Showing papers in "Sociologia in 2014"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the idea that mobility is a "total" social phenomenon and, therefore, that the analysis of mobility teaches us about the composition of and changes in a society.
Abstract: xAccording to Marcel Mauss’ definition, mobility is a “total” social phenomenon, in other words a lens through which may be read all of the social relationships of a given society. As early as the 1920s, Robert Park declared that “the man gifted with locomotion” is the subject of urban sociology. The idea is therefore not new but, rather, was long left fallow. Concretely, the central place of mobility in sociology was ignored until the 1970s, when it resurfaced first in urban sociology and then, more recently, in general sociology. However, this rediscovery is accompanied by a multitude of works on mobility whose scope is often very general and theoretical. In this article, we would like to seriously consider the idea that mobility is a “total” social phenomenon and, therefore, that the analysis of mobility teaches us about the composition of and changes in a society. This implies seeing mobility as a tool that must be well defined and finely tuned to be able to “read” a society. As such, we will revisit and identify common conceptual limits of understanding mobility to address the urban phenomenon. Then, using theoretical works on mobility, we will diagnose the pitfalls that a re-conceptualization of mobility must avoid. Thirdly, we will develop a new conceptual proposition based on motility. Finally, from the research findings based on this conceptualization, we will attempt to highlight its contribution to knowledge.
148 citations
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TL;DR: From Geracao a Rasca to Que se Lixe a Troika: Portugal in the new international cycle of protest Since the end of 2010 we have witnessed a new wave of international protest that reveal a crisis of legitimacy of political agents, the widespread dissatisfaction with the responses to economic crisis and a challenge to the processes of labour precarisation as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: From Geracao a Rasca to Que se Lixe a Troika: Portugal in the new international cycle of protest Since the end of 2010 we have witnessed a new wave of international protest that reveal a crisis of legitimacy of political agents, the widespread dissatisfaction with the responses to economic crisis and a challenge to the processes of labour precarisation. In Portugal, this cycle of collective action had its foundational event in the “Geracao a Rasca” demonstration and its most recent expression in the protests called by the “Que se Lixe a Troika”. In this article, we try to explain the background of these mobilizations, to identify their main features and present a number of hypotheses to interpret its sociological meaning.
32 citations
22 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for a research agenda that critically investigates the micro-, meso and macro-scalar dimensions of mobilities regimes in order to provide the ground for new policies of sustainable mobility.
Abstract: This paper presents various aspects of mobilities regimes. It shows that – from the body to the globe – modern life, economies and cultural activities are shaped and governed by powerful and influential sets of principles, norms and rules concerning physical, virtual and social mobility. Since the formulation of the “new mobilities paradigm” approach questions of power and governance become increasingly relevant in theory and empirical research. The author presents four analytical dimensions helping to understand the power structures in mobilities: the normalization of mobility is discussed as an overarching process which involves the rationalization, subjectification, and time-space compression of modern mobilities. The paper argues for a research agenda that critically investigates the micro-, meso and macro-scalar dimensions of mobilities regimes in order to provide the ground for new policies of sustainable mobility.
17 citations
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TL;DR: In Mexico, el analisis de la relacion entre el neoliberalismo and la naturaleza es importante, pues en los ultimos veinte anos aquel ha apuntalado una tran
Abstract: Resumen es: En Mexico, el analisis de la relacion entre el neoliberalismo y la naturaleza es importante, pues en los ultimos veinte anos aquel ha apuntalado una tran
15 citations
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TL;DR: The role assigned to the citizen by the neoliberal project, underlining the fact that citi-zens' rights have been reconfigured in a way that shows a tendency to undermi-ne social rights as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: RESUMEN El neoliberalismo plantea una reformulacion de roles entre Estado, mercado y sociedad. La etica de la responsabilidad social del Estado se debilita, mientras que los ciudadanos deben cubrir los vacios dejados por este. En el discurso neoliberal se utilizan conceptos progresistas, pero despojados de su potenciali-dad politica. Al conjunto de ideas que promueven una cultura ciudadana funcio-nal con el modelo neoliberal las he llamado cultura de autogestion para el desa-rrollo . Aqui presento un analisis de las caracteristicas del papel que se le adjudica al ciudadano desde el proyecto neoliberal. Destaca el hecho de que existe una reconfiguracion de los derechos ciudadanos en la que se manifiesta la tendencia a vulnerar los derechos sociales.PALABRAS CLAVE: neoliberalismo, ciudadania, autogestion, cultura de auto-gestion para el desarrollo, rol ciudadano. ABSTRACT Neoliberalism poses a reformulation of the roles of the state, the market, and society. The ethics of the state’s social responsibility are weakened, while citi-zens must fill the vacuums this opens up. The neoliberal discourse uses progres-sive concepts stripped of their political potential. The author has dubbed the promotion of a citizen’s culture functional to the neoliberal model the culture of self-organization for development. In this article, she presents an analysis of the role assigned to the citizen by the neoliberal project, underlining the fact that citi-zens’ rights have been reconfigured in a way that shows a tendency to undermi-ne social rights.KEy wORDS: neoliberalism, citizenship, self-organization, culture of self-orga-nization for development, citizen’s role
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the most useful and appropriate approach to understand contemporary urban governance in global context is to develop a conceptualization that is equally sensitive to the role of relational and territorial geographies, of fixity and flow, of global contexts and place-specificities (and vice versa), of structural imperatives and embodied practices, in the production of cities.
Abstract: The paper contributes to understanding cities in the world by first outlining the conceptual and empirical challenges of theorizing the urban/global nexus in both relational and territorial terms. It argues that the most useful and appropriate approach to understanding contemporary urban governance in global context is to develop a conceptualization that is equally sensitive to the role of relational and territorial geographies, of fixity and flow, of global contexts and place-specificities (and vice versa), of structural imperatives and embodied practices, in the production of cities. To illustrate the benefits of this conceptualization, the paper will explore how downtown development is governed in many contemporary cities. The role of the Business Improvement District (BID) model in shaping downtowns will be examined in terms of: (1) how and by whom these models are developed in a global-relational context and are set in motion through scaled circuits of policy knowledge and (2) how the mobilization of these models are conditioned by their territorialization in specific spatial and political economic contexts. The paper emphasizes that the ‘local globalness’ of policy models like BIDs and their consequences for cities can best be understood through a combined focus on relationality and territoriality.
14 citations
TL;DR: The frequency and use of religious symbols in Italian advertising was examined by analyzing the content of a large sample of advertisements drawn from popular magazines between 1969 and 2013 as mentioned in this paper, showing a long-term rise in the proportion of ads containing religion.
Abstract: The frequency and use of religious symbols in Italian advertising is examined by analyzing the content of a large sample of advertisements drawn from popular magazines between 1969 and 2013. The findings show a long-term rise in the proportion of ads containing religion. The most common religious symbols portrayed in Italian advertising come from Christianity. There is also evidence that recent advertising has increasingly made reference to Eastern traditions, like Hinduism and Buddhism, and non-institutionalized religion. An analysis of the values manifest in the advertisements indicate that religion has become a source of creative inspiration that advertisers use without much reservation to accomplish their most diverse commercial tasks.
12 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, a definicion del modelo de valoracion precario del trabajo, as well as propuesta sobre la caracterización de la politica laboral and the formacion of un nucleo simbolico for entender el trabajado in Chile, are presented.
Abstract: En este articulo se presenta una definicion del modelo de valoracion precario del trabajo, como propuesta sobre la caracterizacion de la politica laboral y la formacion de un nucleo simbolico para entender el trabajo en Chile. Tambien se analizan las formas como se establecen los consensos y consentimientos en la produccion, especialmente a traves de las politicas implementadas por el Estado sobre la materia. Finalmente, se revisan las tendencias que movilizan los nuevos procesos de valoracion y significacion del trabajo.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss how moral and ethical considerations are always part of individual's interaction with others, exemplified through the experiences of being a cyclist in Copenhagen, and touch upon the role of social sciences who for a long time has learned to ignore or reject ethical and thus normative considerations.
Abstract: Living an everyday life among other people entails evaluating their behavior according to our own ideas about what is right and wrong – good or bad. And living according to our own ethics in a mobile risk society entails ambivalences and opens up the issue of responsibility. This article discusses how moral and ethical considerations are always part of individual’s interaction with others, exemplified through the experiences of being a cyclist in Copenhagen. The article finalizes by touching upon the role of social sciences whom for a long time has learned to ignore or reject ethical and thus normative considerations.
10 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the focus on intentionality unnecessarily restricts the scope conditions of analytical sociology, and introduces theoretical inconsistencies, by bringing in unrealistic assumptions and as-if theorizing, and argue for the importance of macro-level entities such as culture, social categories and groups.
Abstract: This paper is a critique of analytical sociology as presented in Peter Hedstrom’s book Dissecting the Social. Our critique has two main targets. First, we believe that too little attention is being paid to the macro-to-micro link, and we argue for the importance of macro-level entities such as culture, social categories, and groups – all of which have so far been largely omitted from analytical sociology. Second, we critique the persistent focus on intentionality as the driving force of social action. We argue that the strong focus on intentionality unnecessarily restricts the scope conditions of analytical sociology, and that it also introduces theoretical inconsistencies, by bringing in unrealistic assumptions and as-if theorizing. Hedstrom has strived to distance the program of analytical sociology from rational choice theory by relaxing the assumption of rationality. However, we argue that analytical sociology is still too closely connected with rational choice theory, and that the assumption of intentionality – that people make reasoned choices – needs to be relaxed. We discuss the ways in which a further focus on social identity would complement analytical sociology by making it fundamentally more realistic and less restricted. (Less)
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TL;DR: In this paper, I ocupo del proceso de constitucion del #YoSoy 132 como sistema de protesta, and concluyo this articulo con una serie de reflexiones sobre el significado del 132 para la democracia.
Abstract: En este articulo me ocupo del proceso de constitucion del, #YoSoy 132 como sistema de protesta. Con base en un trabajo de campo entre integrantes de este movimiento en diferentes instituciones de educacion superior del Distrito Federal, despues de resenar el contexto en el que se constituyo este movimiento, enseguida describo su organizacion, el proceso de adhesion personal, y los habitos informativos de sus integrantes. Asimismo me ocupo de sus demandas, sus tensiones y conflictos internos, esquema de observacion e identidad. Por ultimo, concluyo este articulo con una serie de reflexiones sobre el significado del 132 para la democracia
TL;DR: It is shown how technologies designed with the ambition to enable “direct interconnection,” “one stop” access and “collect-all” ambitions eliminate control for many data subjects.
Abstract: This article discusses mobile methods of “following the information” to contribute to a new politics of sociological method and inform the development of new design philosophies for information technologies. The approach is motivated by the increasing informationalization of everyday life in general and crisis management in particular. At this juncture social and political principles of privacy and solidarity are being transformed in ways that undermine fundamental values of equality and freedom. Crisis management is a particularly important site for such transformations. By showcasing different ways in which we have followed information in different crisis management settings through tracking, retrospective go-alongs, shadowing and tracing, we show how technologies designed with the ambition to enable “direct interconnection,” “one stop” access and “collect-all” ambitions eliminate control for many data subjects. The studies we present contribute to alternative information system design philosophies that actively support human sensory and social practices of making and making sense of data.
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TL;DR: A nivel internacional presenciamos, en las ultimas dos decadas, una nueva propuesta de innovacion tecnologica: los cultivos geneticamente modificados, cuyos efectos no pueden ser conocidos a priori, ya que las investigaciones de sus posibles impactos no son concluyentes a la fecha.
Abstract: El cultivo del maiz es fundamental para los productores poblanos, porque forma parte de su economia, de sus relaciones sociales y de su cultura. A nivel internacional presenciamos, en las ultimas dos decadas, una nueva propuesta de innovacion tecnologica: los cultivos geneticamente modificados, cuyos efectos no pueden ser conocidos a priori, ya que las investigaciones de sus posibles impactos no son concluyentes a la fecha. La presente investigacion expone los resultados obtenidos en el trabajo de campo realizado en el estado de Puebla; se senalan los costos de produccion del maiz nativo e hibrido, su importancia para los productores y la percepcion que se tiene ante la posible liberacion del maiz transgenico en el pais
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TL;DR: The authors analyzes the funcion central de la semilla for la produccion maicera and la industria de semillas en Jalisco, frente al maiz transgenico.
Abstract: Por sus condiciones climaticas, Jalisco destaca como productor de maiz a nivel nacional: es buen productor de maiz grano y, sobre todo, de semilla. Esta situacion coloca a los agricultores de la entidad y a las semilleras nacionales en una situacion ventajosa, pero tambien de conflicto, porque los primeros no logran un precio justo por su producto y producen con altos costos y los segundos tienen que competir con empresas transnacionales que han monopolizado el mercado y pretenden introducir maiz geneticamente modificado. El presente trabajo analiza la funcion central de la semilla para la produccion maicera y la industria de semillas en Jalisco, frente al maiz transgenico
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TL;DR: In a previous work as discussed by the authors, we showed that transgenic maices transgenicos no resuelven los problemas productivos centrales: fertilidad, sequias, heladas.
Abstract: Los agricultores cultivan maices nativos e hibridos en tierras ejidales, privadas o rentadas para lograr el autoconsumo y surtir al mercado regional. Los hibridos estan impulsados por Modernizacion Sustentable de la Agricultura Tradicional, el Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo, la Secretaria de Fomento Agropecuario y por la industria de la tortilla. Las plagas y las malezas no afectan la produccion; herbicidas e insecticidas representan los menores costos. Los maices transgenicos no resuelven los problemas productivos centrales: fertilidad, sequias, heladas. Por el contrario, afectarian la riqueza de maices nativos que los agricultores valoran. Pocos productores conocen la "Ley de fomento y proteccion al maiz" y casi nadie la Ley de Bioseguridad
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of online computer games is used to demonstrate that World of Warcraft, the most popular in the genre of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games, is marketed, framed and designed by the gaming industry as an other-worldly world of re-enchantment that provides distinctly spiritual experiences for individual players.
Abstract: Since the growth of post-Christian spirituality in most Western countries, it is a mainstay in the sociology of religion that such spiritual beliefs, practices and experiences are not connected to a church but rather spread through market and media. Instead of focusing on the much debated commodification of spirituality, this paper explores an unacknowledged spiritualization of commodities by using a case study of online computer games. It is demonstrated that World of Warcraft, the most popular in the genre of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games, is marketed, framed and designed by the gaming industry as an other-worldly world of re-enchantment that provides distinctly spiritual experiences for individual players. Players, in turn, argue that playing the game provides deep insights into their “higher selves” and generates feelings of “supernatural agency”assumptions that are at the heart of the contemporary spiritual milieu. Based on this affinity between the “spiritual” milieu and the “secular” gaming industry, it is argued that both are not separate domains but rather converge in, what can be called, the spiritual experience economy.
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TL;DR: The presente articulo explora de que manera los textos que llegan desde los centros a las periferias, siguiendo un esquema de division internacional del t... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Resumen es: El presente articulo explora de que manera los textos que llegan desde los centros a las periferias, siguiendo un esquema de division internacional del t...
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TL;DR: For instance, Durante los sexenios de 2000 a 2012 las politicas publicas reguladoras de la salud sexual y reproductiva de las mujeres en Mexico fueron abordadas de tal...
Abstract: Resumen es: Durante los sexenios de 2000 a 2012 las politicas publicas reguladoras de la salud sexual y reproductiva de las mujeres en Mexico fueron abordadas de tal...
TL;DR: In this article, Mennell tells the story behind the publication of the Collected Works of Norbert Elias (UCD Press), and reflects on some aspects of Elias's life and work, such as Marx's influence on Elias, and Elias's contribution to Group Analysis.
Abstract: In this interview, Stephen Mennell tells the story behind the publication of the Collected Works of Norbert Elias (UCD Press), and reflects on some aspects of Elias’s life and work, such as Marx’s influence on Elias, and Elias’s contribution to Group Analysis. In addition, Mennell shares his memories of Robert Bellah, lists some of his favourite books, and offers some advice to aspiring sociologists. The interview was conducted in Moscow in November 2013, and was subsequently revised and annotated by Professor Mennell.
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TL;DR: In el presente trabajo presentamos la perspectiva desde la cual abordamos nuestro objeto de investigación: la Policia Metropolitana de Buenos Aires as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Resumen es: En el presente trabajo presentamos la perspectiva desde la cual abordamos nuestro objeto de investigacion: la Policia Metropolitana de Buenos Aires. Prop...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore emerging branding landscapes in modern Muslim consumer culture through a focus on the Islamic music industry and the marketing of its popular artists, and explore how contemporary Muslim actors negotiate their religious sensibilities in a secular global culture and re-imagine the terms of their identities through pious art productions.
Abstract: This article explores emerging branding landscapes in modern Muslim consumer culture through a focus on the Islamic music industry and the marketing of its popular artists. Specifically, I look at the work of Awakening Records and its impact on the cultivation of new entertainment tastes through music video production and digital marketing techniques. I argue that our interest in the marketing of new Muslim consumer lifestyles should move beyond the novelty of branding in Islam and turn to a substantive exploration of how contemporary Muslim actors negotiate their religious sensibilities in a secular global culture and re-imagine the terms of their identities through pious art productions. I ask how a burgeoning market of Islamic “clean” music creatively appropriates secular symbols and production values to position the modern Muslim consumer as an agent in a larger piety movement that promotes an active form of religious devotion and cultural participation.
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TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical-analytical approach to the middle class in Portugal is presented, based on the empirical results of a study on the income and consumption of middle-class families in Portugal, carried out at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, Lisbon University Institute (CIES-IUL).
Abstract: This paper deals with cultural and consumption practices and lifestyles, in the context of the current social and economic downturn in Portugal. One of the most striking features of the ongoing transformations is connected with the increase of social inequalities regarding the access to goods and other resources that characterize a knowledge society and to the greater use of information and communication technologies. Contrary to some views about the irrelevance of a conception of social classes, we intend to develop a perspective of \"middle class\", by identifying standardized social principles for structural differentiation of resources and opportunities. This theoretical-analytical approach to the middle class also aims to comprehend the repercussions of a context of economic recession and deepening inequalities, situating this social segment. This proposal is based on the empirical results of a (online) study on the income and consumption of middle-class families in Portugal, carried out at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, Lisbon University Institute (CIES-IUL) in the last quarter of 2012 and developed as part of the Project Thinking the future and finding new prospects for the sustained promotion of well-being and quality of life.
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TL;DR: The authors argue that the self has a social structure and that reflexivity inheres in interactions and not in different types of individual self-identity, and discuss Margaret Archer's typology of the inner dialogues of actors and its use to understand social mobility.
Abstract: Recent developments in sociological theory have addressed the linkage between structure and agency via a conception of reflexivity and the agent’s internal conversation as a means of understanding the (variable) contribution that the self and its powers contribute to social outcomes. In this paper, I present a sociological realism utilising the approach of American pragmatism (Dewey and Mead) to argue for a different way of conceptualising reflexivity, namely as an occasioned feature of interaction. On this view, reflexivity arises in relation to problems in interaction and is oriented to their resolution. It is argued that the self has a social structure and that reflexivity inheres in interactions and not in different types of individual self-identity. The paper discusses general issues of reflexivity in terms of conceptions of sociology’s “dialogic.” Archer’s relation to actors whose behaviours are under scrutiny, before going on to discuss Margaret Archer’s typology of the “inner dialogues” of actors and its use to understand social mobility.
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TL;DR: The authors discute criticamente las nociones que dan cuenta del concepto de transferencia de conocimientos y tecnologia entre el sector academico y el...
Abstract: Resumen es: Este articulo discute criticamente las nociones que dan cuenta del concepto de transferencia de conocimientos y tecnologia entre el sector academico y el...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on similarities and differences between the two fields at large, then attempt to show how the study of science and technology can benefit the work of multiple mobilities.
Abstract: Science and Technology Studies as well as Mobilities (or Mobility Studies) share the status of interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary research fields, the former being more consolidated, the latter in ongoing formation over the last decade. This article focuses on similarities and differences between the two fields at large, then attempting to show how the study of science and technology can benefit the study of multiple mobilities. Key-words to move across the porous boundaries of the two fields (heterogeneous agency, boundary objects and infrastructures, ecology and moorings) will be shaped by analyzing the accident of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off Giglio island in January 2012. Rather than focusing on the event mainly as a typical example of systemic disruption of a complex infrastructure, the attempt pursued in this contribution is to intertwine the globalized dimensions of immobility linked to cruise tourism with the situated and contingent enactment of heterogeneous agencies in infrastructures, whose ecological and interconnected texture is broken down and unraveled.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the proceso historico de constitucion de la sociologia en Mexico and the inicios de los estudios rurales are examined.
Abstract: En el presente articulo se examina el proceso historico de constitucion de la sociologia en Mexico y los inicios de los estudios rurales. Se destaca la relacion que la sociologia ha mantenido con los diferentes regimenes politicos desde finales del siglo XIX hasta los anos sesenta de la pasada centuria. Los persistentes problemas del campo, una sociologia rural que se ha venido confundiendo, primero con la antropologia y luego con el desarrollo rural, y tambien la voluntad irrenunciable del Estado de civilizar al campesino movilizando al sector academico, son elementos que explican el desarrollo tardio de esta rama de la sociologia general