Negotiating collective identities towards inclusive socialaction and change in Argentina

In this post, Navé Wald presents the model of social development employed by grassroots peasant and indigenous organisations in Argentina. These organisations are working to revalidate peasant/indigenous ways of life and identity by challenging the political, economic and social marginalisation of the communities they work with. In this context, Wald discusses, the negotiation of collective identities within and outside the organisations is of paramount importance to maintain unity amongst their members

Negociando identidades colectivas para la acción social inclusiva y el cambio en Argentina

En este post, Navé Wald presenta el modelo de desarrollo social empleado por organizaciones campesinas e indígenas en Argentina. Estas organizaciones están trabajando para ratificar la identidad y formas de vida indígena/campesina, desafiando la marginación política, económica y social de las comunidades con las que trabajan. En este contexto, Wald argumenta que la negociación de las identidades colectivas dentro y fuera de las organizaciones es de vital importancia para mantener la unidad entre sus miembros

Tensions around Land Tenure in Argentina's Agrarian Periphery: Scales and Multiple Temporalities of Capitalism in Santiago del Estero

Este artículo contribuye a los debates sobre la transformación capitalista y el impacto en las estructuras agrarias periféricas, centrándose en la provincia de Santiago del Estero (norte de Argentina). Uno de los argumentos presentados es que el concepto de acaparamiento de tierras podría ser útil para un análisis cualitativo más que cuantitativo de la dinámica reciente del mercado de tierras en este territorio, aun cuando la concentración de la tierra es anterior y se aceleró en las últimas décadas con la expansión del cultivo de soja. Las tensiones entre distintos actores se realizan en el contexto de la actual crisis del sistema capitalista mundial y su expansión en tierras ocupadas por campesinos con tenencia precaria y con lógicas económicas distintas a las promovidas por el capitalismo. La presencia significativa del campesinado y la existencia de explotaciones sin límites definidos son un legado de la historia agraria de la provincia, caracterizada por procesos de distintas temporalidades y escalas. Este artículo busca entender los solapamientos y las tensiones entre estos procesos.This article contributes to discussions on capitalist transformation and impact on peripheral agriculture by focusing on the province of Santiago del Estero in northern Argentina. The concept of land grabbing is useful for qualitative analysis of the recent dynamics in the land market in this peripheral territory, where the concentration of land for agrarian use is historical but has accelerated in recent decades with the expansion of soybean cultivation. Tensions between capitalist and noncapitalist actors have been taking place within the current crisis of the world capitalist system and its expansion to marginal lands, often occupied by peasant producers with precarious tenure and different logics to that of market capitalism. The province’s history is characterized by processes of different temporalities and scales of limited capitalist transformation, agrarian land concentration, and exploitation of local populations. This article seeks to understand the overlaps and tensions in these processes.Fil: Paz, Raul Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Humanidades Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social; ArgentinaFil: Jara, Cristian Emanuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Humanidades Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social; ArgentinaFil: Wald, Navé. University of Otago; Nueva Zeland

Mutations in UDP-Glucose:Sterol Glucosyltransferase in Arabidopsis Cause Transparent Testa Phenotype and Suberization Defect in Seeds

In higher plants, the most abundant sterol derivatives are steryl glycosides (SGs) and acyl SGs. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) contains two genes, UGT80A2 and UGT80B1, that encode UDP-Glc:sterol glycosyltransferases, enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of SGs. Lines having mutations in UGT80A2, UGT80B1, or both UGT80A2 and UGT8B1 were identified and characterized. The ugt80A2 lines were viable and exhibited relatively minor effects on plant growth. Conversely, ugt80B1 mutants displayed an array of phenotypes that were pronounced in the embryo and seed. Most notable was the finding that ugt80B1 was allelic to transparent testa15 and displayed a transparent testa phenotype and a reduction in seed size. In addition to the role of UGT80B1 in the deposition of flavanoids, a loss of suberization of the seed was apparent in ugt80B1 by the lack of autofluorescence at the hilum region. Moreover, in ugt80B1, scanning and transmission electron microscopy reveals that the outer integument of the seed coat lost the electron-dense cuticle layer at its surface and displayed altered cell morphology. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry of lipid polyester monomers confirmed a drastic decrease in aliphatic suberin and cutin-like polymers that was associated with an inability to limit tetrazolium salt uptake. The findings suggest a membrane function for SGs and acyl SGs in trafficking of lipid polyester precursors. An ancillary observation was that cellulose biosynthesis was unaffected in the double mutant, inconsistent with a predicted role for SGs in priming cellulose synthesis

Higher education teachers’ experiences of becoming research active: striving for university status in the Global South

Higher education institutions are seen as pivotal for fostering national economic growth in a globalised knowledge economy. Conducting research is an important aspect of that role, and there is pressure on institutions to increase their knowledge production, as well as to ofer advanced research degrees. This requires academics with doctoral level qualifcation who research in their feld. Research productivity is important for institutions because it contributes to prestige and better rankings in league tables, which result in more or better resources. This qualitative study examines the notion of ‘turning teachers into academics’ through the experiences of lecturers in a teaching-focused institution in Malaysia seeking university status. Becoming research active requires resources and a supportive environment that were largely unavailable, and so participants experienced an unhealthy intensifcation of their academic work and struggled to do research or complete their PhD qualifcations. The study showed that a successful transition required teachers to be genuinely motivated to do research and the institutions to provide adequate support. Under current circumstances of ferce competition between institutions and the inability to compromise teaching allocations, it is not clear how, or if, such a transition can happen without adversely afecting staf wellbeing