Police is Dead: On the Birth of Economism

Police is Dead is an historiographic analysis whose objective is to change the terms by which contemporary humanist scholarship assesses the phenomenon currently termed neoliberalism. It proceeds by building an archeology of legal thought in the United States that spans the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. My approach assumes that the decline of certain paradigms of political consciousness set historical conditions that enable the emergence of what is to follow. The particular historical form of political consciousness I seek to reintroduce to the present is what I call “police:” a counter-liberal way of understanding social relations that I claim has particular visibility within a legal archive, but that has been largely ignored by humanist theory on account of two tendencies: first, an over-valuation of liberalism as Western history’s master signifier; and second, inconsistent and selective attention to law as a cultural artifact. The first part of my dissertation reconstructs an anatomy of police through close studies of court opinions, legal treatises, and legal scholarship. I focus in particular on juridical descriptions of intimate relationality—which police configured as a public phenomenon—and slave society apologetics, which projected the notion of community as an affective and embodied structure. The second part of this dissertation demonstrates that the dissolution of police was critical to emergence of a paradigm I call economism: an originally progressive economic framework for understanding social relations that I argue developed at the nexus of law and economics at the turn of the twentieth century. Economism is a way of understanding sociality that collapses ontological distinctions between formally distinct political subjects—i.e., the state, the individual, the collective—by reducing them to the perspective of economic force. Insofar as it was taken up and reoriented by neoliberal theory, this paradigm has become a hegemonic form of political consciousness. This project concludes by encouraging a disarticulation of economism—insofar as it is a form of knowledge—from neoliberalism as its contemporary doctrinal manifestation. I suggest that this is one way progressive scholarship can think about moving forward in the development of economic knowledge, rather than desiring to move backwards to a time before the rise of neoliberalism. Disciplinarily, I aim to show that understanding the legal historiography informing our present moment is crucial to this task.

Sensemaking, safety, and situated communities in (con)temporary networks

This paper discusses the difficulties involved in managing knowledge-intensive, multinational, multiorganisational, and multifunctional project networks. The study is based on a 2-year quasi-ethnography of one such network engaged in the design and development of a complex new process control system for an existing pharmaceutical plant in Ireland. The case describes how, drawing upon the organisational heritage of the corporations involved and the logic implicit within their global partnership arrangements, the project was initially structured in an aspatial manner that underestimated the complexity of the development process and the social relations required to support it. Following dissatisfaction with initial progress, a number of critical management interventions were made, which appeared to contribute to a recasting of the network ontology that facilitated the cultivation and protection of more appropriate communicative spaces. The case emphasises the need to move away from rationalistic assumptions about communication processes within projects of this nature, towards a richer conceptualisation of such enterprises as involving collective sensemaking activities within and between situated ‘communities’ of actors. Contrary to much contemporary writing, the paper argues that space and location are of crucial importance to our understanding of network forms of organising.

Digging Deeper than Platinum: South Africa's Participation in an Emergent Fuel Cell Industry

South’s Africa’s position as global platinum supplier provides a unique opportunity for an emergent fuel cell industry. The innovative technology’s reliance on platinum has sparked interest in the mining sector, promoting the clean energy-producing devices in their own operations. This research focuses upon contemporary structures of racial oppression within the industry, to analyse how these dynamics influence the development and implementation of innovative technology. It also challenges the sustainability discourse associated with fuel cell technology in South Africa. The study follows a qualitative research approach, incorporating a political ecology focus to highlight the politicized nature of these interactions. The methodology incorporates a literature review, key informant interviews, fieldwork observations and document analysis. Findings indicate that the implementation of fuel cell technology in South Africa’s platinum mines will disproportionately burden historically disadvantaged South Africans, with the lack in technical knowledge-base considered a major challenge. Additionally, it was found that sustainability claims surrounding fuel cell technology are largely based on environmental characteristics. This has resulted in an oversimplification and a depoliticised account of the impacts of the technology. This study looked critically at the convergence of history and innovation, placing emphasis on context, power relations and knowledge to provide a more holistic account of the research problem. Opportunities exist for making a meaningful and viable contribution towards development and sustainability by means of investing in a South African fuel cell industry. The challenge will be in deliberately seeking pathways which address the more complex components of sustainability, benefitting all stakeholders and paying particular attention to the historical, political and social contexts from which the technology emerges. It is this particular context which allows for a questioning and perhaps even a re-evaluation of the sustainability narratives broadly applied to fuel cell technology.

Respuestas sindicales ante el desafío de la empresa-red: sector petroquímico y nuclear

El modelo de empresa-red constituye un desafío para los sistemas de relaciones laborales. Dicho modelo cuestiona el papel de las instituciones colectivas de trabajo, concebidas históricamente en el marco de una organización integrada verticalmente según el modelo fordista. En efecto, la empresa dispersa o el recurso a la subcontratación son contextos cada vez más habituales, en los cuales la organización del trabajo se encuentra disociada de la empresa en sentido jurídico y patrimonial, y donde se establecen relaciones de trabajo triangulares de facto entre empresa principal, empresa de servicios y trabajadores. La búsqueda de respuestas a esta problemática apunta a la reconstrucción de solidaridades entre los trabajadores, pasando por la acción de los representantes de los trabajadores. A partir de un estudio de casos llevado a cabo en dos industrias de flujo, la industria nuclear y la petroquímica, este artículo se propone analizar los efectos de la triangulación de la relación salarial a nivel de planta, y dos procesos experimentales de organización sindical y de negociación colectiva territorial que buscan dar respuesta a la problemática de la subcontratación. El artículo analiza los resultados y límites de dichas experiencias para reconstruir una “comunidad de trabajo” inclusiva de los trabajadores subcontratistas.

Institutional resistances before school mediation. An inquiry in the conflict settings

This paper deals with the conceptions of the different school actors about the meaning and the implications of mediation in their schools, drawing on data from a qualitative approach carried out as part of a wider project to map mediation perspectives and practices in Catalonia. The authors analyze the scope of the situations regarded as suitable or unsuitable for the introduction of restorative practices, as well as the resistance to change in the practice of conflict resolutions and in the democratization of school culture.

Household "ethnoscapes" and rite of passage: meaning and chronicity of the diagnosis in schizophrenia

Based on the results of an ethnographic study with people diagnosed with schizophrenia and their relatives in Barcelona and Tarragona along one year, I problematize the transformation of roles and relationships inside the household from the first burst and the assignation of a diagnosis as rite of passage. I appeal to a cultural interpretation of family, understanding the family group as a specific ethnoscape. I analyze the chronicity meaning, and its consequences in the conformation of the “role of sick person” in the context of parental relationships. I also discuss the paradoxes in terms of autonomy for the affected persons because of the projection of cultural connotation of chronicity.

What is this thing called Historical Archaeology?

Historical archaeology, in its narrow temporal sense -as an archaeology of the emergence and subsequent evolution of the Modern world- is steadily taking pace in Spanish academia. This paper aims at provoking a more robust debate through understanding how Spanish historical archaeology is placed in the international scene and some of its more relevant particularities. In so doing, the paper also stresses the strong links that have united historical and prehistorical archaeology since its inception, both in relation to the ontological, epistemological and methodological definition of the first as to the influence of socio-political issues in the latter. Such reflection is partly a situated reflection from prehistory as one of the paper’s authors has been a prehistorian for most of her professional life.

Argaric Sociology: Sex and Death

The detailed, rich and diverse Argaric funerary record offers an opportunity to explore social dimensions that usually remain elusive for prehistoric research, such us social rules on kinship rights and obligations, sexual tolerance and the role of funerary practices in preserving the economic and political organization. This paper addresses these topics through an analysis of the social meaning of Argaric double tombs by looking at body treatment and composition of grave goods assemblages according to gender and class affiliation. The Argaric seems to have been a conservative society, scarcely tolerant regarding homosexuality, and willing to celebrate ancestry associated to certain places as a means of asserting residence and property rights.

O Serviço Social nos Municípios, dos Anos 80 à Actualidade: o distrito de Viseu

A partir do momento em que o poder local e os Municípios assumem um papel cada vez mais preponderante na afirmação dos princípios da descentralização, democracia, participação e cidadania, o Assistente Social surge-nos como peça fundamental à concretização desses princípios tendo em vista alcançar uma sociedade mais justa, igualitária e a realização da plena cidadania. É partindo desta ideia basilar e tomando como objectivo geral compreender o nível de desenvolvimento do Serviço Social nos Municípios do distrito de Viseu, que esboçamos um retrato da profissão nesta área de intervenção no espaço geográfico referenciado. Os resultados que apresentamos surgem na sequência da informação obtida pela administração de questionários a todos os Assistentes Sociais a desempenharem funções nos Municípios do referido distrito. A partir destes dados foi possível constatar que a profissão de Assistente Social se institucionaliza em 1977, começa a expandir-se a partir de 1980 com o alargamento das políticas sociais e sob a influência dos fundos comunitários e culmina em 2000 com a integração da maioria das Assistentes Sociais que, têm vindo a alcançar um maior espaço e significado de intervenção na organização municipal e maior reconhecimento social. E se há aspectos da prática profissional que carecem ainda de alguns progressos e conquistas, nomeadamente nas questões que se prendem com a relação do poder político com o poder técnico, a sua inserção em estruturas orgânicas pouco especializadas e o facto de se defrontarem ainda com a falta de recursos a vários níveis, assinale-se como positivo, o facto de a maioria dos municípios terem já as suas competências regulamentadas e o poder político estar mais consciente da realidade social no âmbito de cada concelho. Também, ao nível do exercício profissional aspectos há que, atestam os largos passos dados pelos Assistentes Sociais com vista à sua afirmação. O desempenho de funções de coordenação, o seu envolvimento em projectos de investigação, a sua participação na planificação e orçamentalização das actividades, a autonomia para a elaboração de propostas, tomada de decisões e a definição de funções e prioridades de resposta as dar às situações. Ainda, a adopção de diversas estratégias de poder por forma a cumprir os seus objectivos profissionais e agir prioritariamente de acordo com os interesses colectivos da população utente, tendo em vista a melhoria da sua qualidade de vida e o seu empowerment são reflexos das conquistas e legitimações dos Assistentes Sociais nos municípios do distrito de Viseu.

Programa Municipal de Apoio ao Arrendamento - PMAA

A política de habitação no concelho de Matosinhos sofreu ao longo das últimas décadas profundas alterações. O trabalho apresentado analisa o processoi subjacente a uma nova política da autarquia no domínio da habitação, o Programa Municipal de Apoio ao Arrendamento. O interesse nesta temática surge como corolário de uma prática profissional na entidade empresarial municipal, organização que tem a seu cargo a intervenção neste domínio. O principal objetivo desta investigação é compreender de que forma o Programa Municipal de Apoio ao Arrendamento constitui uma resposta às novas configurações da questão habitacional no município e a implicação dos profissionais da área social, nomeadamente os assistentes sociais, na sua criação, implementação e avaliação. Por outro lado, pretendemos analisar os limites e possibilidades do trabalho dos assistentes sociais no Departamento de Gestão Social e Habitacional. A recolha de informação teve por base uma pesquisa bibliográfica, associada aos temas em análise e uma pesquisa documental, a qual incidiu sobre a documentação produzida na MatosinhosHabit, nomeadamente procedimentos, instruções de trabalho, processos de munícipes (de 1999 a 2013), sob a forma digital ou outra. A criação desta política surge como resposta aos problemas económicos e sociais sentidos pela população em meados de 2007 e para a qual os profissionais da área social tiveram um trabalho propositivo. Este trabalho passou pelo envolvimento ativo de vários profissionais da organização e de entidades parceiras locais, tendo subjacente os valores da equidade e desenvolvimento local e social. / The housing policy in the Municipality of Matosinhos has suffered profound changes over the past decades. The present assignment analises the underlying process to a new policy of the local authority in the field of housing, "O Programa Nacional de Apoio ao Arrendamento" (the Municipal Program for Support to Leasing). The interest in this subject arises as a corollary of a professional practice in the municipal business entity that is in charge of intervention in this area. The main objective of this research is to understand how the program for leasing is a response to the new housing issues in the municipality and the involvement of social workers, namely in their creation, implementation and evaluation. On the other hand, we intend to analise the limits and possibilities of the work of social workers in the Department of Social Management and Housing. The collecting of the data was based on a literature research, associated to topics in analysis and documental research, which focused on the documentation produced at MatosinhosHabit, namely procedures, work instructions, householder processes (from 1999 to 2013), under a digital format or any other format. The creation of this policy is a response to economic and social problems felt by the population in mid-2007, for which social workers had proposals. This work has involved the active participation of various professionals of the organization and local partner organizations, having underlying values of equity and social and local development.

Les stratégies syndicales face aux restructurations d’entreprises : une étude comparative des contre-pouvoirs syndicaux dans le secteur des équipementiers automobiles en France et au Canada

Cette thèse tente de comprendre l’impact des restructurations des entreprises multinationales sur les stratégies syndicales. Les acteurs syndicaux locaux sont-ils déterminés par l’appartenance à des régimes nationaux et à des contingences organisationnelles ou peuvent-ils influencer des décisions objectives comme les restructurations ? Cette recherche s’insère dans une problématique large qui fait la jonction entre la mondialisation économique sur une base continentale, la réorganisation productive des entreprises multinationales et l’action syndicale. Au plan théorique, nous confrontons trois grandes approches analytiques, à savoir : le néo-institutionnalisme et les structures d’opportunités ; l’économie politique critique et la question du pouvoir syndical ; la géographie économique critique mettant de l’avant les contingences, l’encastrement et l’espace concurrentiel. Sur la base de ces trois familles, nous présentons un modèle d’analyse multidisciplinaire. Au plan méthodologique, cette thèse est structurée autour de quatre études de cas locales qui ont subi des menaces de restructurations. Cette collecte a été effectuée dans deux pays (la France et le Canada) et dans un secteur particulier (les équipementiers automobiles). Trois sources qualitatives forment le cœur empirique de cette thèse : des statistiques descriptives, des documents de sources secondaires et des entretiens semi-dirigés (44), principalement avec des acteurs syndicaux. L’analyse intra et inter régime national éclaire plusieurs aspects de la question des stratégies syndicales en contexte de restructurations. Les principales contributions de cette thèse touchent : 1. l’impact des facteurs relationnels et des ressources de pouvoir développées par les syndicats locaux sur les structures d’opportunités institutionnelles; 2. l’importance des aspects « cognitifs » et d’envisager le pouvoir de manière multi-niveaux; 3. l’importance de l’encastrement social et des dynamiques relationnelles entre syndicats et patronats; 4. l’influence de la concurrence internationale/nationale/régionale/locale dans le secteur des équipementiers automobiles; et 5. l’importance des arbitrages et des relations entre les acteurs de l’entreprise par rapport à la théorie de la contingence pour comprendre les marges structurelles des syndicats locaux. Notre recherche invite les acteurs sociaux à repenser leur action dans le cadre des restructurations. En particulier, les syndicats locaux se doivent d’explorer de nouveaux répertoires stratégiques pour répondre aux nombreux défis que posent le changement économique et les restructurations.

Validação do Youth Quality of Life Instrument para a população portuguesa: YQOL-R

É incontornável o estatuto que o conceito de qualidade de vida assume hoje na prática e políticas de saúde pública. Na infância e adolescência é ainda escassa a investigação, tornando-se crucial o desenvolvimento de instrumentos de qualidade vida relacionada com a saúde validados para esta população. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo fundamental analisar as qualidades psicométricas e validar a versão portuguesa do Youth Quality of Life (YQOL-R) (Patrick, et al., 2002). A amostra é constituída por 507 adolescentes, com idades compreendidas entre os 12 e os 19 anos, a frequentar o 3º ciclo do ensino básio e ensino secundário de escolas públicas do ensino regular. Para além do citado instrumento a validar, os jovens preencheram também, para a análise da validade convergente e divergente, o Kidscreen-27 (Gaspar & Matos, 2008) e a Escala da Depressão, Ansiedade e Stresse (EADS-21) (Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado & Leal, 2004). Os resultados mostram que o YQOL-R apresenta uma estrutura fatorial de quatro fatores, semelhantes à versão original americana (individual, relações sociais, ambiente e qualidade de vida em geral). Possui uma boa consistência interna e uma adequada estabilidade temporal. Mostrou correlações significativas e no sentido esperado com as variáveis em estudo. Foram igualmente encontradas diferenças de género em relação à qualidade de vida, sendo os rapazes a reportarem em média níveis mais elevados de perceção da qualidade de vida, comparativamente às raparigas. Futuros estudos devem ser realizados em amostras clínicas para confirmação dos dados. Não obstante esta limitação, o presente estudo contribuiu para a disponibilização de um novo instrumento para avaliação da qualidade de vida em crianças e adolescentes, o qual evidenciou boas propriedade psicométricas, apoiando, assim empiricamente, a sua utilização nas práticas de saúde e investigação em amostras da comunidade. / Nowadays, it´s unavoidable the status that, the concept of quality of life assumes in practices and politics of public health. In childhood and adolescence it´s weak the investigation but it´s crucial the development of instruments of quality of life related to health validated to this population. The present work has an important aim, it´s analyze the psychometric qualities and validate the Portuguese version of Youth Quality of Life (YQOL-R) (Patrick, et al., 2002). The sample consists of 507 adolescents, aged between 12 and 19 years old and they attend the 3 rd cycle of basic education and secondary education schools in villages of regular education. Apart from that instrument, teenagers fill in, also, to the analysis convergent and divergent, the Kidscreen-27 (Gaspar & Matos, 2008) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (EADS-21) (Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado & Leal, 2004). The results show that the YQOL-R presents a factorial structure with four factors similar to original American version (individual, social relations, environment and general quality of life), presenting a good internal consistence and an adequate temporal stability. Substantial correlations showed and in the expected way with the variables in study. Have been found differences of gender related to quality of life, boys reported on average higher levels of quality of life perception, comparatively to the girls. Future studies must be performed in clinical samples to confirm the findings. In spite of this restriction, the actual study contributes to providing a new instrument to evaluate the quality of life in children and adolescents, this evidenced good psychometric properties, supported empirically its application in heath practices and investigation in community samples.

Racionalidade substantiva no processo decisório: um estudo em instituições que lidam com o tratamento oncológico infantojuvenil na cidade de Natal-RN

The present study regards an applied social research (qualitative) performed in two institutions which lead children s cancer treatment in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. The main goal of this study is, as of a literature review at works which characterizes the first generations of study about substantive rationality, to detect Decision Making process related aspects that may serve as a basis to elaborate analysis categories from decision making process, aggregating them into a new study that may provide an advance to the theme in administrative science. The academic works based on the analysis model created by Mauricio Serva served as a basis to deep research into such theme, which verifies the predominant rationality in eleven administrative internal processes in productive organizations. This dissertation intends to go beyond the identification of the predominant rationality by elaborating new categories of analysis, and making possible the continuity of the subject in administrative science. Based on Guerreiro Ramos s work, which sees a kind of ideal organization, as known as isonomies, this study still calls upon Karl Polanyi s thoughts, which with the objective of comprehending the independent economic phenomenon of the value that allows considering non-market economies, find that the economy of the men is submerged in his social relations; it also rescues the studies from Max Weber who investigates the meaning of social action to better understand the rationality, and refers to the study of Jürgen Habermas, who proposes a broader conception about rationality, within the theory of communicative action. As a result of this theme s review, seven analysis categories of the decision making process have been formulated. They were applied in the institutions that had been chosen and helped to detect the type of predominant rationality in the categories of the decision making process. The results confirm that, although the decisions making process involves rational elements, such as information, identification of alternatives, there are also specific values of each individual with his experience and view oh the world, permeated not only by instrumental rationality, but also by substantive rationality. The study has verified that two similar institutions may show different types of rationality in the decision making process, when decision factors may tend to instrumental rationality, according to administration classic way, as well as they may emerge from substantive rationality, thus contributing to the process of emancipation of the human being in his sphere of work

Good year, bad year: changing strategies, changing networks? A two-year study on seed acquisition in northern Cameroon

Analysis of seed exchange networks at a single point in time may reify sporadic relations into apparently fixed and long-lasting ones. In northern Cameroon, where environment is not only strongly seasonal but also shows unpredictable interannual variation, farmers’ social networks are flexible from year to year. When adjusting their strategies, Tupuri farmers do not systematically solicit the same partners to acquire the desired propagules. Seed acquisitions documented during a single cropping season may thus not accurately reflect the underlying larger social network that can be mobilized at the local level. To test this hypothesis, we documented, at the outset of two cropping seasons (2010 and 2011), the relationships through which seeds were acquired by the members of 16 households in a Tupuri community. In 2011, farmers faced sudden failure of the rains and had to solicit distant relatives, highlighting their ability to quickly trigger specific social relations to acquire necessary seeding material. Observing the same set of individuals during two successive years and the seed sources they solicited in each year enabled us to discriminate repeated relations from sporadic ones. Although farmers did not acquire seeds from the same individuals from one year to the next, they relied on quite similar relational categories of people. However, the worse weather conditions during the second year led to (1) a shift from red sorghum seeds to pearl millet seeds, (2) a geographical extension of the network, and (3) an increased participation of women in seed acquisitions. In critical situations, women mobilized their own kin almost exclusively. We suggest that studying the seed acquisition network over a single year provides a misrepresentation of the underlying social network. Depending on the difficulties farmers face, they may occasionally call on relationships that transcend the local relationships used each year.

Adapting prospective structural analysis to strengthen sustainable management and capacity building in community-based natural resource management contexts

Local communities collectively managing common pool resources can play an important role in sustainable management, but they often lack the skills and context-specific tools required for such management. The complex dynamics of social-ecological systems (SES), the need for management capacities, and communities’ limited empowerment and participation skills present challenges for community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) strategies. We analyzed the applicability of prospective structural analysis (PSA), a strategic foresight tool, to support decision making and to foster sustainable management and capacity building in CBNRM contexts and the modifications necessary to use the tool in such contexts. By testing PSA in three SES in Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina, we gathered information regarding the potential of this tool and its adaptation requirements. The results suggest that the tool can be adapted to these contexts and contribute to fostering sustainable management and capacity building. It helped identify the systems’ dynamics, thus increasing the communities’ knowledge about their SES and informing the decision-making process. Additionally, it drove a learning process that both fostered empowerment and built participation skills. The process demanded both time and effort, and required external monitoring and facilitation, but community members could be trained to master it. Thus, we suggest that the PSA technique has the potential to strengthen CBNRM and that other initiatives could use it, but they must be aware of these requirements.