As questões habitacional e urbana na Venezuela contemporânea

Essa dissertação aborda a questão urbana e habitacional na Venezuela. Realiza-se investigação histórica sobre os principais períodos da política habitacional na Venezuela a partir de 1928 (fundação do Banco Obrero), seguida pela caracterização do programa Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela (sob a gestão de Hugo Chávez) e dos movimentos sociais urbanos reunido em torno da plataforma do Movimiento de Pobladoras y Pobladores. Investiga-se a importância da formação das favelas e a subsequente luta pelo reconhecimento como acontecimentos fundamentais para o processo político contemporâneo na Venezuela

Remembering Liberal Feminism In Radical Ways: Locating Conservative Strategies In The Narratives Of Dr. Christina Hoff Sommers, Tammy Bruce, And Dr. Laura Schlessinger

This dissertation identifies and challenges post-feminist narratives that remember the second wave or 1960s and 1970s liberal feminism as a radical form of activism. The narratives of three prominent post-feminist authors: Dr. Christina Hoff Sommers, Tammy Bruce and Dr. Laura Schlessinger are used as examples of how identification works as a rhetorical device that motivates individual actors to join in a struggle against liberal and radical feminist ideologies. I argue that each author draws on classically liberal and politically conservative virtues to define a "true" feminism that is at odds with alternative feminist commitments. I demonstrate how these authors create a subject position of a "true feminist" that is reminiscent of the classically liberal suffragist. In Burkean terms, each author constitutes the suffragist as a friend and juxtaposes her with the enemy--modern liberal and radical feminists. I articulate the consequences of such dialectical portrayals of feminist activism and further suggest that these authors' visions of feminism reinforce patriarchal practices, urging women to assimilate into a classically liberal society at the cost of social justice. In opposition to their memories of feminism, I offer a radical democratic approach of remembering feminism that is less concerned with the definition of feminism or feminist than it is with holistically addressing oppression and what oppression means to subjugated populations.

Racionalización cultural de adicciones mediante representación narrativa del trauma poscolonial en reservas indígenas canadienses

Este artículo examina cómo discursos de salud mental, producidos dentro de un movimiento social de revitalización indígena, proporcionan una racionalidad cultural para la construcción contemporánea de la identidad. El diseño de la investigación ha sido cualitativo, realizándose un estudio de caso etnográfico y utilizando un muestreo intencional. Para la recolección del material empírico se utilizaron técnicas basadas en la entrevista y observación participante. Estrategias de análisis del contenido y del discurso han coadyuvado en la obtención de unos resultados que revelan cómo la concepción de la salud mental en reservas indígenas ha llegado a ser un dominio simbólico para crear y recrear la noción del yo indígena y para afrontar su posición marginal en el contexto poscolonial y sociopolítico canadiense. Las conclusiones de este estudio señalan cómo los problemas psicosociales en el contexto de las reservas indígenas trascienden el fenómeno epidemiológico para convertirlo en un fenómeno político, reflexivo y moral.

15M. La expresión del conflicto en las canciones protestas

El objetivo de esta comunicación es analizar de manera exploratoria en qué forma las letras de las canciones protesta, escritas en el entorno de las movilizaciones del 15M, contienen una visión del mundo social, económico y político. Las canciones protesta se caracterizan por la denuncia social de situaciones de explotación, discriminación o esclavitud. El rasgo común a todas ellas es la existencia de un conflicto, al que responden tomando posición por una de las partes o apelando a la paz y al consenso. En ocasiones ofrecen soluciones a dichos conflictos, si bien no es la situación más extendida. En relación a las canciones del 15M, emplearemos como referencia las disponibles en la página de la Fundación Robo. En dicha página se alojan canciones cuyo nexo de unión es la protesta por la situación que vive la sociedad española. Tomando las canciones como datos de análisis, se estudiarán los estilos más empleados para protestar, el empleo del “bricoleur” (Levi-Strauss) de músicas y letras para recomponer un nuevo mensaje y finalmente se considerará la presencia de dualizaciones como las de “nosotros” y “ellos”. Se exploran las razones que se exponen en las letras para llegar al conflicto actual y las soluciones que se proponen. Tras definir qué actores y colectivos definen cada uno de los grupos, se consideran las relaciones que se proponen entre ellos. Destacan los planteamientos que presentan la relación como de lucha o conflicto, mientras que la oferta de relaciones constructivas, ya sea de diálogo, consenso o negociación, es prácticamente inexistente. Raramente ofrecen una solución pacífica a los conflictos.

(EU) friends: NGO cooperation and involvement across multi-level policy processes. IES Working Paper 1/2007

A growing body of research focuses on the expanding roles of NGOs in global and supranational governance. The research emphasizes the increasing number of participation patterns of NGOs in policymaking and cross-national cooperation. It has produced important insights into the evolving political role of NGOs and their growing involvement in governance. The focus on activities at a transnational level has, however, lead to the virtual exclusion of research on other levels of governance. It has not been possible to tell whether the locus of their political activity is shifting from the national to the transnational environment, or whether it is simply broadening. Missing from the literature is an examination of the variety of cooperative relationships, including those between NGOs, which impact policy involvement across different levels of governance. To bridge this gap, I address two key questions: 1) Is the strategy of cooperation among NGOs a common feature of social movement activity across levels of governance, and if so, what does the structure of cooperation look like? 2) What impact, if any, does cooperation have on the expanding political involvement of NGOS, both within and across levels of governance? Using data from an original survey of migrant and refugee organizations across much of Europe, I test several hypotheses that shed light on these issues. The findings broadly indicate that 1) Cooperation is a widely-used strategy across levels of governance, 2) Cooperation with specific sets of actors increases the likelihood of NGO involvement at different levels of governance. Specifically, cooperation with EU-level actors increases the likelihood of national-level involvement, and 3) NGOs are more likely to extend their involvement across a range of institutions if they cooperate with a broad range of actors.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State: A comparative study of the Jihadi narratives

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Why do people engage in collective action? Revisiting the role of perceived effectiveness

Research has shown limited support for the notion that perceived effectiveness of collective action is a predictor of intentions to engage in collective action. One reason may be that effectiveness has been in terms of whether the action will influence key decision makers. We argue that the effectiveness of collective action might be judged by other criteria, such as whether it influences third parties, builds an oppositional movement, and expresses values. Two hundred and thirty one attendees at a rally rated the effectiveness of the rally and their intentions to engage in future collective action. For those participants who were not members of an organization, intentions were linked to the perceived effectiveness of the rally in expressing values and influencing the public. For those who were members of an organization, intentions were linked only to the effectiveness of the rally in building an oppositional movement.

Mapping civil society in former Yugoslavia

From the break up of the New Left into single issue groups at the end of the 1960s came a variety of groups representing the peace movement, environmental movement, student movement, women’s movement, and gay liberation movement. This explosion of new social movement activism has been heralded as the age of new radical politics. Many theorists and activists understand new social movements, as replacing the working class as an agent for progressive social change. Scholars and activists now alike debate the possibilities for revolutionary change in this era of multinational capitalism and new nationalisms. This paper examines some of the above claims in the context of the contemporary Serbian civil society. It explores the relationship between the civil society, activism, and narratives in Serbia. In particular, it examines the anti-Milosevic’ movement Otpor! (Resistance), and its discourse, practice and politics in public spaces, through an analysis of narratives of a set of roughly 20 interviews with Otpor! activists, aged 18-35. In the following discussion, then, I will focus on some of the particular dilemmas of contemporary Serbian popular movements - they are dilemmas to do with the growing complexity of media life in the Serbian spaces. I ground my debate on particular uses of the notion of civil society in the narratives of Otpor! activists, while I focus on the question of how do Otpor! activists relate to Leftist/radical politics and the idea of civil society.

PENSAR A CIBERCULTURA AMBIENTALISTA: Comunicação, mobilização e as estratégias discursivas do Greenpeace Brasil

Nossa Tese postula a existência de uma cibercultura ambientalista, própria do movimento ambiental, que conta com uma dinâmica comunicativa caracterizada por estratégias de discurso e mobilização específicas. O movimento ambiental, aqui representado pela organização de espectro internacional Greenpeace, soube se apropriar das ferramentas digitais, difundir a problemática em um cenário de redes sociais digitais, ciberativismo, interatividade e composição de uma esfera pública em rede, que colocamos em debate. Para entender esse panorama realizamos uma ampla discussão teórica, em permanente diálogo com nosso objeto de estudo, abrangendo a trajetória do ambientalismo e seu lugar enquanto movimento social; as tecnologias da sociabilidade, a Internet e suas mídias como espaço de resistência e controle, assinalando a cibercultura como a própria cultura contemporânea, pautada pelas influências tecnológicas. Realizamos entrevistas com voluntários, seguidores, além de responsáveis pela comunicação do Greenpeace que nos permitiram traçar as motivações da participação e confirmar que o engajamento na causa ambiental foi fortemente impulsionado pelas facilidades do ciberespaço. As estratégias discursivas foram desvendadas com as coordenadas metodológicas da Análise do Discurso, focada na identificação do ethos e das cenas de enunciação, com base em um protocolo de análise que formulamos para compreender a maneira de dizer que leva os sujeitos aderirem maciçamente ao discurso ambiental. Na primeira etapa da análise realizamos diagnóstico de perspectiva quantitativa e caráter exploratório para levantar as campanhas/temáticas principais e avaliar a repercussão dos assuntos nas redes sociais digitais e na mídia convencional. Posteriormente, selecionamos os textos das principais campanhas que passaram pela fase qualitativa, que abarcou os itens lexicais, as técnicas argumentativas e os elementos de destacabilidade, além de aspectos externos ao texto linguístico, como fotos, vídeos, cores e cenas predominantes. O discurso na cibercultura ambiental desvela o ethos do amigo, do parceiro, que oscila entre o drama e a agressividade para chamar atenção à causa. Problemas graves como denúncias ambientais são tratados com um ethos lúdico, até mesmo infantil, usando de linguagem coloquial e de códigos da cultura contemporânea desenhos animados, jogos virtuais, belos animais que cantam e dançam que para os nossos olhos revelam uma cenografia esquizofrênica, mas é justamente o que garante o êxito das campanhas.

BRASIL DE FATO: TRAJETÓRIA, CONTRADIÇÕES E PERSPECTIVAS DE UM JORNAL POPULAR ALTERNATIVO

Pesquisa sobre o semanário de esquerda Brasil de Fato, construído por um coletivo de dirigentes de movimentos sociais e representantes de organizações da sociedade civil, jornalistas, advogados e artistas, identificados politicamente e reunidos a partir de uma proposta apresentada pelo Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. Lançado em janeiro de 2003, com a perspectiva de se tornar um meio de comunicação de massas, completou seis anos de existência resistindo às adversidades. O objetivo central é analisar o processo de construção e consolidação deste jornal popular-alternativo desde a formulação de seu projeto. São resgatados os caminhos percorridos para compreender não só as dificuldades inerentes à manutenção de um projeto com este perfil, mas também para analisar as contradições internas e externas que causaram as transformações em sua proposta original. A metodologia utilizada para este fim consistiu em pesquisa bibliográfica, entrevistas semi-estruturadas com lideranças e análise de conteúdo. Concluiu-se que, apesar de o jornal ter enfrentado uma série de condições adversas que justificam o não cumprimento de sua proposta original, o caráter de jornal de movimentos sociais já estava presente no Brasil de Fato desde a sua formação, principalmente no que tange as concepções do MST para o jornal.(AU)

ORGANIZAÇÕES NÃO GOVERNAMENTAIS NO CAMPO EDUCACIONAL: ESTUDO EXPLORATÓRIO

O projeto buscou verificar até que ponto as influências externas modificam o projeto pedagógico das ONGs pesquisadas e de que forma elas colocam em prática suas ações para formação do seu público-alvo. Nossa questão central é saber se as ONGS mantêm um caráter de movimento social, visando através disto ou não melhorar a vida da comunidade em que está inserida. Tal questão coloca ao pesquisador a exigência de dividir as ONGs em Comunitárias e Empresariais.

An examination of organisational issues in third sector organisations which undertake nonviolent direct action

This thesis is an examination of organisational issues faced by Third Sector organisations which undertake nonviolent direct action. A case study methodology is employed and data gathered from four organisations: Earth First!; genetiX Snowball; Greenpeace; and Trident Ploughshares. The argument commences with a review of the literature which shows that little is known of the organising of nonviolent direct action. Operational definitions of 'organisation' and 'nonviolent direct action' are drawn from the literature. 'Organisation' is conceptualised using new institutionalism. 'Nonviolent direct action' is conceptualised using new social movement theory. These concepts inform the case study methodology in the choice of case, the organisations selected and the data gathering tools. Most data were gathered by semi-structured interview and participant observation. The research findings result from theory-building arising from thick descriptions of the case in the four organisations. The findings suggest that nonviolent direct action is qualitatively different from terrorism or violence. Although there is much diversity in philosophies of nonviolence, the practice of nonviolent direct action has much in common across the four organisations. The argument is that nonviolent direct action is an institution. The findings also suggest that new institutionalism is a fruitful approach to studies of these organisations. Along with nonviolent direct action, three other institutions are identified: 'rules'; consensus decision-making; and 'affinity groups'. An unanticipated finding is how the four organisations are instances of innovation. Tentative theory is developed which brings together the seemingly incompatible concepts of institutions and innovation. The theory suggests preconditions and then stages in the development of new organisational forms in new social movements: innovation. The three pre-conditions are: the existence of an institutional field; an 'institution-broker' with access to different domains; and a shared 'problem' to resolve. The three stages are: unlocking existing knowledge and practice; bridging different domains of practice or different fields to add, develop or translocate those practices; and establishing those practices within their new combinations or novel locations. Participants are able to move into and between these new organisational forms because they consist of familiar and habitual institutional behaviour.

Tactics, traditions, and opportunities:British and French crop-trashing actions in comparative perspective

This article compares the tactic of trashing genetically modified crops in activist campaigns in Britain and France. In Britain, most crop trashing was carried out covertly, while in France most activists undertook open, public actions. In seeking an explanation for this, the article shows that the analysis of political opportunities, dominant in comparative studies of social movements, can only take us so far. While it helps explain the occurrence of direct action, it is much less useful in explaining the tactical differences between each country. It is argued that a fuller explanation requires an understanding of how action was shaped by different activist traditions. In France, action was staged as a demonstration of serious, responsible, collective Republican citizenship; in the United Kingdom, activists combined a sceptical view of legality developing from anarchist individualism with an explicitly non-threatening, playful, ethos. The article concludes that a focus on activist traditions can provide an effective bridge between structural and cultural approaches to understanding the determinants of social movement action.

Negotiating proximity:expert testimony and collective memory in the trials of environmental activists in France and the United Kingdom

This article analyzes the role of expert witness testimony in the trials of social movement actors, discussing the trial of the "Kingsnorth Six" in Britain and the trials of activists currently mobilising against airport construction at Notre Dame des Landes in western France. Though the study of expert testimony has so far overwhelmingly concentrated on fact-finding and admissibility, the cases here reveal the importance of expert testimony not simply in terms of legal argument, but in "moral" or political terms, as it reflects and constitutes movement cognitive praxis. In the so-called climate change defence presented by the Kingsnorth Six, I argue that expert testimony attained a "negotiation of proximity," connecting different types of contributory expertise to link the scales and registers of climate science with those of everyday understanding and meaning. Expert testimony in the trials of activists in France, however, whilst ostensibly able to develop similar bridging narratives, has instead been used to construct resistance to the airport siting as already proximate, material, and embedded. To explain this, I argue that attention to the symbolic, as well as instrumental, functions of expert testimony reveals the crucial role that collective memory plays in the construction of both knowledge and grievance in these cases. Collective memory is both a constraint on and catalyst for mobilisation, defining the boundaries of the sayable. Testimony in trials both reflects and reproduces these elements and is a vital explanatory tool for understanding the narrativisation and communication of movement identities and objectives. © 2013 The Author. Law & Policy © 2013 The University of Denver/Colorado Seminary.

Having your day in court:judicial opportunity and tactical choice in Anti-GMO campaigns in France and the United Kingdom

Investigating the recent direct action campaigns against genetically modified crops in France and the United Kingdom, the authors set out to understand how contrasting judicial systems and cultures affect the way that activists choose to commit ostensibly illegal actions and how they negotiate the trade-offs between effectiveness and public accountability. The authors find evidence that prosecution outcomes across different judicial systems are consistent and relatively predictable and consequently argue that the concept of a “judicial opportunity structure” is useful for developing scholars’ understanding of social movement trajectories. The authors also find that these differential judicial opportunities cannot adequately account for the tactical choices made by activists with respect to the staging of covert or overt direct action; rather, explanations of tactical choice are better accounted for by movement ideas, cultures, and traditions.