Occupy Differently: Space, Community and Urban Counter-Conduct

This article demonstrates how the concept of counter-conducts helps us understand Occupy by directing attention to the correlation between the way advanced liberalism works to control urban spaces and the way that control is countered through Occupy’s tactics. The first section outlines the term counter-conducts by looking to Foucault’s short and undeveloped theorisation. The second examines how advanced liberalism conducts conduct through the use of urban space, concentrating on London which comes to form a space of and for the mobility and circulation of goods, people and ideas. Occupy’s tactics directly confront and counter such movement while engaging in its own forms of counter-circulation and (im)mobility. The third section examines how advanced liberal techniques have increasingly come to use a particular, heavily instrumentalised understanding of community in order to divide and control urban populations. Occupy’s tactics embody versions of community which confront and oppose such instrumentalisation, ultimately both engaging with that control and partially reproducing it. Through these counter-conducts we can come to a view of Occupy as inevitably succeeding in its failure as a movement and failing in its success, while opening to an (im)possible
futurity of occupying urban space differently.

Transfusion and Treatment of severe anaemia in African children (TRACT): a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa, where infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies are common, severe anaemia is a common cause of paediatric hospital admission, yet the evidence to support current treatment recommendations is limited. To avert overuse of blood products, the World Health Organisation advocates a conservative transfusion policy and recommends iron, folate and anti-helminthics at discharge. Outcomes are unsatisfactory with high rates of in-hospital mortality (9-10 %), 6-month mortality and relapse (6 %). A definitive trial to establish best transfusion and treatment strategies to prevent both early and delayed mortality and relapse is warranted.

METHODS/DESIGN: TRACT is a multicentre randomised controlled trial of 3954 children aged 2 months to 12 years admitted to hospital with severe anaemia (haemoglobin < 6 g/dl). Children will be enrolled over 2 years in 4 centres in Uganda and Malawi and followed for 6 months. The trial will simultaneously evaluate (in a factorial trial with a 3 x 2 x 2 design) 3 ways to reduce short-term and longer-term mortality and morbidity following admission to hospital with severe anaemia in African children. The trial will compare: (i) R1: liberal transfusion (30 ml/kg whole blood) versus conservative transfusion (20 ml/kg) versus no transfusion (control). The control is only for children with uncomplicated severe anaemia (haemoglobin 4-6 g/dl); (ii) R2: post-discharge multi-vitamin multi-mineral supplementation (including folate and iron) versus routine care (folate and iron) for 3 months; (iii) R3: post-discharge cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for 3 months versus no prophylaxis. All randomisations are open. Enrolment to the trial started September 2014 and is currently ongoing. Primary outcome is cumulative mortality to 4 weeks for the transfusion strategy comparisons, and to 6 months for the nutritional support/antibiotic prophylaxis comparisons. Secondary outcomes include mortality, morbidity (haematological correction, nutritional and infectious), safety and cost-effectiveness.

DISCUSSION: If confirmed by the trial, a cheap and widely available 'bundle' of effective interventions, directed at immediate and downstream consequences of severe anaemia, could lead to substantial reductions in mortality in a substantial number of African children hospitalised with severe anaemia every year, if widely implemented.

Dimensionality of Policy Space in Consociational Northern Ireland

A criticism of consociational power sharing as an institutional response to violent conflict is that it buttresses rather than ameliorates the underlying (linguistic, religious or ethno-national) divide, hence prohibiting the emergence of new dimensions of political competition (such as economic left-right or moral liberal-conservative dimensions) that are characteristic of 'normal' societies. We test this argument in the context of the illustrative Northern Ireland case, using data from expert coding of party policy documents and opinion data derived from two Voter Advice Applications (VAAs). We find evidence for a moral liberal-conservative dimension of politics in addition to the ethno-national dimension. Hence, we caution against assuming that consociational polities are uni-dimensional.

Experiencing Youth Justice and Penality

Much of the recent literature on youth justice has focused on administrative aspects of the system and the socio-political contexts that have led to the ‘production’ of the youthful offender as a subject and locus of intervention. This has largely been driven by the extent to which youth justice has been crafted as a distinct penal sphere, evident in its unyoking from universal children’s services (Muncie and Goldson, 2013) and the establishment of separate agencies to administer and govern this ‘system’ (Souhami, 2014). Driven by policy hyperactivity and a plethora of legislation expanding the reach of the system, for much of the 1990s and 2000s increasing numbers of young people were brought under its gaze.

Particular attention has been paid to the impact of neo-liberal governance on the discourses, rationales and philosophies underpinning contemporary youth justice policy and practice. Writing specifically in the English and Welsh context, several authors have identified that the resulting ‘system’ embodies multiple, contradictory and competing discourses (Muncie, 2006; Fergusson, 2007; Gray, 2013). Within this ‘melting pot’ Fergusson (2007) notes the disjuncture between policy rhetoric, implementation and lived experience and Phoenix (2015) argues that systems-based analyses, much in favour amongst academics, foreclose a wider consideration of questions of what ‘justice’ actually means.

Recent attention towards the perspectives of practitioners working in this sphere has pointed to greater nuances than broader penal narratives suggest (see: Field, 2007; Briggs, 2013; Gray, 2013; Kelly and Armitage, 2015). Yet similar attention has not been given to experiences of youth justice (for an exception see – Phoenix and Kelly, 2013). However, it is precisely young people’s experiences, which would add significantly to current knowledge and potentially bridge the gap between discussions about penal philosophies, how youth justice policies are framed, how they are enacted and how they are experienced.

This chapter provides an overview of recent developments in the field of youth justice and penality in the United Kingdom. The chapter argues that a theoretical focus on macro-level trends (Hannah-Moffat and Lynch, 2012), alongside a narrowly defined research agenda, have largely excluded young people’s experiences of justice and punishment from contemporary analysis. Drawing on young people experiences of different aspects of youth justice in Northern Ireland and beyond, the chapter illuminates what a close understanding of lived experience can add to knowledge. In particular it demonstrates that the effects of interventions can be different to their aims and intentions; and that re-instating the youth experience can add support to calls for greater attention to wider issues of social justice.

Escolarização e tradição : o conto popular vai à escola

É sobretudo nos finais do século XIX e princípios do século XX que, no contexto português, a literatura popular de expressão oral ganha evidência, fruto do trabalho de recolha e pesquisa que uma elite intelectual, predominantemente liberal e republicana, lhe consagra. Esta literatura popular, objecto de reconstrução erudita, é hoje ainda frequentemente vista como uma manifestação literária de “segunda ordem”, praticamente ausente nos currículos universitários, minoritariamente presente nas publicações académicas. Ela inscreve-se, contudo, junto de produções de autores “consagrados” e de produções não literárias, nos actuais programas de Português do Ensino Básico. É à compreensão dos modos de apropriação escolar desta literatura de tradição oral, em especial do conto, que este estudo se consagra. Em termos metodológicos, o estudo inscreve-se no âmbito da pesquisa qualitativa, centrando-se fundamentalmente na descrição e interpretação de dados verbais produzidos em sala de aula, bem como nos discursos que para as aulas se constroem. Focamos, assim, as práticas discursivas de professores de Português - leccionando a disciplina a alunos do 3º ciclo de escolaridade - e as instâncias discursivas que mediatamente regulam essas práticas: os programas Oficiais (as indicações aí preconizadas para a abordagem da temática) e os manuais (“tradutores” desse discurso oficial e fonte mais próxima do trabalho pedagógico do professor). As conclusões aqui evidenciadas poderão ser um contributo para a compreensão sobre o modo como “o conto popular vai à escola”, i.e., sobre o modo como a “tradição”, pela acção da “escolarização”, se transforma.

Comunicação organizacional e identidade colectiva num agrupamento de escolas

O reforço e a diversificação do investimento na comunicação por parte das instituições educativas são discutidos neste estudo como uma das consequências da nova gestão pública. Tendo em vista a ‘qualidade’ e a ‘eficácia’ das suas prestações, as escolas têm procurado tornar-se mais dialogantes, assumindo a aposta na comunicação organizacional como parte integrante de uma estratégia empreendedora, que lhes tem vindo a conferir uma nova identidade colectiva unificada em torno dos valores neoliberais. Não obstante, os sistemas de comunicação criados são mais complexos do que se poderia supor. Revelando a influência de pressões híbridas, estes sistemas transformaram-se num contexto mediador da mudança embutido em novas concepções de escola e dos novos mandatos para a educação (assim legitimados interna e externamente), surgindo, ao mesmo tempo, como o locus de produção de novas identidades. Tal acontece porque a comunicação constitui o ponto de convergência entre as diferentes políticas educativas e as práticas localmente adoptadas na sequência de um processo de interpretação criativa das diferentes pressões. É este o sentido com que afirmamos que a comunicação se constitui numa meta-ideia ao serviço da ‘qualidade’, ainda que esta possa ser perspectivada a partir do ideal burocrático da organização (como sinónimo de eficiência administrativa), do ideal profissional (centrada no processo de ensino-aprendizagem) ou do ideal empreendedor (valorizando a capacidade de resposta às solicitações do mercado). Os dados empíricos, que sustentaram o nosso estudo, resultaram da observação do quotidiano de um agrupamento de escolas do ensinobásico e dos testemunhos recolhidos, ao longo de três anos, nesta comunidade educativa. Recorrendo ao estudo de caso como estratégia de investigação enveredámos inicialmente, num contexto de descoberta, pela realização de observações ‘desarmadas e naturais’. Usámos, posteriormente, a análise documental, a entrevista e o questionário na recolha de informação complementar, o que, mediante o cruzamento de métodos de análise qualitativa e quantitativa, nos permitiu tirar partido da triangulação dos dados. Os resultados obtidos apontam para a centralidade dos processos de comunicação na transformação induzida pela nova gestão pública e para o desenvolvimento de uma matriz discursiva bilinguista, que procura harmonizar os imperativos de ‘mercado’ com o discurso pedagógico e com modelos burocrático-profissionais de organização.

A Sociology for Other Animals: Analysis, advocacy, intervention

Sociology has come late to the field of Human Animal Studies (HAS), and such scholarship remains peripheral to the discipline. Early sociological interventions in the field were often informed by a critical perspective, in particular feminism but also Marxism and critical race studies. There have also been less critical routes taken, often using approaches such as actor-network theory and symbolic interactionism. These varied initiatives have made important contributions to the project of animalizing sociology and problematizing its legacies of human-exclusivity. As HAS expands and matures however, different kinds of study and different normative orientations have come increasingly into relations of tension in this eclectic field. This is particularly so when it comes to the ideological and ethical debates on appropriate human relations with other species, and on questions of whether and how scholarship might intervene to alter such relations. However, despite questioning contemporary social forms of human-animal relations and suggesting a need for change, the link between analysis and political strategy is uncertain. This paper maps the field of sociological animal studies through some examples of critical and mainstream approaches and considers their relation to advocacy. While those working in critical sociological traditions may appear to have a more certain political agenda, this article suggests that an analysis of 'how things are' does not always lead to a coherent position on 'what is to be done' in terms of social movement agendas or policy intervention. In addition, concepts deployed in advocacy such as rights, liberation and welfare are problematic when applied beyond the human. Even conceptions less entrenched in the liberal humanist tradition such as embodiment, care and vulnerability are difficult to operationalize. Despite complex and contested claims however, this paper suggests that there might also be possibilities for solidarity.

O Administrador de Concelho [1835-1936]: caso de estudo de Portimão

Dissertação de mest., História do Algarve, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Univ. do Algarve, 2011

A instauração do liberalismo em Portugal numa visão global socioeconómica :a participação do Algarve

O Algarve na primeira metade do século XIX era um território periférico e quase marginalizado. Mas nunca deixou de ser uma região geo-estratégica (como o foi no tempo dos Descobrimentos) de fulcral importância no evoluir do processo histórico português. O Algarve, como espaço/região, e os algarvios como (re)agentes activos, foram, no seu conjunto, decisivos para o dirimir das lutas políticas e da consequente guerra civil, que implantou definitivamente o liberalismo em Portugal. No contexto nacional, o Algarve foi uma das regiões mais sacrificadas, tanto nos seus valores humanos como nos seus recursos económicos. Parece-nos indubitável o papel dos algarvios na construção do liberalismo português, sendo o posicionamento geográfico da sua costa atlântico-mediterrânica de capital importância para a eclosão da guerra-civil. Por outro lado, o Algarve tornara-se desde o início do século XIX, com as invasões napoleónicas, um dos pólos mais sensíveis do quadro revolucionário português. Todos os conflitos militares que projectaram alterações políticas passaram pelo Algarve. Daí que, do ponto de vista militar, adquirisse esta região o estatuto de eixo geopolítico sobre o qual giraria, praticamente, toda a primeira metade do Oitocentismo português.

Mouzinho da Silveira and the Political Culture of Portuguese Liberalism, 1820–1832

Liberalism as an identity and as a political ideology was non-existent in Portugal, as in most of the countries of Ibero-America, before the beginning of the nineteenth century. But the semantic development of the term ‘liberal’ in Portuguese underwent a clear and rapid mutation in the following decades. It became associated with specific meanings in relation to constitutional issues and civil law matters. While the former prevailed between 1820 and 1823, the latter were dominant in the writings of Mouzinho da Silveira and his Civil War legislation of 1832 to 1834.

L. T. hobhouse’s new liberalism and the reformulation of ideology

Tese de doutoramento, Estudos de Literatura e de Cultura (Estudos Ingleses), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, 2014

O homem novo do fascismo italiano e do estado novo português

Tese de doutoramento, História (Dinâmicas do Mundo Contemporâneo), Universidade de Lisboa, ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Universidade de Évora, 2014

Transformation or bureaucratisation?: the changing role of community representation in local strategic partnerships in England

The debate about the need to build social capital and to engage local communities in public policy has become a central issue in many advanced liberal societies and developing countries. In many countries new forms of governance have emerged out of a growing realisation that representative democracy by itself is no longer sufficient. One of the most significant public policy trends in the UK has been the involvement of community organisations and their members in the delivery of national policy, mediated through local systems of governance and management. One such policy area is urban regeneration. Central government now requires local authorities in England to set up Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) to bring together stakeholders who can prepare Community Strategies and deliver social and economic programmes which target areas of deprivation. This paper reviews the key institutional processes which must be addressed, such as representation, accountability and transformation.

Variety of Media Systems in Third-Wave Democracies

The number of comparative studies in the field of political communication increased considerably after Daniel Hallin and Paolo Mancini's publication of comparing Media systems. In this book, four dimensions are used to distinguish between the media environments in western countries around the year 2000: press market development, parallelism between parties and media outlets, state intervention in the realm of media, and levels of journalist professionalization. The authors conclude that in western Europe and North America three types of media systems coexisted: a polarized pluralist model (in southern Europe), a democratic corporatist model (in scandinavia and some western European countries), and a liberal model (Canada, USA, Ireland, and the UK). Within this framework, both Portugal and Spain are described as polarized pluralist media systems, given their weak press markets and low patterns of journalistic professionalization, as well as strong state intervention in the realm of media and parallelism between media outlets and political parties.

Governar em ditadura: elites e decisão política nas ditaduras da era do fascismo

Os ditadores não governam sozinhos, existindo sempre uma elite governante e instituições políticas nos seus regimes. Este livro explora uma área pouco desenvolvida do estudo das ditaduras fascistas e de direita: a estrutura de poder. A velha e rica tradição de estudos sobre as elites pode dizer-nos muito sobre a estrutura e o funcionamento do poder político nas ditaduras associadas ao fascismo, quer através dos modelos de recrutamento da elite política que expressa a extensão da sua ruptura e/ou continuidade com o regime liberal, quer pelo estudo do tipo de chefia ou pelo poder relativo das instituições políticas no novo sistema ditatorial. Analisando quatro regimes associados ao fascismo (Alemanha nazi, Itália fascista, Espanha de Franco e Portugal de Salazar) sob esta perspectiva, o livro examina a tríade ditador-executivo-partido único numa perspectiva comparativa.