El gir simètric en l'estudi de l'acció col·lectiva : les mobilitzacions per la controvèrsia ecològica de Doñana

Conceptualizar y comprender las formas de acción colectiva es una de las preocupaciones históricas del pensamiento social. Buena prueba de esto es el extenso historial de disputas y de polémicas que recorre la larga historia del pensamiento acerca de estos fenómenos sociales, lo cual, por otra parte, pone de manifiesto la dificultad que las ciencias sociales tienen, y han tenido, a la hora de definir, explicar y acotar un fenómeno tan efímero y liminal como éste. En este contexto, propongo discutir las implicaciones que un enfoque STS puede tener para el análisis de la acción colectiva contemporánea. La hipótesis central que desarrolla esta tesis sostiene que el bagaje conceptual y metodológico que aporta la Teoría del Actor-Red (ANT), y su plasmación en lo que se ha dado en llamar el giro simétrico en las ciencias sociales, deviene un recurso fundamental para renovar y enriquecer el análisis de la acción colectiva.Conceptualising and understanding forms of collective action is one of the historic preoccupations of social thought. Good evidence of this can be found in the long line of disputes and polemics that runs through the history of thought about these social phenomena. It shows the difficulty social sciences have faced, and continue to face, when it comes to defining, explaining and delineating a phenomena as ephemeral and liminal as this one. In this context, I propose that a discussion of the implications an STS focus could have for the analysis of contemporary collective action. The main hypothesis I develop states that the conceptual and methodological baggage that goes with the Actor-Network theory (ANT), and its shaping into what has been called the 'symmetrical turn' in the social sciences, become a fundamental resource for renewing and enriching the analysis of collective action

Ecological crisis and nature management : the virtualization and actualization tension in Doñana's disaster

We live in increasingly complex societies. Since the very beginning social thought has tried to answer that question: what holds us together? Social thought has assumed profoundly this challenge. We have found some good tools to understand it, but also we have learned that this is a never ending work. In order to understand how the social is produced in contemporary societies we want to reflect on the usefulness of new concepts to rethink the question concerning the social

State College Times, April 2, 1934

Volume 22, Issue 95https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/state_college_times_1934/1045/thumbnail.jp

Reassembling activism, activating assemblages: an introduction

This introductory essay conceptually situates the dialogue between Actor–Network Theory (ANT) and Social Movement Studies that this special issue aims to foster. Rather than considering ANT as a theory in the classic sense, we define it as a theoretical sensibility open to permanently redrawing its own shape in response to the relational entanglements it studies. ANT and its sibling, assemblage theory, have allowed scholars to attend to the complex ecologies within which agents, both human and non-human, mobilise to effect change in overlapping social, ecological, economic and technological realms. In these studies, relations take precedence over substances, thereby forging a radically decentred, redistributed approach to mobilisation. As such, ANT offers a point of departure from dominant understandings of social movements that rely on modernist, dualist epistemologies; ANT studies have expanded the body politic through the incorporation of non-human actants, and redefined collective action as a form of association between heterogeneous entities. Ultimately, we argue that ANT is a useful tool in the task of constructing forms of attention and care that aspire to learn from and think with social movements, rather than explaining them away

Digital social connectedness as a lifeline for older people: Use and non‑use of VinclesBCN during the pandemic

This article presents the results of a study that evaluated VinclesBCN during COVID-19. This digital-based public social service aims to prevent loneliness and isolation in +65-year-old adults living in Barcelona. Through service user (N = 12) and professional (N = 6) interviews and a questionnaire with service users (N = 255), we demonstrate the pivotal role of digital connectedness in transforming VinclesBCN into a lifeline during the pandemic. The analysis revealed the importance of sociability, social support, and, especially, entertainment in coping with pandemic fatigue and facilitating social connectivity and support among users. Users engaged in activities such as sharing images, songs, memes, and daily greetings to provide proximity, sociability, and care among users, whether they belonged to preexisting groups or were newly introduced to the platform. It also facilitated the identification of individuals who needed companionship, comfort, or more specialized support. The findings emphasize the significance of entertainment as a resilience-building strategy during times of uncertainty. Despite the positive impact, not all users equally used the platform. Non-use was strongly associated with being a woman, having a low educational level, having preexisting social relationships, less time of enrolment in the platform, as well as a high perception of loneliness, poor self-reported health, and low mood. The article underscores the need for further research into older adults’ digital engagement during crises, its role in building resilience, and advocating for inclusive digital interventions that take into account diverse older adults’ needs and experiences in crisis contexts

El discurso de los objetos. Museos y comunicación pública de la ciencia

Reality is eminently symbolic. But that feature is not only exclusive of textual and discursive realms. There are more practices beyond that dimension which produce sense and meaning. Meaning has to do with objects and things, as well. In this text we argue that to introduce materiality and objects' semiotic action in our concerns a1low us to explain social reality in richer and more complex ways than those related onlly with a discursive linguistic dimension. If there is a paradigmatic example of those regards, that is what concerns the named object's collections and their inclusion ni the spaces what we call museums. Those constitute complex machine wich produces social laces. So as to get that goal we focus on some data collected,for loger than one year, in El Museu de la Ciencia de la Fundació "La Caixa" de Barcelona. The text will argue inside the science museum. the objects and material realms play a crucial role in scientific knowledge production and in the social order prodUtion, as well

Down to earth social movements: an interview with Bruno Latour

Taking his most recent publications on ways to engage with the planet as a point of departure, this conversation with Bruno Latour considers some of the political and conceptual challenges associated with what he calls the New Climate Regime. Latour discusses the need for breaking with the modernist framework that set the stage for the environmental crisis in the first place, and which has also hindered the capacity of social movements to affect the situation. Latour argues that only a new body politic (inclusive of non-humans) and a new geosocial politics (attuned to Gaia) will open up the possibility for sustaining life on our severely damaged planet

Diásporas y transiciones en la Teoría del Actor-Red

Este texto es una presentación del monográfico Diásporas y transiciones en la teoría del actor-red. Sus páginas presentan las principales características de esta teoría, una manera de entender sus orígenes y una descripción de su presente estableciendo un paralelismo con la etnometodología. El texto finaliza con una valoración del estado de la teoría del actor-red en España y un comentario sobre un congreso que llevó el título de Presente y futuro de la teoría del actor-red y que constituye el embrión del presente monográfico. En el texto se defiende una tesis muy simple: la teoría del actor-red nace con cierta relevancia para el pensamiento social en el momento en que se difracta en una miríada de usos y aplicaciones diferentes. El principal corolario de este hecho también es muy sencillo: la gran diferencia entre la teoría del actor-red y otras propuestas del pensamiento social es su permanente estado de diáspora y transiciónThis paper is an introduction to the monograph titled Diasporas and Transitions in the Actor-Network Theory. Drawing a parallel with ethnomethodology, its pages present the main features of this theory, a way to figure out its origins and a description of its present. The text ends with a brief look at the state of art of actor-network theory in Spain and an appraisal of a meeting titled Present and Future of Actor-Network Theory, which is the origin of our monograph. In this paper we put forward a very simple idea: Actor-Network Theory was born with certain relevance in Social Sciences when it diffracted in a myriad of different uses and applications. The main corollary of such an idea is also straightforward: the very difference between Actor- Network Theory and other perspectives in Social Sciences resides in the permanent diaspora and transition of the forme

Vulnerability analysis to wildland- urban interface fires in metropolitan areas: an integrated approach

Wildfires pose a growing threat to populated areas around the world and especially in the Mediterranean Basin. Numerous Mediterranean cities have typically developed neighbourhoods that expand into forest land in which basic aspects for an efficient WUI fire management have not been considered. In this paper, we present a holistic approach to analyse threats to metropolitan areas due to WUI fires, accounting for infrastructural, societal and ecosystems vulnerability at settlement scale. Based on design fires and the key parameters responsible of fire impact and percolation through communities of most probable WUI fire events, we define key indicators to describe how vulnerable structures are in WUI metropolitan areas. Following, urban and societal indicators are selected to account for population’s vulnerability and, finally, ecosystems potential losses are accounted by ecosystem vulnerability indicators such as ecosystem sensitivity and adaptability. We have implemented this methodology to analyse vulnerability in Barcelona WUI areas and identified those that can be more threatened in case of wildfire. Results of this study will be key to inform risk-reduction public policies, as they provide particular insights on those WUI areas within Barcelona municipality that should be prioritized along with the specific issues that should be tackled.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version