Biblioteca Digital

Dissertação de Mestrado em Estudos Americanos apresentada à Universidade Aberta; Resumo - A crescente desumanização das sociedades contemporâneas, onde o conformismo se tem instalado e o fundamentalismo e a intolerância têm vindo a desempenhar um papel cada vez mais relevante, tem-nos feito reflectir e investigar sobre as causas e consequências desta crise. Perante estes factos, pensamos que é urgente despertar perante os perigos do conformismo e retomar “The Song of Myself"1 à semelhança da Beat Generation que recriou e inovou a literatura e as artes plásticas através da introspecção, dos inner eyes of man, na década de 1950, nos Estados Unidos da América. No início deste milénio, apelar a Emerson, Whitman ou Thoreau2 e valorizar o aristocrata natural americano, o homem vulgar que é capaz de realizar coisas geniais, através da simplicidade do seu dia-a-dia, seizing the day, making lives extraordinary3, de forma consciente, é uma necessidade e um desafio. A sociedade reflecte os comportamentos, valores e pensamentos dos seus membros, o pensamento da classe dominante e, de igual modo, os seus conflitos, os movimentos discordantes e de contra-cultura. Por consequência, a literatura, as artes plásticas e o cinema propõem-nos a representação de microcosmos das sociedades a que se reportam e são testemunhos das épocas em que são criados. O cinema constitui um poderoso meio de comunicação de massas e...

The Information Society (IS) may be taken as a geopolitical organization which started after the Third Industrial Revolution, having direct impact on the use of information and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The expression arose as techno-social paradigm change in the post-industrial society, aiming to use information as currency to the society-in-progress at that time. In Brazil it has become stronger with the Programa Sociedade da Informacao no Brasil-Livro Verde, lunched by the Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia, in September 2000 without any discussion with the civil society to formulate the main document. Our main goal in this article is to discuss the Information Society in contemporary times, and also the organized and conscious use of information, looking for key-concepts to a better understanding of it, from some topics as digital inclusion-exclusion to the use of digital informational resources.

A crescente atuação da sociedade nos processos de discussão e de tomada de decisões relacionados com as políticas públicas incentiva a gestão pública no Brasil a buscar mecanismos para demonstrar eficiência e transparência na aplicação de recursos. Dentro da esfera pública, o setor de saúde é destaque em termos de alocação de recursos, por isso, apresenta acentuadas necessidades de planejamento, avaliação e prestação de contas das atividades desenvolvidas. Este trabalho adotou o modelo conceitual de mensuração do resultado econômico em entidades públicas e teve como objetivo principal calcular o valor econômico agregado à sociedade por Hospitais Universitários Públicos, segundo os preceitos da Gestão Baseada em Valor. Para consecução deste propósito, conduziu-se um estudo de caso no Hospital das Clínicas da FMRP-USP, avaliando seu desempenho econômico em um período de três anos. Para interpretação dos resultados utilizou-se a Análise por Envoltória de Dados que categorizou os epartamentos do hospital estudado em eficientes e ineficientes. Este estudo revelou que o valor econômico agregado à sociedade no longo prazo pela entidade é positivo. Essa medida de valor proposta indicou que a sociedade está obtendo um retorno superior ao custo de oportunidade do capital investido...

A literatura acadêmica sobre as novas instâncias de participação surgidas no Brasil, nas últimas duas décadas, foi marcada por estudos que colocavam a sociedade civil como elemento impulsionador e centro deste processo. A tese se estrutura a partir da crítica a esta perspectiva de análise, focalizando o modo como esta literatura conformou determinada visão sobre as experiências de orçamento participativo (OP). Defende-se que os estudos sobre tais experiências devem considerar menos a referência da sociedade civil e mais as dinâmicas sociopolíticas próprias dos partidos políticos e dos governos, reunidas no conceito de sociedade política. Assim, o OP é analisado enquanto: a) uma estratégia de mobilização e ampliação da base social de apoio de governos e de partidos; e b) um novo espaço de interação de agentes sociopolíticos, permeado pela lógica das disputas eleitorais. Apresenta-se um estudo de caso do orçamento participativo de Osasco SP, voltado, sobretudo, para os aspectos político-institucionais da experiência e para a análise do conselho do OP e do perfil sociopolítico de seus conselheiros. A pesquisa indica a predominância de um alto envolvimento dos conselheiros com a sociedade política, o que se combina com as funções estratégicas do orçamento participativo...

Entre 1992 e 2005, representantes de 11.921 organizações não governamentais (ONGs) participaram de conferências realizadas pela Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) e pela Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC). Tendo em vista que, tradicionalmente, apenas os representantes dos Estados-membros dessas duas organizações seriam admitidos, a crescente presença de atores não-governamentais nesses eventos foi considerada uma das evidências empíricas do surgimento de uma sociedade civil global. Contudo, alguns críticos afirmam que a sociedade civil não seria global, mas concentrada geograficamente em alguns países. Nosso objetivo é analisar se, de fato, existe tal concentração e quais suas principais características. Com esse objetivo, analisamos a distribuição geográfica das sedes das ONGs credenciadas para esses eventos, discutindo dois dos principais argumentos contrários à idéia de sociedade civil global: o primeiro afirma que a sociedade civil não é global porque seus atores estão concentrados em países do Norte (gerando um desnível Norte-Sul, com predomínio numérico e político de ONGs do Norte sobre as do Sul); o segundo, defende que a concentração das ONGs espelha as atuais constelações de poder em âmbito internacional (pois as ONGs seriam...

Na medida em que o século XXI avança, a sociedade contemporânea passa por transformações socioculturais importantes que gradativamente a distanciam do contexto que caracterizou a modernidade-industrial. Entre outros desdobramentos da transição pós-moderna, a relação entre empresa, sociedade e comunicação se transforma. Uma das dimensões deste fenômeno é a emergência de um modelo específico de Responsabilidade Social Empresarial (RSE), denominado neste trabalho de modelo dinâmico-interativo de RSE. Fundamentado em uma abordagem políticocontratual, prevê um processo permanente de negociação por meio do qual as responsabilidades mútuas entre empresa e sociedade se definem dinamicamente. Paralelamente, a disseminação das novas tecnologias da comunicação e das redes propicia a emergência de um sistema informal de controle sobre as corporações o qual opera na esfera pública mediática por meio da mobilização política da sociedade civil. A este sistema emergente denominamos de governança corporativa extrainstitucional. Frente a estes dois processos, a prática da comunicação empresarial encara desafios que sinalizam para os limites do seu paradigma de origem funcionalista. Por conta disso, advoga-se pela necessidade de adoção de um novo paradigma para a comunicação empresarial capaz de reconhecê-la não mais como instrumento de gestão...

Nesta tese estabeleceu-se o objetivo de pesquisar a construção da abordagem socioambiental, na perspectiva da sociedade civil da América Latina no âmbito internacional, com o recorte nas conferências internacionais e reuniões organizadas pelas Nações Unidas sobre meio ambiente. Neste sentido, o que se pretendeu nesse trabalho foi compreender as origens, os significados e os desdobramentos das discussões sobre a sustentabilidade, o desenvolvimento, a temática ambiental, ocorridas nas fases preparatórias e durante a realização desses encontros, e de que forma levaram à formação de uma perspectiva socioambiental na arena internacional. Também são apresentadas as alterações no contexto, nos elementos constitutivos e nos referenciais teóricos criados pelos atores participantes dos fóruns internacionais patrocinados pela ONU ao longo de cerca de cinco décadas, especialmente no que diz respeito à sociedade civil. Procurou-se, assim, realizar a análise dos registros e produtos gerados nas fases preparatórias e durante a realização de cada um dos eventos internacionais, tanto na agenda oficial quanto nos eventos paralelos de cada um deles. A tese também faz uma análise segundo cada um dos períodos históricos vinculados às conferências e reuniões da ONU e cobertos pela pesquisa (1960 e 1970...

Abstract The ongoing Eurocrisis expresses the limits of an institutional setup designed to run the Euro as commodity money and to organize labour into competitive markets. Building on Polanyi’s (1944) claim that “a market economy can exist only in a market society”, this paper approaches the project of European integration “as an instituted process” (Polanyi, 1957) of enactment of a market economy embedded in a market society. Section 1 builds a polanyian framework, with particular focus on the theoretical tension between the notions of market disembeddedness and embeddedness in a market society. Section 2 presents the structure of European multilevel governance as an institutional blueprint of market disembeddedness. A third section explores the dynamics of translation of the European Market Economy into a European Market Society. The paper concludes by arguing that a solution to the Eurocrisis that is both Europeanist and democratic will require replacing the liberal ethos of the market for the public sphere, as rationale for the European society embedding the European economy.

One hundred years ago, in 1909, the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) held its first annual meeting. The founding members based this new society on a revolutionary approach to research that emphasized newer physiological methods. In 1924 the ASCI started a new journal, the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The ASCI has also held an annual meeting almost every year. The society has long debated who could be a member, with discussions about whether members must be physicians, what sorts of research they could do, and the role of women within the society. The ASCI has also grappled with what else the society should do, especially whether it ought to take a stand on policy issues. ASCI history has reflected changing social, political, and economic contexts, including several wars, concerns about the ethics of biomedical research, massive increases in federal research funding, and an increasingly large and specialized medical environment.

This paper reviews the process of inclusion of disabled people in society, focusing on education and the market "said" inclusive. The process of research made on the basis of research literature and documentation; through works that deal with issues such as inclusion and exclusion, and the definitions and concepts, historical trajectory, finally, of how people with disabilities are included in society, said inclusive, considering the economic and social aspects of the problem, its dimensions and relationships. The text also discusses the dynamics of capitalist society and its relationship with the disabled, the issue of rights and its grounds, and talk on topics such as: labour, exploitation, rights, citizenship, inclusion and exclusion, trying show the limits of fight of the disabled in a society inclusive said. We realize that, in general, the centre of discussions is the reform of society and undoubtedly the main focus is the issue of equality through the inclusion. On that principle, we propose to analyse the sense of inclusion in society and the way it is treated by the segment in question. Moreover, show that the relationship inclusion / exclusion is more complex than the discussion that the segment disabled people raises. From there the discussion should not be restricted to PcD segment...

The paper first surveys the literature on accountability and establishes a categorization of the different ways by which civil society can interact with the state in order to improve accountability. It then explores in detail seven case studies of successful experiences of state-society synergy for accountability. The studies draw from a wide range of different contexts (Brazil, India, Mexico, the United States) and from a variety of different areas of government activity (corruption control, environmental regulation, poverty reduction, election monitoring, infrastructure provision, school reform, police reform). The paper concludes with a series of conceptual and practical lessons for World Bank staff on how best to initiate, design, and implement successful pro-accountability mechanisms grounded in state-society synergy. Some of the most important lessons include the need to fully institutionalize participative mechanisms, to involve societal actors from the very beginning of the design stage of the process...

Government failures are widespread in Africa. Symptoms include absentee teachers, leakage of public funds, monopolized trucking, and employment-restricting regulations. Can civil society do anything about these failures? Would external donor support to civil society help? We argue that the challenge for civil society is to improve government functioning by strengthening political incentives—the underlying cause of government failure—rather than bypassing or supplanting the state. This paper reviews the available evidence on civil society interventions from this perspective. Although the current increase in political competition and extensive citizen engagement in Africa seems to create the potential for civil society influence, we find that there are large knowledge gaps regarding what works, where, and how. Some rigorous evaluations find significant impacts of civil society involvement on development outcomes, but these studies typically pay insufficient attention to the mechanisms. For example, are impacts due to overcoming government failure or to changing private household behavior, leaving the wasteful allocation of public resources untouched? We conclude that donor support to civil society should take an approach of learning by doing through ongoing experimentation backed by rigorous...

This paper critically examines the ‘admittance’ of the Ottoman Empire as the first non-European and non-Christian state into European international society, challenges the idea that international society had a universal character, and explores how the Empire encountered and adapted to the requirements of this society. There are two premises to explore. First, the Empire was never accepted as an equal member of the European society of states. Second, the Ottoman Empire’s desire to enter European international society initiated its modernisation, which gradually led to the emergence of Turkish nationalism in the twentieth century. The first part of this paper deals with the ‘otherness’ of the Ottoman Empire within European international society. The second part explains the paradoxical character of Ottoman–European relations, which initiated the Empire’s modernisation. The last part explores the emergence of Turkish nationalism in relation to the policies of Ottoman modernisation that brought the transition from an Islamic empire into a modern secular nation-state. It concludes by questioning whether or not the modern Turkish state is considered a European member of international society.; no

The main purpose of my thesis is to understand, from the perspectives of Southern Sudanese themselves, their resettlement experiences in Australia, to provide knowledge about how their experiences of exile reshape their thinking of home, place, identity, gender roles, and traditional practices, to explore the extent of their resettlement and integration into Australian society, and to inform policy on the resettlement of refugees and the settlement services offered to them. The thesis explores the range of interactions and relationships among Southern Sudanese and between them and their Australian hosts. It demonstrates how these interactions and relationships shaped and reshaped the Southern Sudanese sense of identity and belonging in resettlement in Australia. The thesis also provides insights into the relationships between the war that forced them out of their homeland, their flight, life in refugee camp or in exile, and how these affected their ability to resettle. To understand these, I have listened to how they described their lives before and during the war, while seeking refuge, and of their present and future life in Australia. From this I will show how they reproduce and maintain some aspects of their culture within the context of the Australian society...

Can governments be held accountable for spending by citizen organizations? In this issue the author present the experience of two civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in budget and procurement review and monitoring in Nigeria. In the Nigerian context, the preconditions for accountable citizen-state relations are underdeveloped. In particular, some of the building blocks of transparent and accountable public financial management systems are absent or dysfunctional. Lack of information and limited opportunities for citizens' engagement in government processes have resulted in high levels of mistrust between citizens and government. Despite these challenges, there are people and groups, in both government and civil society, who have taken bold steps to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the planning and management of public resources. For example, networks of CSOs working in the area of procurement oversight have started demanding information on procurement bids. The World Bank civil society fund provides financial and technical support to CSOs aimed at improving their capacity and effectiveness to engage in reform and policy processes. Given the World Bank's broader focus on governance reforms...

Socially produced risks – ranging from financial crises to climate change – are of fundamental importance to contemporary economic, political, and social life. Given the central importance of these risks, the development of frameworks that analyze the relation between risk, power, and inequality is a key task for sociology. Ulrich Beck’s theory of risk society is a leading and powerful framework for analyzing the growing social production and distribution of risk, but it has fundamental problems in its understanding of the relation between risk and class. Beck has argued that class relations will be dissolved due to the increasingly equal and catastrophic nature of risks, while, in response, his critics have shown that increasing risk does not undermine class. This thesis explores the important, but as yet unasked, question: if class does continue to be a central factor, will it become even more important due to the changes associated with risk society? In pursuing this question, this study shows how the theory of risk society has conceptual resources and explanatory implications that both Beck and his critics have misapprehended. Firstly, it is argued that the processes associated with risk society tend to exacerbate class inequalities rather than simply dissolving or reproducing them. Secondly...

As the pressures of urban development progressively threaten the preservation of greenfields, it is increasingly understood that sustainable development and smart growth strategies must include the remediation and redevelopment of brownfields. As the support for brownfield redevelopment strengthens, and frameworks for brownfield planning become more prominent at municipal levels, it is important that municipalities not only ensure the proper remediation of old brownfield sites, but also identify a place for civil society within brownfield plans. The legal, financial, social, environmental, and health complexities of redevelopment, as well as the impact of brownfield sites on the community, make civil society involvement an essential component of a successful brownfield strategy. This case-based thesis research examines the role of civil society in brownfield remediation and redevelopment through themes of social capital, social learning and risk perceptions. The two cases studies are former landfill sites; the Rennie Street landfill in Hamilton, Ontario and the Belle Park landfill in Kingston, Ontario. Both cases involved civil society using legal action as a reactive approach to contamination leaching from the respective sites into nearby water bodies. The research was conducted through participant observation...

Social networks are static illustrations of dynamic societies, within which social interactions are constantly changing. Fundamental sources of variation include ranging behaviour and temporal demographic changes. Spatiotemporal dynamics can favour or limit opportunities for individuals to interact, and then a network may not essentially represent social processes. We examined whether a social network can embed such nonsocial effects in its topology, whereby emerging modules depict spatially or temporally segregated individuals. To this end, we applied a combination of spatial, temporal and demographic analyses to a long-term study of the association patterns of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis. We found that association patterns are organized into a modular social network. Space use was unlikely to reflect these modules, since dolphins' ranging behaviour clearly overlapped. However, a temporal demographic turnover, caused by the exit/entrance of individuals (most likely emigration/immigration), defined three modules of associations occurring at different times. Although this factor could mask real social processes, we identified the temporal scale that allowed us to account for these demographic effects. By looking within this turnover period (32 months)...

Yanich, Danilo; The concept of civil society emerged hundreds of years ago. However, even today there exists no unanimously accepted definition of civil society. At the same time, civil society is considered to be the essential feature characterizing democratic states. It is regarded especially important for the states currently in the process of transition from authoritarian regimes. This paper seeks to study the role of civil society in the Republic of Belarus - one of the former republics of the Soviet Union. The analysis is based on the data from the national public opinion poll conducted in Belarus in September 2014 by the Independent Institute of Sociological, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS). The survey data are considered against three main constructs, namely the language problem, two realities and the resource state. The analysis shows that few Belarusians are involved in public activity; they mostly trust public organizations supported by the state, and in general believe that civil society is controlled by the former. The findings may imply that Belarusian citizens do not see civil society as an intermediary between them and the state, and thus their will and interests might be manifested by other means. Consequently...

In this article, the focus is on the question whether the Church History Society of Southern Africa (CHSSA) has matured after its 35 years of existence (1970-2005) to a fairly mature theological society in the South African academic context. After an introduction, attention is given to the proposals of an ad hoc committee that investigated the reorganization of the society into a more inclusive and representative organization, the different conferences, the journal, membership and management of the society, theological traditions and positions present in the society and some perspectives on the road ahead. Without trying to provide an official audit of the society, it is finally concluded that it is attempting to come of age and the prospects for the future are relatively positive. However, only the years to come will prove whether this society has fully come of age.