Liberation of hope: An ethnographic study of community-based initiatives in Houston, Texas

This is an ethnographic study about the worldview of community-based initiatives in Houston, Texas, and the people who work in them. People who participated in this study recognize that their direct constructive action is at the heart of authentic social change in their minority communities. Through qualitative data analysis, a constellation of relationships and process patterns were found to constitute themselves into the system of the community-based initiative. The predominant patterns identified from the findings in this study are: the pervasiveness of place, the importance of people, unique initiatory patterns, the concrete local sustainability, the ever-present action orientation, the resourceful use of networks and inter-relationships, the significance of church influence, the core sense of spirituality and the essence of hope. These patterns emerged out of the local knowledge, which is acutely sensitive to the elements of history and lived experience, embedded in the distinctive moral and visionary patterns of meaning and expression. Findings from the research reveal that these community-based initiatives are not programs--they are people--people who keep hope alive in their communities and who, by their daily practice, liberate others. ^

Sandcastles of hope? Civil society organizations and the working conditions of migrant farmworkers in North America

This research explores whether civil society organizations (CSOs) can contribute to more effectively regulating the working conditions of temporary migrant farmworkers in North America. This dissertation unfolds in five parts. The first part of the dissertation sets out the background context. The context includes the political economy of agriculture and temporary migrant labour more broadly. It also includes the political economy of the legal regulations that govern immigration and work relations. The second part of the research builds an analytical model for studying the operation of CSOs active in working with the migrant farmworker population. The purpose of the analytical framework is to make sense of real-world examples by providing categories for analysis and a means to get at the channels of influence that CSOs utilize to achieve their aims. To this end, the model incorporates the insights from three significant bodies of literature—regulatory studies, labour studies, and economic sociology. The third part of the dissertation suggests some key strategic issues that CSOs should consider when intervening to assist migrant farmworkers, and also proposes a series of hypotheses about how CSOs can participate in the regulatory process. The fourth part probes and extends these hypotheses by empirically investigating the operation of three CSOs that are currently active in assisting migrant farm workers in North America: the Agricultural Workers Alliance (Canada), Global Workers’ Justice Alliance (USA), and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (USA). The fifth and final part draws together lessons from the empirical work and concluded that CSOs can fill gaps left by the waning power of actors, such as trade unions and labour inspectorates, as well as act in ways that these traditional actors can not.

Sandcastles of hope? Civil society organizations and the working conditions of migrant farmworkers in North America

This research explores whether civil society organizations (CSOs) can contribute to more effectively regulating the working conditions of temporary migrant farmworkers in North America. This dissertation unfolds in five parts. The first part of the dissertation sets out the background context. The context includes the political economy of agriculture and temporary migrant labour more broadly. It also includes the political economy of the legal regulations that govern immigration and work relations. The second part of the research builds an analytical model for studying the operation of CSOs active in working with the migrant farmworker population. The purpose of the analytical framework is to make sense of real-world examples by providing categories for analysis and a means to get at the channels of influence that CSOs utilize to achieve their aims. To this end, the model incorporates the insights from three significant bodies of literature—regulatory studies, labour studies, and economic sociology. The third part of the dissertation suggests some key strategic issues that CSOs should consider when intervening to assist migrant farmworkers, and also proposes a series of hypotheses about how CSOs can participate in the regulatory process. The fourth part probes and extends these hypotheses by empirically investigating the operation of three CSOs that are currently active in assisting migrant farm workers in North America: the Agricultural Workers Alliance (Canada), Global Workers’ Justice Alliance (USA), and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (USA). The fifth and final part draws together lessons from the empirical work and concluded that CSOs can fill gaps left by the waning power of actors, such as trade unions and labour inspectorates, as well as act in ways that these traditional actors can not.

[theoretical Construction In The Sociology Of Health: A Reflection On Its Trajectory].

The scope of this paper is to reflect on the theoretical construction in the constitution of the sociology of health, still called medical sociology in some countries. Two main ideas constitute the basis for this: interdisciplinarity and the degree of articulation in the fields of medicine and sociology. We sought to establish a dialogue with some dimensions - macro/micro, structure/action - that constitute the basis for understanding medicine/health in relation to the social/sociological dimension. The main aspects of these dimensions are initially presented. Straus' two medical sociologies and the theory/application impasses are then addressed, as well as the dilemmas of the sociology of medicine in the 1960s and 1970s. From these analyses the theoretical production before 1970 is placed as a counterpoint. Lastly, the sociology of health is seen in the general context of sociology, which underwent a fragmentation process from 1970 with effects in all subfields of the social sciences. This process involves a rethinking of the theoretical issues in a broadened spectrum of possibilities. The 1980s are highlighted when theoretical issues in the sociology of health are reinvigorated and the issue of interdisciplinarity is once again addressed.

[the Sociology Of Health In Brazil - The Creation Of An Identity].

This article analyzes the historical, social and cognitive dimensions of the sociology of medicine in the construction of its identity, from Wolf Lepenies' perspective. It is understood that the construction of an identity does not end with the first historical manifestations, but is consolidated when it is institutionalized and structured as a field of knowledge by creating its own forms of cognitive expression. The text is divided into three parts: in the first the precursors are presented, highlighting the role played by some travelers, naturalists and folklore scholars, followed by social physicians-scientists and the first social scientists (1940-1969). In the second part, aspects of the consolidation of the social sciences in health are presented at two significant moments, namely the 1970s and 1980s. In the third part, the issues raised by the field are addressed in general terms. It is considered that once the main structural stages are in place there is still a need for the formation of new generations of social scientists in health. It is also essential to disseminate scientific production and to ensure that the relations are studied in depth and institutionalized with the sociological matrices on the one hand and with the field of health on the other.

Modern Society and Culture in Brazil The Sociology of Florestan Fernandes

The establishment of modern sociology in Brazil was part of a thoroughgoing modernization of the country that began in the 1930s and the years immediately following World War II. The founding of the University of Sao Paulo made possible the systematic training of scientists devoted to teaching and research and broadened the way learning was understood. Florestan Fernandes was the outstanding personality among the first social scientists that the university produced, and the picture of the Brazilian sociologist today is largely inspired by his career. Enthusiasm and scientific rigor were the hallmarks of his approach. His early work reflects intellectuals` shared belief in the power of ideas to regenerate the nation, freeing it from a past that they condemned. The mature reflection of his later works retreats from this optimistic view, recognizing the emergence of modern society in Brazil as a complex process with mixed results.

Out of the shadows: The critical sociology of sport in Australia, 1986 to 1996

The sociology of sport in Australia has reached a key point in its development. A critical tradition in the subdiscipline has been established over the last decade, but its intellectual and institutional progress has been uneven. This article briefly traces the emergence of critical sports sociology in a country outside the major centers in the UK and U.S., its break with functionalist approaches, and its attempts to overcome the neglect of local mainstream sociology. The authors proceed to examine (self-reflexively) the changes of theoretical direction and the new lines of research that are being explored in the field. A recent ''skirmish'' with narrative history over the preferred theories and methods in sports analysis is discussed as illustrative of the difficulties encountered by an energetic but small, dispersed and underorganized scholarly movement in Australia.

Seeds of hope: Assessing the effect of development aid on the reduction of child mortality

The Millennium Declaration (2000) set as one of its targets a substantial reduction in child mortality. This paper studies whether the massive increase in development aid can account for part of the reduction in child mortality observed in developing countries since the year 2000. To do so, we analyze a panel of more than 130 developing countries over the 2000-2008 period. We use the time trend evolution of aid to identify an exogenous source of variation. Total aid has had no statistically significant effect on child mortality. However, a disaggregate analysis identifies certain sectors of aid that have had a significant impact. The effects have been larger in high mortality countries, including Sub-Saharan Africa. Projections based on our estimates strongly support the concern that most countries in that region will miss the Millennium Goals target on child mortality.