La Economía Solidaria y la Gestión Compartida, en el marco de las Políticas Sociales de la Provincia de Buenos Aires : Análisis del caso del Consorcio de Gestión Compartida de la Provincia de Buenos Aires

La debacle estructural del modelo económico implementado en los años 90 y desatada a partir de la crisis de 2001, generó el surgimiento de nuevas prácticas de acción colectiva y diferentes formas de intervención del Estado en la cuestión social. Una de las propuestas más novedosas en este sentido, es el enfoque en las políticas públicas de la denominada "Economía Social" que engloba diversas maneras de organización alternativas en torno a la producción, la reproducción del trabajo y de la vida y la gestión de recursos. En este marco se plantea el análisis de un caso de una herramienta de política pública provincial: el Consorcio de Gestión Compartida para el Desarrollo Local de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, creado en el 2007 a partir de la adhesión a la Ley Nacional de Microcrédito. Proyecto que tuvo alcance provincial y que será estudiado en su fase inicial comprendida entre el mes de noviembre de 2007 y finales del 2009. Se planteará como objetivo mostrar, a través del análisis de este caso de cierta proporción, el posible surgimiento de nuevas lógicas de intervención en políticas sociales: un cambio de rumbo que habría tomado el Estado junto con las organizaciones frente a la realidad social en la segunda mitad de esta década. Esta tesina abordará la investigación desde dos ejes de análisis a través de los cuales se busca interpretar el caso. Estos son: la gestión compartida del Estado junto con las organizaciones sociales y la Economía Social como práctica económica alternativa. Intentando dilucidar el proceso donde la acción del Estado y las políticas públicas son permeadas por nuevas prácticas y saberes provenientes de la sociedad civil. Se utilizará una metodología de investigación cualitativa. Se realizarán entrevistas en profundidad y semiestructuradas a integrantes de las organizaciones que forman parte del Consorcio de Gestión Compartida, así como también a los técnicos del Estado provincial que trabajaron en la implementación del proyecto. A su vez, ésta estará complementada con registros obtenidos y fuentes propias del Consorcio de Gestión Compartida, sumado a observaciones participantes en diversas reuniones de dicha organización, además de documentos y material recolectado en diferentes instancias de la investigación

Multilingualism and local-global identities: Japanese language education in rural Australia

The purpose of this article is to examine the value accruing to a regional area in Australia from the location of an undergraduate Japanese language education program in a university in that area. The focus is on the manner in which the inclusion of such a program enhances the sustainability of the area. Sustainability is here defined as the resilience demonstrated by social subjects in the absence of the full range of services available in more densely populated and resource advantaged areas. Such resilience implies an ongoing capacity on the part of subjects to contribute productively to social and economic networks in the area. The discussion includes two cases of graduates of the program under review. On the basis of these cases, the argument is advanced that local regional and rural area access to a tertiary sector second language program offers a unique and valuable strategic dimension to the personal and professional development of social agents in regional areas and to the sustainability of these areas generally.

The Politics of Ahmadinejad and Chavez: A Misplaced Comparison

This piece illustrates that comparing the political and economic impact of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on their respective countries based solely on generalizations regarding similarities in foreign policy discourse is an unwarranted analytical jump. To identify the essential difference between the two administrations, the article pays attention to the different domestic politics in each country. Ahmadinejad’s populism seems to fit best within neoliberal populism. In stark contrast, Chavista socialism can be understood as a “heterodox” or “alternative” economic policy.

Distribution and Conservation of the Antillean Manatee in Hispaniola

Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) were heavily hunted in the past throughout the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR), and are currently listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In most WCR countries, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic, remaining manatee populations are believed to be small and declining, but current information is needed on their status, distribution, and local threats to the species.

To assess the past and current distribution and conservation status of the Antillean manatee in Hispaniola, I conducted a systematic review of documentary archives dating from the pre-Columbian era to 2013. I then surveyed more than 670 artisanal fishers from Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2013-2014 using a standardized questionnaire. Finally, to identify important areas for manatees in the Dominican Republic, I developed a country-wide ensemble model of manatee distribution, and compared modeled hotspots with those identified by fishers.

Manatees were historically abundant in Hispaniola, but were hunted for their meat and became relatively rare by the end of the 19th century. The use of manatee body parts diversified with time to include their oil, skin, and bones. Traditional uses for folk medicine and handcrafts persist today in coastal communities in the Dominican Republic. Most threats to Antillean manatees in Hispaniola are anthropogenic in nature, and most mortality is caused by fisheries. I estimated a minimum island-wide annual mortality of approximately 20 animals. To understand the impact of this level of mortality, and to provide a baseline for measuring the success of future conservation actions, the Dominican Republic and Haiti should work together to obtain a reliable estimate of the current population size of manatees in Hispaniola.

In Haiti, the survey of fishers showed a wider distribution range of the species than suggested by the documentary archive review: fishers reported recent manatee sightings in seven of nine coastal departments, and three manatee hotspot areas were identified in the north, central, and south coasts. Thus, the contracted manatee distribution range suggested by the documentary archive review likely reflects a lack of research in Haiti. Both the review and the interviews agreed that manatees no longer occupy freshwater habitats in the country. In general, more dedicated manatee studies are needed in Haiti, employing aerial, land, or boat surveys.

In the Dominican Republic, the documentary archive review and the survey of fishers showed that manatees still occur throughout the country, and occasionally occupy freshwater habitats. Monte Cristi province in the north coast, and Barahona province in the south coast, were identified as focal areas. Sighting reports of manatees decreased from Monte Cristi eastwards to the adjacent province in the Dominican Republic, and westwards into Haiti. Along the north coast of Haiti, the number of manatee sighting and capture reports decreased with increasing distance to Monte Cristi province. There was good agreement among the modeled manatee hotspots, hotspots identified by fishers, and hotspots identified during previous dedicated manatee studies. The concordance of these results suggests that the distribution and patterns of habitat use of manatees in the Dominican Republic have not changed dramatically in over 30 years, and that the remaining manatees exhibit some degree of site fidelity. The ensemble modeling approach used in the present study produced accurate and detailed maps of manatee distribution with minimum data requirements. This modeling strategy is replicable and readily transferable to other countries in the Caribbean or elsewhere with limited data on a species of interest.

The intrinsic value of manatees was stronger for artisanal fishers in the Dominican Republic than in Haiti, and most Dominican fishers showed a positive attitude towards manatee conservation. The Dominican Republic is an upper middle income country with a high Human Development Index. It possesses a legal framework that specifically protects manatees, and has a greater number of marine protected areas, more dedicated manatee studies, and more manatee education and awareness campaigns than Haiti. The constant presence of manatees in specific coastal segments of the Dominican Republic, the perceived decline in the number of manatee captures, and a more conservation-minded public, offer hope for manatee conservation, as non-consumptive uses of manatees become more popular. I recommend a series of conservation actions in the Dominican Republic, including: reducing risks to manatees from harmful fishing gear and watercraft at confirmed manatee hotspots; providing alternative economic alternatives for displaced fishers, and developing responsible ecotourism ventures for manatee watching; improving law enforcement to reduce fisheries-related manatee deaths, stop the illegal trade in manatee body parts, and better protect manatee habitat; and continuing education and awareness campaigns for coastal communities near manatee hotspots.

In contrast, most fishers in Haiti continue to value manatees as a source of food and income, and showed a generally negative attitude towards manatee conservation. Haiti is a low income country with a low Human Development Index. Only a single dedicated manatee study has been conducted in Haiti, and manatees are not officially protected. Positive initiatives for manatees in Haiti include: protected areas declared in 2013 and 2014 that enclose two of the manatee hotspots identified in the present study; and local organizations that are currently working on coastal and marine environmental issues, including research and education on marine mammals. Future conservation efforts for manatees in Haiti should focus on addressing poverty and providing viable economic alternatives for coastal communities. I recommend a community partnership approach for manatee conservation, paired with education and awareness campaigns to inform coastal communities about the conservation situation of manatees in Haiti, and to help change their perceived value. Haiti should also provide legal protection for manatees and their habitat.

Relação entre ciclo de vida do produto turístico e estratégias de cooperação na faixa litorânea urbana do município de Natal

Tourism in the Northeast of Brazil was introduced as an alternative economic development for the Region by federal promoting policies that focused primarily in structuring the local geographic area. With the completion of these structuring actions, mass tourism expanding the area, as well as spread actions based on cooperation and formalization of governance institutions. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the life cycle of the tourism product 'Coastal Cities of Natal and the cooperation strategies in a historical perspective. Thus was submitted to the life cycle of the tourism product 'Coastal Cities of Natal ; the major projects of tourism development were mapped, the existing cooperation strategies were characterized, and investigated the influence of the cooperation actions for the current stage of product. The specific theoretical support to tourism was built on the perspective of the Theory of Population Ecology, System of Tourism and Touristic Product Life Cycle. Regarding to cooperation the theoretical foundation addressed issues of strategy, New Forms and Collective Efficiency. The survey consisted of a causal descriptive study, using a case study. We used the qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches, and data collected by consulting of secondary data and semistructured interviews with twelve staff working in tourism in Natal. Results showed that the life cycle graph of product 'Coastal Cities of Natal is moving from one stage of growth to a stage of maturity, with a primary upward trend and with crises that are up over the graph. They have been mapped six of tourism development projects of relevance to the product: The Politics of Mega Projects, PRODETUR/NE, Municipalization National Program of Tourism, Regionalization Program, Urbanization Project Beach do Meio and Actions for the Promotion of Destiny. They have been identified sixty-four participating players in process of tourism development, which twenty were considered relevant to the respondents. The main strategies identified for cooperation were the consortium, collective strategy and clusters. Results indicated that co-operation strategies were adopted so that the benefits were obtained at the collective level, dedicated to the strengthening of Natal Destiny and its products. The main reasons were the need of cooperative marketing, international market entry and actions inducing the state. Finally, it was concluded that strategies for cooperation related to product life cycle 'Coastal Cities of Natal' as that work in the consolidation of projects for development of tourism, when the efficiency of collective action is achieved

Law, poetry and medicine: the literate professionals in autonomous Gaelic Ireland, c.1250 - c.1630

This thesis is about a class of literate professionals that served as hereditary brehons, poets and doctors to the Gaelic aristocracy over a period from c.1250-c.1630. My investigation into these families brings together evidence from Gaelic and English sources to highlight the work these families did for their patrons, their status in society and their subsequent fall in the seventeenth century. Such a broad canvas allows us to observe the vibrancy of Gaelic literary culture as these families adapted to the changing political landscape to absorb new Anglo-Norman patrons and assimilated English and Continental ideas while maintaining their distinctive identity. I want to look beyond the ideology espoused by these families to look at the practical choices members of these families made to maintain their status and relevance in a changing social context. To do this I have chosen to focus on each of the three professions in individual chapters to highlight the continuities and changes within the professions and ultimately by comparing the three groups to gauge the success or failure of these professional families to adapt to the encroachment of the New English and the ultimate collapse of the Gaelic world. This thesis takes a holistic approach to these families by including branches of these families not engaged in the hereditary profession. It seeks to provide a broader picture of Gaelic society below the level of the aristocracy by looking at the geographic distribution of these families, their proximity to centres of power, and to land and sea routes that can indicate their involvement in alternative economic activities.

Efeitos da adição da cal hidratada na estabilização de um solo sedimentar para pavimentação urbana na região de Curitiba

Urban paving is of paramount importance for a city, both socioeconomic and in quality of life. The urban flooring not different so-called road surface are constituted by a set of horizontal layers, overlaid on the ground, which have the main function of supporting the actions induced by the vehicle redistributing the stresses transmitted to the ground. Soils are important materials for the execution of paving, mainly because they are part of the basic structure of the floor and mostly be available in abundance, with a very low cost, however, their properties usually do not meet the requirements necessary to perform the floor. The soil stabilization for the implementation of urban pavement bases and sub-bases is an increasingly important aspect in the current situation, because always there is the concern with the environment, and there is now the clear awareness that every effort should be made to minimize the effects caused by the exploitation of deposits and deposition of material. In this sense this work presents the effects of adding different proportions of lime to stabilize a sedimentary soil sample from the urban area of the city of Curitiba. It selected a sample quantity of soil in the region to study the stabilization insertion of hydrated lime type (CHIII) powder. The two variables in the study are related to the content of lime mixed with the soil at 0% percentages of 3%, 6%, 8% and 16%, and cure times at which these mixtures were subjected to (0, 7, 14, 28 and 56 days). The tested mixtures were prepared from dosages defined by two methods: one checking the chemical behavior of the samples by means of changes in pH values, and the second analyzing the mechanical behavior through the RCS values. It has been found that the chemical stability analyzed by addition of lime, provided an average increase of RCS in most soil samples studied, because of some physical and chemical characteristics thereof. For mixtures with 6%, 8% and 16% of lime after 28 days of curing, the average RCS was 0,57 MPa, 1,06 MPa and 2,37 MPa, respectively, for the normal proctor, and as for intermediate proctor, in the same curing time and on the same percentages RCS results were 0,54 MPa, 1,04 MPa and 2,71 MPa, respectively. In global terms, the soil-lime mixtures studied showed acceptable behavior by law to use as layers of sub-base. However, only the mixture with 16% of lime, at 28 days, is recommended for use on floors bases. Even so, the mixtures studied constitute a good alternative economic and socio-environmental.

Pre-colonial institutions and long-run development in Latin America

The present doctoral thesis studies the association between pre-colonial institutions and long-run development in Latin America. The thesis is organised as follows: Chapter 1 places the motivation of the thesis by underlying relevant contributions in the literature on long-run development. I then set out the main objective of the thesis, followed by a brief outline of it. In Chapter 2, I study the effects of pre-colonial institutions on present-day socioeconomic outcomes for Latin America. The main thesis of this chapter is that more advanced pre-colonial institutions relate to better socioeconomic outcomes today - principally, but not only, through their effects on the Amerindian population. I test such hypothesis with a dataset of 324 sub-national administrative units covering all mainland Latin American countries. The extensive range of controls covers factors such as climate, location, natural resources, colonial activities and pre-colonial characteristics - plus country fixed effects. Results strongly support the main thesis. In Chapter 3, I further analyse the association between pre-colonial institutions and present-day economic development in Latin America by using the historical ethnic homelands as my main unit of analysis. The main hypothesis is that ethnic homelands inhabited by more advanced ethnic groups -as measured by their levels of institutional complexity- relate to better economic development today. To track these long-run effects, I construct a new dataset by digitising historiographical maps allowing me to pinpoint the geospatial location of ethnic homelands as of the XVI century. As a result, 375 ethnic homelands are created. I then capture the levels of economic development at the ethnic homeland level by making use of alternative economic measures --satellite light density data. After controlling for country-specific characteristics and applying a large battery of geographical, locational, and historical factors, I found that the effects of pre-colonial institutions relate to a higher light density --as a proxy for economic activity- in ethnic homelands where more advanced ethnic groups lived. In Chapter 4, I explore a mechanism linking the persistence of pre-colonial institutions in Latin America over the long-run: Colonial and post-colonial strategies along with the ethnic political capacity worked in tandem allowing larger Amerindian groups to "support" the new political systems in ways that would benefit their respective ethnic groups as well as the population at large. This mechanism may have allowed the effects of pre-colonial institutions to influence socioeconomic development outcomes up to today. To shed lights on this mechanism, I combine the index of pre-colonial institutions prepared for the second chapter of the present thesis with individual-level survey data on people's attitudes. By controlling for key observable and unobservable country-specific characteristics, the main empirical results show that areas with a history of more advanced pre-colonial institutions increase the probability of individuals supporting present-day political institutions. Finally, in Chapter 5, I summarise the main findings of the thesis, and emphasise the key weaknesses of the study as well as potential avenues for future research.

Relação entre ciclo de vida do produto turístico e estratégias de cooperação na faixa litorânea urbana do município de Natal

Tourism in the Northeast of Brazil was introduced as an alternative economic development for the Region by federal promoting policies that focused primarily in structuring the local geographic area. With the completion of these structuring actions, mass tourism expanding the area, as well as spread actions based on cooperation and formalization of governance institutions. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the life cycle of the tourism product 'Coastal Cities of Natal and the cooperation strategies in a historical perspective. Thus was submitted to the life cycle of the tourism product 'Coastal Cities of Natal ; the major projects of tourism development were mapped, the existing cooperation strategies were characterized, and investigated the influence of the cooperation actions for the current stage of product. The specific theoretical support to tourism was built on the perspective of the Theory of Population Ecology, System of Tourism and Touristic Product Life Cycle. Regarding to cooperation the theoretical foundation addressed issues of strategy, New Forms and Collective Efficiency. The survey consisted of a causal descriptive study, using a case study. We used the qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches, and data collected by consulting of secondary data and semistructured interviews with twelve staff working in tourism in Natal. Results showed that the life cycle graph of product 'Coastal Cities of Natal is moving from one stage of growth to a stage of maturity, with a primary upward trend and with crises that are up over the graph. They have been mapped six of tourism development projects of relevance to the product: The Politics of Mega Projects, PRODETUR/NE, Municipalization National Program of Tourism, Regionalization Program, Urbanization Project Beach do Meio and Actions for the Promotion of Destiny. They have been identified sixty-four participating players in process of tourism development, which twenty were considered relevant to the respondents. The main strategies identified for cooperation were the consortium, collective strategy and clusters. Results indicated that co-operation strategies were adopted so that the benefits were obtained at the collective level, dedicated to the strengthening of Natal Destiny and its products. The main reasons were the need of cooperative marketing, international market entry and actions inducing the state. Finally, it was concluded that strategies for cooperation related to product life cycle 'Coastal Cities of Natal' as that work in the consolidation of projects for development of tourism, when the efficiency of collective action is achieved

Capacity building activities in rain water harvesting: South Kyrgyzstan

Water and food are fundamental human rights. However, a number of communities in the world suffer due to a lack of these most basic needs. With few alternative economic opportunities, communities in rural and mountainous Kyrgyzstan have to rely mainly on agriculture for their livelihoods.

ACTITUDES HACIA LA ACUACULTURA EN ALGUNAS COMUNIDADES DEL GOLFO DE NICOYA, COSTA RICA

General attitudes toward aquaculture and specifically their interest in and the capture of mullet (Migil spp) was the determined by interviewing 154 artisanal fishermen and 29 salt-evaporation pond owners along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Nicoya. The majority of the fishermen, who likely are already overexploiting the fishery resource of the gulf, knew nothing about aquaculture. Nevertheless, they indicated that agriculture (which includes aquaculture) would be an alternative economic activity in the event that they couldn’t continue fishing. Although mullet is not highly valued on the market, it is very common and utilized by this social group. During winter (rainy season) the salt-evaporation ponds are not utilized and their owners expressed interest in cultivating mullet and shrimp during that season. Aquaculture could help solve the overexploitation problems in the traditional fishery, the overproduction of salt and the underutilization of the salt=evaporation ponds during the rainy season.

Il paradigma della sostenibilità nel settore alimentare: problematiche attuali e prospettive future

Parallelamente al progressivo emergere delle esternalità negative prodotte dal paradigma economico predominante a livello globale, si è fatto strada il paradigma dello sviluppo sostenibile, che si prefigge di tenere conto in misura congiunta di tre dimensioni (economica, sociale e ambientale). Tuttavia, tale paradigma non coincide necessariamente con il più ampio e controverso concetto di sostenibilità ambientale. L’applicazione di tale concetto ai sistemi alimentari consente di leggere trasversalmente e collegare i temi che oggigiorno occupano i primi posti nelle agende politiche, nelle strategie aziendali e nel dibattito pubblico. La diffusione sempre maggiore del paradigma della sostenibilità ha portato il mondo aziendale a mettere a punto strategie di green marketing; tuttavia, determinate pratiche possono risultare ingannevoli nei confronti dei consumatori, traducendosi nel cosiddetto greenwashing. Alla luce di tale deriva negativa, si rende evidente l’importanza di ricostruire le filiere dei prodotti alimentari per poter attuare scelte di consumo più consapevoli. Nell’ambito dei sistemi alimentari, da una parte si è affermato a livello globale un modello agroindustriale, dall’altra è emerso un modello di filiera corta che si è declinato nelle molteplici forme dei cosiddetti alternative food networks. Considerando sia il mondo attuale che gli scenari futuri che si prospettano, in un mondo sempre più sovrappopolato, segnato da un progressivo aumento della domanda globale di cibo, dalla vulnerabilità che segue alla comparsa di sconvolgimenti di varia natura, dall’intensificarsi dei processi legati al cambiamento climatico e dalle innumerevoli sfide a questi connessi, scaturisce un cruciale interrogativo: quale sarà la strada più sostenibile da intraprendere, con una visione di lungo termine? Esiste una risposta esaustiva e una soluzione univoca, o bisognerà adottare una visione sistemica che guidi azioni compartecipate su più livelli?

Application of artificial neural networks as an alternative to volumetric water balance in drip irrigation management in watermelon crop

Precision irrigation seeks to establish strategies which achieve an efficient ratio between the volume of water used (reduction in input) and the productivity obtained (increase in production). There are several studies in the literature on strategies for achieving this efficiency, such as those dealing with the method of volumetric water balance (VWB). However, it is also of great practical and economic interest to set up versatile implementations of irrigation strategies that: (i) maintain the performance obtained with other implementations, (ii) rely on few computational resources, (iii) adapt well to field conditions, and (iv) allow easy modification of the irrigation strategy. In this study, such characteristics are achieved when using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to determine the period of irrigation for a watermelon crop in the Irrigation Perimeter of the Lower Acaraú, in the state of Ceará, Brazil. The Volumetric Water Balance was taken as the standard for comparing the management carried out with the proposed implementation of ANN. The statistical analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed management, which is able to replace VWB as a strategy in automation.

Evaluation of follicular lymphoid depletion in the Bursa of Fabricius: an alternative methodology using digital image analysis and artificial neural networks

Fifty Bursa of Fabricius (BF) were examined by conventional optical microscopy and digital images were acquired and processed using Matlab® 6.5 software. The Artificial Neuronal Network (ANN) was generated using Neuroshell® Classifier software and the optical and digital data were compared. The ANN was able to make a comparable classification of digital and optical scores. The use of ANN was able to classify correctly the majority of the follicles, reaching sensibility and specificity of 89% and 96%, respectively. When the follicles were scored and grouped in a binary fashion the sensibility increased to 90% and obtained the maximum value for the specificity of 92%. These results demonstrate that the use of digital image analysis and ANN is a useful tool for the pathological classification of the BF lymphoid depletion. In addition it provides objective results that allow measuring the dimension of the error in the diagnosis and classification therefore making comparison between databases feasible.

Erosion/productivity modelling of maize farming in the Philippine uplands part III: Economic analysis of alternative farming methods

Two previous papers in this series (Nelson et al., this issue) described the use of the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) to simulate the effect of erosion on maize yields from open-field farming and hedgerow intercropping in the Philippine uplands. In this paper, maize yields simulated with APSIM are used to compare the economic viability of intercropping maize between leguminous shrub hedgerows with that of continuous and fallow open-field farming of maize. The analysis focuses on the economic incentives of upland farmers to adopt hedgerow intercropping, discussing farmers' planning horizons, access to credit and security of land tenure, as well as maize pricing in the Philippines. Insecure land tenure has limited the planning horizons of upland farmers, and high establishment costs reduce the economic viability of hedgerow intercropping relative to continuous and fallow open-field farming in the short term, In the long term, high discount rates and share-tenancy arrangements in which landlords do not contribute to establishment costs reduce the economic viability of hedgerow intercropping relative to fallow open-field farming, (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.