SEGREDOS E INTRIGAS: RELAÇÕES ENTRE VIOLÊNCIA DE GÊNERO E O PROCESSO DE MASCULINIZAÇÃO NAS LIDERANÇAS DAS PRÁTICAS RELIGIOSAS AFRO-BRASILEIRAS EM PORTO VELHO (RO

A partir da observação do crescente processo de masculinização das práticas religiosas afro-brasileiras, na cidade de Porto Velho (RO), o presente trabalho faz algumas abordagens da relação de gênero, violência e poder. A hipótese se pautou na constatação do aumento de homens ocupando os cargos de sacerdotes, e da reclamação das mulheres quanto à distribuição das tarefas nos templos, o que levou a pensar na existência de violência de gênero. O objetivo da pesquisa foi o de analisar a relação entre o processo de masculinização das lideranças e a intensificação da violência de gênero. O trabalho de pesquisa de campo foi realizado com a observação aos rituais públicos, atividades internas das casas religiosas e entrevistas semiestruturadas com sacerdotes e sacerdotisas, adeptos e adeptas. Percorreu-se a trajetória das práticas religiosas afro-brasileiras locais buscando compreender as transformações ocorridas, sondando sobre a existência de violência de gênero, quais são, e como se estabelecem nos espaços de práticas religiosas compreendidas por Templos, Casas, Ilês, Roças, Centros, Terreiros e outras denominações.

Religious communities and HIV prevention: An intervention study using a human rights-based approach

Religious communities have been a challenge to HIV prevention globally. Focusing on the acceptability component of the right to health, this intervention study examined how local Catholic, Evangelical and Afro-Brazilian religious communities can collaborate to foster young people`s sexual health and ensure their access to comprehensive HIV prevention in their communities in Brazil. This article describes the process of a three-stage sexual health promotion and HIV prevention initiative that used a multicultural human rights approach to intervention. Methods included 27 in-depth interviews with religious authorities on sexuality, AIDS prevention and human rights training of 18 young people as research-agents, who surveyed 177 youth on the same issues using self-administered questionnaires. The results, analysed using a rights-based perspective on health and the vulnerability framework, were discussed in daylong interfaith workshops. Emblematic of the collaborative process, workshops are the focus of the analysis. Our findings suggest that this human rights framework is effective in increasing inter-religious tolerance and in providing a collective understanding of the sexuality and prevention needs of youth from different religious communities, and also serves as a platform for the expansion of state AIDS programmes based on laical principles.

EDF and the Brazilian Power Sector

Electricité de France (EDF) is a leading player in the European energy market by being both the first electricity producer in Europe and the world’s leading nuclear plant operator. EDF is also the first electricity producer and supplier in France. However, Europe, EDF’s core market, is currently underperforming: the European sovereign debt crisis is lowering significantly the growth perspective of an energy market that has already reached its maturity. As a consequence, European energy companies are now looking at international markets and especially BRIC economies where economic growth potential remains high. Among them, Brazil is expected to keep its strong economic and electricity demand growth perspectives for the coming decades. Though Brazil has not been considered as a strategic priority for EDF after the Light reversal in 2006, the current economic situation has led the Group to reconsider its position toward the country. EDF’s current presence in Brazil is limited to its stake in UTE Norte Fluminense, a thermal plant, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This report investigates the possibility and the feasibility of EDF’s activities expansion in Brazil and what added value it could bring for the Brazilian power market. Considering that the status quo would not allow EDF to take full advantage of Brazil’s future growth, this work is identifying the various options that are currently opened to EDF: market exit, status quo, EDF alone, local partner. For that purpose, this study collects and analyses the latest energy market data as well as generation companies’ information which are necessary to give a relevant overview of the current brazilian power sector and to present EDF strategic options for the country.

Ser ou não ser (de santo)?: aspectos do campo religioso afro-brasileiro na peça teatral Balbina de Iansã, de Plínio Marcos

To be or not to be (of candomblé)? – aspects of Afro-Brazilian religious field in the theater play Balbina de Iansã, by Plínio Marcos. In 1970, the playwright born in Santos-SP Plínio Marcos writes and directs the spectacle Balbina de Iansã, an adaptation (in form of a musical) from Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare. The action happens in a candomblé yard, managed authoritatively by a Mãe-de Santo, who tries to prevent the young protagonist couple’s love. This study analyzes the representation of some rites and principles of Afro-Brazilian religion in the play, especially concerning the critique of the relations of power that exist in the yards of São Paulo.

STATE INSTITUTIONS, POWER, AND SOCIAL NETWORKS IN BRAZILIAN URBAN POLICIES

A large historiographic tradition has studied the Brazilian state, yet we know relatively little about its internal dynamics and particularities. The role of informal, personal, and unintentional ties has remained underexplored in most policy network studies, mainly because of the pluralist origin of that tradition. It is possible to use network analysis to expand this knowledge by developing mesolevel analysis of those processes. This article proposes an analytical framework for studying networks inside policy communities. This framework considers the stable and resilient patterns that characterize state institutions, especially in contexts of low institutionalization, particularly those found in Latin America and Brazil. The article builds on research on urban policies in Brazil to suggest that networks made of institutional and personal ties structure state organizations internally and insert them,into broader political scenarios. These networks, which I call state fabric, frame politics, influence public policies, and introduce more stability and predictability than the majority of the literature usually considers. They also form a specific power resource-positional power, associated with the positions that political actors occupy-that influences politics inside and around the state.

And Trategies brazilian of power and territorialization for the control of the Islands of the Atlantic South

United Nations on the Rights of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Convention of Heritage Cultural and Natural of the Humanity.

Attica and Athens; an inquiry into the civil, moral and religious institutions of the inhabitants, the rise and decline of the Athenian power and the topography and chorography of ancient Attica and Athens;

Mode of access: Internet.

Power and Authority. Birgitta of Sweden and her Revelations

In the High Middle Ages female saints were customarily noble virgins. Thus, as a wife and a mother of eight children, the Swedish noble lady Birgitta (1302/3 1373) was an atypical candidate for sanctity. However, in 1391 she was canonized only 18 years after her death and became a role model for many late medieval women, who were mothers and widows. The dissertation Power and Authority Birgitta of Sweden and Her Revelations investigates how Birgitta went about establishing her power and authority during the first ten years of her career as a living saint, in 1340 1349. It is written from the perspectives of gender, authority, and power. The sources consist of approximately seven hundred revelations, hagiographical texts and other medieval documents. This work concentrates on the interaction between Birgitta and her audience. During her lifetime Birgitta was already regarded as a holy woman, as a living saint. A living saint could be given no formal papal or other recognition, for one could never be certain about his or her future activities. Thus, the living saint needed an audience for whom to perform signs of sanctity. In this study particular attention is paid to situations within which the power relations between the living saint and her audience can be traced and are open to critical analysis. Situations of conflict that arose in Birgitta s life are especially fruitful for this purpose. During the Middle Ages, institutional power and authority were exclusively in the hands of secular male leaders and churchmen. In this work it is argued, however, that Birgitta used different kinds of power than men. It is evident that she exercized influence on lay people as well as on secular and clerical authorities. The second, third, and fourth chapter of this study examine the beginning of Birgitta s career as a visionary, what factors and influences lay behind it, and what kind of roles they played in establishing her religious authority. The fifth, sixth, and seventh chapter concentrate on Birgitta s exercising of power in specific situations during her time in Sweden until she left on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1349. The central question is how she exercised power with different people. As a result, this book will offer a narrative of Birgitta s social interactions in Sweden seen from the perspectives of power and authority. Along with the concept of power, authority is a key issue. By definition, one who has power also has authority but a person who does not have official power can, nevertheless, have authority. Authority in action is defined here as meaning that a person was listened to. Birgitta acted both in situations of open conflict and where no conflict was evident. Her strategies included, for example, inducement, encouragement and flattery. In order to make people do as she felt was right she also threatened them openly with divine wrath. Sometimes she even used both positive persuasion and threats. Birgitta s power seems very similar to that of priests and ascetics. Common to all of them was that their power demanded interaction with other people and audiences. Because Birgitta did not have power and authority ex officio she had to persuade people to believe in her powers. She did this because she was convinced of her mission and sought to make people change their lives. In so doing, she moved from the domestic field to the public fields of religion and politics.

The Politics of Pulp Investment and the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST)

The Politics of Pulp Investment and the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) The paper industry has been moving more heavily to the global South at the beginning of the 21st century. In a number of cases the rural populations of the global South have engaged in increasingly important resistance in their scuffle with the large-scale tree plantation-relying pulp investment model. The resistance had generally not yet managed to slow down Southern industrial tree plantation expansion until 2004. After all, even the MST, perhaps the strongest of the Southern movements, has limited power in comparison to the corporations pushing for plantation expansion. This thesis shows how, even against these odds, depending on the mechanisms of contention and case-specific conflict dynamics, in some cases the movements have managed to slow and even reverse plantation expansion. The thesis is based on extensive field research in the Brazilian countryside. It outlines a new theory of contentious agency promotion, emphasizing its importance in the shaping of corporate resource exploitation. The thesis includes a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of resistance influence on the economic outcomes of all (14) Brazilian large-scale pulp projects between 2004-2008. The central hypothesis of the thesis is that corporate resource exploitation can be slowed down more effectively and likely when the resistance is based on contentious agency. Contentious agency is created by the concatenation of five mutually supporting mechanisms of contention: organizing and politicizing a social movement; heterodox framing of pulp projects; protesting; networking; and embedding whilst maintaining autonomy. The findings suggest that contentious agency can slow or even reverse the expansion of industrial plantations, whereas when contentious agency promotion was inactive, fast or even unchecked plantation expansion was always the outcome. The rule applied to all the assessed 14 pulp conflict cases. The hypothesis gained strong support even in situations where corporate agency promotion was simultaneously active. In previous studies on social movements, there has been a lack of contributions that help us understand the causal mechanisms of contention influencing economic outcomes. The thesis answers to the call by merging a Polanyian analysis of the political economy with the Dynamics of Contention research program and making a case for the impact of contentious agency on capital accumulation. The research concludes that an efficient social movement can utilize mechanisms of contention to promote the potential of activism among its members and influence investment outcomes. Protesting, for example via pioneering land occupations, seemed to be particularly important. Until now, there has been no comprehensive theory on when and how contentious agency can slow down or reverse the expansion of corporate resource exploitation. The original contribution of this research is to provide such a theory, and utilize it to offer an extensive explanation on the conflicts over pulp investment in Brazil, the globalization of the paper industry, and slowing of industrial plantation expansion in the global South.

Evangélicos em ação nas favelas cariocas: um estudo sócio-antropológico sobre redes de proteção, tráfico de drogas e religião no Complexo de Acari

O objetivo desta tese é discutir como os moradores de favelas no Rio de Janeiro fazem para experimentar segurança em meio ao cotidiano marcado por inseguranças, violência e vulnerabilidade social. Minha hipótese central é que os moradores destas localidades visualizam nas lealdades primordiais (GEERTZ, 2008 [1973]), nas relações de vizinhança e em redes formadas em torno do pertencimento a instituições religiosas, sobretudo as pentecostais e neopentecostais a base da segurança necessária para organizarem suas vidas, suas rotinas. Busquei responder às questões que me animavam a partir de um investimento etnográfico em duas favelas cariocas, a saber, Santa Marta, localizada no bairro de Botafogo, Zona Sul, e, principalmente, Acari, localizada entre bairros da Zona Norte da cidade. Ao longo da etnografia realizei entrevistas semi-estruturadas com moradores evangélicos, traficantes, homens, mulheres, jovens e idosos, lideranças políticas e culturais. A partir destas entrevistas, assim como das conversas informais com moradores nestas favelas, pude observar a grande dificuldade que os moradores das referidas localidades têm, face à violência, para experimentar constantemente segurança e confiança, mesmo no caso dos moradores que desfrutam de densas redes de solidariedade e proteção baseadas no parentesco e/ou na partilha de identidade religiosa pentecostal. A paranóia, o medo da fofoca e do inimigo à espreita tomam conta do cotidiano de moradores (e também de traficantes). Neste contexto, identifiquei nas suas tentativas de consolidação de vínculos sociais e afetivos, mas também em seus diversos cálculos em termos de evitação da violência suas principais estratégias para viver o dia-a-dia com certa tranqüilidade. O curso da etnografia possibilitou, ainda, refletir sobre a importância da articulação analítica de dois eixos temáticos para o estudo da favela como fenômeno urbano/social hoje: religião e violência. Esta avaliação é fruto da observação das aproximações entre traficantes que passaram, nessas localidades, a experimentar novas formas de expressão de fé. Se, nas décadas de 1980-1990, os traficantes de Acari expunham em seus corpos, em suas casas e nos muros da favela imagens e orações que remetiam ao universo religioso afro-brasileiro, na atualidade, acionam uma gramática pentecostal e pintam nos muros da favela salmos e outras passagens bíblicas. Se antes pediam proteção às mães-de-santo, agora pedem proteção às lideranças evangélicas e à comunidade de irmãos, assim como comemoram seus aniversários em cultos de ação de graça. A interface entre traficantes e evangélicos nas favelas estudadas, com destaque para Acari, vem produzindo, sustento, reequilíbrios de poder no interior do campo político e religioso local e, até, supralocal.

Práticas religiosas Afro-Brasileiras, marco regulatório e uso do meio ambiente e do espaço urbano da cidade do Rio de Janeiro

A Constituição Federal brasileira relaciona dentre as garantias do cidadão o direito ao meio ambiente sadio e a liberdade religiosa e de liturgia. Também prevê como valor constitucional a ser defendido pelo Estado brasileiro as matrizes culturais africanas. A problemática da presente pesquisa é o conflito entre esses valores e garantias em um Estado democrático de direito, conflito este que indentificamos no caso selecionado para estudo: a proibição de oferendas das religiões afrobrasileiras no Parque Nacional da Tijuca, no Rio de Janeiro, pela administração da entidade gestora do Parque. A partir deste estudo de caso, propomos questionar: 1) como o conflito é construído numa perspectiva multidimensional (da geografia cultural, da teologia, da sociologia etc); 2) se e por que as religiões de matrizes africanas foram excluídas do arcabouço jurídico ambiental brasileiro; 3) se este arcabouço pode ser interpretado de modo a favorecer a prática de oferendas e 4) se há uma consciência e uma ética ambientais emergentes naquelas comunidades religiosas, facilitadoras do argumento defensivo da prática de oferendas em áreas verdes públicas. Assim, o objetivo da presente pesquisa é contribuir para a solução exitosa deste conflito, de modo que esta solução seja válida e exeqüível em qualquer área verde sob administração pública. Desse modo, advogamos a tese de que é possível ponderar as duas garantias constitucionais em conflito, de forma que as oferendas, ao invés de proibidas, sejam aceitas de modo disciplinado, não agressivo ou menos agressivo ao meio ambiente, pela negociação dos atores envolvidos. Através da metodologia qualitativa demonstraremos que há um conflito entre atores que dão distintos significados ao meio ambiente, a partir de racionalidades distintas, sendo a da administração ambiental fortemente ancorada na própria doutrina formatadora dos parques nacionais. Aditaremos que o conflito poderia ter sido evitado ou minorado se as comunidades religiosas urbanas afrobrasileiras tivessem sido reconhecidas como populações tradicionais pelo movimento socioambientalista, fortemente inspirador da legislação brasileira. Demonstraremos ainda que, apesar desta lacuna, a legislação que já está dada pode ser interpretada de modo a chancelar a prática das oferendas, e que a proibição seria um equívoco legal da administração ambiental, tendo em vista que o direito ambiental oferece um sistema principiológico favorável à prática das oferendas, tarefa facilitada por uma emergente ética ambiental naqueles grupos religiosos. Não obstante, uma proposta de inclusão de um artigo na Lei do Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação será elaborada, para evitar que a solução do conflito dependa de interpretações. Por fim, recomendaremos que a interdição no Parque da Tijuca seja exemplarmente substituída por uma negociação entre as partes envolvidas, de modo a que sejam preservados todos os interesses constitucionais envolvidos, proporcionando o avanço da democracia brasileira.

Between the devil and the deep blue sea: Nationality, power and symbolic trade-offs among evangelical Protestants in contemporary Northern Ireland

National identity is symbolically complex configuration, with shifts of emphasis and reprioritisations of content negotiated in contexts of power. This paper shows how they occur in one post-conflict situation - Northern Ireland - among some of the most extreme of national actors - evangelical Protestants. In-depth interviews reveal quite radical shifts in the content of their British identity and in their understanding of and relation to the Irish state, with implications for their future politics. The implications for understanding ethno-religious nationalism, nationality shifts and the future of Northern Ireland are drawn out.

Papal power and protection in the Shebet Yehudah

The sixteenth-century Shebet Yehudah is an account of the persecutions of Jews in various countries and epochs, including their expulsion from Spain in the fifteenth century. It is not a medieval text and was written long after many of the events it describes. Yet although it cannot give us a contemporary medieval standpoint, it provides important insights into how later Jewish writers perceived Jewish–papal relations in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. Although the extent to which Jewish communities came into contact either with the papacy as an institution or the actions of individual popes varied immensely, it is through analysis of Hebrew works such as the Shebet Yehudah that we are able to piece together a certain understanding of Jewish ideas about the medieval papacy as an institution and the policies of individual popes. This article argues that Jews knew only too well that papal protection was not unlimited, but always carefully circumscribed in accordance with Christian theology. It is hoped that it will be a scholarly contribution to our growing understanding of Jewish ideas about the papacy's spiritual and temporal power and authority in the Later Middle Ages and how this impacted on Jewish communities throughout medieval Europe.

Board of directors and top management team: a study on CEO relative power and financial return

Best corporate governance practices published in the primers of Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission and the Brazilian Corporate Governance Institute promote board independence as much as possible, as a way to increase the effectiveness of governance mechanism (Sanzovo, 2010). Therefore, this paper aims at understanding if what the managerial literature portraits as being self-evident - stricter governance, better performance - can be observed in actual evidence. The question answered is: do companies with a stricter control and monitoring system perform better than others? The method applied in this paper consists on comparing 116 companies in respect to the their independence level between top management team and board directors– being that measured by four parameters, namely, the percentage of independent outsiders in the board, the separation of CEO and chairman, the adoption of contingent compensation and the percentage of institutional investors in the ownership structure – and their financial return measured in terms return on assets (ROA) from the latest Quarterly Earnings release of 2012. From the 534 companies listed in the Stock Exchange of Sao Paulo – Bovespa – 116 were selected due to their level of corporate governance. The title “Novo Mercado” refers to the superior level of governance level within companies listed in Bovespa, as they have to follow specific criteria to assure shareholders ´protection (BM&F, 2011). Regression analyses were conducted in order to reveal the correlation level between two selected variables. The results from the regression analysis were the following: the correlation between each parameter and ROA was 10.26%; the second regression analysis conducted measured the correlation between the independence level of top management team vis-à-vis board directors – namely, CEO relative power - and ROA, leading to a multiple R of 5.45%. Understanding that the scale is a simplification of the reality, the second part of the analysis transforms all the four parameters into dummy variables, excluding what could be called as an arbitrary scale. The ultimate result from this paper led to a multiple R of 28.44%, which implies that the combination of the variables are still not enough to translate the complex reality of organizations. Nonetheless, an important finding can be taken from this paper: two variables (percentage of outside directors and percentage of institutional investor ownership) are significant in the regression, with p-value lower than 10% and with negative coefficients. In other words, counter affirming what the literature very often portraits as being self-evident – stricter governance leads to higher performance – this paper has provided evidences to believe that the increase in the formal governance structure trough outside directors in the board and ownership by institutional investor might actually lead to worse performance. The section limitations and suggestions for future researches presents some reasons explaining why, although supported by strong theoretical background, this paper faced some challenging methodological assumptions, precluding categorical statements about the level of governance – measured by four selected parameters – and the financial return in terms of financial on assets.