moderna

Leggere il progetto del Moderno e le sue culture costruttive in relazione alla storia e allo sviluppo della tecnologia, consente di esplorare alcuni aspetti dell’Architettura Moderna in Europa. Oltre alla più famosa, e maggiormente studiata, triade dei materiali ‘moderni’ – l’acciaio, il calcestruzzo e il vetro – la pietra ha svolto un importante ruolo nella definizione sia dello stile che della costruzione moderna. La costruzione in pietra è stata sempre associata alla tradizione e quindi deliberatamente dimenticata dal Movimento Moderno, durante la fase cruciale della modernizzazione della società e quindi dell’architettura e della costruzione. La pietra tuttavia testimonia la delicata transizione dalla tradizionale arte del costruire alle nuove tecnologie. La ricerca ha studiato l’evoluzione delle tecniche costruttive in pietra in Francia ed in Italia, durante gli anni ’20 e ’30, in relazione alle nuove tecniche industrializzate e i linguaggi delle avanguardie. La ricerca è partita dallo studio dei manuali, delle riviste e dei progetti presentati sulle loro pagine. In Italia e in Francia il rivestimento in pietra si afferma come un sistema costruttivo ‘razionale’, dove la costruzione moderna converge lentamente verso nuove soluzioni; questo sistema ha avuto negli anni ’20 e ’30 un ruolo centrale, nel quale è stato possibile un dialogo, senza contraddizioni, tra i materiali ‘moderni’ e la pietra. L’evoluzione dalle tradizionali tecniche costruttive verso i nuovi sistemi tecnologici, ha determinato una nuova costruzione in pietra che è alla base di una modernità che non rifiuta questo materiale tradizionale, ma lo trasforma secondo i nuoci principi estetici.

Institutional Processes and Discursive Strategies: Rhetoric and Vocabulary Analysis of CSR and Sustainability

The candidate tackled an important issue in contemporary management: the role of CSR and Sustainability. The research proposal focused on a longitudinal and inductive research, directed to specify the evolution of CSR and contribute to the new institutional theory, in particular institutional work framework, and to the relation between institutions and discourse analysis. The documental analysis covers all the evolution of CSR, focusing also on a number of important networks and associations. Some of the methodologies employed in the thesis have been employed as a consequence of data analysis, in a truly inductive research process. The thesis is composed by two section. The first section mainly describes the research process and the analyses results. The candidates employed several research methods: a longitudinal content analysis of documents, a vocabulary research with statistical metrics as cluster analysis and factor analysis, a rhetorical analysis of justifications. The second section puts in relation the analysis results with theoretical frameworks and contributions. The candidate confronted with several frameworks: Actor-Network-Theory, Institutional work and Boundary Work, Institutional Logic. Chapters are focused on different issues: a historical reconstruction of CSR; a reflection about symbolic adoption of recurrent labels; two case studies of Italian networks, in order to confront institutional and boundary works; a theoretical model of institutional change based on contradiction and institutional complexity; the application of the model to CSR and Sustainability, proposing Sustainability as a possible institutional logic.

Implicazioni teoriche e sperimentali della sincronizzazione assoluta nella teoria della relatività speciale

Sono indagate le implicazioni teoriche e sperimentali derivanti dall'assunzione, nella teoria della relatività speciale, di un criterio di sincronizzazione (detta assoluta) diverso da quello standard. La scelta della sincronizzazione assoluta è giustificata da alcune considerazioni di carattere epistemologico sullo status di fenomeni quali la contrazione delle lunghezze e la dilatazione del tempo. Oltre che a fornire una diversa interpretazione, la sincronizzazione assoluta rappresenta una estensione del campo di applicazione della relatività speciale in quanto può essere attuata anche in sistemi di riferimento accelerati. Questa estensione consente di trattare in maniera unitaria i fenomeni sia in sistemi di riferimento inerziali che accelerati. L'introduzione della sincronizzazione assoluta implica una modifica delle trasformazioni di Lorentz. Una caratteristica di queste nuove trasformazioni (dette inerziali) è che la trasformazione del tempo è indipendente dalle coordinate spaziali. Le trasformazioni inerziali sono ottenute nel caso generale tra due sistemi di riferimento aventi velocità (assolute) u1 e u2 comunque orientate. Viene mostrato che le trasformazioni inerziali possono formare un gruppo pur di prendere in considerazione anche riferimenti non fisicamente realizzabili perché superluminali. È analizzato il moto rigido secondo Born di un corpo esteso considerando la sincronizzazione assoluta. Sulla base delle trasformazioni inerziali si derivano le trasformazioni per i campi elettromagnetici e le equazioni di questi campi (che sostituiscono le equazioni di Maxwell). Si mostra che queste equazioni contengono soluzioni in assenza di cariche che si propagano nello spazio come onde generalmente anisotrope in accordo con quanto previsto dalle trasformazioni inerziali. L'applicazione di questa teoria elettromagnetica a sistemi accelerati mostra l'esistenza di fenomeni mai osservati che, pur non essendo in contraddizione con la relatività standard, ne forzano l'interpretazione. Viene proposto e descritto un esperimento in cui uno di questi fenomeni è misurabile.

La circolazione dei servizi in una economia sociale di mercato

Questa ricerca intende esaminare l'impatto della circolazione transfrontaliera dei servizi sul bilanciamento tra regole di mercato e politiche sociali. L'analisi di questa tensione costituisce il punto di partenza per una riflessione più ampia che si propone di comprendere come la conciliazione tra solidarietà e competitività e, più generalmente, tra esigenze di protezione sociale degli Stati membri e tradizionali competenze comunitarie nell'ambito del mercato comune, possa operare nel settore dei servizi. Un mercato comune dei servizi in costante espansione in senso transfrontaliero ha indubbiamente effetti non trascurabili sul piano sociale ed in particolare sul diritto del lavoro consolidatosi nelle tradizioni costituzionali degli Stati membri. La necessità di conciliare solidarietà e competitività alla base del concetto di economia sociale ed il rinnovato accento sulla dimensione sociale dell'Unione accolto nel Trattato di Lisbona dovrebbero promuovere una convivenza armoniosa tra un'integrazione europea di carattere principalmente economico ed i residui spazi di intervento statale a tutela dei mercati nazionali del lavoro. Prima di analizzare cause ed effetti di tale potenziale conflitto nell'ambito del mercato europeo dei servizi risulta necessario fornire un panorama del quadro normativo applicabile agli operatori economici che intendano fornire a titolo temporaneo una prestazione in uno Stato membro diverso da quello di stabilimento. Nell'ambito di tale disamina, dedicata alle fonti conflittuali del diritto europeo applicabili ai prestatori di servizi, individueremo le condizioni che devono rispettare gli operatori per esercitare un'attività in uno Stato membro diverso da quello di origine (Parte I). Potremo quindi illustrare come l'esercizio delle libertà comunitarie di circolazione da parte delle imprese europee abbia fatto emergere le contraddizioni ed i limiti del funzionamento del mercato comune rispetto alla fruizione dei diritti sociali da parte dei lavoratori locali e distaccati (Parte II).

Development of An Energy Modeling Approach to Analyse Historical Building Performance

In the last years the attentions on the energy efficiency on historical buildings grows, as different research project took place across Europe. The attention on combining, the need of the preservation of the buildings, their value and their characteristic, with the need of the reduction of energy consumption and the improvements of indoor comfort condition, stimulate the discussion of two points of view that are usually in contradiction, buildings engineer and Conservation Institution. The results are surprising because a common field is growing while remains the need of balancing the respective exigencies. From these experience results clear that many questions should be answered also from the building physicist regarding the correct assessment: on the energy consumption of this class of buildings, on the effectiveness of the measures that could be adopted, and much more. This thesis gives a contribution to answer to these questions developing a procedure to analyse the historic building. The procedure gives a guideline of the energy audit for the historical building considering the experimental activities to dial with the uncertainty of the estimation of the energy balance. It offers a procedure to simulate the energy balance of building with a validated dynamic model considering also a calibration procedure to increase the accuracy of the model. An approach of design of energy efficiency measures through an optimization that consider different aspect is also presented. All the process is applied to a real case study to give to the reader a practical understanding.

Le Zone Franche Urbane: Mercato europeo e Ordinamenti tributari

Lo studio delle Zone Franche Urbane all’interno del Diritto tributario europeo non ha potuto prescindere da una introduttiva delimitazione del lavoro, capace di distinguere le diverse tipologie di zone franche esistenti nei Paesi intra/extra Ue. Attraversando i casi-studio di Madeira, delle Azzorre, fino alla istituenda Zona Franca di Bruxelles, Zone d’Economie Urbaine stimulée (ZEUS), si è giunti alla constatazione dell’assenza di una definizione di Zona Franca Urbana: analizzando le esperienze normative vissute in Francia e in Italia, si è potuto tratteggiare il profilo territoriale, soggettivo e oggettivo del sistema agevolativo rivolto al recupero delle aree urbane degradate. La funzione strumentale della fiscalità, esplicitata per mezzo delle ZFU, ha condotto ad una verifica di diritto interno per controllare la legittimità delle scelte nazionali in ragione dei principi costituzionali nazionali, come anche una di diritto europeo per evitare che le scelte nazionali, anche se legittime sul piano interno, possano per gli stessi effetti incentivanti alle attività d'impresa presentarsi come una forma territoriale di aiuti di Stato fiscali. Evidenziando il rapporto tra le ZFU e il Mercato europeo si è voluto, da un lato, effettuare una ricostruzione sistemica necessaria per un’interpretazione delle ZFU che metta in luce le componenti di tale strumento orientate al perseguimento di un interesse socioeconomico, che in prima battuta generi una contraddizione, una deroga ai principi costituzionali e comunitari, per poi “sciogliersi” in una coerente applicazione degli stessi; dall’altro, tentare di elevare le ZFU a misura sistemica dell’Ordinamento europeo. Si è svolto, infine, un ragionamento in termini di federalismo fiscale con riferimento alle ZFU, trovando una adeguata collocazione nel percorso di devoluzione intrapreso dal legislatore nazionale, avendo quali interlocutori privilegiati le Regioni a Statuto Speciale.

Negoziazioni intergenerazionali dell'autonomia abitativa in contesti di working class

Nell’ambito della riflessione sui processi di riproduzione e trasmissione intergenerazionale delle disuguaglianze sociali, la presente tesi dottorale propone un’analisi in prospettiva intersezionale dei percorsi verso l’indipendenza abitativa dei giovani bolognesi di origine popolare, e il ruolo svolto dalle loro famiglie in questi percorsi. Nell’approfondimento teorico si offre una ricostruzione del dibattito sociologico nazionale e internazionale sul tema delle disuguaglianze sociali e abitative delle giovani generazioni, nonché dello studio della classe sociale e i principali approcci presenti in letteratura. La ricerca sul campo si concentra, in particolare, sui modi in cui le famiglie appartenenti ad una determinata classe sociale, intesa nel senso conferito al termine da Bourdieu, negoziano e sostengono la transizione all’indipendenza abitativa dei loro figli. L’approfondimento empirico consiste in una ricerca qualitativa longitudinale retrospettiva, condotta nel bolognese nel 2013-2014 su un campione di famiglie working class. Ai giovani-adulti coinvolti e ai loro genitori è stato chiesto di ricostruire le loro biografie attraverso lo strumento delle life histories. La ricerca evidenzia il delinearsi di “micro sistemi economici” familiari specifici e creativi. Le molteplici forme di sostegno genitoriale nei percorsi di autonomizzazione dei figli, individuate nel corso dell’analisi del materiale raccolto, si innestano quindi all’interno di un più ampio sistema di supporto intergenerazionale, che continua anche dopo l’uscita dalla famiglia di origine, a conferma dello stretto legame che caratterizza le famiglie italiane. Nello studio una particolare attenzione viene rivolta alle logiche di legittimazione del sostegno genitoriale, adottate dalle famiglie per orientare i propri interventi di aiuto. Infine, mettendo a confronto la concezione di indipendenza dei giovani adulti con quella dei loro genitori, l’indagine rileva l’esistenza di una apparente contraddizione tra le rappresentazioni dell’indipendenza e dell’autonomia abitativa e i comportamenti attuati nella vita quotidiana, contraddizione che trova una risoluzione nella negoziazione, tra le due diverse generazioni, del concetto stesso di indipendenza.

Les Femmes Fortes de la Scene Medievale : Martyres entre Ciel et Terre Etude comparative des heroines du theatre francais des XIVe-XVIe siecles

Le travail offre une vision d’ensemble des représentations du Moyen Âge tardif (XIVe-XVIe siècles), consacrées à des héroïnes féminines, en vue d’une étude de synthèse encore manquante sur le sujet. Le domaine culturel examiné est français, mais le panorama est élargi aux représentations provençales et toscanes quand on a de traces de représentation en France, même si le texte original est perdu. Les protagonistes des drames conservés sont des héroïnes de la foi : l’étude se focalise en particulier sur les drames qui mettent en scène des martyres. En outre, sont analysés d’un côté deux dialogues dramatiques latins de Hrotsvita (Xe siècle), qui constituent l’exemple le plus ancien d’un drame médiéval consacré à une sainte martyre, dans une perspective comparatiste qui prend aussi en compte la diachronie ; de l’autre côté, sont proposés des excursus sur le culte et l’iconographie ainsi qu’une comparaison avec les légendes hagiographiques. Le commentaire des textes du corpus révèle non seulement leurs qualités poétiques et leurs potentialités performatives, mais il présente aussi les constantes dramaturgiques qui les relient ainsi que les singularités qui les distinguent. Enfin, la comparaison avec deux exemples de drames européens de la même époque qui mettent en scène respectivement une héroïne historique et une figure légendaire, placées dans un horizon mondain et non saint, vient enrichir la lecture de l’héroïne martyre. La thèse se donne pour perspective de montrer que les problèmes posés par les textes (la stigmatisation du sujet féminin libre, la répression de la résistance au pouvoir, la contradiction entre un corps vulnérable et une parole puissante) sont d’un intérêt considérable non seulement pour le lecteur expert, mais aussi pour un spectateur et un metteur en scène potentiels, de sorte que se trouve justifiée la redécouverte de ces représentations médiévales par et sur les scènes d’aujourd’hui.

Myanmar higher education in transition: the interplay between state authority, student politics and international actors.

The Myanmar “period of transition” (2011-2021) has often been described as a puzzle. Various scholars have begun to engage with the Myanmar context in an effort to grasp the essence of the transition it underwent during President Thein Sein’s USPD and Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD governments. My work focuses on a specific policy sector, higher education, with a view to contributing to this scholarly debate regarding what was actually happening inside this complex country “transition”, especially in terms of collective participation in the process of political and social change. Reviewing existing scholarly literature on the politics of higher education, my study employs a triangle of analysis in which higher education reform is framed as the interplay of action on the part of “state authority”, “student politics” and “international actors”. What does this interplay lens reveal if we consider Myanmar’s “period of transition”? I argue that it shows the ambiguity and contradiction of tangible pushes for progressive social change that coexisted with authoritarian currents and the reinforcement of the societal position of dominant elites. At the policy level, ultimately, a convergence of interests between international actors and state authority served as the force driving the new higher education reform towards a neo-liberal model of governance and autonomy. This work unpacks the higher education reform process thanks to qualitative data gathered through extensive participant observation, in-depth interviewing and critical discourse analysis, shedding light on the rich narratives of those involved in the politics of higher education in Myanmar.

La delación como instrumento procesal de lucha contra la corrupción pública

La corrupción pública se ha incrementado con la globalización, generando una crisis de investigación que reduce la eficiencia del proceso penal para perseguir y sancionarla. En ese contexto, se plantea que la delación ha estado presente desde época romana, pasando por la Inquisición y época contemporánea, y constituye una herramienta procesal moderna con la cual se busca fortalecer la prevención y persecución de dicho delito. Así pues, se examina los antecedentes, mecanismos y efectos de la delación, el uso del whistleblower y la posición jurídica del delator, así como los aspectos procesales relacionados con la delación en la investigación, la práctica probatoria y los recursos de apelación y casación. Finalmente, se concluye que la colaboración del arrepentido requiere de corroboración y ser sometida a contradicción para que su valor incriminatorio sea empleado en la condena de los delitos.