Production under glass : working conditions and class-consciousness of the Niagara greenhouse workers

This study applies a Marxist theoretical paradigm to examine the working conditions of greenhouse workers in the Niagara Region, and the range of factors that bear upon the formation of their class-consciousness. The Niagara greenhouse industry represents one of the most developed horticultural regions in Canada and plays a prominent role in the local economy. The industry generates substantial revenues and employs a significant number of people, yet the greenhouse workers are paid one of the lowest rates in the region. Being classified as agricultural workers, the greenhouse employees are exempted from many provisions of federal and provincial labour regulations. Under the current provincial statutes, agricultural workers in Ontario are denied the right to organize and bargain collectively. Except for a few technical and managerial positions, the greenhouse industry employs mostly low-skilled workers who are subjected to poor working conditions that stem from the employer's attempts to adapt to larger structural imperatives of the capitalist economy. While subjected to these poor working conditions, the greenhouse workers are also affected by objectively alienated social relations and by ruling class ideological domination and hegemony. These two sets of factors arise from the inherent conflict of interests between wage-labour and capital but also militate against the development of class-consciousness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 greenhouse workers to examine the role played by their material circumstances in the formulation of their social and political views as well as the extent to which they are aware of their class location and class interests. The hegemonic notions of 'common sense' acted as impediments to formation of classconsciousness. The greenhouse workers have virtually no opportunities to access alternative perspectives that would address the issues associated with exploitation in production and offer solutions leading to 'social justice'. Fonnidable challenges confront any organized political body seeking to improve the conditions of the working people.

Recollecting Work : Labour and Class in Contemporary North American Historical Fiction

Ma thèse examine quatre romans de l`époque post-1960 qui s’appuient sur le genre de la littérature prolétarienne du début du vingtième siècle. Se basant sur les recherches récentes sur la littérature de la classe ouvrière, je propose que Pynchon, Doctorow, Ondaatje et Sweatman mettent en lumière les thèmes souvent négligés de cette classe tout en restant esthétiquement progressiste et pertinents. Afin d’explorer les aspects politiques et formels de ces romans, j’utilise la « midfiction », le concept d’Allen Wilde. Ce concept vise les textes qui utilisent les techniques postmodernes et qui acceptent la primauté de la surface, mais qui néanmoins essaient d’être référentiels et d’établir des vérités. Le premier chapitre de ma thèse propose que les romans prolétariens contemporains que j’ai choisis utilisent des stratégies narratives généralement associées avec le postmodernisme, telles que la métafiction, l’ironie et une voix narrative « incohérente », afin de contester l’autorité des discours dominants, notamment les histoires officielles qui ont tendance à minimiser l’importance des mouvements ouvriers. Le deuxième chapitre examine comment les romanciers utilisent des stratégies mimétiques afin de réaliser un facteur de crédibilité qui permet de lier les récits aux des réalités historiques concrètes. Me référant à mon argument du premier chapitre, j’explique que ces romanciers utilisent la référentialité et les voix narratives « peu fiables » et « incohérentes », afin de politiser à nouveau la lutte des classes de la fin du dix-neuvième et des premières décennies du vingtième siècles et de remettre en cause un sens strict de l’histoire empirique. Se basant sur les théories évolutionnistes de la sympathie, le troisième chapitre propose que les représentations des personnages de la classe dirigeante riche illustrent que les structures sociales de l’époque suscitent un sentiment de droit et un manque de sympathie chez les élites qui les font adopter une attitude quasi-coloniale vis-à-vis de la classe ouvrière. Le quatrième chapitre aborde la façon dont les romans en considération négocient les relations entre les classes sociales, la subjectivité et l’espace. Cette section analyse comment, d’un côté, la représentation de l’espace montre que le pouvoir se manifeste au bénéfice de la classe dirigeante, et de l’autre, comment cet espace est récupéré par les ouvriers radicaux et militants afin d’avancer leurs intérêts. Le cinquième chapitre explore comment les romans néo-prolétariens subvertissent ironiquement les tropes du genre prolétarien précédent, ce qui exprimerait l’ambivalence politique et le cynisme généralisé de la fin du vingtième siècle.

Anglicisms and calques in upper social class in pre-revolutionary Cuba (1930–1959): A sociolinguistic analysis

The geographical proximity and socioeconomic dependence on the United States brought about a deep rooted anglicization of the Cuban Spanish lexis and social strata, especially throughout the Neocolonial period (1902–1959). This study is based on the revision of a renowned newspaper of that time, Diario de la Marina, and the corresponding elaboration of a corpus of English-induced loanwords. Diario de la Marina particularly targeted upper social class, and only crónicas sociales (society pages’ columns) and print advertising were revised because of their fully descriptive texts, which encoded the ruling class ideology and consumerism. The findings show that there existed a high number of lexical and cultural anglicisms in the sociolect in question, and that the sociolinguistic anglicization was openly embraced by the upper socioeconomic stratum, entailing a differentiating sign of sophistication and social stratification. Likewise, a number of the anglicisms collected, particularly those related with social events, are unused in contemporary Cuban Spanish, which suggests a major semantic shifting in this sociolect after 1959.

Communism and Public Opinion in Queensland, 1939-1951 : An Explanation of Queensland's Vote in the 1951 Anti-Communist Referendum

The starting point of this thesis was a desire to explain the rapid demise in the popularity which the Communist Party enjoyed in Queensland during the second world war. Wartime Queensland gave the Australian Communist Party its highest state vote and six years later Queensland again gave the Communist Party its highest state vote - this time however, to ban the Party. From this I was led into exploring the changing policies, beliefs and strategies of the Party, as well as the many sub-groups on its periphery, and the shifts in public response to these. In 1939 Townsville elected Australia's first Communist alderman. Five years later, Bowen elected not only Australia's first but also the British Empire's first, Communist state government member. Of the five electorates the Australian Communist Party contested in the 1944 Queensland State elections, in none did the Party's candidate receive less than twenty per-cent of the formal vote. Not only was the Party seemingly enjoying considerable popular support but this was occurring in a State which, but for the Depression years (May 1929 - June 1932) had elected a Labor State Government at every state election since 1915. In the September 1951 Constitution Alteration Referendum, 'Powers To Deal With Communists and Communism', Queensland regist¬ered the nation's highest "Yes" majority - 55.76% of the valid vote. Only two other states registered a majority in favour of the referendum's proposals, Western Australia and Tasmania. As this research was undertaken it became evident that while various trends exhibited at the time, anti-Communism, the work of the Industrial Groups, Labor opportunism, local area feelings, ideological shifts of the Party, tactics of Communist-led unions, etc., were present throughout the entire period, they were best seen when divided into three chronological phases of the Party's history and popularity. The first period covers the consolidation of the Party's post-Depression popularity during the war years as it benefited from the Soviet Union's colossal contribution to the Allied war efforts, and this support continued for some six months or so after the war. Throughout the period Communist strength within the trade union movement greatly increased as did total Party membership. The second period was marked by a rapid series of events starting in March 1946, with Winston Churchill's "Official Opening" of the Cold War by his sweeping attack on Communism and Russia, at Fulton. Several days later the first of a series of long and bitter strikes in Communist-led unions occurred, as the Party mobil¬ized for what it believed would be a series of attacks on the working class from a ruling class, defending a capitalist system on the verge of an economic collapse. It was a period when the Party believed this ruling class was using Labor reformism as a last desperate 'carrot' to get workers to accept their lot within a capitalist economic framework. Out of the Meat Strike emerged the Industrial Groups, who waged not only a determined war against Communist trade union leadership but also encouraged the A.W.U.-influenced State Labor apparatus to even greater anti-Communist antagonisms. The Communist Party's increasing militancy and Labor's resistance to it, ended finally in the collapse of the Chifley Labor government. Characteristically the third period opens with the Communist Party making an another about-face, desperately trying to form an alliance with the Labor Party and curbing its former adventurist industrial policy, as it prepared for Menzies' direct assault. The Communist Party's activities were greatly reduced, a function of both a declining member-ship and, furthermore, a membership reluctant to confront an increasingly hostile society. In examining the changing policies, beliefs and strategies of the Party and the shifts in public response to these, I have tried to distinguish between general trends occurring within Australia and the national party, and trends peculiar to Queensland and the Queensland branch of the Party, The Communist Party suffered a decline in support and membership right across Australia throughout this period as a result of the national policies of the Party, and the changing nature of world politics. There were particular features of this decline that were peculiar to Queensland. I have, however, singled out three features of particular importance throughout the period for a short but more specifically detailed analysis, than would be possible in a purely chronological study: i.e. the Party's structure, the Party's ideological subservience to Moscow, and the general effect upon it of the Cold War.

Tendências contemporâneas da política de assistência social : uma análise das transformações ocorridas na concepção de assistência social no Brasil

O presente trabalho reúne os elementos que compõem a atual concepção de assistência social no Brasil, a partir da promulgação da constituição de 1988, quando a assistência social foi reconhecida pela primeira vez como direito de cidadania e dever legal do Estado, garantido pela Lei Suprema. Nesta lei, a assistência social pressupunha uma lógica de pleno emprego, destinada, portanto, prioritariamente aos incapazes para o trabalho. No entanto, em um contexto de desemprego estrutural esta passa a ser compreendida em termos de garantias de seguranças, buscando assumir a proteção social daqueles capazes para o trabalho, tendo em vista a deterioração do mercado de trabalho, restrição de oportunidades e de renda e o crescimento progressivo do desemprego e da informalidade. A ideia central é a de que se trata de uma descrição crítica da concepção de assistência social no Brasil, problematizando cada um de seus argumentos mais explícitos com o intuito de revelar uma intencionalidade vinculada à uma perspectiva de Estado. Utilizamos o termo concepção no sentido de conceber, pensar, sentir, entender ou interpretar algo. A assistência social, na atualidade, responde a um único processo que reúne aspectos históricos, econômicos, políticos, sociais e ideológicos e neste sentido, representa uma concepção de mundo e um projeto de sociedade, defendido pela classe dominante, pautado pela exploração do trabalho. A atual concepção de assistência social segue, portanto, uma nova forma de política social a partir da perspectiva de desenvolvimento humano e combate à pobreza em que a grande ênfase tem sido a de retirar as discussões e a intervenção na pobreza do âmbito da questão social, alocando-a nos indivíduos e em suas “incapacidades”. A assistência social ao assumir a responsabilidade ou coresponsabilidade no desenvolvimento de capacidades dos indivíduos sinaliza a tendência de uma nova concepção de bem-estar social.

Heterodox Autonomy Doctrine: realism and purposes, and its relevance

The Autonomy Doctrine, elaborated by Juan Carlos Puig, is a realist point of view of International Relations. It is an analysis, from the periphery, about the structure of world power, and a roadmap (from a theoretical point of view) for the longing process of autonomization-regarding hegemonic power-for a country whose ruling class would decide to overcome dependency. The elements its author took into account when analyzing its own context are explained in this text and, afterwards, are reflected over its relevance nowadays. For that purpose, it is necessary to answer certain questions, such as which are the concepts and categories that may explain its relevance, its applicability to regional integration and cooperation models and projects, and what would be the analytical method to compare reality versus ideas, among others. The methodological proposal to analyze the relevance of Puig's doctrine is to compare it to different visions of regionalism that are currently in effect in Latin America.

Collective violence : a study of the gendered and socio-economic factors behind early modern Italian and English witch hunts

In this study, I build upon my previous research in which I focus on religious doctrine as a gendered disciplinary apparatus, and examine the witch trials in early modem England and Italy in light of socio-economic issues relating to gender and class. This project examines the witch hunts/trials and early modem visual representations of witches, and what I suggest is an attempt to create docile bodies out of members of society who are deemed unruly, problematic and otherwise 'undesirable'; it is the witch's body that is deemed counternormative. This study demonstrates that it is neighbours and other acquaintances of accused witches that take on the role of the invisible guard of Bantham's Panoptic on. As someone who is trained in the study of English literature and literary theory, my approach is one that is informed by this methodology. It is my specialization in early modem British literature that first exposed me to witch-hunting manuals and tales of the supernatural, and it is for this reason that my research commences with a study of representations of witches and witchcraft in early modem England. From my initial exposure to such materials I proceed to examine the similarities and the differences of the cultural significance of the supernatural vis-a.-vis women's activities in early modem Italy. The subsequent discussion of visual representations of witches involves a predominance of Germanic artists, as the seminal work on the discernment of witches and the application of punishment known as the Malleus Meleficarum, was written in Germany circa 1486. Textual accounts of witch trials such as: "A Pitiless Mother (1616)," "The Wonderful Discovery of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and Philippa Flower (1619)," "Magic and Poison: The Trial ofChiaretta and Fedele (circa 1550)", and the "The Case of Benvegnuda Pincinella: Medicine Woman or Witch (1518),"and witchhunting manuals such as the Malleus Melejicarum and Strix will be put in direct dialogue with visual representations of witches in light of historical discourses pertaining to gender performance and gendered expectations. Issues relating to class will be examined as they pertain to the material conditions of presumed witches. The dominant group in any temporal or geographic location possesses the tools of representation. Therefore, it is not surprising that the physical characteristics, sexual habits and social material conditions that are attributed to suspected witches are attributes that can be deemed deviant by the ruling class. The research will juxtapose the social material conditions of suspected witches with the guilt, anxiety, and projection of fear that the dominant groups experienced in light of the changing economic landscape of the Renaissance. The shift from feudalism to primitive accumulation, and capitalism saw a rise in people living in poverty and therefore an increased dependence upon the good will of others. I will discuss the social material conditions of accused witches as informed by what Robyn Wiegman terms a "minoritizing discourse" (210). People of higher economic standing often blamed their social, medical, and/or economic difficulties on the less fortunate, resulting in accusations of witchcraft.

El ordenamiento territorial a partir de la producción social del territorio. Caso de estudio: Parque de la 93.

El territorio, como una representación de la sociedad, manifiesta relaciones poder y situaciones de confrontación entre las clases sociales que lo habitan, consolidando escenarios funcionales a éstas. A continuación se analiza la forma en la que incide la producción social del territorio en el ordenamiento territorial, en el caso de la transformación del Parque de la 93. La ordenación del territorio no surge de manera espontánea, sino que responde a unos intereses por localizar espacios de producción y consumo para incidir directamente en el proceso de acumulación de capital. Se utiliza el materialismo histórico como la herramienta fundamental de análisis, pues éste ubica la lucha de clases en el centro de la discusión, expresando la relación entre los intereses de la clase dominante respecto a un territorio y las necesidades de ordenamiento territorial para construir espacios que propicien la acumulación de capital.

O poder simbólico dos manuais escolares de língua portuguesa: revelação e ocultação

RESUMO: Este estudo tem como propósito compreender as ideologias, os valores, as representações sociais e os estereótipos difundidos pelos manuais escolares de Língua Portuguesa. Para atingirmos esta finalidade procedemos, inicialmente, à definição do corpus e, em seguida, à análise de conteúdo dos textos de sete manuais, do 7º ano de escolaridade, ainda em vigor. A análise dos mesmos foi realizada a partir de oito categorias que estabelecemos após uma leitura flutuante: família, religião, educação, amor, amizade, ética ambiental, poder e sonho. Os dados recolhidos foram trabalhados quantitativa e qualitativamente de acordo com a metodologia proposta por Lawrence Bardin (1997). Os manuais escolares estudados evidenciaram-se detentores de paradigmas ideológicos repressivos e homogéneos assim como reprodutores de valores tradicionalistas implícitos que visam a consubstanciação de uma mundividência ocidental que luta pela inalterabilidade das relações de género, dos valores morais, éticos e religiosos que prevalecem na sociedade e servem os desígnios da classe dominante. Confidentes de um poder simbólico que os caracteriza os manuais escolares visam a conservação das relações sociais e a sua unificação, ignorando a diversidade cultural, o multiculturalismo e as relações interculturais inerentes ao mundo social. ABSTRACT: This study aims to understand the ideologies, values, social representations and stereotypes disseminated by the Portuguese language textbooks. To achieve this purpose we began by defining the corpus and then we analyzed the content of seven 7th grade textbooks still in use. The analysis was done in eight categories established from an initial reading: family, religion, education, love, friendship, environmental ethics, power and dream. The data collected was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively according to the methodology proposed by Lawrence Bardin (1997). The textbooks studied contained repressive and homogeneous ideological paradigms, as well as traditionalist implicit breeding values which pursue the implementation of a Western worldview that struggles to maintain both gender relations and moral, ethical and religious values that prevail in society and serve the ambitions of the ruling class. Confident of a symbolic power that characterize school textbooks, they aim to preserve social relationships and their unification, ignoring cultural diversity, multiculturalism and the intercultural relations that exist in the social world.

Bocetos de una gramática liberal: de la glorificación del trabajo agrícola a la consagración simbólica de los Andes (Estudios)

El presente artículo se enfoca en las contradicciones del proyecto nacional ecuatoriano de principios del siglo XX en cuanto pretende subsanar identidades en conflicto dentro de las nuevas configuraciones sociales y espaciales. Para ello se examina la forma en la que Luis A. Martínez reconoce la ambivalencia de la modernidad al punto de confeccionar sus obras como alegorías de fallidas comunidades imaginadas. Tanto sus catecismos de agricultura como su novela A la costa (1905), además de contribuir a los debates intelectuales de la época sobre la participación del país en el moderno sistema-mundo capitalista, testimonian las contradicciones existentes dentro del liberalismo como ideología hegemónica. De ahí que los textos arriba mencionados sean considerados como bisagras que vislumbran lo nacional en lo liminar aunque todavía sin subvertir los desencuentros entre la clase dominante y la subalterna.

A magia dos invencíveis

Esta dissertação de mestrado parte da constatação de que o sistema econômico social brasileiro. Apresenta uma anomalia ao propor, em leis e planos de desenvolvimento, a não inclusão do negro; com sua cultura e valores diferenciados, no projeto global de nação. Pretende, a partir daí, refletir sobre alguns pontos da Escola Tia Ciata, uma escola da rede do município do Rio de Janeiro, que objetiva basicamente alfabetizar adolescentes e jovens adultos, entre 12 e 20 anos, rejeitados pela escola regular, dando-lhe condições de se profissionalizar numa sociedade letrada, ao aprender a ler, escrever e contar. Por outro lado, ao discorrer sobre a experiência, tomou vulto uma dimensão inimaginável a priori e que se refere à origem histórica daqueles que são Invencíveis para o sistema escolar instituído e que por isso não conseguem ser “educados" e "civilizados". Procurar entender os Invencíveis, o significado e a magia que a "rua" tem para eles, significa pesquisar as propostas e projetos das classes dirigentes, para essa clientela, visando "ordenar a desordem". Por fim, diante da caracterização possível desses Invencíveis, tomando como base os alunos da Escola Tia Ciata, tenta-se descrever a Escola Imaginária e a que se tornou real, hoje. Quais as suas inovações básicas, sua forma de abordar o aluno que se pretende educar e a possibilidade de intervenção na rede pública escolar, de modo a abrir a perspectiva de transformação do quadro educacional atual.

Cultura e espaço: identidade e território na formação de um arranjo produtivo local potencial em Sertãozinho - SP

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

Levantadas do chão: a construção da identidade de gênero no processo implementação das políticas públicas agrárias para as mulheres

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Ressurreição e o romance urbano romântico: aproximações e afastamentos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Práticas formativas nas unidades móveis do SENAC: repercussões à educação profissional na Amazônia Paraense

Desde seu surgimento no contexto brasileiro a Educação Profissional representou um significativo e estratégico papel na manutenção e fortalecimento do projeto da classe dominante. Ela possui dimensão política e histórica, que se estabeleceram diretamente com a concepção de desenvolvimento econômico, deixando de lado o desenvolvimento social com as quais o governo brasileiro, a partir da década de 30, vem implementando, nessa modalidade de educação, ações estratégicas, convenientes ao poder político vigente. Sendo assim, este trabalho pretende discutir dialeticamente o percurso histórico da Unidade Móvel do Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Comercial (UM/SENAC), estabelecendo um paralelo crítico frente à contextualidade sócio-política dos governos brasileiro desde a década de 1940. O percurso metodológico da pesquisa transcendeu uma condição descritiva para assumir uma perspectiva analítico-discursiva, ao adotar em seu desenvolvimento um enfoque qualitativo, fundamentando suas discussões na pesquisa bibliográfica de conceitos, concepções e fundamentos centrais sobre educação e trabalho, correlacionando-as com a realidade e potencionalizando-as por meio da Pesquisa Documental (LUDWIG, 2009), para revelar a atuação da UM no contexto amazônico, o que permitiu discutir as relações entre o SENAC, as organizações sociais, as empresas e o governo. André (2005, p. 16), por sua vez, nos ajudou a definir a entrevista e a análise de documentos, entre os outros instrumentos da pesquisa qualitativa por ela orientados, como recursos técnicos principais deste estudo, ao afirmar que suas utilizações são fundamentais à compreensão de uma investigação. Ao considerar importantes essas técnicas, tem-se diferentes formas de geração e coleta de dados, para a caracterização do objeto de pesquisa e materialização dos resultados. Para isso, foram consultados os relatórios institucionais do DR/PA, provenientes da produção anual (2003 a 2008) e dos encontros nacionais das Unidades Móveis (ocorridos desde 1973 a cada 10 anos), complementados pela pesquisa de campo, através da entrevista de três membros da gestão do SENAC/PA. Isso permitiu analisar e identificar as contradições e o jogo dialético presentes na atuação da UM e a entender as raízes que geraram a filosofia institucional do SENAC para, posteriormente explicar qual o seu papel estratégico na Região Amazônica, em especial a do DR/PA. Foram discutidos os planos estratégicos do SENAC e a relevância de sua missão na oferta de educação profissional na Amazônia paraense, promovendo o debate sobre as intencionalidades desta instituição a partir das relações com o poder vigente e as demandas de mudanças no preceito legal, respondendo assim a uma nova perspectiva da educação profissional implementada pelo MEC. Nesta perspectiva, as discussões apresentadas fecham-se, mas o debate não se encerra, pois o modelo de sociedade vigente produz uma educação profissional com fortes resquícios da concepção pragmatista, hoje mais fortemente ligada ao paradigma da flexibilidade que procura construir uma nova referencia filosófica ainda não muito clara.