Suchergebnisse

Lombardy is one of the most densely populated and industrialized regions in Europe, where nearly 280 Seveso sites are located. The issue of risk communication, as set by the European Seveso Directive is therefore of high relevance in this region. Nevertheless, the Lombardy Region Authorities consider that the implementation of the Directive's provisions is too weak. Therefore, the Lombardy Region financed an exploratory research in November 2009 and all the research activities ended in February 2011. (Éupolis Lombardia 2011). The research was conducted in order to estimate the existing gaps in risk communication, the subsequent conflicts and to evaluate how to improve the participation of the population in the emergency preparedness activities. The main goal of the project was to improve the communication of risk to the population exposed to industrial risks, hence to mitigate the related social conflict on the basis of an institutional learning process involving governmental bodies industrial organizations and the population. The project was supported by a multidisciplinary research group, which investigated the following aspects:- the regional activities regarding the risk communication at local level;- the nature and status of the main stakeholders groups' perception of the industrial risks and the existing conflicts, collected through interviews and groups' discussions;- the analysis of the gaps and ways of improvement related to an effective strategy of communication between industry, population and emergency services. A forum involving all the institutional stakeholders was set to discuss this issue.The paper reports the main results of the research and illustrates the potential strategies to improve the risk communication and the population participation and preparedness for the Lombardy Region. The results showed that the level of risk perception of the population in Lombardy is still too low to define a program of communication without having considered in more detail the mode of involvement of the population. In a context characterized by a distorted perception of risk, the low risk perception could be a sensitive issue that may impend the start of the communication process because it could generate anxiety, alarmism or unnecessary conflicts. Nevertheless, the experiments carried out showed that the population potentially exposed to the industrial risks, if properly involved, shows particular interest in issues related to prevention and self-protection. According to the main results of research project, the involvement of population into a dedicated programme on risk communication should not present a significant concern and the conflict between the industries and the population does not appear to be a particular obstacle to risk communication. On the contrary it was shown that collaboration could be beneficial for all the stakeholders while the most significant limitation to this process, is the low public perception of the problem. ; Lombardy is one of the most densely populated and industrialized regions in Europe, where nearly 280 Seveso sites are located. The issue of risk communication, as set by the European Seveso Directive is therefore of high relevance in this region. Nevertheless, the Lombardy Region Authorities consider that the implementation of the Directive's provisions is too weak. Therefore, the Lombardy Region financed an exploratory research in November 2009 and all the research activities ended in February 2011. (Éupolis Lombardia 2011). The research was conducted in order to estimate the existing gaps in risk communication, the subsequent conflicts and to evaluate how to improve the participation of the population in the emergency preparedness activities. The main goal of the project was to improve the communication of risk to the population exposed to industrial risks, hence to mitigate the related social conflict on the basis of an institutional learning process involving governmental bodies industrial organizations and the population. The project was supported by a multidisciplinary research group, which investigated the following aspects:- the regional activities regarding the risk communication at local level;- the nature and status of the main stakeholders groups' perception of the industrial risks and the existing conflicts, collected through interviews and groups' discussions;- the analysis of the gaps and ways of improvement related to an effective strategy of communication between industry, population and emergency services. A forum involving all the institutional stakeholders was set to discuss this issue.The paper reports the main results of the research and illustrates the potential strategies to improve the risk communication and the population participation and preparedness for the Lombardy Region. The results showed that the level of risk perception of the population in Lombardy is still too low to define a program of communication without having considered in more detail the mode of involvement of the population. In a context characterized by a distorted perception of risk, the low risk perception could be a sensitive issue that may impend the start of the communication process because it could generate anxiety, alarmism or unnecessary conflicts. Nevertheless, the experiments carried out showed that the population potentially exposed to the industrial risks, if properly involved, shows particular interest in issues related to prevention and self-protection. According to the main results of research project, the involvement of population into a dedicated programme on risk communication should not present a significant concern and the conflict between the industries and the population does not appear to be a particular obstacle to risk communication. On the contrary it was shown that collaboration could be beneficial for all the stakeholders while the most significant limitation to this process, is the low public perception of the problem.

Lombardy is one of the most densely populated and industrialized regions in Europe, where nearly 280 Seveso sites are located. The issue of risk communication, as set by the European Seveso Directive is therefore of high relevance in this region. Nevertheless, the Lombardy Region Authorities consider that the implementation of the Directive's provisions is too weak. Therefore, the Lombardy Region financed an exploratory research in November 2009 and all the research activities ended in February 2011. (Éupolis Lombardia 2011). The research was conducted in order to estimate the existing gaps in risk communication, the subsequent conflicts and to evaluate how to improve the participation of the population in the emergency preparedness activities. The main goal of the project was to improve the communication of risk to the population exposed to industrial risks, hence to mitigate the related social conflict on the basis of an institutional learning process involving governmental bodies industrial organizations and the population. The project was supported by a multidisciplinary research group, which investigated the following aspects:- the regional activities regarding the risk communication at local level;- the nature and status of the main stakeholders groups' perception of the industrial risks and the existing conflicts, collected through interviews and groups' discussions;- the analysis of the gaps and ways of improvement related to an effective strategy of communication between industry, population and emergency services. A forum involving all the institutional stakeholders was set to discuss this issue.The paper reports the main results of the research and illustrates the potential strategies to improve the risk communication and the population participation and preparedness for the Lombardy Region. The results showed that the level of risk perception of the population in Lombardy is still too low to define a program of communication without having considered in more detail the mode of involvement of the population. In a context characterized by a distorted perception of risk, the low risk perception could be a sensitive issue that may impend the start of the communication process because it could generate anxiety, alarmism or unnecessary conflicts. Nevertheless, the experiments carried out showed that the population potentially exposed to the industrial risks, if properly involved, shows particular interest in issues related to prevention and self-protection. According to the main results of research project, the involvement of population into a dedicated programme on risk communication should not present a significant concern and the conflict between the industries and the population does not appear to be a particular obstacle to risk communication. On the contrary it was shown that collaboration could be beneficial for all the stakeholders while the most significant limitation to this process, is the low public perception of the problem. ; Lombardy is one of the most densely populated and industrialized regions in Europe, where nearly 280 Seveso sites are located. The issue of risk communication, as set by the European Seveso Directive is therefore of high relevance in this region. Nevertheless, the Lombardy Region Authorities consider that the implementation of the Directive's provisions is too weak. Therefore, the Lombardy Region financed an exploratory research in November 2009 and all the research activities ended in February 2011. (Éupolis Lombardia 2011). The research was conducted in order to estimate the existing gaps in risk communication, the subsequent conflicts and to evaluate how to improve the participation of the population in the emergency preparedness activities. The main goal of the project was to improve the communication of risk to the population exposed to industrial risks, hence to mitigate the related social conflict on the basis of an institutional learning process involving governmental bodies industrial organizations and the population. The project was supported by a multidisciplinary research group, which investigated the following aspects:- the regional activities regarding the risk communication at local level;- the nature and status of the main stakeholders groups' perception of the industrial risks and the existing conflicts, collected through interviews and groups' discussions;- the analysis of the gaps and ways of improvement related to an effective strategy of communication between industry, population and emergency services. A forum involving all the institutional stakeholders was set to discuss this issue.The paper reports the main results of the research and illustrates the potential strategies to improve the risk communication and the population participation and preparedness for the Lombardy Region. The results showed that the level of risk perception of the population in Lombardy is still too low to define a program of communication without having considered in more detail the mode of involvement of the population. In a context characterized by a distorted perception of risk, the low risk perception could be a sensitive issue that may impend the start of the communication process because it could generate anxiety, alarmism or unnecessary conflicts. Nevertheless, the experiments carried out showed that the population potentially exposed to the industrial risks, if properly involved, shows particular interest in issues related to prevention and self-protection. According to the main results of research project, the involvement of population into a dedicated programme on risk communication should not present a significant concern and the conflict between the industries and the population does not appear to be a particular obstacle to risk communication. On the contrary it was shown that collaboration could be beneficial for all the stakeholders while the most significant limitation to this process, is the low public perception of the problem.

This thesis addresses the puzzle of heterogeneous trends in paramilitary violence in the two Colombian regions since the beginning of DDR process in 2003. The usual explanations derived from political conflict theories are improved with insights from organized crime research. The author argues that the occasional escalation of post DDR paramilitary violence at sub-regional level cannot be explained with the weakness of the state argument. In order to support this claim, the paper demonstrates the counter intuitive evidence that paramilitary violence correlates positively with the incidence of the state repressive intervention against paramilitary groups. More specifically, the paper finds that the paramilitaries challenged by the state use more violence either as a way of substituting their non-violent resources most affected by law enforcement activities, or in response to crackdown-related intensification of predatory tendencies within their respective organizations. Implications for future conflict resolution of Colombian Civil War are considered.

[Inglese] This doctoral dissertation explores aspects of the language of conflict in Northern Ireland. In this area, the conflict between Unionists and Republicans, Catholic and Protestants has been raging on for centuries, reaching its most recent peak with the 1970s so-called 'Troubles'. Today, after almost four decades of physical violence, as the peace process unfolds, the fight seems to have moved from paramilitary action onto political debate – a war of words is slowly replacing real war. For this study, a written corpus has been collected, comprising the annual party conference speeches from the past ten years by the leaders of the two main and opposed political parties of Northern Ireland: the President of the Republican Sinn Féin party, Gerry Adams, and the president of the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley. By comparing texts by these politicians, who have been on the Northern Irish scene for over thirty years, it should be possible to observe the development of their discourse from a diachronic perspective. A Critical Discourse Analysis approach is considered particularly suitable for dealing with political speeches, but contributions from different fields and disciplines are also considered. The discourse analysis of the texts collected is supported by computer-aided analysis. Two aspects are being focussed on, in particular: 1) the overall influence of language on politics, i.e. how words are used to exercise power; and 2) the use of same/different argumentative structures by the same orators to discuss same/different subjects over the years. It is hoped that the present study may help clarify aspects of the evolution of political discourse in Northern Ireland, in general, and of the argumentative skills and strategies of the above two politicians, in particular. [Italiano] La presente tesi di dottorato esplora alcuni aspetti del linguaggio del conflitto nell'Irlanda del Nord. In questa regione, il conflitto fra Lealisti (o Unionisti) e Repubblicani, Cattolici e Protestanti, imperversa com'è noto da secoli, e ha raggiunto il suo apice in tempi recenti nei cosiddetti "Troubles" (disordini) degli anni 1970. Dopo quasi quattro decenni di violenze, pare oggi che il processo di pace si stia sviluppando positivamente e che la lotta stia lentamente spostandosi dalle strade ai palazzi di governo: una guerra di parole sta fortunatamente soppiantando la guerra vera. Per questa ricerca, è stato raccolto un corpus formato dai discorsi tenuti alle conferenze annuali di partito dai leaders dei due principali e contrapposti partiti politici nordirlandesi: il Presidente del repubblicano Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams, e quello del protestante Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley. Confrontando i testi di questi politici, che si muovono sulla scena politica locale da più di trent'anni, dovrebbe essere possibile osservare lo sviluppo delle caratteristiche del loro discorso dal punto di vista diacronico. Trattandosi di testi di natura politica, si ritiene particolarmente adatto un approccio di analisi critica del discorso; sono tuttavia considerati contributi da altri campi e discipline. L'analisi del discorso dei testi raccolti sarà supportata da tecniche di analisi computazionale. Sono due, in particolare, gli aspetti che saranno maggiormente trattati: 1) l'influenza generale della lingua sulla politica, cioè come le parole siano usate per esercitare potere; e 2) l'uso di strutture argomentative simili o differenti, da parte dei medesimi oratori, nel discutere i medesimi argomenti nel corso degli anni. Si spera, in generale, che la presente ricerca contribuisca a chiarire aspetti dell'evoluzione del discorso politico dell'Irlanda del Nord e, in particolare, delle abilità e strategie argomentative dei due politici considerati.

La tesi sostiene che, mentre molte teorie di pianificazione si sono concentrate sulle differenze, il multiculturalismo e risoluzione dei conflitti sociali, non c'è ancora sufficiente approfondimento su come queste differenze possano restare profondamente irrisolte e come questa debolezza possa essere fortemente legata a razionalità contrastanti e a una sorta di "slittamento dei livelli di senso" o "equivoci" cognitivi tra i soggetti coinvolti (Bourdieu e Wacquant, 1992). Soprattutto in termini di conflitti urbani espliciti, generati non da opposti interessi economici o differenti volontà politiche, ma semplicemente da differenti background culturali e comportamentali, il livello cognitivo di com-prensione tra le persone coinvolte ha un ruolo fondamentale in termini di consapevolezza e di effi-cacia delle scelte. Dunque il legame tra pianificazione, governance, contesti istituzionali e partecipazione delle comu-nità è, prima di tutto, una questione di reciproca, profonda e vera comprensione, piuttosto che la continua ricerca di nuovi strumenti e politiche. Partendo dalla convinzione che i conflitti siano una fonte incredibile di soluzioni creative e inaspet-tate all'interno dei contesti urbani, dei sistemi di pianificazione e di condivisione di valori, questo lavoro si propone di sondare come la Mobilitazione Cognitiva (Dalton, 1984), per la cura e la prote-zione di un bene comune, può essere in grado di guidare una comunità nella lotta per i propri diritti, permettendo l'acquisizione di conoscenze politiche e abilità specifiche per il raggiungimento di decisioni condivise collettivamente, la costruzione di nuove forme di azione politica dal basso, nuove processi di educazione (Dolci, 1974) e ampliamento culturale contro il prevaricare di Egemonie politiche e sociali (Gramsci, 2007). Utilizzando metodi quantitativi e qualitativi, l'autore presenta due esperienze di pratiche insorgenti provenienti dall' Europa meridionale: (1) un tradizionale Caso-Studio nell' area marina protetta dell' Arrábida, in Portogallo, per illustrare come la mobilitazione cognitiva, volta alla genuina e profonda comprensione delle istanze portate avanti dalla collettività, può realizzare forme di partecipazione che, guardando ai problemi in termini di risorse, permettono alla comunità di collaborare democra-ticamente cercando soluzioni nuove e condivise in grado di modificare profondamente un piano isti-tuzionale il quale, a causa di una profonda contrapposizione tra poteri gioco e valori espressi, ha ge-nerato forme di conflitto dichiarato, ma anche latente; (2) un caso di Participatory Action Research nella valle del fiume Simeto, in Italia, dove le comunità locali, attraverso una forte mobilitazione collettiva, sono state in grado di difendere e curare il fiume Simeto, il più grande in termini di bacino idrogeologico in un territorio caratterizzato da scarsità idrica come la Sicilia, minacciato dalla scelta istituzionale di collocare un inceneritore proprio in un area fortemente incentrata sull'agricoltura, per il suo sostentamento economico, e profondamente legata al paesaggio circostante, in termini di riconoscimento e senso di appartenenza. Questo lavoro può avere importanti implicazioni sia per la teoria, che per la pratica di pianificazione. La scelta di un approccio multi-disciplinare, inoltre, aiuta nella comprensione di come sia possibile trasformare l'antagonismo in spirito competitivo tra soggetti, diversi per natura e per cultura, concentrandosi principalmente sul rispetto e l'apprendimento reciproco, sulla costruzione di processi veramente inclusivi e sulla scelta di soluzioni davvero condivise. ; The thesis argues that while many planning theories have focused the sight on the social differences, multiculturalism and conflicts resolution, there is not yet sufficient acknowledgement on how these differences can be deeply unsolved and how this weakness could be strongly linked with conflicting rationalities and with a 'cognitive slipping' planes of meaning (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992). Especially in terms of inexplicit urban conflicts, generated by not opposite economic interests or political will, but by simply and natural differences of the cultural and behavioral baggage, the cognitive level of understanding between people involved plays a fundamental role in terms of awareness and choices efficacy. So this works wants underlines that the link between planning, governance, institutional adjustments and community engagement is, first of all, a matter of mutual deep and real understanding, rather than new form of tools and policies. Starting from the persuasion that conflicts are an incredible source of unexpected creative solution for urban contexts, planning systems and sharing values, this paper aims to probe how a 'cognitive mobilization' (Dalton, 1984) of a community, for the care and the protection of a common good, can be able to "fight for a right" in terms of acquiring political resource and skills to reach own decisions, and constructing new form of genuine power through education (Dolci, 1974) and culture against a 'dominant discourse' (Gramsci, 2007). Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the author presents two field experiences of insurgent practices in the southern Europe: (1) a traditional Case-Study of a Marine Protected Area in Arrábida, Portugal, to illustrate how a community mobilization, that aims to understand really every form of instance and claim, can realize forms of participation that, first of all, sight problems in term of resources, and then allowed people to work democratically together building new and shared solutions able to modify deeply an institutional plan that, due to a displacement between powers and values, generated forms of conflicts between stakeholders, especially in terms of economic and decision making point of view; (2) a case of Participatory Action Research in the Simeto river valley, Italy, where local communities through a strong mobilization were able to defend and took care the river, the biggest in terms of basin in a scarcity water territory, threatened by the institutional choice to collocated an incinerator in a valley strongly based on agriculture, for its economic sustenance, and deeply linked with the landscape, for its recognition and sense of belonging to . This understanding, it is suggested, has important implications for both planning theory and practice. Choosing a multi-disciplinary approach, this work attempts to explore if and how it is possible to transform the antagonism between enemies in competitive spirit among subjects, different for nature and culture, focusing on respect and mutual learning and on the building up of processes really inclusive and choices really shared

Despite railway infrastructure was the structural framework on which modern European States were developed, contributing to unify territories and to the establishment of Nations, right from the beginning, the relationship between railway and city has been characterized by physical, functional and social conflicts, mainly because of a lack of integration between infrastructural and urban policies, which have been produced strong conflicts during decades. These critical situations have concentrated on the railway stations surrounding areas, which have started symbolizing the main conflicts that are taking place inside the cities.Similarly to what happened in the XIX century, today railway is a strategic infrastructure for the European territory development, thanks to the introduction of high speed transport systems and the promotion of rail transport as a more sustainable transportation system, which can quickly connect metropolitan central areas, more and more impenetrable by private vehicles, and key functions centres for the contemporary urban systems.In this framework, railway stations are becoming public places representing a complex society which is more and more dedicated to motion; thus they offer an unmissable chance not only to carry out urban development and spatial cohesion policies, but also to compose old tensions caused by the sharing of physical space, which is more and more scarce and valuable, and by ghettoization phenomena which have been produced at local scale, between rail infrastructure and the surrounding urban context. Today, such conflicts are growing and they are involving many actors who express a lot of different interests, needs and expectations, relating to the station areas' destiny.Starting from the analysis of some conflicting situations between rail stations and the surrounding areas which have took place until today, this paper investigates some recent renewal interventions on Italian and European main railway nodes, their complex dynamics and the role of the most important players involved in these developments.Contemporary main rail stations are addressed as complex systems operating in a condition characterized by a dynamic balance among the different elements which form them; the interpretation of their polysemic nature allows to identify the most suitable design procedures and intervention strategies to make stations the privileged places where to compose the conflicts between contemporary city and railway. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify and to analyze crucial issues in order to build new liveable and effective developments. They refer, for instance, to the rail station configuration in order to be at the same time an efficient interchange transportation node and a meaningful and multifunctional city centre, but also to the detection of the most suitable tools and procedures to drive the urban and infrastructural transformations and to the proper involvement in the decision process of the different stakeholders who could be interested in these urban changes. ; Nonostante l'infrastruttura ferroviaria sia stata l'impalcato infrastrutturale su cui si sono sviluppati i moderni stati europei, contribuendo fin dagli inizi del secolo scorso all'unificazione di territori ed alla creazione di nazioni (come è stato approfonditamente illustrato anche nel Volume 4, numero 1 di marzo 2011 di questa rivista, in riferimento al caso italiano) il rapporto tra la ferrovia e la città è stato da sempre caratterizzato da episodi di conflittualità, dovuti in gran parte ad una scarsa integrazione tra le politiche infrastrutturali e le politiche urbane, che nel corso dei decenni hanno prodotto forti conflitti di tipo fisico, funzionale e sociale soprattutto nelle zone più prossime alle stazioni ferroviarie che, per questo motivo, sono diventate luoghi simbolo dei principali conflitti che si consumano nelle città. Analogamente a quanto accadde nell'Ottocento, oggi la ferrovia torna ad essere infrastruttura strategica per lo sviluppo dello spazio europeo, grazie all'introduzione di sistemi di trasporto ad alta velocità, alla promozione del trasporto ferroviario come sistema maggiormente sostenibile, ma soprattutto alla capacità di connettere velocemente aree urbane centrali sempre più impenetrabili al mezzo privato e sedi di funzioni nevralgiche degli attuali sistemi urbani. Questi nodi infrastrutturali, configurandosi come luoghi pubblici rappresentativi di una società complessa e sempre più votata al movimento, rappresentano pertanto una occasione imperdibile, non solo per attuare politiche di sviluppo e di coesione territoriale, ma anche per risolvere vecchie tensioni dovute alla condivisione di uno spazio fisico sempre più ristretto e prezioso ed ai fenomeni di ghettizzazione che si sono creati alla scala locale, tra l'infrastruttura ferroviaria ed il contesto urbano circostante. Tali tensioni tornano oggi sotto forma di possibili minacce e coinvolgono una pluralità di attori molto più interessati ai destini delle stazioni ferroviarie rispetto al passato. A partire da una prima analisi delle situazioni più conflittuali che, nel tempo, si sono manifestate tra le stazioni ferroviarie ed i contesti urbani circostanti, l'articolo esamina le attuali dinamiche che caratterizzano i recenti interventi di rinnovo dei principali nodi ferroviari italiani ed europei, e le aspettative manifestate dai principali attori coinvolti dalla trasformazione con lo scopo di individuare le questioni cruciali per la costruzione di nuovi assetti vivibili ed efficienti, che attengono la strutturazione del nodo trasportistico e la sua conformazione a centro significativo e polifunzionale della città, ma anche l'individuazione delle dinamiche di trasformazione più idonee ed il corretto coinvolgimento dei diversi operatori e dei soggetti interessati dalla trasformazione. La corretta interpretazione della natura polisemica delle grandi stazioni ferroviarie contemporanee, che appaiono sempre più come sistemi complessi operanti in condizioni di equilibrio dinamico tra i diversi fattori che li caratterizzano, consente pertanto di individuare le prassi progettuali e le strategie di intervento più idonee per fare delle stazioni luoghi privilegiati di riconciliazione tra la ferrovia e la città contemporanea.

Despite railway infrastructure was the structural framework on which modern European States were developed, contributing to unify territories and to the establishment of Nations, right from the beginning, the relationship between railway and city has been characterized by physical, functional and social conflicts, mainly because of a lack of integration between infrastructural and urban policies, which have been produced strong conflicts during decades. These critical situations have concentrated on the railway stations surrounding areas, which have started symbolizing the main conflicts that are taking place inside the cities.Similarly to what happened in the XIX century, today railway is a strategic infrastructure for the European territory development, thanks to the introduction of high speed transport systems and the promotion of rail transport as a more sustainable transportation system, which can quickly connect metropolitan central areas, more and more impenetrable by private vehicles, and key functions centres for the contemporary urban systems.In this framework, railway stations are becoming public places representing a complex society which is more and more dedicated to motion; thus they offer an unmissable chance not only to carry out urban development and spatial cohesion policies, but also to compose old tensions caused by the sharing of physical space, which is more and more scarce and valuable, and by ghettoization phenomena which have been produced at local scale, between rail infrastructure and the surrounding urban context. Today, such conflicts are growing and they are involving many actors who express a lot of different interests, needs and expectations, relating to the station areas' destiny.Starting from the analysis of some conflicting situations between rail stations and the surrounding areas which have took place until today, this paper investigates some recent renewal interventions on Italian and European main railway nodes, their complex dynamics and the role of the most important players involved in these developments.Contemporary main rail stations are addressed as complex systems operating in a condition characterized by a dynamic balance among the different elements which form them; the interpretation of their polysemic nature allows to identify the most suitable design procedures and intervention strategies to make stations the privileged places where to compose the conflicts between contemporary city and railway. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify and to analyze crucial issues in order to build new liveable and effective developments. They refer, for instance, to the rail station configuration in order to be at the same time an efficient interchange transportation node and a meaningful and multifunctional city centre, but also to the detection of the most suitable tools and procedures to drive the urban and infrastructural transformations and to the proper involvement in the decision process of the different stakeholders who could be interested in these urban changes. ; Nonostante l'infrastruttura ferroviaria sia stata l'impalcato infrastrutturale su cui si sono sviluppati i moderni stati europei, contribuendo fin dagli inizi del secolo scorso all'unificazione di territori ed alla creazione di nazioni (come è stato approfonditamente illustrato anche nel Volume 4, numero 1 di marzo 2011 di questa rivista, in riferimento al caso italiano) il rapporto tra la ferrovia e la città è stato da sempre caratterizzato da episodi di conflittualità, dovuti in gran parte ad una scarsa integrazione tra le politiche infrastrutturali e le politiche urbane, che nel corso dei decenni hanno prodotto forti conflitti di tipo fisico, funzionale e sociale soprattutto nelle zone più prossime alle stazioni ferroviarie che, per questo motivo, sono diventate luoghi simbolo dei principali conflitti che si consumano nelle città. Analogamente a quanto accadde nell'Ottocento, oggi la ferrovia torna ad essere infrastruttura strategica per lo sviluppo dello spazio europeo, grazie all'introduzione di sistemi di trasporto ad alta velocità, alla promozione del trasporto ferroviario come sistema maggiormente sostenibile, ma soprattutto alla capacità di connettere velocemente aree urbane centrali sempre più impenetrabili al mezzo privato e sedi di funzioni nevralgiche degli attuali sistemi urbani. Questi nodi infrastrutturali, configurandosi come luoghi pubblici rappresentativi di una società complessa e sempre più votata al movimento, rappresentano pertanto una occasione imperdibile, non solo per attuare politiche di sviluppo e di coesione territoriale, ma anche per risolvere vecchie tensioni dovute alla condivisione di uno spazio fisico sempre più ristretto e prezioso ed ai fenomeni di ghettizzazione che si sono creati alla scala locale, tra l'infrastruttura ferroviaria ed il contesto urbano circostante. Tali tensioni tornano oggi sotto forma di possibili minacce e coinvolgono una pluralità di attori molto più interessati ai destini delle stazioni ferroviarie rispetto al passato. A partire da una prima analisi delle situazioni più conflittuali che, nel tempo, si sono manifestate tra le stazioni ferroviarie ed i contesti urbani circostanti, l'articolo esamina le attuali dinamiche che caratterizzano i recenti interventi di rinnovo dei principali nodi ferroviari italiani ed europei, e le aspettative manifestate dai principali attori coinvolti dalla trasformazione con lo scopo di individuare le questioni cruciali per la costruzione di nuovi assetti vivibili ed efficienti, che attengono la strutturazione del nodo trasportistico e la sua conformazione a centro significativo e polifunzionale della città, ma anche l'individuazione delle dinamiche di trasformazione più idonee ed il corretto coinvolgimento dei diversi operatori e dei soggetti interessati dalla trasformazione. La corretta interpretazione della natura polisemica delle grandi stazioni ferroviarie contemporanee, che appaiono sempre più come sistemi complessi operanti in condizioni di equilibrio dinamico tra i diversi fattori che li caratterizzano, consente pertanto di individuare le prassi progettuali e le strategie di intervento più idonee per fare delle stazioni luoghi privilegiati di riconciliazione tra la ferrovia e la città contemporanea.

I processi di ricostruzione post-disastro, e le conseguenze socio-territoriali che generano manifestano nel breve periodo il solco delle polarizzazioni pregresse dei conflitti in campo. Così sulle nuove mappe si materializzano le traiettorie degli individui che affrontano cambiamenti repentini nel breve arco temporale forzato dal disastro. Attraverso una comparazione tra due casi di studio (Italia e Cile) avanziamo l'ipotesi che esaminando queste dinamiche sia possibile indagare come gli attori sociali si muovono nella città in fase di riorganizzazione, riconoscendo i processi di vulnerabilizzazione che alcune categorie di popolazione sono costrette ad affrontare nel ritorno alla normalità. Partendo dall'analisi dell'accelerazione delle dinamiche urbane, dovuta all'ingresso improvviso di grandi capitali, all'impennata della domanda, alle strategie pubbliche e private etc., è possibile avanzare l'ipotesi che nei processi di vulnerabilizzazione socio-spaziale emergano con più chiarezza le cause e la catena di fattori che contribuisce alla loro incubazione, rendendo allo stesso tempo meglio interpretabili gli effetti di tali dinamiche urbane sulla vita degli individui, delle comunità e della città. Attraverso l'uso delle categorie suggerite dall'Ecologia Socio-politica dei disastri, si mettono a fuoco i diversi momenti della fase post-disastro per tratteggiare le dinamiche della ricostruzione de L'Aquila, Italia (colpita dal terremoto del 6 aprile 2009) e di Constitución, Cile (terremoto e maremoto del 27 febbraio 2010), comparando le strategie e i conflitti per la ricostruzione, le tipologie d'intervento pubblico e privato etc. per focalizzarsi in particolare sul vissuto soggettivo di chi affronta i cambiamenti urbani in un contesto di ricostruzione. Se rischio e disastro sono risultati dell'interazione tra la struttura socioeconomica, le trasformazioni politiche e i vissuti soggettivi esiste allora un rapporto macro-micro che costringe la ricerca ad indagare su un livello multiscalare. Si rende quindi necessario muovere dalla dimensione urbanistica verso quella soggettiva, per indagare i processi d'esclusione e marginalizzazione della città. ; The post-disaster reconstruction of territories hit by an environmental disaster further stresses the existing social polarizations and the latent conflicts within the areas where the event takes place. Through a comparison between two case studies, we hypothesize that the investigation of the ways social actors move across the city allows us to understand how people return to "normality" when forced to re-organize their lives in the post-disaster phase. In particular, we address the nature of those trajectories which determine an increase of vulnerability. Having explored the acceleration of urban dynamics led by the territorial concentration of financial capital, the rise of real estate demand, the implementation of new (public and private) political strategies, we argue that it is crucial to evaluate the extent to which the aforementioned determinants affect the lives of individuals, communities, and cities. We additionally hypothesize that the comprehension of the socio-spatial vulnerabilization processes, experienced by some social groups, is necessary to identify the reasons and factors behind their production. Through the use of categories developed by the Socio-Political Ecology of Disaster, we focus on the different stages of the post-disaster reconstruction in two contexts: L'Aquila in Italy (earthquake on April 6, 2009) and Constitución in Chile (earthquake and tsunami on February 27, 2010). We compare political strategies, conflicts and public and private interventions in order to put emphasis on the subjective experiences of those who are directly affected by the urban changes brought by the reconstruction. If disaster stem from macro and micro dynamics (namely the interaction among socio-economic structure, political transformation, and subjective experiences), a multi-scalar investigation is required. The latter, aimed at evaluating the exclusion and marginalization of and within cities, permits to "symbolically" move from the analysis of the planning (macro) factors to the subjective experiences of the individuals hit by disasters.

Il massimo della felicita per il massimo della populazione: obiettivo possibile e desiderabile? È davvero possibile misurare la felicità umana in modo comparabile? Ed è davvero questo lo scopo dell'azione politica? Il tema ha suscitato un vasto dibattito che ha come epicentro il World Database of Happiness ('Archivio mondiale della felicità'), totalmente accessibile dal web e gestito dal sociologo Ruut Veenhoven della Erasmus University di Rotterdam. In un recente articolo (settembre 2009) per il «Journal of Happiness Studies» dal titolo Greater Happiness for a Greater Number: Is That Possible and Desirable?, Veenhoven confuta le tesi degli scettici sulla validità della felicità come obiettivo dell'azione pubblica. Per gentile concessione dell'Autore pubblichiamo il testo integrale dell'articolo.

Il tema della tesi è la gestione e valorizzazione dei boschi in alcune valli delle Alpi orientali nel corso dell'Ottocento. In particolare, la ricerca approfondisce gli effetti a livello locale di alcune trasformazioni giuridico-amministrative relative all'utilizzo delle risorse ambientali introdotte nel periodo napoleonico e poi portate avanti durante la Restaurazione. L'analisi è stata condotta su un'area circoscritta – la zona del Cadore, corrispondente alla parte settentrionale dell'attuale provincia di Belluno – per un periodo di tempo relativamente limitato – i 60 anni che intercorrono tra l'introduzione del modello amministrativo francese a inizio Ottocento e l'annessione di questi territori al Regno d'Italia (1866). Ho scelto un approccio di ricerca che coniugasse le consolidate acquisizioni della storia politico-amministrativa con le recenti proposte della storia ambientale, e l'ambito individuato è quello della valorizzazione delle risorse forestali. Il motivo di questa scelta è semplice: in quest'area di montagna, il bosco e i diversi utilizzi che se ne facevano erano la risorsa principale e assumevano un'importanza vitale per la popolazione. Allo stesso tempo, il controllo sulle risorse forestali, sia per garantire i flussi di legname verso le aree urbane sia per limitare il dissesto idrogeologico, era considerato tema strategico in ambito governativo, e la sua rilevanza crebbe durante il processo di centralizzazione del potere statale nel corso dell'Ottocento. Ho adottato una scala d'analisi locale e microanalitica che si discosta dall'approccio solitamente utilizzato nello studio di questi temi, tendente a favorire ricerche su ambiti territorialmente più vasti, nazionali o regionali. Questa scelta consente di concentrare l'analisi non solo sulle politiche forestali adottate a livello governativo, quanto sulla loro concreta ricezione, contrattazione e applicazione a livello locale. Infine, l'approccio microanalitico mi ha permesso di mettere in relazione questi aspetti con altri fattori, di natura istituzionale ed economico-sociale, che influirono in egual misura sulla gestione delle risorse boschive. ; The subject of this research is the use and the management of forest in few valleys of Eastern Alps during the nineteenth century. In particular, the research examines the effects at the local level of some judicial transformations concerning the use of natural resources introduced during the Napoleonic period and carried out after the Restoration. Geographically, this investigation is concentrated on the area of Cadore, the northern part of Belluno Province. Chronologically, it focuses on the period between the Napoleonic administration of this territory, at the beginning of nineteenth century, and its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy (1866). The research approach combines the consolidated acquisitions of institutional history with the recent proposals of environmental history. The preferred field of analysis is the management of common woodlands. The reason for this choice is simple: in this mountainous area, the attitude adopted to forest resources was crucial to sustaining local population. At the same time, during the nineteenth century State centralization process, forest control was becoming a strategic issue for the governmental authorities, intent on guaranteeing the long-term supplies of timber necessary for urban areas, and limiting down stream hydro-geological flood risk. Rather than the macro-analytic regional or national territorial scale on which studies of similar phenomena are often conducted, I have selected a local and micro-analytical approach. This choice allowed me to focus not only on the forest policies introduced by the government; it also facilitated analysis of these administrative transformations in respect of their reception, application, and mediation at the local level. Finally, the micro-analytical approach allows correlating these aspects with other factors that equally influenced forest resources management, both institutional and socio-economical.

Il mio lavoro di tesi mira ad analizzare il processo di riforma fondiaria in atto dal 2009 in Burkina Faso, alla luce delle politiche di sviluppo rurale adottate a livello regionale (Africa occidentale francofona) e del percorso storico-politico che dalla conquista coloniale francese ci conduce all'ultima fase di democratizzazione del Burkina Faso. Ripercorrendo le principali strategie ed obiettivi di riforma agraria e fondiaria perseguiti dai Governi a livello regionale e nazionale intendo fare luce sui nodi irrisolti delle politiche di sviluppo rurale e sul rapporto politico che il Burkina Faso ha inteso costruire con il mondo rurale a partire dall'indipendenza, con un particolare focus sul periodo della rivoluzione sankarista (1983-1987). L'analisi storica dei sistemi di riconoscimento dei diritti locali di accesso e utilizzo della terra consente di avanzare riflessioni sull'ordine politico interno che i regimi coloniali e post-coloniali hanno inteso costruire con il mondo rurale e sull'effettiva inclusione della popolazione rurale nelle politiche di sviluppo adottate dai Governi a livello regionale e nazionale. Allo stesso tempo, identificando organi e istituzioni a cui è stato affidato a partire dall'indipendenza il potere di gestire le risorse e conferire diritti fondiari agli abitanti delle aree rurali ho intenzione di far emergere alcuni dei rapporti di forza e di potere esistenti tra livello nazionale e locale e il legame che intercorre tra di essi. L'obiettivo è quello di riflettere sulla possibilità che la riforma fondiaria in atto in Burkina Faso possa garantire una maggiore democraticità dei processi di sviluppo rurale e governance della terra. Attraverso l'analisi di tale processo di riforma è possibile contribuire al dibattito relativo alle strategie di sviluppo rurale in Africa occidentale tenendo conto delle problematicità politiche che tali processi di riforma si trovano ad affrontare ; The ongoing international debate on rural development focuses on the legalization of land property rights as a mean to guarantee land tenure security, to promote agricultural investment and rural development. As a result in francophone West Africa new land policies have been elaborated with the specific aim of resolving a dual institutional and juridical system of land tenure which causes land conflicts and hinder economic growth. My thesis aims to analyze the ongoing process of land tenure reform in Burkina Faso in light of the rural development policies implemented in francophone West Africa since the colonial period. It also takes into account the rural development paths adopted by the Government of Burkina Faso from the French colonial conquest to the late democratization period. By retracing the main strategies of land and agrarian reform at regional and national level I shed light on the unresolved political relationship that the State has built with the rural population since independence. In particular I identify statutory and customary institutions who have been entrusted over time with the power to manage natural resources and to allocate land rights in order to bring out some of the power relationships existing between national and local levels. Through the historical analysis of land tenure systems I advance considerations on the inclusion of rural people in the rural development policies. The main aim is to reflect on the possibility of the ongoing land tenure reform in Burkina Faso to ensure a democratic governance of the land and a more inclusive process of rural development. With this focus on land tenure reform in Burkina Faso my thesis will lead to a critical analysis of the new wave of land policies in West Africa and contribute to the ongoing debate on rural development from a political point of view.

International norms are, by definition, a factor of stability in the international system. Nevertheless empirical evidence shows that norms are constantly changing, which raises questions on the ability of norms to regulate inter-states relations & prevent conflicts. This article analyses the cycle of norm diffusion, tracing the origin of norms, their diffusion, contestation & change. It investigates the relationship between interests & identity & between structure & agency in the process of norm diffusion, & discusses the implications of this process on international cooperation. Adapted from the source document.

A common assumption in political studies is that the fundamental artificiality of current African boundaries -- that were inherited from the colonial period -- is a main reason of their intrinsic weakness. This assumption needs to be reviewed and reassessed critically. A fair number of African borders have histories much more complex than the simple results of European colonial enterprise. On the contrary, the delimitations of colonial borders were very often deeply influenced by dynamics which developed on the spot and relied to aspects of inter-African relations that went back in time. All this makes these borders well recognizable and recognized by the people they are meant to separate. The current boundary between Ghana and the Ivory Coast was established during the two final decades of the 19th century as a frontier between British and French territories. However, when considered in a long term historical perspective, the process which led to the definition of colonial territorial jurisdictions was but a follow up of two centuries of competition for hegemony by different local power centers. However the definition of the colonial border marked a turning point. It was a lengthy process which lasted several years and was negotiated on the ground in a context of underlying or open conflict between African actors. This type of African agency interacted with vested interests and strategies of the European powers, contributing to a large extent to consolidate a new balance, whose most visible seal was the colonial border which was finally agreed upon. In the process fundamental identities were re-interpreted and re-defined, setting the background for the 20th century social and political landscape of the region. International boundaries are a crucial marker of post-colonial African citizenship, which was created by independence as a territorial citizenship. Current trends in minimizing the role of international boundaries vis-a-vis other forms of internal and regional boundaries can have dangerous implications in putting at stake formal and substantial rights. Adapted from the source document.