Human capital:theoretical and empirical insights

There is nothing more difficult to plan, more Doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage Than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would Profit by the preservation of the old system, and Merely lukewarm defenders in those who should gain By the new one. N. Machiavelli (1513) Abstract: The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we want to challenge the notion of "human capital" as "education, training and work experience" and suggest that it is the "quality of the workforce" that matters, here defined as the set of characteristics that allow workers to function in a specific institutional and historical context. Our main conclusion is that the quality of the workforce is affected by the institutional environment where the workers live and that therefore it can vary across countries and institutional contexts. Second, we want to show the empirical relevance of this last point by testing the extent to which the quality of institutions (here proxied by the governance indicators of Kaufmann etal. (2007)) can affect the quality of the workforce (proxied by the percentage of the working age population registered in a lifelong learning program). Our empirical analysis is conducted on a data-set of 11 European countries observed over the period 1996-2006. The results indicate that countries with better governance indicators are also endowed with a more qualified workforce. © 2011 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

Using accreditation criteria for collaborative quality enhancement

This paper describes a process to enhance the quality of higher education. At the heart of the process is a cross-sparring collaborative model, whereby institutions are critical friends. This is based on a prior self-evaluation, where the institution / programme identifies quality criteria it wants to improve. Part of the process is to ensure the documentation of best practices so that they can be shared with others in a so called market place. Linking the best practices to a criterion makes them searchable on a large scale. Optimal pairings of institutions can then take place for the cross-sparring activities.

A versenyképesség társadalmi környezete

Kutatásunk alapvetése, hogy egy ország versenyképessége az értékteremtő munkamegosztást támogató teljes közösségi intézményrendszer sikeres működésén múlik. Munkánkkal arra kerestük a választ, milyen értékek és motivációk alakítják a magyar gazdaság intézményrendszerét. Nem a hivatalos magatartási szabályok statikus elemzésére koncentráltunk, hanem a normák, konvenciók és innovációk világára, az intézményrendszer jövőjét befolyásoló dinamikus elemekre. Elemzésünk fókuszában a társadalmi és vállalkozói értékek, a gazdaságpolitika formálók versenyképességi narratívái, a helyi gazdaságok versenyképességi tényezői, a versenyképesség javítását szolgáló magánkezdeményezések és a nonprofit szektor működése álltak. Fő eredményünk, hogy a Magyarország jövőbeli versenyképességét befolyásoló tudati elemek - a gazdasági döntéshozók motivációi és normái – megfelelő alapot teremtenek a gazdaságunk versenyképességét megerősítő üzleti, civil és kormányzati kezdeményezések számára. Magas közösségi és morális elvárások jellemzik a lakosság és a vállalkozók értékrendjét. A gazdaságpolitika-alkotók nyitottak az intézményi problémákra, a magyar véleményformálók körében egyetértés van a fő versenyképességi kihívásokat illetően. Jól azonosíthatóak a szervezők erőfeszítéseit kompenzálni képes versenyképességi összefogások keretei. A helyi gazdaságfejlesztés intézményei alakulóban vannak. A nonprofit szektor működési viszonyainak bizonytalansága ellenére a közcélúság és a versenyképesség közös területein (mint az atipikus foglalkoztatás) jól teljesít. Ezek az eredmények egyszerre nyitnak perspektívát a tudományos vizsgálódás és a gyakorlati cselekvés számára. Az önérdek és a közösségi értékteremtő képesség javításának motivációja közötti kapcsolat tudományos vizsgálata, a társadalmi innovációk kutatása a versenyképesség javíthatóságának kereteit tárhatja fel. Az üzleti, civil vagy kormányzati szereplők pedig akkor tudják a fogyasztói, közösségi elvárásokat sikeresen összeegyeztetni stratégiai céljaikkal, ha a gazdasági és társadalmi szereplők normáihoz, konvencióihoz igazítva alakítják ki intézményformáló stratégiáikat. __________ The competitiveness of nations is based on the successful function of the institutions that support the division of labor on value creation – this is the basic principle of this research. Our project investigates what values and motivations shape the institutional setting of Hungarian economy. We study the world of norms, conventions and innovations – the elements that shape the institutions. The static analysis of official rules has only a minor role in this approach. Research focuses (1) on the value system of entrepreneurs (2), on the mind setting of public managers and executives of economic policy (3) on the factors of local economic competitiveness, (4) on the actions of private and non-profit sector in order to enhance competitiveness. The main finding of this research is that the cognitive factors that shape the competitiveness of Hungary – the norms and motivations of decision makers in the economy – give a positive support for the competitiveness strengthening initiatives of business, non-profit and public sectors. The studies on the values system of entrepreneurs and citizens show that expectations and moral values connected to competitiveness are strong. The public managers of economic policy are open-minded and there is a general consensus of experts, business and politics on the key competitiveness challenges of Hungary. There are well defined frameworks to conceptualize the schemes that make organizers’ efforts affordable in private initiatives for competitiveness. There are various developments on the field of institutions for local economic development. The nonprofit sector has good results on the common fields of competiveness and equity (like atypical forms of employment) despite the uncertainties in the background of the sector. These results open perspectives both for scientific research and practical applications. The research on connection between individual goals and motivation to improve value creating ability of the society and the study of social innovation reveal new aspects of competitiveness. Business, non-profit or public leaders can better synchronize their strategies with the expectation of consumers, communities and constituencies if their intentions to shape institutional settings fit better to the norms and conventions of the social and economic stakeholders.

Three essays on hospital efficiency

This dissertation analyzes hospital efficiency using various econometric techniques. The first essay provides additional and recent evidence to the presence of contract management behavior in the U.S. hospital industry. Unlike previous studies, which focus on either an input-demand equation or the cost function of the firm, this paper estimates the two jointly using a system of nonlinear equations. Moreover, it addresses the longitudinal problem of institutions adopting contract management in different years, by creating a matched control group of non-adopters with the same longitudinal distribution as the group under study. The estimation procedure then finds that labor, and not capital, is the preferred input in U.S. hospitals regardless of managerial contract status. With institutions that adopt contract management benefiting from lower labor inefficiencies than the simulated non-contract adopters. These results suggest that while there is a propensity for expense preference behavior towards the labor input, contract managed firms are able to introduce efficiencies over conventional, owner controlled, firms. Using data for the years 1998 through 2007, the second essay investigates the production technology and cost efficiency faced by Florida hospitals. A stochastic frontier multiproduct cost function is estimated in order to test for economies of scale, economies of scope, and relative cost efficiencies. The results suggest that small-sized hospitals experience economies of scale, while large and medium sized institutions do not. The empirical findings show that Florida hospitals enjoy significant scope economies, regardless of size. Lastly, the evidence suggests that there is a link between hospital size and relative cost efficiency. The results of the study imply that state policy makers should be focused on increasing hospital scale for smaller institutions while facilitating the expansion of multiproduct production for larger hospitals. The third and final essay employs a two staged approach in analyzing the efficiency of hospitals in the state of Florida. In the first stage, the Banker, Charnes, and Cooper model of Data Envelopment Analysis is employed in order to derive overall technical efficiency scores for each non-specialty hospital in the state. Additionally, input slacks are calculated and reported in order to identify the factors of production that each hospital may be over utilizing. In the second stage, we employ a Tobit regression model in order to analyze the effects a number of structural, managerial, and environmental factors may have on a hospital’s efficiency. The results indicated that most non-specialty hospitals in the state are operating away from the efficient production frontier. The results also indicate that the structural make up, managerial choices, and level of competition Florida hospitals face have an impact on their overall technical efficiency.

Cartões de saudações em língua inglesa: uma prática de letramento em análise

This research aims at studying the use of greeting cards, here understood as a literacy practice widely used in American society of the United States. In American culture, these cards become sources of information and memory about people‟s cycles of life, their experiences and their bonds of sociability enabled by means of the senses that the image and the word comprise. The main purpose of this work is to describe how this literacy practice occurs in American society. Theoretically, this research is based on studies of literacy (BARTON, HAMILTON, 1998; BAYHAM, 1995; HAMILTON, 2000; STREET, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2003), the contributions of social semiotics, associated with systemic-functional grammar (HALLIDAY; HASAN 1978, 1985, HALLIDAY, 1994, HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004), and the grammar of visual design (KRESS; LEITE-GARCIA, VAN LEEUWEN, 1997, 2004, 2006; KRESS; MATTHIESSEN, 2004). Methodologically, it is a study that falls within the qualitative paradigm of interpretative character, which adopts ethnographic tools in data generation. From this perspective, it makes use of “looking and asking” techniques (ERICKSON, 1986, p. 119), complemented by the technique of "registering", proposed by Paz (2008). The corpus comprises 104 printed cards, provided by users of this cultural artifact, from which we selected 24, and 11 e-cards, extracted from the internet, as well as verbalizations obtained by applying a questionnaire prepared with open questions asked in order to gather information about the perceptions and actions of these cards users with respect to this literacy practice. Data analysis reveals cultural, economic and social aspects of this practice and the belief that literacy practice of using printed greeting cards, despite the existence of virtual alternatives, is still very fruitful in American society. The study also allows users to comprehend that the cardholders position themselves and construct identities that are expressed in verbal and visual interaction in order to achieve the desired effect. As a result, it is understood that greeting cards are not unintentional, but loaded with ideology and power relations, among other aspects that are constitutive of them.

Física do meio ambiente como disciplina nas licenciaturas em física: proposta de uma unidade didática para ensinar efeito estufa e aquecimento global

In this dissertation we propose a Teaching Unit of Physics to teach content through environmental discussions of the greenhouse effect and global warming. This teaching unit is based on a problem-methodological intervention from the application of the method of the Arch of Charles Maguerez. The methodological foundations of the thesis are embedded in action research and this is structured in five chapters: the first chapter deals with the Physical Environment (FMA) as a subject in Degree Courses in Physics in Brazil, bringing the concern of how this discipline has been taught. We started the first chapter explaining the reasons behind the inclusion of the discipline of Physical Environment in a Physics Degree Courses. Then we did a search on the websites of Institutions of Higher Education, to know of the existence or not of this discipline on curricular. We then analyzed the menus to see what bibliographies are being adopted and what content of Physics are being worked, and how it has been done. The courses surveyed were those of Federal and Federal Institutes Universities. Thus ended the first chapter. Given the inseparability between studies in Physics Teaching and studies on competencies, skills and significant learning, wrote the second chapter. In this chapter we discuss the challenge of converting information into knowledge. Initially on initial teacher training, because even if this is not our focus, the study is a discipline on the upper reaches, therefore, offered to future teachers. Then we talked about the culture of knowledge, where we emphasize the use of a teaching approach that promotes meanings taught by content and make sense to the student. We finished the third chapter, making some considerations on skills and abilities, in order to identify what skills and competencies were developed and worked during and after the implementation of Curriculum Unit. The third chapter is the result of a literature review and study of the radioactive EarthSun interaction. The subjects researched approach from the generation of energy in the sun to topics stain solar coronal mass ejections, solar wind, black body radiation, Wien displacement law, Stefan-Boltzmann Law, greenhouse effect and global warming. This chapter deals with material support for the teacher of the aforementioned discipline. The fourth chapter talks about the arc method of Charles Maguerez; Here we explain the structure of each of the five steps of the Arc and how to use them in teaching. We also show another version of this method adapted by Bordenave. In the fifth and final chapter brought a description of how the method of Arc was used in physics classes of Environment, with students majoring in Physics IFRN Campus Santa Cruz. Here, in this chapter, a transcript of classes to show how was the application of a problem-based methodology in the teaching of content proposed for Physics Teaching Unit from the environmental discussion about the greenhouse effect and global warming phenomena

Especificações e concepções de front-end UHF integrado e multipadrão em tecnologia CMOS 130nm

The Brazilian Environmental Data Collecting System (SBCDA) collects and broadcasts meteorological and environmental data, to be handled by dozens of institutions and organizations. The system space segment, composed by the data collecting satellites, plays an important role for the system operation. To ensure the continuity and quality of these services, efforts are being made to the development of new satellite architectures. Aiming a reduction of size and power consumption, the design of an integrated circuit containing a receiver front-end is proposed, to be embedded in the next SBCDA satellite generations. The circuit will also operate under the requirements of the international data collecting standard ARGOS. This work focuses on the design of an UHF low noise amplifier and mixers in a CMOS standard technology. The specifi- cations are firstly described and the circuit topologies presented. Then the circuit conception is discussed and the design variables derived. Finally, the layout is designed and the final results are commented. The chip will be fabricated in a 130 nm technology from ST Microelectronics.

Fundamentos dos cuidados com crianças e adolescentes: um olhar sobre o Rio Grande do Norte entre 1964 e 1988

Childhood and adolescence care has frequently caused theoretical and methodological discussions. At national level, the way of dealing with this public has always been on the agenda, either by maintaining a paternalistic treatment, or by coercive and repressive expression with which this public is treated. Given the above, this research presents a thorough study of social policies focused on children and adolescents in Brazil, with the overall purpose of investigating how this process of implementation of public policies for poor children and adolescents in the state of Rio Grande do Norte was. In previous studies, it was identified that there are no official records regarding the policy implementation process for this population in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. A retrospective study about the care towards children and adolescents in Brazil was held. It ranged from the XXVIII century, through the period of assistance, until the historical period in which the child started to be considered from the perspective of a policy. Thus, a certain period was framed, so that, through the historical research method, this study could focus on gathering data about the attention focused on childhood and adolescence in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, between the years 1964 and 1988. Data was listed from newspaper files that circulated in the state during period mentioned above. This time framing corresponds to the regency of the National Policy of Child Welfare. In the state of Rio Grande do Norte, the implementation of institutions such as FUNBERN and then FEBEM did not differ from the national standard, since many projects and care programs for poor children and teenagers were executed in this period. The implementation of these institutions revealed the concern of the state in solving the problem of “minors” regarding to situations of abandonment or "delinquency" which they were involved with. However, the kind of protection provided by the state toward this population was based on the current ideology that supported the political system at the time: the military dictatorship. Thus, the main way to provide care to this population was through its institutionalization, through taking children to daycare centres and adolescents to “reeducational” institutes for “minors”.

Motivações semântico-cognitivas e discursivo-pragmáticas no uso de sufixos graduadores nominais

We study the use of nominal suffixes of degree, such as -inho, -ão, -íssimo, -ílimo, -érrimo in written texts in Brazilian Portuguese, by focusing on semantic, cognitive, pragmatic and discourse aspects involved in using these suffixes. In general, we aim to identify semanticcognitive and discourse-pragmatic factors that motivate the usage of nominal suffixes of degree and to contribute for the study of degree in Portuguese class in Basic Education. The theoretical perspective underlying our research is the Linguística Funcional Centrada no Uso, as conceived by group of researchers of Discurso & Gramática (FURTADO DA CUNHA, BISPO, SILVA, 2013; MARTELOTTA, 2011). According to this theoretical model, language model uses the shape of the grammar of a language at the same time they are provisioned for it. In this sense, speech and grammar influence each other. In terms of methodology, we make an eminently qualitative research with quantitative support as evidence of use of trend. It is characterized also by descriptive and interpretive bias of the phenomenon under study. Empirical evidence from our analysis come from a corpus consisting of written texts from Veja magazine, January to June 2011 issues, particularly Carta do Leitor e Gente sections, the latter representative of the Coluna Social magazine. The results of our analysis showed that the use of nominal graders suffixes are related to semantic-cognitive factors (construction of certain text directions, the association more grounded aspects of concrete experience or the more abstract meanings, for example), the discourse-pragmatic issues (range certain communicative purposes, as critique, judge, mock, claim, involving the reader, seeking her membership of a particular point of view). In addition, we found that the use of these morphic elements in genres of the sample analyzed were related to the subjectivity of the writer and the inter-subjective issues involving writer and reader, as Traugott and Dasher (2002). Finally, we contemplate discussion about the approach of our object of study in Portuguese classes in Basic Education.

Padrões de ordenação de constituintes das construções V2/V3 superficiais em cartas pessoais brasileiras dos séculos 19 e 20

In line with the model of grammar competition (Kroch, 1989; 2001), according to which the change in the syntactic domains is a process that develops via competition between different grammars, we describe and analyze the superficial constructions V2 / V3 in matrices / roots sentences of brazilian personal letters of the 19th and 20th centuries. The corpus, composed by 154 personal letters of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Norte, is divided into three century halves: (i) latter half of the 19th century; (ii) first half of the 20th century; and (iii) latter half of the 20th century. Our focus was the observation of the nature of preverbal constituents in superficial constructions V2 (verb in second position in the sentence) and V3 (verb in third position in the sentence), with a special attention on the position of the subject. Based on the various diachronical studies about the Portuguese ordination standards (Ambar (1992); Ribeiro (1995, 2001); Paixão de Sousa (2004); Paiva (2011), Coelho and Martins (2009, 2012)), our study sought to realize what are empirical ordination standards that involve superficial constructions V2 / V3 and how these patterns structure syntactically within a formal theoretical perspective (Chomsky, 1981; 1986), more specifically, in accordance with studies of Antonelli (2011), and Costa & Galves (2002). The survey results show that the data from the second half of the 19th century – unlike the first and second half of the 20th century data – have a greater balance in relation to the syntactic nature of preverbal constituent (contiguous or not), so that, in this period, the occurrence of orders with the subject in a preverbal position arrives at, at most, 52% (231/444 data); while in the 48% (213/444 data) remaining, the preverbal constituents are represented by a non-subject constituent, almost always an adverbial adjunct. Seen the results, we advocate that the brazilian personal letters of the 19th century have ordination patterns associated with a V2 system and an SV system, configuring, therefore, a possible competition process between different grammars that instantiate or a V2 system or an SV system. In other words, the brazilian letters of the 19th century instantiate a competition between the grammar of Classic Portuguese (a V2 system) and the grammars of Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese (an SV system). Therefore, that period is subject to the completion of two distinct parametric markings: (i) verb moved to the Fin core (grammar of Classic Portuguese) and (ii) verb moved to the T core (grammar of Brazilian Portuguese /European Portuguese). On the other hand, in the personal letters of the 20th century (first and second halves), there is a clear increase in ordenation patterns associated with the SV system, which shows more stable.

O agrominerador familiar “Por detrás da Serra” de Parelhas, Seridó do Rio Grande do Norte

Unfavorable climatic conditions to family farming associated to the legal difficulty of retirement for workers who work exclusively in mining are indications provided by previous papers on this topic and guiding of such joint activities in a group that we have decided to call “agromineradores”, who are located “Behind de mountain” of Princess at Parelhas, Seridó do RN. However, in addition to these aspects, the research provides comprehensive analysis and thorough examination of other factors that link these families to such labor association. The theories of Habitus, field and trajectory from Pierre Bourdieu as well as the concept of institutions from Geoffrey Hodgson are central in this paper to explain the inclusion of these part-time farmers in an institutional environment shaped by social structures that influence in the choices of individual and collective behavior and leading to the relevance of the power structures within and outside the family, along with the role of public policies directed to family farmers and miners. The data analyzed showed that there is a crystallized structure that manifests themselves for years in this field, proving the link that exists between these agents and institutions that surround them in the composition of behaviors and routinizing of practices.

Gestão e mapeamento de processos nas instituições públicas: um estudo de caso na Diretoria de Administração de Pessoal da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

The new management models have led to the reorganization of institutions today. Much is made in improving the delivery of public services entities, and they have sought to adopt these new initiatives in order to improve the quality of the product or service offered to users. The modernization of the management model at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) strengthened by the accession of the institution to GesPública Program, which focuses on the management modernization leading institutions to seek ways to fit to meet the demands proposed the Program. Therefore, the Department of Personnel Administration (DAP) has structured its processes and procedures using the mapping tool processes. This research starts from the question: what were the results obtained with the implementation of the management and process mapping of PAD? It is proposed as a general objective to analyze the management and the mapping of that Board processes, identifying the possible benefits in improving the quality of the services provided to users. The specific objectives to achieve results, are pointed out: describe how you carried out the implementation of the management and process mapping in DAP and how it is working at the moment; examine the line in the relationship between the actions developed by the DAP and modern theories of this theme; identify the evolution of the sector with the measures adopted and the results obtained with the implementation of the mapping tool. In the theoretical framework, it was approached a brief history of the evolution of public administration in Brazil, GesPública program and its importance for process management in public institutions as well as the Management and Process Mapping. The context of the study was the DAP, and participants were managers of the institution in the survey. Data collection was done through the study of the institution's documents, bibliography analysis available on the topic, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with professionals of the institution involved with the object of study, since its inception until July 2015, when it was finished the search. As a result, were listed: the motivation, importance, benefits and innovations that management and the mapping of processes brought to the institution, point out what has been improved in the service users and the tools used. We also analyze the main problems identified during the implementation of the mapping. As a suggestion, it was analyzed how these procedures can, if possible, be extended to other sectors of UFRN.

Gestão e mapeamento de processos nas instituições públicas: um estudo de caso na Diretoria de Administração de Pessoal da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

The new management models have led to the reorganization of institutions today. Much is made in improving the delivery of public services entities, and they have sought to adopt these new initiatives in order to improve the quality of the product or service offered to users. The modernization of the management model at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) strengthened by the accession of the institution to GesPública Program, which focuses on the management modernization leading institutions to seek ways to fit to meet the demands proposed the Program. Therefore, the Department of Personnel Administration (DAP) has structured its processes and procedures using the mapping tool processes. This research starts from the question: what were the results obtained with the implementation of the management and process mapping of PAD? It is proposed as a general objective to analyze the management and the mapping of that Board processes, identifying the possible benefits in improving the quality of the services provided to users. The specific objectives to achieve results, are pointed out: describe how you carried out the implementation of the management and process mapping in DAP and how it is working at the moment; examine the line in the relationship between the actions developed by the DAP and modern theories of this theme; identify the evolution of the sector with the measures adopted and the results obtained with the implementation of the mapping tool. In the theoretical framework, it was approached a brief history of the evolution of public administration in Brazil, GesPública program and its importance for process management in public institutions as well as the Management and Process Mapping. The context of the study was the DAP, and participants were managers of the institution in the survey. Data collection was done through the study of the institution's documents, bibliography analysis available on the topic, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with professionals of the institution involved with the object of study, since its inception until July 2015, when it was finished the search. As a result, were listed: the motivation, importance, benefits and innovations that management and the mapping of processes brought to the institution, point out what has been improved in the service users and the tools used. We also analyze the main problems identified during the implementation of the mapping. As a suggestion, it was analyzed how these procedures can, if possible, be extended to other sectors of UFRN.

Three Essays on Taxation, Growth and Consumption

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine three distributional issues in macroeconomics. First I explore the effects fiscal federalism on economic growth across regions in China. Using the comprehensive official data set of China for 31 regions from 1952 until 1999, I investigate a number of indicators used by the literature to measure federalism and find robust support for only one such measure: the ratio of local total revenue to local tax revenue. Using a difference-in-difference approach and exploiting the two-year gap in the implementation of a tax reform across different regions of China, I also identify a positive relationship between fiscal federalism and regional economic growth. The second paper hypothesizes that an inequitable distribution of income negatively affects the rule of law in resource-rich economies and provides robust evidence in support of this hypothesis. By investigating a data set that contains 193 countries and using econometric methodologies such as the fixed effects estimator and the generalized method of moments estimator, I find that resource-abundance improves the quality of institutions, as long as income and wealth disparity remains below a certain threshold. When inequality moves beyond this threshold, the positive effects of the resource-abundance level on institutions diminish quickly and turn negative eventually. This paper, thus, provides robust evidence about the endogeneity of institutions and the role income and wealth inequality plays in the determination of long-run growth rates. The third paper sets up a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents to investigate the causal channels which run from a concern for international status to long-run economic growth. The simulation results show that the initial distribution of income and wealth play an important role in whether agents gain or lose from globalization.

Dionne Brand, Austin Clarke, and Tessa McWatt: Blackening Canada

This project analyzes contemporary black diasporic writing in Canada, arguing that Dionne Brand, Austin Clarke and Tessa McWatt evince a unique form of double-consciousness in their writings. Their work transforms African-American double-consciousness by locating it simultaneously within both the black diaspora and the practice of Canadian multiculturalism. The objective of this project is to offer a critical framework for situating these writers within the legacy of both Black Atlantic and Canadian cultural production. These writers do not aim to resolve their double-consciousness but rather dwell within that contradictory doubleness and hyphenation, forcing nation and diaspora to contend with one another in a discomfiting and unsettling dialogue. These authors employ the absences of the black diaspora to imagine new forms of black cultural production, multicultural citizenship and national identity. Their works produce a grammar of diasporic double-consciousness that locates the absented origins of diaspora within Canada. Brand’s depiction of temporality and Clarke’s tracing of movement explore the continuities between nation and diaspora while re-membering neglected aspects of the history of black Canada, such as the life and death of Albert Johnson. McWatt extends this blackening of nation by depicting coalitions between diasporic, indigenous, raced and sexed subjects. These authors transform hegemonic Canadian narratives of nation by dwelling in the hyphen, while their evocation of memory, absence, trauma, and desire gives blackness new meaning and legitimacy.