Digging Deeper than Platinum: South Africa's Participation in an Emergent Fuel Cell Industry

South’s Africa’s position as global platinum supplier provides a unique opportunity for an emergent fuel cell industry. The innovative technology’s reliance on platinum has sparked interest in the mining sector, promoting the clean energy-producing devices in their own operations. This research focuses upon contemporary structures of racial oppression within the industry, to analyse how these dynamics influence the development and implementation of innovative technology. It also challenges the sustainability discourse associated with fuel cell technology in South Africa. The study follows a qualitative research approach, incorporating a political ecology focus to highlight the politicized nature of these interactions. The methodology incorporates a literature review, key informant interviews, fieldwork observations and document analysis. Findings indicate that the implementation of fuel cell technology in South Africa’s platinum mines will disproportionately burden historically disadvantaged South Africans, with the lack in technical knowledge-base considered a major challenge. Additionally, it was found that sustainability claims surrounding fuel cell technology are largely based on environmental characteristics. This has resulted in an oversimplification and a depoliticised account of the impacts of the technology. This study looked critically at the convergence of history and innovation, placing emphasis on context, power relations and knowledge to provide a more holistic account of the research problem. Opportunities exist for making a meaningful and viable contribution towards development and sustainability by means of investing in a South African fuel cell industry. The challenge will be in deliberately seeking pathways which address the more complex components of sustainability, benefitting all stakeholders and paying particular attention to the historical, political and social contexts from which the technology emerges. It is this particular context which allows for a questioning and perhaps even a re-evaluation of the sustainability narratives broadly applied to fuel cell technology.

The Art of Change Movement: an anti-oppressive Social Work initiative

This article presents the Art of Change Movement (Movimiento Arte del Cambio), which has developed out of a project of the Association of Social Workers Without Boundaries (Asociación Trabajadores/as Sociales Sin Fronteras), with the collaboration of the Faculty of Social Work at Universidad de Granada and of education professionals, incorporating theatrical creativity and musical expression as pedagogical and social intervention tools. The aim is for the initiative to become another instrument in the fight against oppression. Through a laboratory for collective creativity involving students and professionals from social work and other social science disciplines, the movement seeks social transformation through artistic expression, based on political commitment and sustainable development that empowers participants.

The Collusion of Feminist and Postmodernist Impulses in E.L. Doctorow’s "Ragtime"

Many critics of Doctorow have classified him as a postmodernist writer, acknowledging that a wide number of thematic and stylistic features of his early fiction emanate from the postmodern context in which he took his first steps as a writer. Yet, these novels have an eminently social and ethical scope that may be best perceived in their intellectual engagement and support of feminist concerns. This is certainly the case of Doctorow’s fourth and most successful novel, Ragtime. The purpose of this paper will be two-fold. I will explore Ragtime’s indebtedness to postmodern aesthetics and themes, but also its feminist elements. Thus, on the one hand, I will focus on issues of uncertainty, indeterminacy of meaning, plurality and decentering of subjectivity; on the other hand, I will examine the novel’s attitude towards gender oppression, violence and objectification, its denunciation of hegemonic gender configurations and its voicing of certain feminist demands. This analysis will lead to an examination of the problematic collusion of the mostly white, male, patriarchal aesthetics of postmodernism and feminist politics in the novel. I will attempt to establish how these two traditionally conflicting modes coexist and interact in Ragtime.

Expecting Too Much: European Union’s Minority Protection Hide-and-Seek

EU’s deference to the Member State approaches in minority protection can intensify the oppression of
the vulnerable groups, its insistence on non-discrimination on the basis of nationality in the minority regions with special rights in place can equally produce injustice. Its inability to protect EU-wide minorities, like the Roma, is equally problematic. Although a ‘value’, minority protection functions incoherently, if at all. It is time to approach the EU as a highly specific minority protection arena not to be confused with its component parts – the Member States. The reform of the Member State-centred thinking should start at the level of approaching the core issues. It should include the assessment of such questions as what is a minority in the EU’s context of a missing majority, what is the appropriate depth of EU’s intervention in the area of minority protection, i.e. how much room for manœuvre should reasonably be left with the Member States without disrupting the effectiveness of EU’s regulation, as well as the approach to defining what a success in minority protection should be, in the
EU context. The latter should be done, in particular, with due regard to the division of competences between the EU and the Member States in this and other relevant fields. This paper briefly explores a series of diverse casestudies – from migrant EU citizens, Baltic Russians, and sexual minorities to, most importantly, Roma rights to make the first attempt to test the proposed synergetic approach.

Feminist Street Performances in Puerto Rico: Alternative Imaginaries Shifting the Ideal(ized) National Body

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Flores de energia: a experiência do NEMA - Núcleo de Educação e Monitoramento Ambiental na constituição de intelectuais orgânicos

Este estudo visa compreender a experiência do NEMA – Núcleo de Educação e Monitoramento Ambiental na constituição de intelectuais orgânicos. A pesquisa busca identificar por meio de relatos das pessoas que formaram e formam o NEMA, bem como da trajetória que o Núcleo vem desenhando no cenário ambiental, como esse espaço constitui intelectuais orgânicos. O conceito de intelectuais orgânicos partiu de Antonio Gramsci (1882 – 1937), que desponta como um dos grandes teóricos da teoria social marxista. Para Gramsci o intelectual é mais do que uma pessoa das letras, ou um produtor e transmissor de ideias. Os intelectuais são também mediadores, legitimadores, e produtores de práticas sociais; eles cumprem uma função de natureza eminentemente política. Este aspecto interessa uma vez que o NEMA surgiu nesse movimento de resistir ao conhecimento e práticas sufocantes que constituem nossas práticas sociais. Intelectuais transformadores que aglutinam outros, a fim de romper com a opressão, fornecendo dessa forma a liderança da ética, da política e da pedagogia para a criticidade da realidade. A pesquisa com base qualitativa permitiu estabelecer os referenciais teóricos, a pesquisa em documentos e outras formas de informação e a apropriação da Análise Textual Discursiva – ATD para organizar o corpus por meio dos relatos de 30 pessoas que tiveram a experiência do NEMA. Os resultados possibilitam afirmar que os intelectuais orgânicos do NEMA se constituem em Ondas, isto é passam de uma reflexão sobre si mesmo – Quem eu sou?, estabelece uma relação de pertencimento com o lugar que atuam – O lugar onde vivemos, lidam com uma diversidade de pessoas, instituições e situações – Biodiversidade, estabelecem diálogos e se fazem representar em espaços de discussão – Biosfera e Ecologia e buscam a continuidade de suas ações por meio de novos projetos – Planejamento Ambiental. O estudo vislumbra que a experiência do NEMA contribua na vanguarda da construção dialógica do saber com os movimentos sociais para que estes saberes possam ser implementados na práxis destes movimentos, no fronte da relação natureza e sociedade.

La identidad latinoamericana: una perspectiva desde las clases sociales

Se analizan las identidades latinoamericanas desde un enfoque de las clases y de la lucha de clases, situándose más allá de la bipolaridad clásica burguesía-proletariado y se incorporan una visión heterogénea de las clases sociales. En este debate se articulan dos lógicas elementales: la de la explotación y la de la opresión /dominación que, al vincular los fundamentos de clase con los étnicos, dan un perfil y una resiliencia de lucha particular al continente, que quizás no ocurre en otra región del mundo. La tesis sustentada es que la lucha de clases continúa, mediante movimientos sociales que luchan por diversas reivindicaciones y que asumen el papel de “nuevo sujeto histórico con pretensiones de toma del poder, como en el caso de Bolivia. Abstract The article analyzes the Latin America identities from the class and class struggle approach placing them beyond the classic bipolarity “bourgeoisie-proletariat” and incorporates a heterogeneous vision of the social classes. This debate articulates two elementary logics; the logic of exploitation and the logic of oppression-domination that by linking the fundaments of class with the ethnic give a particular profile and a particular strength fight to the continent that might not be present in other regions of the world. The idea that the article defends and proposes is that the class struggle continues through social movements that fight for several grievances and these movements assume the role of the “new historical subject” who tends to take power as it is the case in Bolivia.

Intervenção socioeducativa: investigação-ação participativa com trabalhadoras do sexo de rua e uma equipa de outreach

Nos últimos anos, assistimos ao crescimento do conhecimento sobre o trabalho sexual e os seus atores. No entanto, poucos estudos envolvem os/as trabalhadores/as do sexo (TS) como participantes ativos. Esta tese apresenta uma pesquisa de investigação-ação participativa (IAP) composta por dois estudos que, de forma complementar, pretendem contribuir para o desenvolvimento de uma proposta socioeducativa de intervenção centrada nos direitos e necessidades dos/as TS. O estudo preliminar pretende refletir sobre os discursos institucionais produzidos em torno do trabalho sexual e dar a conhecer as práticas socioeducativas empreendidas pelas instituições que dirigem serviços a TS, em Portugal. O segundo estudo apresenta o processo e os resultados de uma IAP, com TS de rua e uma equipa de outreach. O propósito do segundo estudo consistiu em identificar as necessidades e as vontades das TS e de uma equipa de outreach, com a finalidade de encorajar os/as participantes na construção de um modelo socioeducativo de intervenção. O estudo preliminar foi efetuado junto das 23 instituições que, à data deste estudo (de outubro de 2012 a março de 2013), prestavam apoio a TS. Concluímos que os serviços são bastante similares, focados na redução de riscos decorrentes do trabalho sexual, sobretudo a nível da promoção e educação para a saúde, assumindo uma intervenção tradicional centrada na epidemiologia. De forma menos expressiva, encontrámos instituições que se centram no apoio ao abandono da atividade. Todas assumem um papel fundamental no debate social e político sobre a prostituição enquanto trabalho ou opressão. Estes resultados conduziram-nos à formulação das seguintes questões: 1) Os serviços tradicionais centrados na epidemiologia reforçam inadvertidamente o estigma do/a TS?; 2) Quais são as preocupações, necessidades e vontades reais dos/as TS?; 3) O que pensam sobre serem envolvidos/as no desenho, implementação e avaliação de projetos que lhes dizem respeito? Assim, identificámos uma falta de participação dos/as TS em projetos a si dirigidos, corroborada pela literatura científica. O segundo estudo foi desenvolvido, de setembro de 2012 a junho de 2015, através de três ciclos de planificação-ação-reflexão com TS de rua e uma equipa de outreach, em Coimbra, tendo envolvido 28 participantes formais. Através de entrevistas e da reinterpretação conjunta dos resultados das mesmas, verificámos a existência de preocupações comuns, designadamente no que se refere à saúde e segurança ocupacionais, mas pouca coesão entre as TS. As iniciativas de conscientização, desenvolvidas no âmbito da IAP, providenciaram um sentido de controlo, mas a transformação da subjetividade em ação coletiva continua a ser premente. Por tal, propomos um modelo de intervenção socioeducativa com TS, segundo uma abordagem centrada na relação e na prática reflexiva, através do recurso a métodos e à filosofia da IAP. Propomos, ainda, algumas recomendações em torno da educação/formação dos profissionais de proximidade, das/os TS e, a um nível macro, iniciativas educativas centrada na desconstrução social do género.

Youth Expression with Video Surveillance Technology

This qualitative study examines five young Afro-Franco Caribbean males in the Diaspora and their experiences with systems of technology as a tool of oppression and liberation. The study utilized interpretive biography and participatory video research to examine the issues of identity, power/control, surveillance technology, love and freedom. The study made use of a number of data collection methods including interviews, round table discussions, and personal narratives. A hermeneutic theoretical framework is employed to develop an objective view of the problems facing Afro-Franco Caribbean males in the schools and community. The purpose of the study is to provide an environment and new media technology that Afro-Franco Caribbean males can use to engage and discuss their views on issues mentioned above and to ultimately develop a video project to share with the community. Moreover, the study sought to examine an epistemological approach (Creolization) that young black males, particularly Afro-Franco-Caribbean males, might use to communicate, document, and share their everyday experiences in the Diaspora. The findings in the study reveal that the participants are experiencing: (a) a lack of community involvement in the urban space they currently reside, (b) frustration with the perspective of their home country, Haiti, that is commonly shown in mainstream media, and (c) ridicule, shame, and violence in the spaces (school and community) that should be safe. The study provides the community (both local and scholarly) with an opportunity to hear the voices and concerns of youth in the urban space. In addition the study suggests a need for schools to create a critical pedagogical curriculum in which power can be democratically shared.

Robin Hood: de leyenda a mito cultural

[es] A lo largo de la historia, los villanos, ya sean reales o imaginarios, han tenido funciones útiles para la sociedad y a menudo han actuado como «válvulas de seguridad» para aliviar las presiones sociales. Esta es probablemente la razón por la que muchos «villanos» han sido definidos como «bandidos sociales», término utilizado originalmente por Eric Hobsbawm para referirse a un forajido quizás mejor ejemplificado por el personaje de Robin Hood en la tradición inglesa. Este bandido social, admirado por todos y en todas partes, que roba a los ricos y reparte el botín entre los pobres, actúa al margen de la ley y personifica asimismo la resistencia a la opresión social y una serie de virtudes más personales. En este artículo, vamos a analizar la forma en que el bandido inglés se ha convertido en un héroe mítico más que legendario. De hecho, el personaje de Robin Hood ha trascendido el tiempo y la cultura, y se ha convertido en el arquetipo del proscrito benevolente, un héroe popular nacido de las frustraciones de una clase inferior que considera que no hay leyes ni reglas en una sociedad injusta, sino la voluntad y el capricho de quien detenta el poder. [en] Throughout history, villains -whether real or imaginary- have served useful functions, especially those of “safety valves” for society. This is probably why many “villains” have been defined as “social bandits”, a term originally used by Eric Hobsbawm to refer to a type best exemplified in the Anglo-Saxon tradition by Robin Hood. This true and widely admired social bandit who steals from the rich and gives to the poor operates outside the law but at the same time personifies both group resistance to oppression and a number of more personal virtues. In this paper, we shall analyse the way in which the English bandit has become a mythical rather than a legendary hero. Indeed, the Robin Hood figure has transcended time and culture, and has become the archetype of the benevolent outlaw, a folk hero born of the frustrations of an underclass that sees the law as the will and whim of the privileged classes above them.

O teatro do oprimido e sua contribuição na formação da criança com transtorno do déficit de atenção com hiperatividade

This research investigates and reports the contributions of the Theatre of the Oppressed and its techniques as a therapeutic resource in the education of children with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity. In the first chapter organize one studying theoretical seeking to conceptualize and understand the Learning, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, seeking to better understand the behavior and the behavior of children with ADHD. Researching on the symptoms, causes and effects of this syndrome. Trace a relationship between familyschool- specialists in an attempt to prove the importance of family support in the teachinglearning process and treatment of these children. In the second chapter start conceptualizing theater, the relationship between work-Theatre-Education Therapy, explain the difference between the theatrical stage and the therapeutic stage. Account the importance of theater games in the classroom and its contribution to social and educational training of the child. Justify the choice of the Theatre of the Oppressed recognizing him as the primary method for this research, because it is a set of exercises, games and techniques that help the child regain equilibrium relations, developing autonomy, encourages creativity and spontaneity, freeing them from their oppression. Besides being an efficient transformation behavior, improving behavior, allowing the inclusion of children in society. It is verified the effectiveness of the method and techniques in their work with children Municipal School Professor. Antonio Severiano in Natal / RN, allowing these children develop body awareness, working senses, thought, memory, inhibition, teaching to expose your point of view, understand and deal with their emotions, respecting its limits and develop their motor and cognitive skills

Intercultural exodus

This essay studies the origin and globalization of the Rastafarian movement. Poverty and disenchantment in the inner cities of Kingston gave way in the early 1930's to the black power movement through Marcus Garvey's "Back to Africa" crusade, which eventually led to the appearance of the Rastafarian movement, a "messianic religious and political movement". In this essay, I propose to analyze when, how and why the Rastafarian movement began, its doctrines and the vehicles which were used for its cultural globalization, in other words, the diffusion of the Rastafarian´s beliefs, meanings, ideals and culture outside the borders of Jamaica. My aim is to offer a better understanding of the Rastafarian movement (commonly only associated with the consumption of drugs), so it is important to analyze this study in a cultural point of view. Some authors1 define culture as the way of life that is influenced by behavior, knowledge, and beliefs.The lack of information about a certain culture may lead to the perception that a specific culture is wrong or inferior to ours and this normally causes conflict between individuals. Appreciating and accepting cultural diversity is an ability which helps to communicate effectively in an international way, therefore, leading to the globalization of a certain culture, in this case, of the Rastafarian cultural movement. There is a significant variation within the Rastafarian movement and no formal organization; for example, some Rastafarians see it more as a way of life than a religion, but uniting the diverse movements is the belief in the divinity and/or messiahship of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, the influence of Jamaican culture, the resistance to oppression, and the pride in African heritage.

Napalm and After: The Politics of Grace Paley's Short Fiction

Comparatively few contemporary writers have accompanied American POWs home from Hanoi, been arrested on the White House Lawn, or been dragged off in shackles to serve time in the Greenwich Village Women's House of Detention. Paley's pacifist, socialist politics are also deeply rooted in a family past where memories were still fresh of Tsarist oppression - one uncle shot dead carrying the red flag, and parents who reached America only because the Tsar had a son and amnestied all political prisoners under the age of twenty-one. At this point, Paley's father (imprisoned in Archangel) and her mother (in exile) took their chances (and all their surviving relatives) and very sensibly ran for their lives. Her grandmother recalled family arguments around the table between Paley's father (Socialist), Uncle Grisha (Communist), Aunt Luba (Zionist), and Aunt Mira (also Communist). Paley's own street-wise adolescence involved the usual teenage gang fights, between adherents of the Third and Fourth Internationals. This article is copyright MHRA 2001, and is included in this repository with permission.

Le mariage forcé de femmes immigrantes au Québec

Cette thèse a pour objet de comprendre la question du mariage forcé vécu par des femmes immigrantes vivant au Québec et, les réponses politiques, législatives et sociales qu’on y apporte. De façon plus spécifique, il s’agit de mettre à jour la diversité des situations et des significations que recouvre la notion de mariage forcé pour tenter d’en dégager des éléments de définition et de compréhension. La thèse vise également à identifier les conséquences spécifiques qui découlent d’un mariage forcé pour les femmes immigrantes vivant au Québec, et enfin, d’analyser les réponses politiques, législatives et sociales visant le mariage forcé au Canada et au Québec afin de prévenir, dépister et d’en protéger ses victimes en contexte interculturel. S’appuyant sur un corpus de dix entrevues avec des femmes immigrantes vivant, ayant vécu ou menacées d’un mariage forcé et de dix-huit informateurs clés intervenant auprès d’elles et provenant de différents milieux de pratique (police, justice, santé services sociaux et communautaires), une analyse intersectionnelle a permis de révéler toute la complexité des mariages forcés due notamment aux interrelations entre des systèmes d’oppression et des vulnérabilités multiples. La recension des écrits et nos résultats indiquent que certains éléments caractérisent les mariages forcés. Premièrement, la préservation de l’honneur patriarcal qui problématise et contrôle le comportement des femmes en ce qui à trait notamment à leur vie sexuelle, mais aussi sociale. Deuxièmement, le fait que le mariage forcé soit un moyen de poursuivre des intérêts plus souvent collectifs qu’individuels. Dimension collective qui devra nécessairement être prise en considération lors des solutions à apporter à cette problématique. Troisièmement, le rôle des femmes (mères, belles-mères et autres femmes de la communauté culturelle d’appartenance) dans l’arrangement des mariages, mais également dans la surveillance et le contrôle de tous les faits et gestes des autres femmes. i Quatrièmement, le potentiel d’agresseurs multiples, y compris la communauté elle-même, dans les actes de violence commis avant, pendant et, le cas échéant, après le mariage. Une autre dimension qui devra elle aussi être prise en compte lors de l’inter- vention. Cinquièmement, le potentiel d’exploitation sexuelle (viol conjugal, grossesses forcées), physique (mauvais traitements, blessures), psychologique (pressions, manipulations) ou encore économique (travail forcé, privation d’autonomie financière). L’ensemble de ces résultats a permis de cerner certains besoins liés à l’intervention, en terme de prévention, de dépistage et de protection des victimes de mariage forcé.

Prostituição masculina em Belo Horizonte : evidências da questão social

Este artigo resulta de pesquisa com homens que praticam a prostituição, também conhecidos como garotos de programa, em Belo Horizonte. Estudos sobre o tema e a utilização de entrevistas com enfoque qualitativo contribuíram para a compreensão desta dinâmica societária presente nos diversos territórios e espaços da vida social. A partir das entrevistas foi possível conhecer de forma aproximativa como vivem e sobrevivem estes indivíduos, que possuem histórias, atribuem significados às suas vidas e criam cotidianamente formas de sobrevivência num cenário marcado por preconceito, estigma, discriminação, opressão, exploração e violência. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT