Left Behind By the Alter: Why Queers and Sociologists Need Materialist Feminism

The United States marriage rights movement just culminated in July 2015 with the Supreme Court declaring same-sex marriage constitutional.  The mainstream — the mainstream media and the mainstream LGBT rights movement — all applaud this trajectory, with no attention to those who get left behind in marriage politics.  In this paper, I will argue that same-sex marriage is in need of a materialist feminist analysis.  I will critique my discipline — Sociology — for failing to adequately theorize same-sex marriage as a key component of the 21st Century landscape of the capitalist mode of production.  I will also critique the mainstream LGBT rights movement and the media attention given same-sex marriage for their lack of attention to the classed relations embedded in marriage rights.  A materialist feminist analysis will allow us to see that there’s still a need for a larger, more emancipatory sexual politics.

Criterios y pautas para la elaboración de la Guía Docente

La planificación de las asignaturas de una titulación de universitaria debe servir como marco de referencia para establecer nuevas pautas de acción. Este documento recoge las recomendaciones que, en el contexto del proyecto de Innovación Educatica de la UPM IE07 1005-028 de título "Implantación de Grupo Piloto en primer curso de la Ingeniería en Informática" han sido elaboradas para que en una primera instancia se desarrollen las guías docentes de las asignaturas de primer curso de dicha titulación en su adaptación al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior y según las directrices del MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN Y CIENCIA (REAL DECRETO 1393/2007, de 29 de octubre, por el que se establece la ordenación de las enseñanzas universitarias oficiales), así como las de la Universidad Politécnica de Madri

What about the men? Perinatal experiences of men of color whose partners were at risk for preterm birth, a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND:Preterm birth in the United States is associated with maternal clinical factors such as diabetes, hypertension and social factors including race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In California, 8.7% of all live births are preterm, with African American and Black families experiencing the greatest burden. The impact of paternal factors on birth outcomes has been studied, but little is known about the experience of men of color (MOC). The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of MOC who are partners to women at medical and social risk for preterm birth. METHODS:This study used a qualitative research design and focus group methods. The research was embedded within an existing study exploring experiences of women of color at risk for preterm birth conducted by the California Preterm Birth Initiative. RESULTS:Twelve MOC participated in the study and among them had 9 preterm children. Four themes emerged from thematic analysis of men's experiences: (1) "Being the Rock": Providing comfort and security; (2) "It's a blessing all the way around": Keeping faith during uncertainty; (3) "Tell me EVERYTHING": Unmet needs during pregnancy and delivery; (4) "Like a guinea pig": Frustration with the healthcare system. Participants identified many barriers to having a healthy pregnancy and birth including inadequate support for decision making, differential treatment, and discrimination. CONCLUSIONS:This study shows novel and shared narratives regarding MOC experiences during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum periods. Healthcare providers have an essential role to acknowledge MOC, their experience of discrimination and mistrust, and to assess needs for support that can improve birth outcomes. As MOC and their families are at especially high social and medical risk for preterm birth, their voice and experience should be central in all future research on this topic

Generation and diffusion of innovations in a district learning system: the case of Ink-Jet Printing

Abstract is included in the paper uploaded

Progress in estimates of ILUC with MIRAGE model

JRC started in 2012 a collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to carry out further work with the economic model MIRAGE used to calculate the ILUC emissions included in the Commission policy proposal COM(2012)595.. Results are expected to further reduce uncertainties in ILUC estimates. This work presents and discusses the results of new runs of MIRAGE model delivered to the JRC-IET. In particular, IFPRI was asked to: - Evaluate GHG emissions by crop groups (sugar, cereals and oil crops), maintaining the same model assumptions/parameters as in the previous analysis. - Make new runs of the MIRAGE economic model, with improved assumptions/parameters as suggested by the JRC The changes brought by IFPRI to their model raise the ILUC emissions compared to 2011 values, especially for EU ethanol.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

Historical deforestation due to expansion of crop demand: implications for biofuels

The report presents an independent estimate of the part of LUC emissions due to deforestation, starting from the 29% of historical deforestation area (and estimated emissions) caused by expansion of different crops. The deforestation area and emissions per tonne of extra crop are converted to emissions per MJ biofuel from that crop. The average global deforestation caused by increase in production of a crop or biofuel is estimated, making no geographical differentiation in where the extra demand occurs or where that would provoke deforestation. The source of historical deforestation data is a report published by DG ENV [EC 2013] which estimates which areas of forest were lost to different crops and to other land uses (grazing, logged forest, urban and others) between 1990 and 2008. It used historical deforestation data from FAO’s Forest Resource Assessment 2010, interpreted with other FAO data. The emissions are calculated only from deforestation and peat forest drainage, attributed to each MJ biofuel. This does not include emissions from the grassland area converted to cropland. This method gives an independent verification of the general magnitude of LUC area and emissions which should be expected from bottom-up models of LUC for scenarios, and the results indicate that historical LUC emissions were higher than those estimated by most economic models.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

Everybody is just Manchester: mothers’ perspectives on (non)engagement with services as a lens to trouble a neoliberal equality discourse in early years policy

In 2006, the UK government piloted free childcare for two-year-olds from disadvantaged families, expanding this into the ‘two-year-old offer’ (DfE, 2014). Despite efforts to widen participation, families from minority ethnic communities appear less likely to take up the offer (DfE, 2012). Research into non-engagement by families, particularly mothers, from minority ethnic communities frequently find reasons such as language barriers, a lack of service awareness or issues relating to isolation. These conclusions reflect cultural and political tensions that locate problems within communities and do not question powerful normative discourses. Through the narrated experiences of a small group of mothers from Pakistani and Somali heritage, whose young children have engaged with the two-year-old offer, this study interrogates discourses of (non)engagement. The study moves away from focusing research ‘on’ participants, to trouble the neoliberal discourses of equality that shape early years policies, constructing ideas of (non)engagement. By putting a postcolonial feminist lens to work with the stories shared by women in this study, nuanced discussions emerge that entangle their experiences of (non)engagement with broader experiences of sameness, difference and belonging that hint at invisible, powerful equality discourses. The impact of working with postcolonial feminism as a theoretical tool and methodological approach enabled me to think differently about the women’s stories, offering an important focus for analysis, whilst also unsettling the many assumptions and taken-for-granted knowledges I was carrying with me, as a doctoral student. Ruptures, ambiguity and precarity became themes to analyse, not only the study topic of (non)engagement, but also the experience of conducting the research

Estimates of indirect land use change from biofuels based on historical data

ILUC emissions from biofuels are commonly estimated with sophisticated economic models of world agriculture. Because these are often complex, the JRC in collaboration with Overmars and PBL has evaluated and developed an alternative approach base on “historical” data. This approach gives simple and transparent estimates of ILUC emissions in recent years, even if the method is less rigorous in principle than estimates based on sophisticated economic models. ILUC emissions calculated by a methodology using historical data are generally in line with those of economic models, showing a lower impact of cereals and sugar crops compared to vegetable oils.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

Use cases for Internet of Things (IoT) in the construction sector: Lessons from leading industries

This study conducts a cross-sectoral comparative analysis of academic and industry literature to determine the use cases of the internet of things (IoT). Specifically, the research seeks to explore digital applications (e.g., building information modeling (BIM), radio frequency identification (RFID)) within the construction supply chain – a sector berated for its lack of innovation. An interpretivist epistemological lens provides the overarching methodological approach adopted in which the literature constitutes units of analysis. Ensuing discussion defines the architecture of proposed real-life scenarios and provides a description of an IoT layout for these scenarios. In practical terms, the study contributes to the field by raising awareness of potential use cases of IoT for construction practitioners as ‘proof of concepts’. For researchers, the findings provide a blueprint template layout of suggested use cases to be tested in future research studies hence, offering a sound basis and a fertile ground for advancing the body of knowledge on this topic area

The RUMERTIME Process as a Protective Factor in School Attendance Problems

The RUMERTIME Process (RP) is a five-step culturally responsive social-emotional, problem-solving, prevention-intervention strategy used to educate, equip, and empower students, educators, and families. The RP equips individuals with the abilities to recognize, understand, manage, express, and reflect on their thoughts, interactions, mindsets, and emotions (RUMERTIME) in relation to themselves, others, and the daily life challenges they face within multiple systems and settings. The RP is embedded within the Cultivating SEEDS System framework (CSS) and is utilized to equip culturally diverse communities, inclusive of students, family members, educators, and administrators, with the social-emotional skills to effectively solve student attendance problems (SAPs). The data shared in this practice intervention article are descriptive in nature and highlight the RP as a protective factor and explain its three goals. The paper consists of three parts: (a) introduction of the RP, which is embedded in the CSS framework; (b) description of implementation of the RP as integral to the Daytime Intervention Room (DIR) program; and (c) discussion of risk factors that qualified students to receive services through the DIR program as well as data that demonstrated how the RP performed as a protective factor. The DIR program was aimed at creating an alternative to out-of-school suspension (OSS) and the traditional punitive in-school suspension (ISS). The program was established in each of the four schools in an urban high-needs school district in the midwest region of the United States. The DIR program was intentionally designed to include multiple levels, stakeholders, and delivery support, thus creating a solid base for the holistic development of students, educators, and parents. In conjunction with the CSS framework, the DIR program sought to increase academic performance, decrease the number of behavior referrals, and improve attendance rates in this high-needs urban school district