Social movement, public policy changes and partnerships building for local development

O artigo discute a influ��ncia do movimento social rural sobre as mudan��as na pol��tica de apoio ao pequeno produtor rural e para a cria����o de parcerias entre o Governo e as Organiza����es Locais para o desenvolvimento local na Amaz��nia, em particular no estado do Par��. O objetivo do artigo �� examinar a parceria como um resultado de um processo interativo entre as mudan��as nas pol��ticas p��blicas e as demandas dos movimentos sociais. O artigo mostra que embora os movimentos sociais fa��am parte de uma rela����o conflituosa entre o Estado e a sociedade civil, tais movimentos no estado do Par�� foram uma pr��-condi����o para mudan��as na pol��tica p��blica, estrutura de financiamento e prioridades das agencias regionais que resultaram em proposi����es para coopera����o entre o Governo e as Organiza����es Locais em n��vel municipal.

Evaluating sport projects which promote social inclusion for young people: a case study

[EN] This work presents the findings of a participatory research program evaluating the outcomes of an Italian sports program for minors at risk. Using a participatory evaluation approach enabled an evaluation-research close to the real objectives and useful for monitoring and e-planning actions, starting from an initial exploration of the different stakeholders��� views of the project itself. The research design is presented in the form of a case study, emphasizing the continuous involvement of the project���s stakeholders in the evaluation process. The outcomes here presented make evident how the participatory evaluation project allowed a targeted and ongoing monitoring at group level as well as at individual level with the minors involved in the project.

The shaping of foreign policy: Vietnamese grand strategy after the Cold War

This study examines the case of Vietnam and uses the method of process tracing to explore the sources of foreign policy choice and change. Foreign policy is derived from grand strategy, which refers to the full package of a state���s domestic and foreign policies. I argue that a state���s grand strategy results from the interaction of four factors���its society���s historical experience, social motivation, international power, and political contest among domestic groups. Grand strategies emerge as a response to perceived shifts in the balance of international economic, political, and military power. However, this is not to say that international pressures and incentives are translated into foreign policy. Rather, pressures and incentives are given meaning by worldviews, which reflect a society���s historical experiences of its place in the international system at traumatic junctures of its encounter with the outside world. Strategic changes in foreign policy follow what I call the ���strategic algorithm,��� which incorporates four major mechanisms���balancing against threat, bandwagoning with power, learning, and survival by transformation. This case study generates hypotheses for a theory of strategic choice, a theory of foreign policy transformation, and a theory of grand strategy emergence.

The association between extra-curricular sport participation and social anxiety symptoms in children

Social anxiety is a common psychological complaint that can have a significant and long-term negative impact on a child���s social and cognitive development. In the current study, the relationship between sport participation and social anxiety symptoms was investigated. Swiss primary school children (N = 201), parents, and teachers provided information about the children���s social anxiety symptoms, classroom behavior, and sport involvement. Gender differences were observed on social anxiety scores, where girls tended to report higher social anxiety symptoms, as well as on sport activity, where boys engaged in more sport involvement. MANCOVAs with gender as covariant showed no differences in social anxiety symptoms between children involved in an extracurricular sport and those not engaged in sport participation. Nevertheless, children engaged in team sports displayed fewer physical social anxiety symptoms than children involved in individual sports.