Extractivism and Resistance: Media, Protest and Power in Ecuador

This dissertation examines the symbolic and material dimensions of media power and social movement cultural production in a Latin American post-neoliberal context, through the case study of Yasunidos –an anti-extractivist, youth social movement– and its fight to stop the Ecuadorian government’s plans to drill for oil in the Yasuní region of the Amazon. The project is located within two bodies of literature: cultural analysis of social movement media and cultural production within new waves of global protest, and studies of extractivism and post-development in Latin America. It advances the concept of mediated cultural politics to tell the story of a movement that, through creative media practices, protest and direct democracy, mobilized society over these issues. At the same time, the study analyzes how a so-called progressive Latin American government uses different forms of statist media power to halt the movement. The research design includes a qualitative, mixed-methods ethnography of the movement, as well as archival work, analysis of media texts on the struggle, and visual analysis of movement-based cutlural production. The analysis reveals the contradictions of 21st century socialist states, and the implications that extractivism and statist media power have on processes of democratization in Latin America. It offers some reflections on the post-development imaginaries emerging from contemporary anti-extractivist movements

Fostering resistance: Acknowledging notions of power exertion and politics in design facilitation.

Design facilitation is among one of the most acclaimed approaches applied in contemporary collaborative projects. Intended as both the overarching process and the mediating act between a facilitator, typically a designer, and actors such as citizens, it has increasingly gained popularity due to the participatory, inclusive, co-creative, and empathic principles associated with it. The sudden recognition of the field of Participatory Design (PD) has nonetheless led to the use and (mis-)(over-)use of practice, causing an exponential loss of its political origin (Seravalli, 2014) if compared for example to the Scandinavian participatory movements in the ‘70s driven by political disputes regarding workplace democracy (Simonsen & Robertson, 2012). Design facilitation, among other areas of practice, has become a buzzword, rendering inevitable the adoption and adaptation of different definitions to it. This aspect, despite highlighting facilitation’s versatility, leaves room for deliberate and convenient interpretations of its meaning, use, and ethical limitations. The research focuses on acknowledging and rendering visible the otherwise often unaddressed political nature of design facilitation by making more explicit its underpinning structures and components. It focuses on critically contrasting contemporary views of design facilitation, which are typically apolitical, against revised notions that take into consideration its complex power dynamics and political implications. Delving into the interconnectedness between design, power, politics and participatory practices becomes an opportunity to explore contemporary mainstream notions within design that are worth being revisited and challenged from an alternative stance. The thesis is entirely theoretical and draws on principles of transdisciplinary research. Three lenses - critique, unpacking, and language use - are established and applied to an extensive analysis of literature belonging to design, philosophy, social studies, and political sciences. Combined with a systematic narrative approach and critical reviews, the lenses enable the spotting of misleading discourses and misuse of terminology. Said approach aims to foster a better understanding of the complexity behind the explored theoretical notions and to evaluate their current use. The thesis also takes into consideration a plurality of voices by reviewing three doctoral dissertations that address these interconnected spheres and analyzing their research processes and drawing insight from the way they clash and overlap. Finally, the conducted research aims to highlight the importance of unpacking concepts and areas of design to foster a more accountable practice and research, as opposed to merely moving on a superficial level. Resistance is explored and perceived as a way to react to a hegemonic, unbalanced, and often hierarchical model of facilitation which is often disguised as providing equally distributed agency and capacity to voice out concerns. Engaging in a critical, socially, and politically aware process allowed seeking and depicting alternatives to power imbalances such as designers deliberately resigning power, welcoming the ever-changing and unpredictable nature of human interrelations and adopting principles from prefigurative politics

Abordagens Contemporâneas à Responsabilidade Social dos Designers: um olhar a partir da evolução da dimensão social no design

Esta dissertação tem por objetivo o estudo da dimensão social dentro do design industrial. Tenciona-se compreender como o design social e os designers industriais contemporâneos podem ser agentes transformadores, atuando responsavelmente. A questão a ser respondida com esta investigação é a seguinte: “Como se pode caracterizar as dimensões da responsabilidade social dos designers à luz do pensamento contemporâneo sobre design?” O trabalho está dividido em três capítulos. Previamente em um primeiro momento temse a introdução, com o contexto, justificativa e objetivos, assim como questão da investigação, metodologia e a estrutura do trabalho. O primeiro capítulo contempla a análise diacrônica sobre o design industrial, com o objetivo de averiguar quais foram os pioneiros no que tange ao design social e os movimentos ligados ao mesmo. Em um segundo capítulo, são abordadas correntes do Design nas quais as preocupações sociais se tornam prevalentes, como Design Sustentável, Design Cidadão, Design para a Inovação Social, Design Ativista, Design Emergencial, Design Crítico e a Descolonização do Design. O terceiro capítulo é dedicado ao estudo e análise do design social e sua dimensão na prática profissional dos designers desde um passado recente até os dias atuais. O último momento consiste na conclusão, resultados e discussões e reflexões para investigações futuras.This dissertation aims to study the social dimension within industrial design. It is intended to understand how social design and contemporary industrial designers can be transforming agents, acting responsibly. The question to be answered with this investigation is the following: “How can one characterize the dimensions of designers’ social responsibility in the light of contemporary design thinking?” The work is divided into three chapters. Initially, there is the introduction, with the context, justification and objectives, as well as the research question, methodology and structure of the work. The first chapter includes a diachronic analysis of industrial design, with the aim of finding out who were the pioneers in terms of social design and the movements linked to it. In a second chapter, currents of Design in which social concerns become prevalent are addressed, such as Sustainable Design, Citizen Design, Design for Social Innovation, Activist Design, Emergency Design, Critical Design and the Decolonization of Design. The third chapter is dedicated to the study and analysis of social design and its dimension in the professional practice of designers from the recent past to the present day. The last moment consists of the conclusion, results and discussions and reflections for future investigations

The Warburg Dance Movement Library-The WADAMO Library: A Validation Study

The Warburg Dance Movement Library is a validated set of 234 video clips of dance movements for empirical research in the fields of cognitive science and neuroscience of action perception, affect perception and neuroaesthetics. The library contains two categories of video clips of dance movement sequences. Of each pair, one version of the movement sequence is emotionally expressive (Clip a), while the other version of the same sequence (Clip b) is not expressive but as technically correct as the expressive version (Clip a). We sought to complement previous dance video stimuli libraries. Facial information, colour and music have been removed, and each clip has been faded in and out. We equalised stimulus length (6 seconds, 8 counts in dance theory), the dancers’ clothing and video background and included both male and female dancers, and we controlled for technical correctness of movement execution. The Warburg Dance Movement Library contains both contemporary and ballet movements. Two online surveys (N = 160) confirmed the classification into the two categories of expressivity. Four additional online surveys (N = 80) provided beauty and liking ratings for each clip. A correlation matrix illustrates all variables of this norming study (technical correctness, expressivity, beauty, liking, luminance, motion energy)

Biobehavioral effects of Tai Chi Qigong in men with prostate cancer: Study design of a three-arm randomized clinical trial.

Fatigue is often one of the most commonly reported symptoms in prostate cancer survivors, but it is also one of the least understood cancer-related symptoms. Fatigue is associated with psychological distress, disruptions in sleep quality, and impairments in health-related quality of life. Moreover, inflammatory processes and changes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and/or autonomic nervous system may also play a role in cancer-related fatigue. Thus, effective treatments for fatigue in prostate cancer survivors represent a current unmet need. Prior research has shown that Tai Chi Qigong, a mind-body exercise intervention, can improve physical and emotional health. Herein, we describe the protocol of the ongoing 3-arm randomized controlled Health Empowerment & Recovery Outcomes (HERO) clincal trial. One hundred sixty-six prostate cancer survivors with fatigue are randomized to a modified Tai Chi Qigong intervention (TCQ), intensity-matched body training intervention (BT), or usual care (UC) condition. Guided by biopsychosocial and psychoneuroimmunology models, we propose that TCQ, as compared to BT or UC will: i) reduce fatigue (primary outcome) in prostate cancer survivors; ii) reduce inflammation; and iii) regulate the expression of genes from two major functional clusters: a) inflammation, vasodilation and metabolite sensing and b) energy and adrenergic activation. Assessments are conducted at baseline, the 6-week midpoint of the intervention, and 1 week, 3 months, and 12 months post-intervention. If our findings show that TCQ promotes recovery from prostate cancer and its treatment, this type of intervention can be integrated into survivorship care plans as the standard of care. The study's findings will also provide novel information about underlying biobehavioral mechanisms of cancer-related fatigue. Trial registration number:NCT03326713; clinicaltrials.gov

The Politics of the Labor Movement Revitalization: The Need for a Revitalized Perspective

[Excerpt] Unions everywhere are struggling. Globalization, with its supporting neo-liberal ideology, encourages employers and governments to push vigorously against the constraints of employment regulation. Unions have to fight to protect past gains, resist decline and find new allies. To some extent, labor is always on the defensive in a capitalist economy, where ownership and economic decision-making lie largely beyond the reach of workers and unions. Yet the competitive pressures of today\u27s increasingly global capitalism accentuate the pressure. Firms have new options and increasing mobility, far beyond those that most workers and unions can claim. One response is common to all of our country cases, despite other differences. Unions are everywhere re-launching themselves as \u27political subjects\u27, as actors engaged not just in collective bargaining and workplace regulation, but also in the broader aggregation of political and social interests (Pizzorno, 1978). Labor movement politics today go well beyond traditional links with lab our-friendly parties and negotiations with governments, to involve grass-roots politics and local campaigns. The exact forms taken by such political strategies are shaped differently in each country according to the challenges faced, existing institutions and opportunity structures. But in all cases, the shift toward a fuller political subject orientation lies at the center of contemporary strategic adaptation and revitalization

Neuronal bases of structural coherence in contemporary dance observation

The neuronal processes underlying dance observation have been the focus of an increasing number of brain imaging studies over the past decade. However, the existing literature mainly dealt with effects of motor and visual expertise, whereas the neural and cognitive mechanisms that underlie the interpretation of dance choreographies remained unexplored. Hence, much attention has been given to the Action Observation Network (AON) whereas the role of other potentially relevant neuro-cognitive mechanisms such as mentalizing (theory of mind) or language (narrative comprehension) in dance understanding is yet to be elucidated. We report the results of an fMRI study where the structural coherence of short contemporary dance choreographies was manipulated parametrically using the same taped movement material. Our participants were all trained dancers. The whole-brain analysis argues that the interpretation of structurally coherent dance phrases involves a subpart (Superior Parietal) of the AON as well as mentalizing regions in the dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex. An ROI analysis based on a similar study using linguistic materials (Pallier et al. 2011) suggests that structural processing in language and dance might share certain neural mechanisms

Repair Matters

Repair has visibly come to the fore in recent academic and policy debates, to the point that ‘repair studies’ is now emerging as a novel focus of research. Through the lens of repair, scholars with diverse backgrounds are coming together to rethink our relationships with the human-made matters, tools and objects that are the material mesh in which organisational life takes place as a political question. This special issue is interested to map the ways that repair can contribute to organisational models alternative to those centered around growth. In order to explore the politics of repair in the context of organization studies, the papers gathered here investigate issues such as: repair as a specific kind of care and socially reproductive labour; repair as a direct intervention into the cornerstones of capitalist economy, such as exchange versus use value, division of work and property relations; repair of infrastructures and their relation with the broader environment; and finally repair as the reflective practice of fixing the organizational systems and institutional habits in which we dwell. What emerges from the diversity of experiences surveyed in this issue is that repair manifests itself as both a regime of practice and counter-conduct that demand an active and persistent engagement of practitioners with the systemic contradictions and power struggles shaping our material world