Dimensões e limites da supervisão acadêmica de estágio em Serviço Social

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

A sociabilidade do capital e o gerenciamento da questao social: o projeto ético-político profissional no cotidiano do assistente social

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Ética e trabalho: Concepção de uma antítese social

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Druze linguistic landscape in Israel: indexicality of new ethnolinguistic identity boundaries

The Druze community in Israel is a distinct religious community currently undergoing important ethnolinguistic shifts. The government's implementation of an official policy has led to the deconstruction and reshaping of the Druze political and national identity to one that differs substantially from that of the Palestinian minority in Israel. In this study, I argue that the visibility, vitality and appreciation of Hebrew in the Druze linguistic landscape are indicative of new ethnolinguistic boundaries of the Druze identity in Israel. The fact that the Druze in Israel are dispersed throughout the Galilee and Mount Carmel area and experience varying levels of language contact as well as divergent economic relations with their Palestinian–Israeli and Jewish–Israeli neighbors suggests that one cannot expect uniformity in the Druze linguistic markets or the processes of social, cultural and linguistic identification. This study will show that Hebrew has become a dominant component of the linguistic repertoire and social identity of the Druze in the Mount Carmel area since it has become the first choice of communication as the linguistic landscape indicates.

Some considerations on the potential contributions of intercultural social work...

Social work at global levels, and across international and intercultural divides, is probably more important now than ever before in our history. It may be that the very form our ideas about intercultural work take need to be re-examined in the light of recent global changes and uncertainties. In this short position paper I wish to offer some considerations about how we might approach the field of intercultural social work in order to gain new insights about how we practise at both local and global levels. For me, much of the promise of an intercultural social work (and for the purposes of this paper I see aspects of international social work in much the same light) lies in its focus on the way we categorise ourselves, our ideas and experiences in relation to others. The very notion of intercultural or international social work is based on assumptions about boundaries, differences, ways of differentiating and defining sets of experiences. Whether these are deemed "cultural" or "national" is of less importance. Once we are forced to examine these assumptions, about how and why we categorise ourselves in relation to other people in particular ways, the way is opened up for us to be much more critical about the bases of our own, often very deep-seated, thinking. This understanding, about how and why notions of "difference" operate in the way they do, can potentially open our understanding to all the other ways, besides cultural or national labelling, in which we categorise and create differences between ourselves and others. Intercultural social work, taken as a potential site for understanding the creation of difference then, has the potential to help us critically examine the bases of much of our practice in any setting, since most practice involves some kind of categorisation of phenomena.

Differences in Internet Usage - Social Inequality and Informal Education

In the public debate the internet is regarded as a central resource for knowledge and information. Associated with this is the idea that everyone is able and even expected to serve himself or herself according to his or her own needs via this medium. Since more and more services are also delivered online the internet seems to allow its users to enjoy specific advantages in dealing with their everyday life. However, using the internet is based on a range of preconditions. New results of empirical and theoretical research indicate the rise of a social divide in this context. Within the internet, different ways of use can be identified alongside social inequalities. Boundaries of the "real life" are mirrored in the virtual space e.g. in terms of forms of communification and spaces for appropriation. These are not only shaped by invidual preferences but particularly by social structures and processes. In the context of the broader debate on education it is stated that formal educational structures are to be completed by arrangements which are structured in informal respectively nonformal ways. Particularly the internet is suggested to play an important role in this respect. However, the phenomenon of digital inequality points to limitations consolidated by effects of economic, social, and cultural ressources: Economical resources affect opportunities of access, priorities of everyday life shape respective intentions of internet use, social relationships have an impact on the support structures available and ways of appropriation reproduce a specific understanding of informal education ("informelle Bildung"). This produces an early stratification of opportunities especially for the subsequent generation and may lead to extensive inequalities regarding the distribution of advantages in terms of education. Thus the capacity of the virtual space in terms of participatory opportunities and democratic potentials raises concerns of major relevance with respect to social and educational policy. From the perspective of different disciplines involved in these issues it is essential to clarify this question in an empirical as well as in a theoretical way and to make it utilizable for a future-orientied practice. This article discusses central questions regarding young people's internet use and its implications for informal education and social service delivery on the basis of empirical findings. It introduces a methodological approach for this particular perspective and illustrates that the phenomena of digital divide and digital inequality are as much created by social processes as by technical issues.

De-Territorialization and Re-Territorialization of “the social”. A debate

Deterritorialization has been used as an anthropological concept to designate the weakened ties between culture and place: Certain cultural/social processes and relations seem to increasingly transcend their previously given territorial boundaries in flexible capitalist societies. At the same time, policy studies, especially Studies on Governmentality, have emphasized the re-territorialization of the social, in which the former national welfare arrangements (welfare and nation state) as the scale of bio-political integration patterns are more and more substituted by small scaled inclusion areas (e.g. neighbourhoods, districts and communities). Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari, de-territorialization processes have therefore always to be understood as combined with processes of a re-territorialization, producing new spatial formations. In this view, spatial arrangements and connections are not given and static structures, but controversial and unstable – nevertheless they are influential.

Dutch boundaries

In many schools of architecture the 1970s have been an important watershed for the way in which architecture was taught. For example, recent studies have stressed the importance of Aldo Rossi for the changes in the teaching of architec-ture at the ETH in Zürich that before was based on orthodox modern principles. A similar struggle between an orthodox conception of modernity and its criticism took place at the architectural faculty of Delft, in the Netherlands. Although Delft is an important European school of architecture, the theoretical work produced during this period is not largely known outside the Netherlands. This is perhaps due to the fact that most studies were published in Dutch. With this article, I intend to make the architectural theory developed during this period known to a larger public. The article describes the intellectual journey made by Dutch stu-dents of architecture in the 1970s and 1980s. This was the quest to receive recognition for the intellectual substance of architecture: the insight architecture could be a discourse and a form of knowledge and not only a method of building. Specifically, the work of the architectural theoretician Wim Nijenhuis is highlight-ed. However, as I point out in this article, the results of this journey also had its problematic sides. This becomes clear from the following sentence taken from the dissertation of Wim Nijenhuis: "The search for metaphysical fiction and the tendency towards a technological informed absolute through fully transparent and simultaneous information, should be contested by a fantasy dimension, that does not wish to 'overcome' a given situation and that does not rely on 'creativi-ty' (that would still be historical and humanistic)." Texts like this have a hermet-ic quality that is not easy to comprehend for an architectural public. Even more, there is an important debate looming behind these sentences. As an important outcome of their quest the architectural students in Delft asked themselves: how do we give form to architectural theory once its claim to truth is exposed as an illusion? For Nijenhuis, the discourse about architecture is a mere 'artful game with words': a fiction, besides other forms of fiction like poetry or literature. The question is then if we have not entered the realm of total subjectivity and relativ-ism with this position. From what can the discourse of architecture derive its authority after the death of God?

Behind the curtains of privacy calculus on social networking sites: the study of Germany and the USA

As social networking sites (SNSs) become increasingly global, the issues of cultural differences in participation patterns become acute. However, current research offers only limited insights into the role of culture behind SNS usage. Aiming to fill this gap, this study adopts a ‘privacy calculus’ perspective to study the differences between German and American SNS users. Results of structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis reveal distinct variability in the cognitive patterns of American and German subjects. We contribute to the theory by rejecting the universal nature of privacy-calculus processes. From a practical standpoint, our results signal that SNS providers cannot rely on the “proven” means in ensuring user participation when crossing geographic boundaries. When financial means are limited, SNS providers should direct their investments into enhancing platform enjoyment and granting users with more control and, paradoxically, lobbying for more legalistic safeguards of user privacy.

Linking Applied Ethnobotany to Social Learning: A Participatory Tool for the Promotion of Indigenous Plants Use in Matutuíne, Southern Mozambique

In its search for pathways towards a more sustainable management of natural resources, development oriented research increasingly faces the challenge to develop new concepts and tools based on transdisciplinarity. Transdisciplinarity can, in terms of an idealized goal, be defined as a research approach that identifies and solves problems not only independently of disciplinary boundaries, but also including the knowledge and perceptions of non-scientific actors in a participatory process. In Mozambique, the Centre for Development and Environment (Berne, Switzerland), in partnership with Impacto and Helvetas (Maputo, Mozambique), has elaborated a new transdisciplinary tool to identify indigenous plants with a potential for commercialization. The tool combines methods from applied ethnobotany with participatory research in a social learning process. This approach was devised to support a development project aimed at creating alternative sources of income for rural communities of Matutuíne district, Southern Mozambique, while reducing the pressure on the natural environment. The methodology, which has been applied and tested, is innovative in that it combines important data collection through participatory research with a social learning process involving both local and external actors. This mutual learning process provides a space for complementary forms of knowledge to meet, eventually leading to the adoption of an integrated approach to natural resource management with an understanding of its ecological, socio-economic and cultural aspects; local stakeholders are included in the identification of potentials for sustainable development. Sustainable development itself, as a normative concept, can only be defined through social learning and consensus building between the local and external stakeholders.

A focused ethnographic study of community social capital

Social capital, a relatively new public health concept, represents the intangible resources embedded in social relationships that facilitate collective action. Current interest in the concept stems from empirical studies linking social capital with health outcomes. However, in order for social capital to function as a meaningful research variable, conceptual development aimed at refining the domains, attributes, and boundaries of the concept are needed. An existing framework of social capital (Uphoff, 2000), developed from studies in India, was selected for congruence with the inductive analysis of pilot data from a community that was unsuccessful at mobilizing collective action. This framework provided the underpinnings for a formal ethnographic research study designed to examine the components of social capital in a community that had successfully mobilized collective action. The specific aim of the ethnographic study was to examine the fittingness of Uphoff's framework in the contrasting American community. A contrasting context was purposefully selected to distinguish essential attributes of social capital from those that were specific to one community. Ethnographic data collection methods included participant observation, formal interviews, and public documents. Data was originally analyzed according to codes developed from Uphoff's theoretical framework. The results from this analysis were only partially satisfactory, indicating that the theoretical framework required refinement. The refinement of the coding system resulted in the emergence of an explanatory theory of social capital that was tested with the data collected from formal fieldwork. Although Uphoff's framework was useful, the refinement of the framework revealed, (1) trust as the dominant attribute of social capital, (2) efficacy of mutually beneficial collective action as the outcome indicator, (3) cognitive and structural domains more appropriately defined as the cultural norms of the community and group, and (4) a definition of social capital as the combination of the cognitive norms of the community and the structural norms of the group that are either constructive or destructive to the development of trust and the efficacy of mutually beneficial collective action. This explanatory framework holds increased pragmatic utility for public health practice and research. ^

Desigualdad social en la "Ciudad Negocio": El modelo inmobiliario en la construcción social de Madrid durante el desarrollismo

El objetivo de esta Tesis doctoral es arrojar más luz sobre los mecanismos a partir de los cuales se dibuja el mapa de la desigualdad social en los sistemas urbanos contemporáneos. Para ello, en primer lugar se ha realizado una revisión crítica de los diferentes planteamientos desde los que se abordan los procesos de formación del espacio social urbano. A partir de ahí se ha aplicado el campo teórico analizado a un caso concreto muy representativo, el espacio social del Madrid de finales del siglo XX, comprobándose cómo los planteamientos tradicionales muestran carencias en cuanto a la explicación de los procesos estudiados. Por otro lado, una vez constatado que el espacio social madrileño producto del régimen de acumulación fordista destaca por un dibujo especialmente clasificado y jerarquizado, se ha analizado cuando y por qué comenzó este fenómeno de tan radical "clasificación social". Como resultado se obtiene que sólo es posible generar un discurso de explicación del espacio social estudiado considerando, por un lado, la percepción de la ciudad preexistente y, por otro, la concepción y construcción de la “planeada” por un modelo inmobiliario obligado a reconstruir en su mapa de precios una estructura social recién transformada. Una vez comprobado que la transformación que sufrieron tanto la estructura social como el modelo inmobiliario supuso un cambio de fase en la evolución de la ciudad y su espacio social se ha formulado un nuevo modelo urbano que se ha denominado “Ciudad Negocio” . En esta Ciudad Negocio destaca un modelo inmobiliario de venta de viviendas financiadas que, debido a sus propios mecanismos de funcionamiento, requiere de un espacio social muy ordenado, jerarquizado y estable que reproduzca la estructura social existente de forma visible. ABSTRACT The aim of this research project is to shed more light on the variables that draw the social inequality maps in the contemporary urban systems. For that purpose, a thoughtful review of the different theories around urban and social planning has taken place. The outcome of the analysis has been projected over a very representative sample, the social space in Madrid at the end of the 20th Century, proving the fact that traditional arguments do not explain the way the contemporary social patterns has been developed. On the other hand, once verified the fact that the social space in Madrid conceptually inherited from the Regulation School outlines a social hierarchy pattern, an analysis of the reasons that lead to such “social classification” has been performed. The research conclusions around the reviewed urban space can only be sustained by the perception of a pre-existing city and the boundaries of a real state pattern forced to match the prices to the newly transformed social structure. The transformation of the social structure and the real state model and its impact over the urban space has lead to a new urban model called “Business City”. This new urban product is built over a residential real estate market, which in nature requires of a very organised, socially classified and stabled pattern so that it mirrors the existing social structure.

Delineating the Boundaries for Religious Speech in Public Discourse in Kierkegaard and Habermas

How is it that one of the most famous Christian thinkers - Soren Kierkegaard -- and one of the most famous contemporary secular thinkers -- Jurgen Habermas - both agree: the religious has nothing to say in the public realm of social, ethical discourse.