Structuring online and offline discursive spaces on Internet governance. Insights from a network approach to map an emergent field.

Internet governance (IG) is quickly emerging both as a field of political practices at global level andas an object of interdisciplinary research. In this paper, we start proposing to conceive current processes of debate over Internet governance as a progressive consolidation of a field as a recognized area of institutional life (Di Maggio & Powell 1983) within which practices of interaction between a plurality of actors, all perceiving to be legitimate claimants in the discussion, are being institutionalized. We propose that a fruitful way to explore current dynamics within the IG field is to focus on relations actors establish one another in this social dialogue, thus structuring collaborative environments that, if analyzed systematically, can shed some new light on the very meaning of multi-actor

Organizações, coalizões e movimentos

Resumo Este artigo se utiliza de evidências empíricas sobre redes de organizações voluntárias que se mobilizam em torno de questões relacionadas a minorias étnicas, ao meio ambiente e à exclusão social em duas cidades britânicas, com vistas a distinguir entre processos de movimento social e outras dinâmicas cognatas de ação coletiva. Os processos de movimento social são identificados como a construção e reprodução de densas redes informais entre uma multiplicidade de atores que compartilham uma identidade coletiva e estão engajados em um conflito social e/ou político. Tais processos são contrastados com os processos de coalizão, nos quais as alianças com vistas a alcançar objetivos específicos não se apóiam em vínculos de identidade significativos, e com os processos organizacionais, nos quais a ação coletiva, na maioria das vezes, ocorre antes em referência a organizações específicas do que a redes mais amplas e menos definidas. Palavras-chave: movimentos sociais; formas de ação coletiva; coalizões políticas; organizações políticas; análise de redes; identidade coletiva. Abstract This article uses empirical evidence on networks of voluntary organizations mobilizing on ethnic minority, environmental and social exclusion issues in two British cities, in order to differentiate between social movement processes and other, cognate collective action dynamics. Social movement processes are identified as the building and reproduction of dense informal networks between a multiplicity of actors sharing a collective identity and engaged in social and/or political conflict. They are contrasted to coalitional processes, where alliances to achieve specific goals are not backed by significant identity links, and organizational processes, where collective action takes place mostly in reference to specific organizations rather than broader, looser networks. Key words: social movements; forms of collective action; political coalitions; political organizations; network analysis; collective identit

Of “raisins” and “yeast”: mobilisation and framing in the East German revolution of 1989

There is no shortage of literature on the social movements that arose in East Germany in 1989. Numerous studies have shed light upon the nature, scale and dynamics of the uprising of that year. But on certain issues questions remain. No consensus exists, for example, on the relationship between the “civic groups” (New Forum, Democratic Awakening, etc.) and the street protests of the autumn of 1989. Were these simply two facets of a single movement? Or are they better characterised as two distinct streams within the same movement delta? Did the street protests push the civic movement activists into the limelight? Or is it more accurate to say, with Reinfried Musch, that “the civic movement brought the people onto the streets”?1 This paper considers two contrasting interpretations of these issues, and finds both wanting. An alternative interpretation is offered, one that draws upon Marc Steinberg's “dialogical” development of frame theory

Gluten deprivation: What nutritional changes are found during the first year in newly diagnosed coeliac children?

Aim: A gluten-free diet (GFD) can expose children to excessive calories and fat intake. The study is intended to verify whether and how food intake, laboratory parameters, and growth are modified by a year of GFD. Methods: In 79 CD (coeliac disease) children (mean age 7.9 \ub1 3.8 years, 52 females, 27 males) diagnosed over 24 months, 24-h food diaries, food-frequency patterns, anthropometric and laboratory parameters (mainly blood sugar, insulin, lipid profile, and homocysteine) were prospectively collected before and during the first year of GFD. Nutrient intakes were compared over time and with recommendations. They were also used as regressors to explain the levels and changes of metabolic and growth variables. p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Average macronutrient intake did not change during the year. Caloric intake remained below 90% (p 64 0.0001) and protein intake above 200% (p 64 0.0001) of recommendations. Lipid intake was stable at 34% of overall energy intake. Unsaturated fats increased (less omega-6 and more omega-3 with a ratio improvement from 13.3 \ub1 5.5 to 8.8 \ub1 3.1) and so did fibers, while folate decreased. The children who experienced a containment in their caloric intake during the year, presented a slower catch-up growth. Some differences were found across gender and age groups. In particular, adolescents consumed less calories, and females more omega-3. Fiber and simple sugar intakes emerged as implicated in lipid profile shift: fibers negatively with triglycerides (TG) (p = 0.033), simple sugars negatively with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (p = 0.056) and positively with TG (p = 0.004). Waist-to-height ratio was positively associated with homocysteine (p = 0.018) and Homeostasis Model Assessment (p = 0.001), negatively with fibers (p = 0.004). Conclusion: In the short run, GFD is nutritionally very similar to any diet with gluten, with some improvements in unsaturated fats and fiber intake. Along with simple sugars containment, this may offer CD patients the opportunity for a fresh start. Caloric intakes may shift and should be monitored, especially in adolescents

Social Movements and International Relations: A Relational Framework

Social movements are increasingly recognized as significant features of contemporary world politics, yet to date their treatment in international relations theory has tended to obfuscate the considerable diversity of these social formations, and the variegated interactions they may establish with state actors and different structures of world order. Highlighting the difficulties conventional liberal and critical approaches have in transcending conceptions of movements as moral entities, the article draws from two under-exploited literatures in the study of social movements in international relations, the English School and Social Systems Theory, to specify a wider range of analytical interactions between different categories of social movements and of world political structures. Moreover, by casting social movement phenomena as communications, the article opens international relations to consideration of the increasingly diverse trajectories and second-order effects produced by social movements as they interact with states, intergovernmental institutions, and transnational actors

Cities in the World: Local Civil Society and Global Issues in Britain.

In this paper I discuss whether and how mobilizations around global issues actually occupy a distinctive position in the political space, apart from the most conspicuous displays of noglobal (or new global) activism, taking place in the various counter-summits across the globe. To this purpose I focus on two instances of collective action at the local level, looking at the structure of networks of citizens’ organizations in Glasgow and Bristol. I assess to which extent globalization issues do represent a distinctive set of political interests, rather than the articulation of already established ones; do translate into a distinctive set of collective actions, again conducted by organizations with specific traits; may be associated with specific social movement dynamics, rather than being the focus of ad hoc coalitions or becoming ‘owned’ by specific organizations with little or no interest in collective action cutting across specific organizational boundaries. The analysis of two different local settings suggests that, far from being a mere addition to the new social movements milieu, or the mere revitalization of established agendas on social inequality, mobilizations on global issues be the focal point of specific alliances, based on long term links and solidarities within British civil society