Notebooks. The Journal for Studies on Power

This is the abstract of the contribution in English on the new online and printed Cagliari-based review “Notebooks: Journal for Studies on Power

Gramsci’s passive revolution and social movements in South Africa, 2015- 2018 : the student/worker rebellion and the National Union of Metalworkers

D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)Abstract: Following the end of apartheid, South Africa experienced political re-structuring and some economic reform, but 25 years later it faces the highest level of inequality in the world. There is relentless, if diffused resistance, but the ruling classes’ power and legitimacy remain intact. This situation resonates with the problems that confronted Antonio Gramsci, and this dissertation takes its cue from his theoretical standpoint, specifically his concept of ‘passive revolution’. This concept often appears in academic literature in relation to state formation and the formative action of capital, but it is deployed here to understand dynamics associated with two movements of subalterns: the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the student/worker struggle in Johannesburg of FeesMustFall and EndOutsourcing (FMF-EO). These movements have been selected because of their location at the forefront of challenging the country’s status quo. By assembling and analysing substantial empirical data it has been possible to offer an account of their limitations and potentialities, and through this appraisal, to shed light on why, despite a high level of social conflict, there has as yet been no point of rupture in post-apartheid South Africa. The research findings show that, while the two movements diverge in their limitations and potentialities, they also have important similarities. NUMSA is a well-structured and militant organisation, but has struggled to produce an ideology able to connect the material needs of the working class with the practical articulation of a political project. There is an absence of shared collective clarity around ideological references and a lack of debate on perspectives of a future society. So far, despite significant political interventions, the union has been unable to lead sections of the working class beyond organised labour, and has neither provided a basis for transforming itself, nor its partner structures, into revolutionary movements. In contrast, the student/worker movement intervened in South African society through struggle around common-sense immediate demands which articulated, in practical terms, glimmers of alternative social relations, thereby questioning the nature of the whole post-apartheid capitalist system. However, lack of structured organisation and the absence of a wider political project prevented the movement from establishing stable connections with other subaltern groups, and it was unable to survive the fierce reaction of its adversaries. This dissertation argues that the current unfolding of passive revolution in South Africa is firstly, intertwined with long-standing structural characteristics and secondly, based on the hegemonic role of compromise politics. Neither NUMSA nor FMF-EO managed to delegitimise the latter on a fundamental level, and they were unable to advance new political projects. The concept of passive revolution, in its organisational tension, offers the framework to rethink the current standing of potentially revolutionary movements and to restructure the working priorities of organisations that..

Notebooks. The Journal for Studies on Power

This is the abstract of the contribution in English on the new online and printed Cagliari-based review “Notebooks: Journal for Studies on Power

Hotel Eco-Friendly

TESIS PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE MAGÍSTER EN MARKETINGFrancesco Pontarelli [Parte I], María Fernanda Ramos Alarcón [Parte II]El plan de marketing descrito a continuación busca la implementación de un hotel de características ecológicas en la zona central de Chile, la que según datos de Sernatur es la que recibe anualmente la mayor cantidad de turistas tanto nacionales como extranjeros, para definir el concepto bajo el cual se implementará el hotel, se ha tomado como referencia el concepto de Eco-Friendly al cual los autores han llegado a definir a través de la exploración de fuentes nacionales como también a nivel internacional. La estrategia a implementar se basará en en los ejes estratégicos logrados a partir de un análisis situacional que dio como resultado tres posibles opciones de desarrollo como lo so 1.- Aprovechar la búsqueda de viajes cortos de naturaleza a partir de una oferta basada en nuestra capacidad de inversión, y flexibilidad para dar ofertas concretas a partir de nuestro conocimiento de las necesidades de los clientes. 2.- Hacer frente a la desaceleración económica de los países latinoamericanos a partir de una oferta nueva, que se adecue a la necesidades especificas de los clientes generando propuestas flexibles y de colaboración con otros oferentes. 3.- Aprovechar el reconocimiento de Chile como destino de turismo de naturaleza y el apoyo de planes de gobierno a esta industria con una oferta novedosa basada en el conocimiento de los clientes. A partir de los ejes estratégicos, el plan de marketing buscará cumplir con los siguientes objetivos: 1. Conseguir a partir de nuestra propuesta como hotel sustentable ser reconocidos ante los consumidores pro ecológicos, como el mejor hotel ecológico en la zona de Casablanca, en un plazo de dos años. 2. Mejorar la competitividad del sector con trabajadores altamente capacitados, que entreguen valor en su desempeño, y contribuir al cierre de las brechas entre las competencias que tengan los profesionales del sector y los requerimientos de la industria. La consecución de los objetivos de marketing se plasman en la propuesta de valor definida como "Un hotel a menos de una hora de la capital de Chile, el que permitirá a sus huéspedes a partir de sus emplazamiento, mobiliario y actividades de naturaleza una experiencia ecológica y sensación de desconexión, relajo y disfrute.” En el plan de marketing se podrá observar en detalle el desarrollo de las siete variables del marketing de servicios, lo que concluye con un detalle del planes de implementaciones que permitan así el completo cumplimiento de los objetivos al final del segundo año de implementado el hotel

Protective role of group-II metabotropic glutamate receptors against nigro-striatal degeneration induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropiridine in mice

To examine how mGlu2/3 metabotropic glutamate receptors affect nigro-striatal degeneration, we used the agonist, LY379268, and the antagonist, LY341495, in mice challenged with the nigro-striatal toxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). In control mice, high doses of MPTP (20 mg/kg, i.p., injected four times with 2 h of interval) induced a nearly total degeneration of the nigro-striatal pathway, as shown by measurements of striatal dopamine (DA) levels and by immunohistochemical analysis of tyrosine hydroxylase, high affinity dopamine transporter, and glial fibrillary acidic protein in the corpus striatum and substantia nigra. Lower cumulative doses of MPTP (30 mg/kg, i.p., injected only once) produced a partial lesion of the nigro-striatal pathway (about 50% reduction of striatal DA content). Systemic injection of LY379268 (1 mg/kg, i.p., 30 min prior to each injection of MPTP) partially reduced the extent of nigro-striatal degeneration induced by high doses of MPTP. Similar results were obtained by continuously delivering LY379268 (1 mg/kg/d for 7 d) by means of a subcutaneous osmotic minipump. The protective effect of LY379268 was antagonized by LY341495 (also delivered by the osmotic minipump). In mice challenged with the lower cumulative dose of MPTP, injection of LY379268 did not produce a significant neuroprotective effect. In contrast, the lesion was amplified by the antagonist, LY341495. Neither LY379268 nor LY341495 influenced the central bioavailability and the local half-life of MPTP, as shown by measurements of the toxin and its active metabolite, MPP(+), in the striatum. We conclude that mGlu2/3 receptors play a protective role against MPTP toxicity, and that the efficacy of the agonist, LY379268, critically depends on the extent of the nigro-striatal lesion

Louse-borne relapsing fever in a refugee from Mali

INTRODUCTION: Due to the increasing number of refugees from East Africa, louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) has become an emergent disease in Europe. No single case of LBRF has been reported in Europe in refugees from other parts of Africa. CASE REPORT: We report a case of LBRF in a refugee from Mali, likely acquired in Libya, where several migration routes into Europe meet. The disease must be considered in any febrile refugee regardless the country of origin