Festival attendance and the development of social capital

Festivals are emerging worldwide as a growing and vibrant sector of the tourism and leisure industries and are seen to have significant economic, socio-cultural, and political impacts on the destination area and host groups. While there are a number of scholars working on developing valid models to determine the economic impact of festivals on host communities, there are few studies published which focus on the social, cultural, and/or political impacts of festivals and events. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to determine the degree to which festival attendance facilitates the augmentation of social capital by drawing upon the literature from various disciplines in order to conceptualize the synergy between festivals and social capital. To achieve this, the paper will (1) examine the relevant literature on the key characteristics of ‘festivals’ as distinct from other events and (2) investigate the current uses of the notion of ‘social capital’ within the academic debates in a variety of disciplinary contexts

The network structure of a regional tourism organization: Application of he social network theory in one region of Queensland

Regional tourism organizations (RTOs) plays a central role in planning, coordinating and marketing tourism in many areas, including Queensland, Australia. RTOs rely on interaction with a network of other organizations for their efficient functioning. This paper describes an exploratory case study that develops a method for use of social network analysis techniques to analyse the inter-organizational network in one RTO region in Queensland. Results indicate that differences exist in the structure of inter-organizational links between commercial tourism organizations and planning organizations, between tourism organizations and other sectoral clusters, and between organizations at local, regional and state levels. The results highlight areas or improvement in the role and responsibilities of RTOs in Queensland.

O trabalho social da Igreja Metodista com imigrantes Bolivianos no bairro do Brás em São Paulo

O texto analisa o projeto social da Igreja Metodista no bairro do Brás junto aos imigrantes Bolivianos. Revisa-se a literatura sobre as primeiras movimentações com imigrantes no Brasil para focar logo, o bairro do Brás, a Igreja Metodista e o projeto com imigrantes Bolivianos. A origem do bairro do Brás, sua importância e a sua relação histórica com movimentação migratória fazem parte das reflexões. O surgimento da igreja e suas características missionárias são apresentados antes de um aprofundamento no estudo do projeto social com os Bolivianos. Revisa-se a relação entre a igreja e os imigrantes americanos e europeus que chegaram ao Brasil no final do século XIX. A partir de 1980 inicia-se o fenômeno do crescimento da presença do imigrante boliviano nos bairros centrais da metrópole paulista, e como consequência desta presença, há cerca de dez anos a Igreja Metodista desenvolve o projeto visando dar assistência social e religiosa aos filhos e filhas de imigrantes Bolivianos. Para o estudo dessa questão realizou-se a pesquisa de campo e aplicação de entrevistas de questionário aos responsáveis pelo projeto, um casal que acompanha o projeto desde seu início, três pastores, sendo um deles de origem boliviana e quatro jovens Bolivianos que participam do projeto. Na pesquisa detectam-se fatos e informações relevantes para a análise critica em relação a preconceitos, limitações na comunicação, na integração cultural, falta de um planejamento estratégico entre outros aspectos burocráticos característicos da organização interna da Igreja Metodista. O desenvolvimento do contexto urbano do bairro do Brás, a procura de assistência social por parte do imigrante Boliviano e os limites estruturais da igreja aparecem como novos desafios à tradição e pratica missionária da Igreja Metodista.

Strategic planning as communicative process

This paper looks at how a strategic plan is constructed through a communicative process. Drawing on Ricoeur’s concepts of decontextualization and recontextualization, we conceptualize strategic planning activities as being constituted through the iterative and recursive relationship of talk and text. Based on an in-depth case study, our findings show how multiple actors engage in a formal strategic planning process which is manifested in a written strategy document. This document is thus central in the iterative talk to text cycles. As individuals express their interpretations of the current strategic plan in talk, they are able to make amendments to the text that then shape future textual versions of the plan. This iterative cycle is repeated until a final plan is agreed. We develop our findings into a model of the communication process that explains how texts become more authoritative over time and, in doing so, how they inscribe power relationships and social order within organizations. These findings contribute to the literature on the purposes of largely institutionalized processes of strategic planning and to the literature on organization as a communications process.

A social psychological analysis of strikes

A participant observation method was employed :in the study of a 20-week stoppage at Ansells Brewery Limited, a constituent company of Allied Breweries (U.K.). The strike, :involving 1,000 workers, began :in opposition to the implementation of a four-day working week and culminated in the permanent closure of the brewery. The three main phases of the strike's development (i.e., its :initiation, maintenance and termination) were analysed according to a social-cognitive approach, based on the psychological imagery, beliefs, values and perceptions underlying the employees' behaviour. Previous psychological treatments of strikes have tended to ignore many of the aspects of social definition, planning and coordination that are an integral part of industrial action. The present study is, therefore, unique in concentrating on the thought processes by which striking workers .make sense of their current situation and collectively formulate an appropriate response. The Ansells strike provides an especially vivid illustration of the ways in which the seminal insights of a small number of individuals are developed, via processes of communication and:influence, into a consensual interpretation of reality. By adopting a historical perspective, it has been possible to demonstrate how contemporary definitions are shaped by the prior history of union-management relations, particularly with regard to: (a) the way that previous events were subjectively interpreted, and (b) the lessons that were learned on the basis of that experience. The present approach is psychological insofar as it deals with the cognitive elements of strike action. However, to the extent that it draws from relevant sections of the industrial relations, organizational behaviour, sociology, anthropology and linguistics literatures, it can claim to be truly interdisciplinary.