No Amotines El Gallinero: Domestic Worker Agency And Identity In Lima, Peru And The Daily Struggle

For centuries, indigenous women have been forced to labor in slave-like conditions as domestic workers in Lima, Peru. With neoliberal practices on the rise, Peru’s domestic labor informal economic sector struggles with sociopolitical representation. The downtrodden women of the household work economy exemplify the national perception of desconfianza, or distrust, as it trickles down from the wealthier individuals to those living in poverty. Although the nature of domestic work is a product of hegemonic colonial relations and, recently, violent social movements in the late 20th century, increasing attempts for government transparency and nongovernmental involvement, have created a slowly recovering broken social system. In this thesis, I ascertain that the identity of trabajadoras, or female workers, is primarily driven by their agency as they struggle to become upwardly mobile

Book review: Metrics at work: journalism and the contested meaning of algorithms by Angèle Christin

In Metrics at Work: Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms, Angèle Christin explores how the introduction of metrics and algorithms has affected journalists’ work practices and professional identities. Showing how metrics can work to exacerbate existing divergences and gaps between and within organisations, this book will appeal to those interested in social studies of technology, the sociology of work and critical data studies, writes Lucas Stiglich. Metrics at Work: Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms. Angèle Christin. Princeton University Press, 2020

Non-Physical Abuse Behavioral Changes in First Time Expectant Fathers

The nine months of a pregnancy produce monumental physical and psychological changes in the pregnant woman. Past research has indicated that intimate partner abuse can occur during this time. The objective of the current study was to determine if a change in non-physical abusive behavior occurred in men as they experienced the first pregnancy of the wives, and if so, could it be measured by a particular instrument. Thirty-three men were given the Non-Physical Abuse of Partner Scale, along with a battery of other instruments throughout the course of the pregnancy, in attempt to measure change. Results indicated no significant change in these subjects from the first trimester through the third trimester. Information obtained through the study provides questions and information pertaining to the unique experience of first time fathers during a first time pregnancy

City Unplanning: The Techno-Political Economy of Privately-Financed Highways in Lima

Since 2009 the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima has partnered with private corporations to deliver three highway projects worth US$1.5bn. This process follows a state-building strategy developed since the 1990s to allow different levels of government to deliver infrastructure projects with private finance. In Lima, the model has almost exclusively produced highways through a specific scheme that allows firms to submit unsolicited proposals. In this dissertation, I investigate how the availability of private finance transforms the political process and local planning outcomes. I argue that rather than being simply a solution for cash-strapped governments looking to invest in specific pieces of infrastructure, the introduction of private finance shapes what projects get built. Private finance not only transforms the implementation part of a two-step process: it has a deep impact on the planning phase itself by setting constraints on what can be done and to what ends. I call the specific mechanism by which private finance influences planning ‘unplanning.’ Here, the state is not simply retreating to let the private sector determine priorities. In other words, it is not abandoning planning, or simply not planning. Rather, it is being transformed in order to follow a proactive role in attracting investment, and to adapt planning to the needs of private capital. The dissertation goes beyond understandings of infrastructures as neutral conduits and into their techno-political nature in order to reveal how they reflect, reproduce and become both the conduit and the site of political conflicts between private capital, the state, and urban dwellers

A major advance in powder metallurgy

Ultramet has developed a process which promises to significantly increase the mechanical properties of powder metallurgy (PM) parts. Current PM technology uses mixed powders of various constituents prior to compaction. The homogeneity and flaw distribution in PM parts depends on the uniformity of mixing and the maintenance of uniformity during compaction. Conventional PM fabrication processes typically result in non-uniform distribution of the matrix, flaw generation due to particle-particle contact when one of the constituents is a brittle material, and grain growth caused by high temperature, long duration compaction processes. Additionally, a significant amount of matrix material is usually necessary to fill voids and create 100 percent dense parts. In Ultramet's process, each individual particle is coated with the matrix material, and compaction is performed by solid state processing. In this program, Ultramet coated 12-micron tungsten particles with approximately 5 wt percent nickel/iron. After compaction, flexure strengths were measured 50 percent higher than those achieved in conventional liquid phase sintered parts (10 wt percent Ni/Fe). Further results and other material combinations are discussed

A Crisis of Marriage? The Debate on Marriage Reform in the Social Democratic Women’s Press, 1919-1933

Article 119 of the new constitution of the Weimar Republic established marriage as the foundation of family life and placed it under special protection of the constitution. Although women were also guaranteed equal political rights under the new constitution, their civil rights remained regulated by the Civil Code of 1900. Representatives of the women's movement had criticized the Civil Code since its implementation. Following women's experiences of increased independence during the First World War and their changed economic, social, and political circumstances in Weimar Germany, even more women's groups demanded a reform of marriage and family law. This thesis explores the discourses surrounding marriage reform in the Social Democratic women's press of the Weimar Republic. It reveals that they neither agreed on the causes of the perceived crisis of marriage, nor on the necessary measures for a marriage reform. This diversity of thought reflects not only the process of renegotiating gendered marital roles within the quickly changing political, social, economic and cultural circumstances of the Weimar Republic, but it also illuminates Social Democratic women's political activism. Taken together, these discourses shed light on the complicated process of redesigning marriage in shifting social circumstances.Master of Art

After Socialism: The Transformation of Everyday Life in Eisenhüttenstadt, 1975-2015

This dissertation offers a systematic exploration of Eisenhüttenstadt’s transformation from a thriving socialist model city and heart of the German Democratic Republic’s steel industry, to a declining eastern German town on the Polish border on the periphery of a united Germany. Rather than focus exclusively on the processes of economic and political integration of the two Germanys, this dissertation centers on ordinary citizens’ experiences of these changes in their everyday lives. In particular, it asks how local politicians and administrators, city and economic planners, and ordinary residents alike navigated the triple transition from a divided to a united Germany, from communism to liberal democracy, and from a command economy to competitive global capitalism. Using oral history interviews to complement archival research, this project examines how unification with West Germany as well as entry into a competitive market economy pulled the economic rug out from under residents’ feet, casting uncertainty onto formerly secure employment in the local steel mill and eroding state-subsidized social services and cultural amenities upon which residents relied. Unemployment and a wave of outmigration created new problems in the 1990s and 2000s, the solutions to which heightened the tension between the renovation and demolition of socialist spaces. Despite these seemingly fundamental transformations, this dissertation argues that the legacies of state socialism continue to affect the everyday lives of ordinary citizens even three decades after the collapse of East Germany. This dissertation contends that German unification had long-term, ambivalent effects on the everyday lives of former East Germans. Its findings challenge triumphalist narratives of the victory of Western capitalism and democracy over communism. At the same time, it rejects the characterization of German unification as a story of overwhelming loss, an interpretation common among those with selective memories of state socialism or “nostalgia for the east” (Ostalgie). Instead, using the history of everyday life (Alltagsgeschichte) showcases how the tensions between the benefits of liberal democracy and a free market on the one hand, and the dislocations of transitioning to a capitalist society on the other hand, played themselves out in residents’ daily lives. Experiences of unemployment and feelings of uncertainty were juxtaposed with expansive new democratic rights, like the freedom to travel or buy long-coveted consumer goods. By bringing East Germans’ everyday experiences to the center of the analysis, this dissertation presents a nuanced account of the simultaneously disorienting and euphoric transformations of German unification, integration into an expanding Europe, and entry into a global economy.Doctor of Philosoph

Vivencia del desempeño ocupacional de los roles de parentalidad, estudiantes y trabajador(a) al vivirlos simultáneamente

Tesis (Terapia Ocupacional)En la presente investigación, se busca conocer el desempeño ocupacional de personas que ejecuten el rol parental, de trabajador(a) y de estudiante en forma simultánea. Este estudio está dado dentro del ramo “Seminario de investigación” impartido dentro de la Universidad Andrés Bello en la ciudad de Viña del Mar. Para la Terapia Ocupacional (T.O) es fundamental tomar en cuenta a la persona como un ser holístico, es decir, “que se considera la persona, el entorno y las ocupaciones que en conjunto constituyen la vida de esa persona” (Kielhofner, 2004, p.66), y que se desenvuelve en una sociedad en donde cumple funciones que, para este estudio, serán entendidas como roles. El concepto de rol se puede entender como un conjunto de reglas o normas que guían o establecen el comportamiento de las personas dentro de un grupo, en determinados rangos etarios y contextos (Mendes y Lopes, 2019, s/p). En relación al párrafo anterior, Kielhofner (2004) expone sobre el término ocupación humana, en el cual se entiende que cada individuo(a) dentro de su variedad de roles, tendrá algunos que corresponden a ocupaciones significativas, así como tendrá otros que respondan a sus necesidades u obligaciones. Por lo anterior, un rol ocupacional será visto como aquel que aporta un significado a la vida de la persona, esto tendrá un impacto diferente en el/la sujeto(a), puesto que el ejecutar una ocupación, al ser una actividad con significado, otorgará un disfrute de la misma, al contrario de las actividades por necesidad o deber, en las cuales no necesariamente existirá un goce en su realización. Por todo lo anterior, la inquietud de la investigación es conocer cómo es la relación de los roles de estudiante, parentalidad y trabajador(a), y cómo éstos condicionan el desempeño ocupacional, considerando que para cada persona tendrá una connotación distinta según sean sus habilidades, necesidades e intereses, dando como resultado un(a) individuo(a) equilibrado(a) o desequilibrado(a) ocupacionalmente a partir de su propia experiencia

Colombian Cultural Identity In The Teaching Of English As A Foreign Language

This research project presents a fundamental opportunity for high school students in BogotÃÂá and Chia, Colombia to strengthen and build their knowledge of their own culture in the classroom. Through this research project, students are given the opportunity to implement tools and academic learning strategies to improve their learning of English as a Foreign Language. The purpose of this project is to implement didactic units with Colombian cultural content in the teaching English, and thus, to enrich Colombian culture among students who know little of it. The project takes an ethnographic approach to sociocultural analysis in the classroom, and uses topic-based teaching and learning as a methodological approach to the design and implementation of each didactic unit.ÃÂà Results showed the commitment of learners and the leadership of teachers allowed students to expand and acquire new Colombian cultural concepts and successfully reach the academic goals; as a result, they consolidated their identity as Colombians.Key words: Culture, language, identity, Second Language learning, sociocultural analysis, didactic units, Topic based instruction