Strategies against racism: a comparison of a social movement and case studies of anti-racist policy and practice in the local state

The thesis compares two contrasting strategies employed with the aim of combating particular forms of racism within contemporary Britain. Both are assessed as political strategies in their own right and placed within the broader context of reformist and revolutionary political traditions. The sociology of social movements is examined critically, as are Marxist and post-Marxist writings on the role of human agency within social structures and on the nature of social movements. The history of the Anti Nazi League (ANL) in the late 1970s and its opposition to the National Front is considered as an example of anti-racist social movement based on the Trotskyist model of the United Front. The degree to which the Anti Nazi League corresponded to such a model is analysed as are the potential broader applications for such a strategy. The strategy with which the ANL is compared is the development of anti-racist and equal opportunities policies within local government in the 1980s, primarily by Labour-controlled local authorities. The theory of the local state and the political phenomenon of municipal socialism are discussed, specifically the role of various groups operating in and around local authorities in the formation and implementation of anti-racist policy and practice. Following this general discussion, two case studies in each of the areas of local authority housing, education and employment are explored to consider in depth the problems of specific anti-racist policies. In summation the efficacy of the two strategies are considered as parts of wider political currents in tandem with their declared specific objectives.

Partidos, tradiciones y estrategias de movilización social : De la Junta de la Victoria a la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina

Este trabajo analiza el surgimiento de la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina (UMA). El disparador es comprender cómo un proyecto del Partido Comunista Argentino desbordó los límites partidarios intentando constituirse como un movimiento de masas femenino. La atención se colocará sobre el hecho de que este conjunto de mujeres rescató una experiencia de movilización que las precedió: la Junta de la Victoria (JV). La UMA capitalizó en el contexto de los primeros años del gobierno peronista (1947-1949) varias propuestas de la JV durante la entreguerras. Así logró movilizar redes de sociabilidad y adhesión que se conjugaron con un proyecto de mujer ciudadana activa y partícipe justificada en la arena política, social y económica desde su lugar de madre. El corpus se compone de entrevistas a dirigentes de ambas agrupaciones y del Partido Comunista así como de recursos escritos tales como diarios y revistas que se pondrán en juego para comprender las complejidad de la temática propuesta

Partidos, tradiciones y estrategias de movilización social : De la Junta de la Victoria a la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina

Este trabajo analiza el surgimiento de la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina (UMA). El disparador es comprender cómo un proyecto del Partido Comunista Argentino desbordó los límites partidarios intentando constituirse como un movimiento de masas femenino. La atención se colocará sobre el hecho de que este conjunto de mujeres rescató una experiencia de movilización que las precedió: la Junta de la Victoria (JV). La UMA capitalizó en el contexto de los primeros años del gobierno peronista (1947-1949) varias propuestas de la JV durante la entreguerras. Así logró movilizar redes de sociabilidad y adhesión que se conjugaron con un proyecto de mujer ciudadana activa y partícipe justificada en la arena política, social y económica desde su lugar de madre. El corpus se compone de entrevistas a dirigentes de ambas agrupaciones y del Partido Comunista así como de recursos escritos tales como diarios y revistas que se pondrán en juego para comprender las complejidad de la temática propuesta

Partidos, tradiciones y estrategias de movilización social : De la Junta de la Victoria a la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina

Este trabajo analiza el surgimiento de la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina (UMA). El disparador es comprender cómo un proyecto del Partido Comunista Argentino desbordó los límites partidarios intentando constituirse como un movimiento de masas femenino. La atención se colocará sobre el hecho de que este conjunto de mujeres rescató una experiencia de movilización que las precedió: la Junta de la Victoria (JV). La UMA capitalizó en el contexto de los primeros años del gobierno peronista (1947-1949) varias propuestas de la JV durante la entreguerras. Así logró movilizar redes de sociabilidad y adhesión que se conjugaron con un proyecto de mujer ciudadana activa y partícipe justificada en la arena política, social y económica desde su lugar de madre. El corpus se compone de entrevistas a dirigentes de ambas agrupaciones y del Partido Comunista así como de recursos escritos tales como diarios y revistas que se pondrán en juego para comprender las complejidad de la temática propuesta

El movimiento social de 1995 en Francia contra el neoliberalismo

Las movilizaciones de noviembre-diciembre de 1995 en Francia contra el Plan Juppé fueron la primera gran revuelta en un país europeo contra el neoliberalismo. Con los trabajadores del sector público como eje de la protesta el movimiento se desplegó en base a la articulación combinada de huelgas y manifestaciones. Las reivindicaciones sectoriales se articularon en un discurso más general de defensa del servicio público y el interés general. Noviembre-diciembre de 1995 marcó el inicio de un ciclo de movilizaciones contra el neoliberalismo en Francia que testimonió su creciente pérdida de legitimidad.

Gender stereotypes: sexuality and contraception in Mexican university students of middle class

Since feminist studies and gender perspective, sexuality and reproduction continue to be a topic of interest in Mexico. The objective of this study was to identify gender stereotypes in sexuality and contraception practices in Mexican university students of middle class. We used a qualitative methodology with in-depth interviews, using as analysis axes the sexual and contraception practices. The results showed gender stereotypes in university students as active, seductive and conquerors, characterized by a double standard of morality in the type of relationship: Formal where love, affection, trust and commitment are present, and Informal, where a love relationship or sexual exclusivity is not incorporated.

Looking for Determinants of Ontological Security in the Spain of the Crisis

The concept of ontological security has a remarkable echo in the current sociology to describe emotional status of men of late modernity. However, the concept created by Giddens in the eighties has been little used in empirical research covering various sources of risk or uncertainty. In this paper, a scale for ontological security is proposed. To do this, we start from the results of a research focused on the relationship between risk, uncertainty and vulnerability in the context of the economic crisis in Spain. These results were produced through nine focus groups and a telephone survey with standardized questionnaire applied to a national sample of 2,408 individuals over 18 years. This work is divided into three main sections. In the fi rst, a scale has been built from the results of the application of different items present in the questionnaire used. The second part explores the relationships of the scale obtained with the variables further approximate the emotional dimensions of individuals. The third part observes the variables that contribute to changes in the scale: These variables show the structural feature of the ontological security.

Book Review of In Search of an Alternative Biopolitics

Book Review: Beilin, O.K. (2015). In Search of an Alternative Biopolitics. Anti-Bullfighting, Animality, and the Environment in Contemporary Spain. Columbus: State University Press.

The activity of the feminist online publications: challenges for the transmission of the feminist culture in Spain

Traditionally, big media corporations have contributed to hiding the women’s movement itself, as well as its main claims and topics of discussion (Marx, Myra y Hess, 1995; Rhode, 1995; Mendes, 2011). This has led the feminist movement to develop its own media generally print publications, usually, with a very specialized character and reduced audience. This is similar to what has occurred with quality main stream media, asthese publications have had to adapt themselves to a new communicatiion context, because of the financial crisis and  technological evolution. Feminist media has found in the Internet an excellent opportunity to access citizens and communicate their messages. , In view of this scene of change and renovation,  this article offers the results of a qualitative analysis focused on the experiences of four feminist online media sites edited in Spain: Pikaramagazine.com, Proyecto-kahlo.com, Mujeresenred.net and Laindependent.cat. Besides exploring the characteristics and content of these sites, the article pays attention to the virality of their contents spread through Facebook and Twitter. The onclusion estimates their social impact, insofar as they symbolize the specialization, diversification and dialogue promoted by the Web.

Feminista Frequencies: Tuning In to Chicana Radio Activism in the Pacific Northwest, 1975-1990

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Innovating at the margins: the System of Rice Intensification in India and transformative social innovation

I explore transformative social innovation in agriculture through a particular case of agroecological innovation, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in India. Insights from social innovation theory that emphasize the roles of social movements and the reengagement of vulnerable populations in societal transformation can help reinstate the missing “social” dimension in current discourses on innovation in India. India has a rich and vibrant tradition of social innovation wherein vulnerable communities have engaged in collective experimentation. This is often missed in official or formal accounts. Social innovations such as SRI can help recreate these possibilities for change from outside the mainstream due to newer opportunities that networks present in the twenty-first century. I show how local and international networks led by Civil Society Organizations have reinterpreted and reconstructed game-changing macrotrends in agriculture. This has enabled the articulation and translation of an alternative paradigm for sustainable transitions within agriculture from outside formal research channels. These social innovations, however, encounter stiff opposition from established actors in agricultural research systems. Newer heterogeneous networks, as witnessed in SRI, provide opportunities for researchers within hierarchical research systems to explore, experiment, and create newer norms of engagement with Civil Society Organizations and farmers. I emphasize valuing and embedding diversity of practices and institutions at an early stage to enable systems to be more resilient and adaptable in sustainable transitions.

Conflict and Stability in the Neoliberal Era: Explaining Urban Unrest in Latin America

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Controle social e políticas públicas: contribuições para aprimorar o controle social do programa nacional de alimentação escolar

The National School Feeding Programme (PNAE) is a public policy in Brazil for over 60 years and represents one of the most important programs of feeding and nutrition in the world. The role of family farming as a source of employment in rural areas, food provider and for ensuring much of the Brazil’s food security is constantly present at the government's and social movement’s agendas. Law 11.947 of 2009 marked its integration in the food supply for the National School Feeding Programme. Article 14 of aforementioned law highlights that a minimum of 30% (thirty percent) of the funds transferred by the National Development Fund Education (FNDE) to the Programme must be used for the purchase of food directly from family farmers or their organizations. The national school feeding policy under the responsibility of the FNDE and is subjected to agencies of internal control, such as the General Controllership of the Union (CGU), of external control, such as the Audit Courts of the Union and the of the states, and to the social control of the school feeding councils. Those funds are transferred to the implementing agencies, which are the education offices of the states, municipalities and of the Federal District. These entities must annually present their accountings to the School Feeding Councils, which analyze them and then issue a conclusive report to the FNDE, approving with or without reservations, or rejecting them. In this sense, this research aims to propose parameters that should contribute to the improvement of the social control over purchases from family farming for the National School Feeding Programme. The study was conducted by non parametric sampling alongside the managers of the implementing entities, school feeding councils and Family Farming Organizations all across Brazil, from the databases provided by FNDE and by the National Union of Cooperatives of Family Agriculture and Solidarity Economy (Unicafes). The study points out that the legal framework of PNAE seeks to ensure the participation of family farming in the food supply for the Programme, despite allowing the executing agencies to justify the non-compliance of the minimum required in a number of ways. The survey also signalizes that the school feeding councils follow the implementation of the Programme very shyly, and points out that there is room to expand and enhance the participation of these councils and organizations of family farming in the execution of PNAE. Its effectiveness requires a constant and effective process of training of the agents involved in the Programme.