Como vão se formando os professores em física e química: embates entre o ser, o ter e o fazer na formação de licenciandos da UFRN sob a perspectiva da teoria das representações sociais

The purpose of this work is to approach and understand the Social Representations (SR) (MOSCOVICI, 2003) about Physics and Chemistry from people who are major in these courses, as well as their Social Representations about teaching . We took as principle that approaching these representations it would be possible to relate their symbolic contents, in order to show how people who are following the first segments of bachelor degree courses in Physics and Chemistry become teachers, taking into account a psychosocial view. Two source of data was used during this research: Free-association Technique FA (ABRIC, 1994); and Multiple Classification Procedure (MCP) (ROAZZI, 1995). The analytical treatment of the collected data from FA was done according to the proposition of Grize, Vergés and Silem (1987 apud ABRIC, 1994, p. 66). MCP data were analyzed through MSA (Multidimensional Scalogram Analysis) and SSA (Singular Spectrum Analysis) methods associated with the Facet Theory (BILSKY, 2003). The discourses of MCP discussing groups at the moment of explanations were studied by Content Analysis as it was proposed by Bardin (1977) and Franco (2005). Indicative of an approach to the relations with knowledge (CHARLOT, 2000), the connections which aroused from the analyses showed that the group of future majors in Physics thought that this scientific field was based on a rationalist conception, influencing the idealization sense of the phenomena to be explained by Physics. Thus, Physics as school content started to require the student of the fundamental and high school to think abstractly as a cognitive skill of learning. The identifying elements observed in the relations between SR about Physics and Teaching aroused from the antagonism between future majors and their teacher, as well as from the speculation between their fundamental and high school students and themselves, mainly when they had to face the act of teaching due to the obstacles imposed by the own educational system, and by the weakness of the initial preparation. The group of future majors in Chemistry, through its discourses, showed these relations when they conceived empiricist Chemistry and said that teaching was the way of transmission of this knowledge, and didactics of Chemistry teaching was the direction to learning through pedagogic methods in order to lead the students to discoveries. The psychosocial contents which were built and showed from the symbolic relations in the studied SR achieved the relation of identity. This relation revealed identifying elements for these people, resulting from the traffic between their condition as students of Chemistry, and as teachers regarding their work, what placed the current relational contents in the teaching space, named as Knowledge changing and Adaptability . In order to study emerging questions in the discussing environment about formation and teaching professionalization, we focused the psychosocial view on this traffic and managed to observe epistemological practical and pedagogic obstacles that limited a configuration of the teaching work as a professional activity, especially from the particular conditions which led the relations of senses to Physics , Chemistry and Teaching ; and Chemistry and Physics as it was seen in this research. Generally speaking, we noted that these obstacles can denounce such obstacles concerning to the pedagogic doings which mainly impair the learning process of fundamental and high school students

Habitus, representações sociais e construção identitária dos profesores de Maracanaú

In the last three decades, the subject of the teacher's social identity has been discussed under various theoretical focuses, not only in Brazil, but also beyond our borders. In this thesis, the theme is approached starting from the theoretical proposal that has been developed by Domingos Sobrinho (1994), which is strongly based in the epistemological approach between Pierre Bourdieu s praxiology and the Theory of the Social Representations formulated by Serge Moscovici. It presupposes that this would make it easier to apprehend the process of construction of social identity of the investigated social group. The universe of the research is constituted by teachers of the fundamental teaching of the municipal district of Maracanaú, state of Ceará, that were active in class-room work there during at least three years, and were registered or had concluded the Course of Educational Formation promoted by UECE in that municipal district. Taking into account that the teacher's social identity is a process in permanent construction, resulting of their daily experiences and of the interferences originated from of the social context, the investigative tasks were implemented in two different stages, although they complement each other. Initially, with the objective of putting in evidence the genesis of the formation of that group s habitus, an analysis of the family and school lives of eleven teachers who participated in the course was made, using as main sources of data: thematic memorials, semi-structured interviews and observations - inside and out of the class-room during four school semesters. In the second stage a test of free association of words was applied to 426 teachers, seeking to apprehend the structure of the social representations of family and school a methodological strategy considered necessary to enhance and identify certain outlines of the habitus in study, besides being in agreement with the theoretical model followed. It became evident from the results that the identity of Maracanaú s teachers is molded and transformed into a multifaceted dynamic unit that shows successes and mistakes, certainties and doubts. For instance, besides an innovative speech seeking to reassure that teaching is a profession and not a simple vocation or mission, some discourse and attitudes are identified that point to the opposite direction, extolling the school as extension of the family, defending a parental relationship with the students, and looking at certain aspects of daily school life as sacramental . However, in the light of science such ambiguities and incoherences are inherent to common sense discourse, where the influences of the patterns and cultural references are present in the process of identity construction of the group, which was confirmed by the research of their social representations of family and school

O sensível no trabalho docente: representação social entre docentes do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte

The aim of this study was to analyze the social representation of the sensible among teachers of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte, attempting to identify its constituents and understand the dynamics that gives functionality to your organization. The study is significant considering that the professional conduct can not be delineated in its complexity without unraveling the social representations that teachers themselves have of their being and doing professional. The theoretical and methodological framework of the research is the theory of social representation. 107 teachers from various backgrounds participated. To collect the data were used as instruments : a questionnaire listing, which subsidizes the characterization of the subjects , the TALP - technique of free association of words ( ABRIC , 1994) , the PCM - Procedure for Multiple Ratings ( ROAZZI , 1995) ; questionnaire redemption of sensitive memories of the subjects in their school experiences of childhood , adolescence, youth and teaching practice . The PCM data, in which the slogan was directed at rating Give class, were submitted to multidimensional statistical analysis. Already TALP was analyzed by EVOC 2000 software, the profile questionnaire received descriptive statistical analysis and the memories received the questionnaire analysis of thematic content, Bardin (2004). Taken together, the results point to a social representation of sensitive teaching (the game, the fun, the touch, the smile, the relaxation) are not in the classroom. The sensitive pure still fits in school, but only in the courtyard, on the playground, in the intervals, therefore, outside of space-time class, playful perch that lives in each of us is totally strange to this world of the classroom . After doing the Approximation of ideas , we realized three discourses evident in the reports of teachers : the discourse of Numbness in which we perceive the distance of the teacher in relation to sensitive component as a facilitator in the learning process , the discourse of Feeling , in which we can discern small approximation to the sensitive dialogues and proposed in this study , the speech of reflection in which teachers analyze, evaluate and establish a discourse on the importance of education in sensitive , but not actualize in their teaching practice

Da negatividade a positividade: possível trânsito de saberes, práticas e representações sociais sobre o estigma da hanseníase

Leprosy is a chronic infectious-contagious disease, caused by Mycobacterium leprae, manifested by dermatological and neurological signs and symptoms and has great disabling power. It was marked by a strong stigma throughout its history, since its bearers represented a threat, target of fear and social contempt. Currently, leprosy has treatment and cure, and the need to separate the diseased from family and social environment is no more necessary. However, patients still suffer prejudice and discrimination. This study aimed to understand the social representations of leprosy that interfere modifying mental health of the patient with leprosy in relation to stigma and prejudice. This is a descriptive and exploratory study, with qualitative approach, which involved 22 users of the Special Care Clinic in Infectious Diseases at the Hospital Giselda Trigueiro, located in Natal / RN. They were in use of multidrug therapy in the period of data collection, were of both sexes, aged between 16 and 80 years of age and classified as paucibacillary or multibacillary. The study was approved by the UFRN Ethics in Research Committee. Data collection was performed by filling the questionnaire identification and then for conducting the semi-structured interview, which was recorded. After the end of data collection, there was the construction of tables and graphs, using the Microsoft Excel Start 2010 for proper characterization of the research subjects; and for the treatment of the data obtained from the interviews, was used the Content Analysis and based on the Theory of Social Representations. The subjects studied were mostly male (64%), married or in a stable relationship (68%), concentrated in the age group 50-60 years (36%) and 28-38 years (23%), had at most elementary education (65%) and were low-income (59%). Of the total respondents, 64% were classified as multibacillary, with predominantly dimorfous form, and 50% had disability grade I or II, with different periods of diagnosis. The reports originate two categories: 1. The negative meanings of illness and leprosy; and 2. The positive meanings of illness in leprosy, which were subsequently subdivided into subcategories. Thus, it was found that in the group studied, the social representation of leprosy experiences a moment of transition, as regards the understanding of the disease and its way of experiencing the disease process. Such representation is anchored in the quality of information on the disease of its bearers and aimed at an attempt to face the illness of leprosy as a "normal process". It was found in this study that the transition is due to the work of combating stigma and consequences of leprosy, which is able to gradually transform reality, both regarding the team work of reference, and in relation to a broader character, of actions of health education, which favors overcoming of psychosocial disabilities

Municipalização da saúde no Brasil: diferenças regionais, poder do voto e estratégias de governo

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A formação pós-graduada em ensino de ciências naturais e matemática de docentes do IFRN: implicações na atuação docente

This research part of the educational context of the Federal Rio Grande do Norte, through the resumption of legal frameworks that characterize it as an institution belonging to the Federal Network of Professional Education and Technology Brazilian, with a focus on continued education policies for the servers who work there specifically teachers, especially those who have their work in the Teaching of Natural Science and Mathematics. To do this the cut in an agreement between the IFRN and UFRN PPGECNM through the professional master's degree Teaching of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. This agreement as we have research collaborators 08 master teachers who graduated in the period 2004 to 2010, so we undertook a qualitative and quantitative research aimed to conduct the study in general terms of description and analysis of the impacts caused by the formation of masters IFRN in PPGECNM UFRN, taking into account the production of the same academic (dissertation), his performance in the context of the institution and the historical, social, economic and political aspects involved, and also meet the guidelines of the project at the Observatory in 2008 - MEC / CAPES / BSD-P. We used the theoretical options methodological elements of Comprehensive Interview and multireferentiality, our data collection instrument was the main interview, we also performed the analysis of dissertations by lecturers and teachers featured, from the specific descriptors used in catalogs USP / IFUSP (1992, 1996) and UNICAMP / FE / CEDOC (1998) and by other researchers. In analyzing and understanding the speech of the interviewees were able to identify the implications of teacher education in the school context, the motivation to seek the Master; how was the construction of the object of study of the educational product and its use in teaching practice and intervention, the question of the role of master teachers in the school environment to the post master taking into account changes in professional performance and influence in the working groups, how does the use of research and investigation in the classroom after training and between training and educational quality in the context of IFRN. In reading and analysis of the dissertations were able to identify the main focus and under-explored thematic focus as well as the theoretical methodological references. At the end of the research developed a product that could be used for technical analysis studies and assessment in quantitative terms the results achieved by the master teachers IFRN through his training in PPGECNM UFRN

Ideologia e poder no agendamento do discurso polifônico da imprensa em relação à seca no nordeste

This dissertation work is an effort to understand how the ideology and the power interferes in the signification of the speeches immersed in the context of the printed media concerning the drought in the Northeast of Brazil, weather occurrence that punishes 23 million of Brazilians, with all sort of problems. It also has specific concern about the everyday usage of the language and with the routines of the information production, without losing of sight the role of History in the formation of the identity of individuals and people. The research work is also developed in an interdisciplinary environment, applying to the formed corpus five articles from Folha de São Paulo , collected from January to July of 2005, the French Analysis method of the Speech and the theory of the polyphony of Bakhtin, in the Applied Linguistics area, accomplished with Communication beddings as the agenda-setting. The results ended to a good understanding about the ideology and power´s influence and chaining in the speeches formations as well as to comprehend peoples concept in an environment of almost-mediated interaction, bringing a media look about polyphony in the bakhtinian mold, besides showing how all these questions interferes with the half-barren the Northeast media´s vision on the subject

Um ser (tão) de vozes: o estilo e o acabamento estético na poesia de Patativa do Assaré

The present study aims at investigating the style of the Cearense 1poet Patativa do Assaré in his poetic discourse Cante lá que eu canto cá (2004). Such choice is due to the fact that Assaré‟s poetry is full of regional identities as well of different voices. In other words, our purpose is to analyze the way the author aesthetically expresses his own voice and the voice of others in his work. This study is based on a social and historical model of language, with language construed as a discourse practice with emphasis on the key concepts of style, voices, subject and dialogic relationships (BAKHTIN, 1992, 2003, 1995). Our documental research is situated within the area of Applied Linguistics and presents an interface with Literature. We start out with the premise that in this type of investigation knowledge is built from language. In this sense, we must consider the social relationships in which language is produced, as well as the world which (in) determines, interferes, represents, interpenetrates or else, reformulates language and the indisciplinary character of the research

Vozes sociais e dimensão ética da lingüística aplicada: a construção discursiva da área nos CBLAs

This research deals with Applied Linguistics and its structure as a scientific field, in compliance with knowledge produced within the range of the Brazilian Congresses of Applied Linguistics (CBLA). The purpose of this research is to understand the meanings disclosed by the voices that make up the scientific discourse on this field, pointing toward its course of development, the ethical position that is peculiar to it and how this position is represented in its scientific practice. The scientific discourse typical of the production of knowledge of Applied Linguistics is now construed as leading to practices that define the production of this field of learning whose object is to study man and man s relationship to language. Theoretical groundwork is anchored on the work the Social Sciences have developed on the paradigmatic crises of science and the social changes resulting from modern and post-modern times, on Applied Linguistics researches on the identity of the field of study, its courses and ethics, and on the bakhtinian theory that supports a view of language as a social practice built under the aegis of the subject s ethics and responsibility. The corpus of this work comprises qualitative and quantitative data made into articles presented at the CBLA. The research methodology conforms to the interpretive paradigm and has the concept of social voices as its category of analysis. Results point towards the progress of Applied Linguistics that, from its role as a mediator discipline between linguistic theory and practical applications, is assuming a position in a field of study of its own, independent, with transdisciplinary characteristics, pursuing through its quests and redefinitions to get closer to the dimension of life and assuming the ethical position of taking on responsibility for its doings and sayings

As práticas exitosas de leitura no ensino fundamental: vozes sociais de professores e de estudantes

The school is the social place which should provide the formation of critical readers. In this context, the role of the teacher is crucial when it comes to teaching reading. Thus, this doctoral research aims to explicit the reading practices evidenced from social voices of teachers and Fundamental School students from state public schools at RN that have successful results, according to IDEB 2009. Moreover, we seek to explicit, through the positions of teachers, the conceptions of reading underlying their reading activities, as well as elucidate the social voices related to teaching of reading that are present in the National Curriculum Guide for 9 years Fundamental School and in the Political-Pedagogical Projects of the educational institutions investigated. In order to accomplish this goal, we carried out observations in the classroom, applied questionnaires with teachers and students in the 9th grade of Fundamental School, in classes of Portuguese Language, and also performed dialogical meetings with the management and pedagogics schools teams. The theoretical foundation that guides the research comes from bakhtinian thinking (2009, 2010), which addresses the dialogical perspective of language and active responsive comprehension. Furthermore, this work is anchored in theoretical reflections of Antunes (2005, 2009) and Geraldi (2003, 2006, 2010) about the reading and writing in the country, which contribute to the resizing of the teaching and learning process of Portuguese Language. This study belongs to the field of Applied Linguistics, which investigates language as social practice in the context of learning mother language or in contexts where relevant questions about the use of language are evidenced. The parameters of qualitative research in a social-historic perspective are adopted seeking to understand the school context by the subjects involved in research. The research corpus is composed of: (i) information constructed through the use of questionnaires with teachers and students; (ii) information constructed from the observed lesson and dialogue with management and pedagogical teams; (iii) a set of selected information, i.e., empiricism built through documentary analysis of the National Curriculum Guide for 9 years Fundamental School (CONSELHO NACIONAL DE EDUCAÇÃO, 2010) and the Political- Pedagogical Projects of the investigated schools. The analysis of the sayings of teachers and students suggest reading practices from various texts, in particular, from the literary sphere, in activities involving discussions, reading and reading comprehension exercises, interviews, songs, seminars organizations, concerts, dramatizations, literary weeks, among other practices. Furthermore, these analyses reveal that teach Portuguese Language requires commitment, responsibility and satisfaction, as well as more grounded theoretical principles, which make teaching practice more efficient. The research also reveals that the success of the teaching-learning process occurs by virtue of the involvement of school s segments in the educational process, creating therefore a network of responsibilities. In this sense, this research may contribute to the production of knowledge that can guide and enrich the teaching and learning of reading, envisioning a pedagogical practice constructed from the relationship with the other, i.e., from the dialogism which provides formation of young people that exercise their citizenship

Memórias midiatizadas: percepções sobre ciência reconfiguradas a partir do consumo midiático

This piece focuses on the issue of media in the contemporary context, taking for its object the sociocultural phenomenon of mediatization‟, understood as the dilution of media culture in the everyday life, according to the perspective from Fausto Neto (2008) e Sodré (2002). This phenomenon is viewed from the angle of reception, that is, one that considers the individuals as pro-actives in this dynamic. The media culture is perceived as a fundamental element in the process of social structuring, and also is taken as a symbolic arm of great importance for the elaboration of the notion of reality as it interferes with the flow of information. Thus, we emphasize the process of symbolic consumption that we do with media content (Canclini, 1999), through a dynamic of appropriation and reframing, given from the interweaving of the meanings proposed with extra-media elements, recaptured from the perspective of mediations, by Barbero (2006), which concerns the articulation of the contents we appropriate from media with interactions from other social practices. We also consider the dimension of memory according to Sarlo (2007) and Halbwachs (2004) in order to, through speeches made in its scope, reach empirically the phenomenon of mediatization‟, and overlapping it, the media consumption on a specific theme, "science". Nevertheless, in terms of field work, we use the technique of in-depth interviews, so that the speech of our interviewers was our corpus. Through their narratives, speeches considered by us as memory-related, we visualize the dynamics of media consumption on given topic. At the level of conclusions, we realize that mediatization‟ as a phenomenon occurred, but its flows and orders showed discontinuities and pluralities not initially conceived; regarding the consumption of science through media, we see hybrid perceptions by our respondents, that is, one that include both elements aligned with the positivist conception of science - which we consider to be the view of science proposed by the media and elements that would contradict this view

A intervenção do poder judiciário no acesso a medicamentos no Rio Grande do Norte: uma análise sob a ótica das políticas nacionais de medicamento e de assistência farmacêutica

The present study aimed to evaluate the inclusion of the principles of the National Medicines Policy - PNM and the Pharmaceutical assistance - PNAF in the prosecution of lawsuits involving medicines. To fulfill this necessity , data collection was performed on the website by the Tribunal Rio Grande do Norte - TJ RN ( Rio Grande do Norte Court) , in 2012 . It was obtained 115 judgments, which were analyzed in order to generate Monitoring Indicators from lawsuits and conduct content analysis proposed by Bardin (2006). The results showed that : a) 100 % of the decisions were favorable to the author , b) 76 % of decisions were requests by the trade name of the drug , c) only one drug (eculizumabe) had not granted by ANVISA , d) 36 % of drugs were present in the list of standard medicines in SUS , 16 % of primary care block and 20 % of specialized component , e) 76 % of the decisions presented the request of at least 01 non-standard medicine. With regard to decentralization of PNM and PNAF we observed a commitment to this principle at judicial decisions, to see that municipalities and states are often forced to buy medicines of responsibility from another federal entity or other tertiary units as CACONs and UNACONS. The content analysis revealed that the argument from the judges used when you utter their decisions was that the right to health is recognized by Brazilian law as a fundamental right and should be guaranteed by the State for all its citizens. So, health is more than budgetary constraints of federal entities, which are severally liable for lawsuits , regardless the medication requested belongs or not to a particular block of a pharmaceutical assistance funding. Given these data, it is observed that there are gaps in the judgment when it comes to the insertion of the words and principles of PNM and PNAF, creating then the need for greater dialogue between the executive and judicial, so that they may consider relevant the effectiveness and application of such principles to minimize the negative consequences of the phenomenon of health judicialisation. Keywords: Judicialisation, Medicines, Public Policy, Pharmaceutical Care

Avaliação de um programa de intervenção de habilidades sociais educativas parentais: um estudo-piloto

Estudos têm apontado relações entre déficits de habilidades sociais educativas de pais e problemas de comportamento de seus filhos. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa visa a descrever os efeitos de um procedimento de intervenção com pais, o qual pretendeu promover suas habilidades sociais educativas. Participaram dois pais e sete mães, que elegeram o filho com o qual descreveram ter maiores dificuldades de relacionamento. Para a avaliação: 1) das dificuldades dos pais, foi utilizada uma entrevista estruturada, e 2) dos procedimentos de intervenção, foram utilizados: a) questionário de habilidades sociais educativas parentais (QHSE-P) e b) inventário de habilidades sociais (IHS-Del Prette). Os resultados das comparações pré e pós-intervenção do IHS-Del Prette mostraram aumento no escore dos grupos; as comparações do QHSE-P apontaram aquisições de diversas habilidades sociais educativas: expressar sentimentos positivos, agradecer elogios, dizer não e negociar limites. Discute-se a necessidade de procedimentos de promoção de habilidades sociais educativas para ampliar o repertório social parental.

Violência doméstica contra adolescentes: o olhar dos educadores sociais

Domestic violence as a specific expression of violence against adolescents, is historically constructed from phenomenon of power relations that permeate the gender, ethnicity and social class, requiring differentiated attention. Sorting in A mass grave of what is understood by a child and teenager under the doctrines of the law of the minor and of irregular situation resulted, in General, in the preparation for the teenage audience, of policies and actions, fragile and inefficient with regard to domestic violence. Despite the status of children and adolescents clearly define what is meant by child and teenager, break with the menoristas doctrines and embrace the doctrine of integral protection, even if there is little guidance for the public actions and policies geared to the theme. Such deficiency contributes to characterize the current practice of social educators about domestic violence, marked by the absence of specific training; by inadequate working conditions; lack of preparation of the network of care. Thus, with the objective to start the discussion regarding the elements that make up the practice focused on this issue, the present study proposes to problematizing the design held by social educators working in public Social assistance of the city of Natal/RN, regarding the issue of domestic violence against adolescents, by paying attention to such things as their vocational integration, their training and their working conditions. Adopts norteadoras references as having its roots in the Pedagogia Problematizadora, Paulo Freire, and socio-historical perspective. The methodological procedure of nature quali-quantitative was lifting censitário and psychosocial characterization of educators together to State and local Departments of assistance; the application of questionnaire to educators, composed of open and closed issues; and observation and field journaling activities of their work. Of network professionals, 111 64 replied to the questionnaire, which represents more than 50% of the total. Psychosocial characterization exposes data as the predominance of low family income and female professionals; the note identified that do not have a professional technical parameter, and the activities carried out in accordance with the representations of each professional the respect of labour, problematic and adolescents involved, revealing an individual perspective of action. And a preliminary analysis of responses to the questionnaire pointed out that such professionals are subjected to precarious working conditions, as well as one realizes a relative ignorance about the network of care for adolescents at risk and ACE, all this resulting in restricted marginalizantes conceptions, and misleading information regarding domestic violence against teenagers.

Urbanização turística em ponta negra: relações de força e processos sociais no período de 1979-2009

This master thesis aimed to investigate how the power relations operating in the tourism social processes, have shaped the urbanization of Ponta Negra district, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte - RN. The study assumes that the production of space is the result of global phenomena individualized by local forces a process of glocalization. The method used was the case study. It used primary and secondary data and information were treated using the technique of content analysis. The urbanization of Ponta Negra is inserted in the context of global process triggered in the 1970s. The Park of Dunas and Costeira Highway (PD/VC) urbanization project marks the beginning of the Tourisms since 1979. The period in focus was 1979 to 2009. The tourism was dived into four major sections time: tourism in Natal before the Coastal Highway (1939-1979); Project Parque das Dunas / Coastal Highway to the first boom in domestic tourism (1979 - 1990); the internationalization of tourism (1991-2000) and, of first "boom" to "decline" of international tourism (2001-2009). Based on the historical evolution of the tourism were elected three different social processes, able to demonstrate how relations of social forces brought in space act on them and help shape the process of urbanization of the neighborhood in question: The removal of beach hut , the soccer field Botafogo Football Club and the skyscrapers . Finally, it should summarize the research identified interests and conflicts among the actors that form the thrust of spatial transformations: cultural conflicts resulting from the imposition of social practices that differ from the taste of native; clashes between different groups that reflect the duality between use value and exchange value; and interests in land values. In addition, demonstrated that the social relations that involve the production of the area are stimulated by deep-seated societal processes historically and camouflaged by market relations and a modern facade that the city has acquired in recent times; revealed that the actors are linked in networks to increase their influence and that this influence varies mainly according to economic and political power that they or their associates hold