The Politics of Pulp Investment and the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST)

The Politics of Pulp Investment and the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) The paper industry has been moving more heavily to the global South at the beginning of the 21st century. In a number of cases the rural populations of the global South have engaged in increasingly important resistance in their scuffle with the large-scale tree plantation-relying pulp investment model. The resistance had generally not yet managed to slow down Southern industrial tree plantation expansion until 2004. After all, even the MST, perhaps the strongest of the Southern movements, has limited power in comparison to the corporations pushing for plantation expansion. This thesis shows how, even against these odds, depending on the mechanisms of contention and case-specific conflict dynamics, in some cases the movements have managed to slow and even reverse plantation expansion. The thesis is based on extensive field research in the Brazilian countryside. It outlines a new theory of contentious agency promotion, emphasizing its importance in the shaping of corporate resource exploitation. The thesis includes a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of resistance influence on the economic outcomes of all (14) Brazilian large-scale pulp projects between 2004-2008. The central hypothesis of the thesis is that corporate resource exploitation can be slowed down more effectively and likely when the resistance is based on contentious agency. Contentious agency is created by the concatenation of five mutually supporting mechanisms of contention: organizing and politicizing a social movement; heterodox framing of pulp projects; protesting; networking; and embedding whilst maintaining autonomy. The findings suggest that contentious agency can slow or even reverse the expansion of industrial plantations, whereas when contentious agency promotion was inactive, fast or even unchecked plantation expansion was always the outcome. The rule applied to all the assessed 14 pulp conflict cases. The hypothesis gained strong support even in situations where corporate agency promotion was simultaneously active. In previous studies on social movements, there has been a lack of contributions that help us understand the causal mechanisms of contention influencing economic outcomes. The thesis answers to the call by merging a Polanyian analysis of the political economy with the Dynamics of Contention research program and making a case for the impact of contentious agency on capital accumulation. The research concludes that an efficient social movement can utilize mechanisms of contention to promote the potential of activism among its members and influence investment outcomes. Protesting, for example via pioneering land occupations, seemed to be particularly important. Until now, there has been no comprehensive theory on when and how contentious agency can slow down or reverse the expansion of corporate resource exploitation. The original contribution of this research is to provide such a theory, and utilize it to offer an extensive explanation on the conflicts over pulp investment in Brazil, the globalization of the paper industry, and slowing of industrial plantation expansion in the global South.

Analysis of the legislative framework in the Brazilian policymaking process

Analisa os aspectos da estrutura política brasileira que contribuem para falhas nos processos decisórios e ineficácia nos resultados finais de políticas de governo, com ênfase nos problemas institucionais do poder legislativo. Aborda os seguintes tópicos: fragmentação do sistema partidário, infidelidade partidária, modelo de federalismo, preenchimento de cargos públicos, larga utilização de medidas provisórias, disfunções do processo legislativo.

Length-weight relationship of small pelagic fish species of the southeast and South Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone

The length-weight relationship (LWR) parameters of 23 small pelagic fish species (belonging to 13 families) from the south-southeast Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone in 1996 and 1997 are presented. The b values varied between 2.72 and 3.53. The samples for this study were collected during hydroacoustic surveys covering an area of 700 000 square km.

Length-weight relationships of marine fishes from the central Brazilian coast

Parameters of the length-weight relationship are presented for 85 fish species from the marine and estuarine regions of the central Brazilian coast (latitude 13° to 23° S). Three different methods were used. A non-linear iterative process using the quasi-Newton algorithm yielded a better fit for all data sets analyzed. The length-weight allometry coefficient b estimated from standard length data tended to be lower than from total length data. The difference between these estimates was significant for some species.

Life cycle and biological parameters of several Brazilian Amazon fish species

This contribution summarizes knowledge on the biology (population dynamics, reproduction, ecology) of 25 fish species from the Lower Amazon, Brazil, based on data from a Brazilian-German field project (IARA) and a review of the literature.

Chartered Trawling on the Brazilian Slope

Commercial trawling on the Atlantic slope areas off Brazil intensified in the late 1990’s owing to the expansion of coastal trawling areas and the operations of a chartered foreign fleet. Between 2000 and 2003, 59 fishing trips conducted by 10 chartered trawlers were intensely monitored by observers and satellite vessel monitoring systems, totaling 9,069 tows and 30,085.2 trawling hours. Fishing operations occurred in northern, northeastern, southeastern, and southern sectors of the Brazilian coast in 60–1,173 m depths. Total retained and processed catch were 8,074.6 t and 6,479.8 t, respectively. Argentine hake, Merluccius hubbsi; and Argentine shortfin squid, Illex argentinus, were the primary species taken contributing to 41.1% and 28.6% of the overall catch, respectively. The silver John dory, Zenopsis conchifera; monkfish, Lophius gastrophysus; Brazilian codling, Urophycis mystacea; and the black grouper, Epinephelus nigritus, composed 23% of total processed catch, and the remaining 7.2% was composed of deep-sea shrimps (family Aristeidae) and other teleosts and elasmobranches. The occupation of slope areas included an early exploratory phase, followed by directed phases of the upper slope (300–500 m), aiming principally at the Argentine hake, and the lower slope (>700 m), targeting valuable concentrations of deep-sea aristeid shrimps. The role of chartering for slope trawling development was critically addressed. We conclude that chartered vessels were efficient explorers and were particularly important in areas not available to the technologically limited national fleet. Because the charters were market-oriented and had elevated profit demands, however, those vessels quickly turned from exploration to exploitation and competed with national trawlers in shallower areas and produced significant impacts on Brazil’s modest deep-sea resources.

Telenovela, folhetim eletrônico: tópicos para estudo da teleficção

O romance-folhetim, gênero que invadiu os rodapés dos jornais no século XIX e constituiu as bases de grandes clássicos da literatura, traz consigo marcas do melodrama, levando-o a ultrapassar os limites temporais do seu surgimento e se integrar aos recursos midiáticos e à performance teatral para dar origem a tramas que hoje se desenrolam diariamente na tela da televisão de milhares de telespectadores durante meses, em especial na América Latina. O romance-folhetim se perpetua através das telenovelas, principal representante da teleficção, que possui uma linguagem narrativa particular, mantendo as matrizes folhetinescas, e impondo-se como uma nova modalidade textual dentro do universo do entretenimento e da literatura industrial. Exemplo disso é a narrativa de Dancin days (1978), elencada como corpus para o estudo apresentado por essa dissertação, a fim de demonstrar a linha tênue que une a telenovela ao romance-folhetim, constituindo este uma matriz para as narrativas audiovisuais

Age determination and growth of the night shark (Carcharhinus signatus) off the northeastern Brazilian coast

Age and growth of the night shark (Carcharhinus signatus) from areas off northeastern Brazil were determined from 317 unstained vertebral sections of 182 males (113–215 cm total length [TL]), 132 females (111.5–234.9 cm) and three individuals of unknown sex (169–242 cm). Although marginal increment (MI) analysis suggests that band formation occurs in the third and fourth trimesters in juveniles, it was inconclusive for adults. Thus, it was assumed that one band is formed annually. Births that occur over a protracted period may be the most important source of bias in MI analysis. An estimated average percent error of 2.4% was found in readings for individuals between two and seventeen years. The von Bertalanffy growth function (VBGF) showed no significant differences between sexes, and the model derived from back-calculated mean length at age best represented growth for the species (L∞=270 cm, K=0.11/yr, t0=–2.71 yr) when compared to the observed mean lengths at age and the Fabens’ method. Length-frequency analysis on 1055 specimens (93–260 cm) was used to verify age determination. Back-calculated size at birth was 66.8 cm and maturity was reached at 180–190 cm (age 8) for males and 200–205 cm (age ten) for females. Age composition, estimated from an age-length key, indicated that juveniles predominate in commercial catches, representing 74.3% of the catch. A growth rate of 25.4 cm/yr was estimated from birth to the first band (i.e. juveniles grow 38% of their birth length during the first year), and a growth rate of 8.55 cm/yr was estimated for eight- to ten-year-old adults.

Prevalence of Asthma Symptoms and Associated Factors in Schoolchildren from Brazilian Amazon Islands

Objectives. To determine the prevalence of asthma symptoms among schoolchildren living on two different Brazilian Amazon islands and to identify the risk factors related to this condition. Methods. A cross-sectional study of 400 schoolchildren (5-8 years old) using written questionnaires produced by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, a skin prick test (allergic sensitization), and a stool examination (for helminthic infection). Nonparametric tests were carried out, and the risk factors were identified by logistic regression. Results. the prevalence of active asthma symptoms was markedly higher in children living on Outeiro Island (OI) than those living on Comb Island (CBI) (30.5% and 16.5%, respectively). the logistic regression identified several risk factors of asthma symptoms on CBI: parental history of asthma, night coughing in the past year, and currently have a cat. On OI, the major risk factors were parental history of asthma, personal history of eczema, having two or more older siblings, and night coughing in the past year. the risk factors in common on both the islands were night coughing in the past year and parental history of asthma. Conclusions. the prevalence of asthma symptoms was higher in those with a lifestyle closer to that observed in urban areas (i.e., better sanitation and hygiene), reinforcing the protective effect of a rural environment. Different risk factors were associated with asthma symptoms in schoolchildren living on OI and on CBI. This fact may reflect the environmental individuality and particularities of each island.

Bolsa Familia Program and school enrolment: An analysis of the 2010 Brazilian demographic census

The Bolsa Família Program goal is to promote social development and poverty reduction, through the direct transfer of conditional cash, in association with other social programs. This study aims to analyze whether Bolsa Família had an association with children’s school attendance, which is one of the educational conditions of the program. Our main hypothesis is that children living in households receiving Bolsa Família had greater chances of attending school. Data from the Ministry of Social Development and Combating Famine indicated that children living in households with Bolsa Família had greater school enrolment levels. By using data from the 2010 Demographic Census, collected by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), some descriptive analyzes and binary logistic regression models were performed for different thresholds of household per capita income. These estimates were made by comparing children who lived in households receiving Bolsa Família to those children not receiving the program. We took into consideration characteristics about the household, mothers, and children. The results were clustered by the municipality of residence of the child. In all income thresholds, children benefi ting from Bolsa Família were more likely to be enrolled in school, compared to children not receiving the benefi t.