A ‘new normal’ for the social sciences: improving pandemic preparedness and response

COVID-19 has led to an upheaval in almost all aspects of life, including the role of the social sciences in public health and pandemic responses. Whereas in the past, the social sciences have often played the role of cultural brokers, this upheaval offers an opportunity to explore a ‘new normal’, characterised by social scientists taking an engaged role in understanding, planning and responding to pandemic events. Dr. Myles Leslie, Dr. Raad Fadaak and Ms. Nicole Pinto discuss their role as ‘alongsiders’ in the response to the pandemic in Alberta, Canada and how the effectiveness of their response has lessons for the role of the social sciences going forward

Tropical cloud-radiative changes contribute to robust climate change-induced jet exit strengthening over Europe during boreal winter

The North Atlantic jet stream is projected to extend eastward towards Europe in boreal winter in response to climate change. We show that this response is robust across a hierarchy of climate models and climate change scenarios. We further show that cloud-radiative changes contribute robustly to the eastward extension of the jet stream in three atmosphere models, but lead to model uncertainties in the jet stream response over the North Atlantic. The magnitude of the cloud contribution depends on the model, consistent with differences in the magnitude of changes in upper-tropospheric cloud-radiative heating. We further study the role of regional cloud changes in one of the three atmosphere models, i.e. the ICON model. Tropical cloud-radiative changes dominate the cloud impact on the eastward extension of the jet stream in ICON. Cloud-radiative changes over the Indian Ocean, western tropical Pacific, and eastern tropical Pacific contribute to this response, while tropical Atlantic cloud changes have a minor impact. Our results highlight the importance of upper-tropospheric tropical clouds for the regional circulation response to climate change over the North Atlantic-European region and uncertainty therein

Cloud‐Radiative Impact on the Regional Responses of the Midlatitude Jet Streams and Storm Tracks to Global Warming

Previous work demonstrated the strong radiative coupling between clouds and the mid‐latitude circulation. Here, we investigate the impact of cloud‐radiative changes on the global warming response of the mid‐latitude jet streams and storm tracks in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere. To this end, we use the ICON global atmosphere model in present‐day setup and with the cloud‐locking method. Sea surface temperatures (SST) are prescribed to isolate the circulation response to atmospheric cloud‐radiative heating. In the annual mean, cloud‐radiative changes contribute one‐ to two‐thirds to the poleward jet shift in all three ocean basins, and support the jet strengthening in the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere. Cloud‐radiative changes also impact the storm track, but the impact is more diverse across the three ocean basins. The cloud‐radiative impact on the North Atlantic and North Pacific jets varies little from season to season in absolute terms, whereas its relative importance changes over the course of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, cloud‐radiative changes strengthen the jet in all seasons, whereas their impact on the jet shift is limited to austral summer and fall. The cloud‐radiative impact is largely zonally‐symmetric and independent of whether global warming is mimicked by a uniform 4 K or spatially‐varying SST increase. Our results emphasize the importance of cloud‐radiative changes for the response of the mid‐latitude circulation to global warming, indicating that clouds can contribute to uncertainty in model projections of future circulations

Cloud‐Radiative Impact on the Regional Responses of the Midlatitude Jet Streams and Storm Tracks to Global Warming

Previous work demonstrated the strong radiative coupling between clouds and the mid‐latitude circulation. Here, we investigate the impact of cloud‐radiative changes on the global warming response of the mid‐latitude jet streams and storm tracks in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere. To this end, we use the ICON global atmosphere model in present‐day setup and with the cloud‐locking method. Sea surface temperatures (SST) are prescribed to isolate the circulation response to atmospheric cloud‐radiative heating. In the annual mean, cloud‐radiative changes contribute one‐ to two‐thirds to the poleward jet shift in all three ocean basins, and support the jet strengthening in the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere. Cloud‐radiative changes also impact the storm track, but the impact is more diverse across the three ocean basins. The cloud‐radiative impact on the North Atlantic and North Pacific jets varies little from season to season in absolute terms, whereas its relative importance changes over the course of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, cloud‐radiative changes strengthen the jet in all seasons, whereas their impact on the jet shift is limited to austral summer and fall. The cloud‐radiative impact is largely zonally‐symmetric and independent of whether global warming is mimicked by a uniform 4 K or spatially‐varying SST increase. Our results emphasize the importance of cloud‐radiative changes for the response of the mid‐latitude circulation to global warming, indicating that clouds can contribute to uncertainty in model projections of future circulations

Jaguar-Women: Mythology, Gender and Cannibalism on Marico Complex

The mythological narratives of the people originating from the tributaries of the right bank of the middle Guaporé River reveal an intimate connection between gender relations and human / animal / spirit difference. The myths emphasize, on the one hand, the conditions for the possibility of a society composed of cross-sex relations, and on the other hand, the cannibalism practiced by women. From the articulation with the daily ethnography, in particular regarding the production and consumption of fermented drink, the article suggests that female’s cannibalism, ie, the virtual identification between women and jaguars, is the condition for the (current) difference that separates human from nonhuman and human among themselves.As narrativas mitológicas dos povos originários dos afluentes da margem direita do médio rio Guaporé revelam uma íntima conexão entre relações de gênero e a diferença humano/animal/espírito.  Enfatizam, por um lado, as condições de possibilidade de uma sociedade composta por relações de sexo oposto, e por outro lado, a “antropofagia” praticada pelas mulheres. A partir da articulação com a etnografia cotidiana, em particular referente à produção e consumo de bebida fermentada, o artigo sugere que a antropofagia feminina, i.e., a identificação virtual das mulheres com as onças, é a condição para a diferença (atual) que separa os humanos dos não-humanos e os humanos entre si

A participação social na transformação digital dos serviços públicos: potenciais e limites para a cidadania

As iniciativas de cidades inteligentes têm crescido nas cidades brasileiras nos últimos quatro anos e uma dessas iniciativas é a digitalização de serviços públicos, ou seja, transformar serviços presenciais em serviços digitais desde o pedido, passando pela análise até a entrega. Dentre os atores-chave que contribuíram para o aumento dessa iniciativa, destaca-se o Poder Executivo Federal, que tem buscado promover a transformação digital do governo, incluindo a dos serviços públicos, com o argumento de que isso é importante para aumentar a eficiência pública, participação social e satisfação do cidadão. Se o governo busca ser centrado no cidadão, é essencial a participação dos cidadãos nas políticas públicas. Por isso, o objetivo deste trabalho é compreender como se qualifica a participação social na construção das políticas de transformação digital dos serviços no âmbito do Poder Executivo Federal e Municipal, destacando o município de Niterói, cidade da Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro, que começou a digitalizar os serviços prestados ao cidadão neste ano a partir da criação do Portal de Serviços. São objetivos específicos: 1. Definir a conceituação de cidadania no contexto de cidades inteligentes; 2. Mapear os principais atores e características da pauta da digitalização de serviços no âmbito do Poder Executivo Federal e do Município de Niterói; e 3. Analisar a interpretação de cidadania promulgada nas iniciativas estabelecidas pelo Poder Executivo Federal e Municipal, no caso de Niterói. A metodologia utilizada foi uma pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, através das informações disponibilizadas pelos entes governamentais analisados. Pode-se dizer que o Governo Federal e Niterói estariam em um terceiro grau de democracia digital segundo as características de Gomes (2005a) e Silva (2005), pois não há uma transferência de tomada de decisão à esfera civil. Além disso, foi identificada uma grande participação do mercado em temas urbanos, ligados a cidades inteligentes, o que leva a discussão de que esta tomada de decisão esteja sendo realizada pelos agentes privados ao invés daqueles que seriam capazes de promover uma reforma com uma redução nas desigualdades, o que é contrário ao discurso das iniciativas serem “focadas no cidadão”

“Entre as Teias do Marico : parentes e pajés djeoromitxi”

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Departamento de Antropologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia Social, 2014.Esta tese é um esforço etnográfico sobre os temas do parentesco e do xamanismo entre os Kurupfü, subgrupo djeoromitxi, de língua macro-jê, habitantes do sudoeste amazônico (T.I. Rio Guaporé/ Rondônia). Considerando a conexão entre estes dois temas de estudo, abordo-os a partir da noção de perspectiva, pois interessam as transformações ou assimetrias requeridas por um e pelo outro. O intuito é explorar o processo de constituição da pessoa, isto é, o que se entende por ‘ser parente’ e o que se entende por ‘ser pajé’. Ao final, dialogo com os debates contemporâneos preocupados com o uso e apropriação do conceito de cultura pelos coletivos indígenas.This thesis is an ethnographic effort on the themes of kinship and shamanism among Kurupfü, a djeoromitxí subgroup, macro-je speakers, inhabitants of the southwest Amazon (T.I. Rio Guapore/ Rondônia). Considering the connection between these two subjects of study, I approach them from the notion of perspective, because it concerns the transformation or asymmetries required by one and the other. The aim is to explore the formation process of the person, i.e., what is meant by ‘being a relative’ and what is meant by ‘being a shaman’. At the end, I’ll dialogue with contemporary debates concerned with the use and appropriation of the concept of culture by indigenous collectives