Resistance Struggle Against Nazis Commemorative Medal

Obverse: The symbol of the World Assembly to Commemorate Jewish Resistance and Combat Against Nazis. Man and woman wearing a stylized Star of David. Reverse: Symbol of the State of Israel, inscription. Emblem of 35 years of the state of Israel.

Reengaging, reenacting and reenvisaging discourses of disaster through public space performance: Austerity, art, and the art of protest

This paper offers a mediation on disaster, recovery, resilience, and restoration of balance, in both a material and a metaphorical sense, when ‘disaster’ befalls not the body politic of the nation but the body personal. In the past few decades, of course, artists, activists and scholars have deliberately tried to avoid describing personal, physical and phenomenological experiences of the disabled body in terms of difficulty and disaster. This has been part of a political move, from a medical model, in which disability, disease and illness are positioned as personal catastrophes, to a social model, in which disability is positioned as a social construct that comes from systems, institutions and infrastructure designed to exclude different bodies. It is a move that is responsible for a certain discomfort people with disabilities, and artists with disabilities, today feel towards performances that deploy disability as a metaphor for disaster, from Hijikata, to Theatre Hora. In the past five years, though, this particular discourse has begun rising again, particularly as people with disabilities fact their own anything but natural disasters as a result of the austerity measures now widespread across the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. Measures that threaten people’s ability to live, and take part in social and institutional life, in any meaningful way. Measures that, as artist Katherine Araniello notes, also bring additional difficulty, danger, and potential for disaster as they ripple outwards across the tides of familial ties, threatening family, friends, and careers who become bound up in the struggle to do more with less. In this paper, I consider how people with disabilities use performance, particularly public space interventionalist performance, to reengage, renact and reenvisage the discourse of national, economic, environmental or other forms of disaster, the need for austerity, the need to avoid providing people with support for desires and interests as well as basic daily needs, particularly when fraud and corruption is so right, and other such ideas that have become an all too unpleasant reality for many people. Performances, for instance, like Liz Crow’s Bedding Out, where she invited people into her bed – for people with disabilities a symbolic space, which necessarily becomes more a public living room restaurant, office and so forth than a private space when poor mobility means they spend much time it in – to talk about their lives, their difficulties, and dealing with austerity. Or, for instance, like the Bolshy Divas, who mimic public and political policy, reports and advertising paranoia to undermine their discourses about austerity. I examine the effects, politics and ethics of such interventions, including examination of the comparative effect of highly bodied interventions (like Crow’s) and highly disembodied interventions (like the Bolshy Diva’s) in discourses of difficulty, disaster and austerity on a range of target spectator communities.

The struggle for protection of environmental refugees: who's responsibility? Discourses from the United Nations and Non-governmental organizations

This thesis identifies, examines and problematizes some of the discourses that have so far come to light on the issue of protection for environmental refugees. By analyzing the discourses produced by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and two non-governmental organizations - the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Equity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh (EquityBD), I examine the struggling discourses that have emerged about how protection for environmental refugees has been interpreted. To do this, I rely on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's theory and method of discourse analysis. The results show that responsibilization is the main point of struggle in the discussions on the protection of environmental refugees. As a floating signifier, it was utilized by the discourses produced by the UNCHR and the selected NGOs in contingent ways and with different political objectives. The UNHCR discourse responsibilized both the environmental refugees for their own protection and the individual states. The EJF and EquityBD, by contrast, allocated responsibility for the protection of environmental refugees to the international community. These contingent understandings of responsibilization necessitated different justifications. While the EJF discourse relied on humanitarianism for the assistance of environmental refugees, the EquityBD discourse constructed a rights based, more permanent solution. The humanitarian based discourse of the EJF was found to be inextricably linked with the neoliberal discourse produced by the UNHCR. Both these discourses encouraged environmental refugees to stay in their homelands, undermining the politics of protection. Another way in which protection was undermined was by UNHCR's discourse on securitization. In this context, climate change induced displacement became threat to developed countries, the global economy and transnational classes. The struggling discourses about who/what has been allocated responsibility for the protection of environmental refugees also meant that identities of the displaced be constructed in specific ways. While the UNHCR discourse constructed as voluntary migrants and predators, the EJF and EquityBD discourses portrayed them as victims. However, even though the EJF discourse constructed them as victims, their reliance on humanitarianism could also be interpreted as a way of giving the environmental refugee a predator like identity. These discourses on responsibilization and identity formation clashed with each other in the aim of achieving a hegemonic position in discussions and debates about the protection of environmental refugees.

The struggle for protection of environmental refugees: who's responsibility? Discourses from the United Nations and Non-governmental organizations

This thesis identifies, examines and problematizes some of the discourses that have so far come to light on the issue of protection for environmental refugees. By analyzing the discourses produced by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and two non-governmental organizations - the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Equity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh (EquityBD), I examine the struggling discourses that have emerged about how protection for environmental refugees has been interpreted. To do this, I rely on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's theory and method of discourse analysis. The results show that responsibilization is the main point of struggle in the discussions on the protection of environmental refugees. As a floating signifier, it was utilized by the discourses produced by the UNCHR and the selected NGOs in contingent ways and with different political objectives. The UNHCR discourse responsibilized both the environmental refugees for their own protection and the individual states. The EJF and EquityBD, by contrast, allocated responsibility for the protection of environmental refugees to the international community. These contingent understandings of responsibilization necessitated different justifications. While the EJF discourse relied on humanitarianism for the assistance of environmental refugees, the EquityBD discourse constructed a rights based, more permanent solution. The humanitarian based discourse of the EJF was found to be inextricably linked with the neoliberal discourse produced by the UNHCR. Both these discourses encouraged environmental refugees to stay in their homelands, undermining the politics of protection. Another way in which protection was undermined was by UNHCR's discourse on securitization. In this context, climate change induced displacement became threat to developed countries, the global economy and transnational classes. The struggling discourses about who/what has been allocated responsibility for the protection of environmental refugees also meant that identities of the displaced be constructed in specific ways. While the UNHCR discourse constructed as voluntary migrants and predators, the EJF and EquityBD discourses portrayed them as victims. However, even though the EJF discourse constructed them as victims, their reliance on humanitarianism could also be interpreted as a way of giving the environmental refugee a predator like identity. These discourses on responsibilization and identity formation clashed with each other in the aim of achieving a hegemonic position in discussions and debates about the protection of environmental refugees.

Políticas de acão afirmativa, novo ingrediente na luta pela democratização do ensino superior: a experiência da Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto

Desde longa data, o ensino superior brasileiro vem sendo alvo de muita polêmica e questionamentos por causa, principalmente, da questão da sua democratização. A origem tardia da universidade brasileira, associada ao caráter elitista, faz com que este nível de escolarização esteja sendo questionado sempre pela incapacidade de absorver toda a demanda existente. Visando a superação dessa situação, lutas históricas foram e vêm sendo travadas, importantes intelectuais, o movimento estudantil, as associações de docentes e de técnicos em educação, cada um a seu modo, vem cobrando a abertura da universidade pública a setores da sociedade até então dela excluídos. Neste ínterim, tem sido importante a contribuição dos movimentos sociais negros que introduziram nesse debate a exigência de políticas de ação afirmativa (PAA), com vista à inclusão desse segmento no ensino superior público. Portanto a PAA figura como um novo ingrediente na luta pela democratização do ensino superior. A reivindicação pelas ações afirmativas ganhou espaço e relevância, ao ponto de ser reconhecida pelo governo e traduzida em posicionamento favorável do Brasil na Conferência de Durban de 2001. A partir de então, o debate aprofundou no país. Como resultado, diversas instituições de ensino superior (IES), por força de leis ou motivadas por decisões de seus conselhos superiores, adotam alguma modalidade de política de ação afirmativa: cota, reserva de vaga, bônus, etc. Nesse contexto, a Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, no ano de 2008, por meio do seu Conselho de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão (CEPE), decidiu assegurar que30% das vagas, em cada um dos seus cursos de graduação, deveriam ser ocupadas por estudantes egressos de escolas públicas. A Política de Ação Afirmativa da UFOP é, portanto,o objeto de estudo dessa dissertação, que procurou identificar se tal medida pode ser considerada uma contribuição para o processo de democratização do ensino superior. A pesquisa realizada analisou o perfil socioeconômico e cultural e a trajetória acadêmica de estudantes que ingressaram na UFOP no ano de 2009, considerando-se a sua condição de participante ou não da PAA. A constatação foi a de que, ainda que modestamente e a despeito da necessidade de ajustes que a mesma possa requerer, o perfil dos estudantes da UFOP vem se alterando: pessoas oriundas de segmentos antes pouco representados estão se beneficiando com a ampliação dos cursos de graduação da instituição

Habitação social e fundo público no contexto de crise do capital

Compreender o financiamento da habitação social requer identificar as mediações necessárias para sua problematização crítica. Orientado pelo método marxista, o estudo utiliza como metodologia a pesquisa bibliográfica, de documentos legais e o estudo das peças orçamentárias. A produção do espaço no capitalismo é produto de relações sociais voltadas a exploração e a acumulação capitalista. Por ser objeto da luta de classes, o Estado responde as necessidades habitacionais dos trabalhadores por meio de políticas urbanas fragmentadas e desfinanciadas, abertas as investida do mercado. A institucionalização do arcabouço legal para a habitação, como a conquista do Fundo Nacional de Habitação de Interesse Social - FNHIS não representou mudanças efetivas sobre as condições de moradia nas cidades. Marcado pelo desfinanciamento (os recursos corresponderam a 1,3% do orçamento do Ministério das Cidades, em 2012) e pela baixa envergadura dos programas sob sua responsabilidade (recursos para Urbanização de Assentamentos Precários e Provisão Habitacional ficaram em R$ 4,7 bilhões, nos anos estudados), o FNHIS é esvaziado no seu sentido político de satisfazer as necessidades habitacionais da população. Em 2009, é criado o Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida - PMCMV. Há o incremento do Estado como indutor da macroeconomia fortalecedora da reestruturação do mercado imobiliário e das medidas para minimizar os efeitos da crise econômica mundial, pondo em marcha o social-liberalismo. Foram destinados R$ 16 bilhões de 2009 a 2012, com produção de 2 milhões de unidades habitacionais pelo PMCMV. Contudo, pelo caráter privilegiador do produtor privado, o PMCMV fez com que o mercado imobiliário continuasse a realizar a punção de parte de fundo público no desenvolvimento de projetos que fortalecem a periferização, o bloqueio a cidade para os trabalhadores e a redução a responsabilidade do Estado sob a política de habitação social como direito humano.

O retorno de trabalhadores demitidos de uma empresa pública na década de 1990: contradições, avanços e retrocessos

Essa dissertação de mestrado apresenta um estudo com os trabalhadores demitidos de uma Empresa Pública, na década de 1990, por força da implementação de medidas neoliberais no Brasil. Apesar dos inúmeros impactos gerados a esses trabalhadores, após esta decisão do Estado, a proposta é analisar os impactos objetivos, sofridos pelos trabalhadores, originários da perda repentina de um contrato de trabalho formal e consequentemente, da perda de salários diretos, de salários indiretos, com a ausência de políticas sociais corporativas, e de direitos garantidos enquanto trabalhadores protegidos. As estratégias de sobrevivência adotadas por estes trabalhadores foram as mais variadas, porém, a grande maioria teve o trabalho por conta própria como a principal alternativa de reprodução social, saindo completamente do ramo de produção em que trabalhavam. Insatisfeitos com a demissão, esse grupo de trabalhadores lutou para retornar ao quadro de empregados da Corporação. Após cerca de uma década e meia, os trabalhadores conquistaram o direito de retornar e ser admitido pela Empresa V, uma das que compõem a Corporação, tendo em vista a extinção daquelas a que pertenciam. Com essa decisão, os trabalhadores e suas famílias estavam novamente assegurados pelas políticas corporativas e com novas possibilidades. No entanto, a adequação aos novos requisitos da Empresa V, fez com que alguns indivíduos não atendessem ao novo perfil de trabalhador exigido pela instituição e pelo mercado de trabalho, devido à idade e ao tipo de qualificação. Assim, ao mesmo tempo em que o retorno lhes trouxe novas possibilidades, com o acesso a um salário mensal e políticas empresariais de qualidade, por outro lado, também trouxe grandes desafios para alguns trabalhadores, devido a sua dificuldade de inserção nos processos de trabalho e nas normas da empresa. Conclui-se então, que o retorno à Corporação, após mais de uma década de luta, foi para esse grupo de trabalhadores, um processo contraditório, pois, ao mesmo tempo em que tiveram diversos direitos assegurados, alguns não conseguiram desenvolver suas atividades nos moldes do atual modo de produção.

Policy as a struggle for meaning: disentangling knowledge translation across international health contexts

Over the last decade, research in medical science has focused on knowledge translation and diffusion of best practices to enable improved health outcomes. However, there has been less attention given to the role of policy in influencing the translation of best practice across different national contexts. This paper argues that the underlying set of public discourses of healthcare policy significantly influences its development with implications for the dissemination of best practices. Our research uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the policy discourses surrounding the treatment of stroke across Canada and the U.K. It focuses in specific on how concepts of knowledge translation, user empowerment, and service innovation construct different accounts of the health service in the two countries. These findings provide an important yet overlooked starting point for understanding the role of policy development in knowledge transfer and the translation of science into health practice. © 2011 Operational Research Society. All rights reserved.

Singing Through Struggle: Music as a Mode of Cultural Exchange in African American Border City Churches After Emancipation, 1862-1890

This project investigates how religious music, invested with symbolic and cultural meaning, provided African Americans in border city churches with a way to negotiate conflict, assert individual values, and establish a collective identity in the post- emancipation era. In order to focus on the encounter between former slaves and free Blacks, the dissertation examines black churches that received large numbers of southern migrants during and after the Civil War. Primarily a work of history, the study also employs insights and conceptual frameworks from other disciplines including anthropology and ritual studies, African American studies, aesthetic theory, and musicology. It is a work of historical reconstruction in the tradition of scholarship that some have called "lived religion." Chapter 1 introduces the dissertation topic and explains how it contributes to scholarship. Chapter 2 examines social and religious conditions African Americans faced in Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA, and Washington, DC to show why the Black Church played a key role in African Americans' adjustment to post-emancipation life. Chapter 3 compares religious slave music and free black church music to identify differences and continuities between them, as well as their functions in religious settings. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 present case studies on Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Baltimore), Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia), and St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church (Washington, DC), respectively. Informed by fresh archival materials, the dissertation shows how each congregation used its musical life to uphold values like education and community, to come to terms with a shared experience, and to confront or avert authority when cultural priorities were threatened. By arguing over musical choices or performance practices, or agreeing on mutually appealing musical forms like the gospel songs of the Sunday school movement, African Americans forged lively faith communities and distinctive cultures in otherwise adverse environments. The study concludes that religious music was a crucial form of African American discourse and expression in the post-emancipation era. In the Black Church, it nurtured an atmosphere of exchange, gave structure and voice to conflict, helped create a public sphere, and upheld the values of black people.

Why do we struggle when we try to learn a language as adults?

Whereas the acquisition of a first language is successful for normally developing individuals, native-like attainment in a language learnt as adults is not guaranteed. As far as grammar is concerned, the area that typically shows up as more problematic is that of Morphology, and more specifically, that part of Morphology related to the specific ways languages have to indicate notions like temporal location (e.g. English –-ed for past tense She walked) or person agreement (e.g. English –s for the third person singular She sings). Language students and teachers are familiar with exclamations like “Oh, after so many years I still have problems with the past tenses in Spanish!” or “I cannot cope with the masculine/feminine thing in French!” In this talk I will present two different accounts that are currently debated in the field of Second Language Acquisition about why it is not enough to memorize those “blessed endings” for us to master their use in our speech production. I will also introduce the latest study I have conducted in collaboration with colleagues, with the aim of evaluating the explanatory power of the hypotheses debated in current literature. [From the Author]

Playhouse creatures: the struggle towards virtuosity

The conflation of the actress and the whore is as old as time, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, continues to excite interest from academics, writers and audiences. April de Angelis’ Playhouse Creatures was inspired by Elizabeth Howe’s seminal The First English Actresses (1992), which was the first academic reading of the Restoration actress, since the 1950’s. Howe saw the first English actresses as victims of the Restoration male gaze: sexually displayed and exploited. In this paper Howe’s reading and de Angelis’s realisation will be examined alongside archival research and the help of the cast of this year’s production of Playhouse Creatures in order to discover another story, the development of the actress as virtuoso. [From the Author]

State power matters: power, the state and political struggle in the post-war American novel

This article is concerned with resituating the state at the centre of the analytical stage and, concomitantly, with drawing attention to the dangers of losing sight of the state as a locus of power. It seeks to uncover the relationship between two related lines of critical inquiry: Marxist and Foucauldian theories of the state; and the attempts by three postwar American novelist (Ken Kesey, William Burroughs and E.L. Doctorow) to determine the nature and extent of this power and to consider under what conditions political struggle might be possible. It argues that such a move is needed because recent critical analysis has been too preoccupied by corporeal micropolitics and global macropolitics, and that the postwar American novel can help us in this move because it is centrally concerned with the repressive potentiality of the US state. It maintains that the resuscitation of Marxist state theories in early 1970s and a debate between Poulantzas and Foucault is intriguingly foreshadowed and even critiqued by these novels. Consequently, it concludes that these novels constitute an unrecognized pre-history of what would become one of the key intellectual debates of the late twentieth century: an engagement between Marxist and post-structuralist conceptions of the power and resistance.