Suchergebnisse

Through an ethnographic account of the decision-making process of the World Social Forum (WSF) and its governance structures, specifically the International Council and the Local Organising Committee, the micro-politics of the alter-globalisation movements will be explored. Looking at the debates around whether the WSF should be an open arena or become an actor, the paradox of the "tyranny of structurelessness" will be presented. More accurately, this paper exposes the asymmetry between the values and the practices of the WSF process by analysing the role of "social movement entrepreneurs" and the complex constellations of conflicting interests. Theoretical claims of horizontal consensual and open decision-making are used to eliminate any democratic procedure, paving the way to highly unequal oppressive power relations that dominate the deliberative space of encounter between different movements. The paper questions the capacity of the World Social Forum to articulate alternatives to neoliberalism, and to present different and more democratic ways of doing politics. After having unmasked the oppressive power structures within a social movement claiming to fight against them, this paper advocates for moving beyond the WSF discursive dichotomy of "neoliberal/anti-neoliberal", and calls for a Gramscian resistance to the hegemonic neoliberal discourse played through direct transformative engagement with the institutions of our society. This paper offers a detailed view inside the black box of decision-making processes within social movements contributing to the academic as well as the activists' debate on their governance. This analysis is particularly relevant in the light of the global occupy and anti-austerity movements, which have been making similar claims to those of the WSF of being a leaderless initiative, without any political affiliation, and using consensual methodologies, thus facing some of the same shortcomings and challenges.

Community and democratic participation are still an essential component of current mainstream development interventions. However, elite capture seriously undermines the outcomes of development projects. This article analyses the effects on (in)equality of the implementation of policies that are technically participatory, in the context of an internationally-funded urban development programme in Nairobi,which was implemented in the aftermath of the post-election violence of 2007–2008. Ethnographic data reveal how the institutionalization of pre-existing power imbalances between landlords and tenants is accomplished through the creation of structures of community governance and 'participatory enumeration'. The article concludes that without the resources to challenge powerful interests within the settlement, the programme is likely to worsen the condition of a large section of the residents. In the context of strong pre-existing inequalities and conflict, participation needs careful management and firm external agency to achieve genuine social transformation.

Stars form from the collapse of molecular clouds and evolve in an environment rich in gas and dust before becoming Main Sequence stars. During this phase, characterised by the presence of a protoplanetary disc, stars manifest changes in the structure and luminosity. This thesis performs a multi-wavelength analysis, from optical to mm range, on a sample of young stars (YSOs), mainly Classical T Tauri (CTTS). The purpose is to study optical and infrared variability and its relation with the protoplanetary disc. Longer wavelength, in the mm range, are used instead to investigate the evolution of the disc, in terms of dust growth. In optical, an F-test on a sample of 39 CTTS reveals that 67\% of the stars are variable. The variability, quantified through pooled sigma, is visible both in magnitude amplitudes and changes over time. Time series analysis applied on the more variable stars finds the presence of quasi periodicity, with periods longer than two weeks, interpreted either as eclipsing material in the disc happening on a non-regular basis, or as a consequence of star-disc interaction via magnetic field lines. The variability of YSOs is confirmed also in infrared, even if with lower amplitude. No strong correlations are found between optical and infrared variability, which implies a different cause or a time shift in the two events. By using a toy model to explore their origin, I find that infrared variations are likely to stem from emissions in the inner disc. The evolution of discs in terms of dust growth is confirmed in most discs by the analysis of the slope of the spectral energy distribution (SED), after correcting for wind emission and optical depth effects. However, the comparison with a radiative transfer model highlights that a number of disc parameters, in particular disc masses and temperature, dust size distribution and composition, can also affect the slope of the SED. ; Funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7-2011 under grant agreement no 284405 ; Funded by the European Union ...

ABSTRACTCommunity and democratic participation are still an essential component of current mainstream development interventions. However, elite capture seriously undermines the outcomes of development projects. This article analyses the effects on (in)equality of the implementation of policies that are technically participatory, in the context of an internationally‐funded urban development programme in Nairobi, which was implemented in the aftermath of the post‐election violence of 2007–2008. Ethnographic data reveal how the institutionalization of pre‐existing power imbalances between landlords and tenants is accomplished through the creation of structures of community governance and 'participatory enumeration'. The article concludes that without the resources to challenge powerful interests within the settlement, the programme is likely to worsen the condition of a large section of the residents. In the context of strong pre‐existing inequalities and conflict, participation needs careful management and firm external agency to achieve genuine social transformation.

This thesis analyses how social and political conflicts among different social actors shape the implementation of slum-upgrading programmes. The research focuses on the first two years (2008-2010) of the implementation of an internationally-funded slum-upgrading programme in Nairobi. In particular, the thesis explores the internal dynamics of the residents of one slum settlement and how they interact with the development programme and with the complex range of actors involved. The actor-oriented approach constitutes the main theoretical framework of this research. Mid-level theories from the sociology and anthropology of development are also employed to illuminate specific data. The thesis draws upon the body of work classified under the broad notion of a 'new ethnography of development?, a body of work which has so far predominantly focused on rural projects. The perspective offered by these works can also provide useful insights and tools to examine dispersed and multi-level agency in urban development programmes. Adopting an actor-oriented approach, this thesis analyses the 'co- production of development? accomplished through negotiations, renegotiations, alliances, and conflict among different actors at multiple levels, and within a wider historical, political and policy context. ; TARA (Trinity?s Access to Research Archive) has a robust takedown policy. Please contact us if you have any concerns: rssadmin@tcd.ie

A diversidade urbana é sugestiva às discordâncias sobre como e para que os espaços coletivos deveriam ser utilizados. Com base nisso, proponho aqui uma reflexão sobre a ocupação cultural do viaduto do Brooklyn em Porto Alegre, que desencadeou uma situação conflitiva envolvendo diversos atores sociais, entre eles frequentadores dos eventos, produtores culturais e moradores da região. Reflito aqui sobre os desdobramentos desse encontro, tomando por base referências sociológicas e antropológicas sobre cidade e conflito. Para o desenvolvimento deste estudo etnográfico entre 2017 e 2018, com base na etnografia de rua (Eckert; Rocha, 2013) foram realizadas entrevistas, registros audiovisuais, pesquisas em acervos de imagens e jornais e observações de publicações nas redes sociais sobre o tema. O movimento de ocupação do Brooklyn teve um desfecho insatisfatório para os frequentadores e usuários do espaço, mas o caso pode ser ilustrativo da forma como têm sido administrados e negociados os usos dos espaços públicos da cidade por grupos e coletivos autônomos.

La famiglia ha acquisito una dimensione plurale sul piano sociale che il nostro ordinamento ancora oggi, purtroppo, non riconosce compiutamente, riservando una completa tutela e valore giuridico solo alle unioni fondate sul vincolo di coniugio: alla coppia e famiglia di fatto sono riservate limitate e parziali tutele in singoli ambiti che non assurgono a disciplina sistematica.In tale frazionato contesto giuridico normativo: quali diritti può vantare il convivente all'interno della coppia e verso i terzi durante la vita di relazione e quali nel corso della crisi? Permangono differenze tra i fi