It’s One Climate Policy World Out There—Almost

In the run-up to the December 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, the authors surveyed members of the international development community with a special interest in climate change on three sets of detailed questions: (1) what action different country groups should take to limit climate change; (2) how much non-market funding there should be for emissions reductions and adaptation in developing countries, and how it should be allocated; and (3) which institutions should be involved in delivering climate assistance, and how the system should be governed. About 500 respondents from 88 countries completed the survey between November 19–24, 2009. About a third of the respondents grew up in developing countries, although some of them now live in developed countries. A broad majority of respondents from both developing and developed countries held very similar views on the responsibilities of the two different country groups, including on issues that have been very controversial in the negotiations. Most favored binding commitments now by developed countries, and commitments by 2020 by ‘advanced developing countries’ (Brazil, China, India, South Africa and others), limited use of offsets by developed countries, strict monitoring of compliance with commitments, and the use of trade measures (e.g. carbon-related tariffs) only in very narrow circumstances. Respondents from developing countries favored larger international transfers than those from developed countries, but the two groups share core ideas on how transfers should be allocated. Among institutional options for managing climate programs, a plurality of respondents from developed (48 percent) and developing (56 percent) countries preferred a UN-managed world climate fund, while many from both groups also embraced the UN Adaptation Fund’s approach, which is to accredit national institutions within countries which are eligible to manage implementation of projects that the Fund finances. Among approaches to governance, the most support went to the Climate Investment Fund model—of equal representation of developing and developed countries on the board.carbon; climate change; copenhagen; negotiations

Mines: The Local Welfare Effects of Mineral Mining in Developing Countries

Do residents of mining communities face health-wealth trade-offs? We conduct the first extensive investigation assessing this question using micro-data from communities near about 800 mineral mines in 44 developing countries. Mining communities enjoy a substantial medium term rise in asset wealth (0.3σ), but experience a nine percentage point increase in anemia among adult women, and a five percentage point increase in the prevalence of stunting in young children. Both of these health impacts have previously been linked to metal toxicity - and in particular, exposure to high levels of environmental lead. Benefits and costs are strongly concentrated in the immediate vicinity (5km) of the nearest mine. We find no systematic evidence of general ill health, and we observe health impacts only near mines of a type where lead pollution is to be expected. Identification is based on a mine-level and mother-level panel, and in the cross-section, on group effects. A novel instrumental variable serves as a cross-sectional robustness check. To make plausible that the observed health impacts are due to pollution, we develop difference-in-difference tests based on the known association of certain mine types with lead pollution, and based on the pathophysiology of lead toxicity. Our results represent the first comprehensive assessment of the local welfare impacts of mining in developing countries, and add to the evidence suggesting that communities near industrial centers in developing countries face information or cost constraints that limit their choice sets

Functions of Intertextuality and Intermediality in The Simpsons

The Simpsons is one of the most successful programs in the history of television, as its social criticism, its wide range of characters, its realism, and the extensive referential network to other texts have created a sophisticated prime time enactment of American culture and society that fascinates audiences of various ages and sociocultural backgrounds. Scholars agree that one of the most obvious reasons for this success lies in the show’s extensive use of intertextual references to other cultural works, current political and social trends or discourses, and real life persons. Still, research to date has not satisfactorily tackled the question what makes the creators use intertextuality as one of the most omnipresent ingredients of the show. The present contribution attempts to fill this gap with a comprehensive and integral function-oriented analysis of intertextuality in The Simpsons. Therefore, the study combines a wide array of source texts and suitable scenes from The Simpsons with extensive theoretical and methodological work in the fields of intertextuality, intermediality, animation, audience reception, and self- and meta-reflexivity. While the theoretical chapters address various approaches to the concepts mentioned above and thus set up a framework that guides the following observations, the main analytical part establishes three categories of possible functions of intertextuality: intratextual functions (how do intertextual references contribute to the narrative of The Simpsons?), extratextual functions (how do intertextual references help to address issues that lie outside the realm of a TV cartoon?), and self- and meta-reflexive functions (how are intertextual references used to reflect upon the status of The Simpsons as a commercial TV show and as an animated sitcom?). The numerous scenes and episodes discussed demonstrate that the function of the countless intertextual and intermedial references in The Simpsons can by no means be reduced to the humorous moments they initiate. The author finds examples for eleven functional subcategories and various narrative and technical approaches that are involved in creating/supporting these intertextual functions. The analyses show that there is a larger concept behind intertextuality in The Simpsons than the lack of innovative ideas, the aim for a cheap laugh, or the playful exhibitionism of cultural knowledge. While those aspects might at times also inspire intertextual references, they can hardly account for the ongoing success of the show, its appeal of innovation and creativity, and the status it has achieved in cultural studies and among media buffs. Intertextual references can fulfill various functions that are essential for the show to work as a media-saturated entertainment program and as an analyst of medial structures and narrative patterns

A “escritura” como jogo de (des)montagem: um relato sobre a construção de uma “obra aberta”

Exponho aqui um relato sobre um experimento de “escritura” (Derrida) onde há a proposta de uma leitura que constantemente submeta à crítica suas próprias “matrizes disciplinares” (Kuhn). Para isso foram compostas performances textuais onde são apresentados enigmas oriundos de algumas “epistèmês” (Foucault) antropológicas, as quais (des)montam quebra-cabeças etnográficos criados a partir de trabalho de campo realizado no (informação omitida para efetiva avaliação duplo-cego). O fio condutor de tal experimento é a hipótese de que a etnografia seria um “paradigma” (Kuhn) para a Antropologia. À medida que as “anomalias” (Kuhn) dessa etnografia vão sendo apresentadas, torna-se disponível ao leitor uma série de percursos para solucioná-las. Os sucessivos labirintos epistêmicos e o caráter não prescritivo da escritura parecem produzir uma espécie de “sensação de deriva” na leitura, no momento em que o experimento torna-se uma reescritura de um texto que está alhures de sua autocrítica

MONTAGEM COMO PROCESSO/PERCURSO, DESMONTAGEM COMO EVENTO/RUPTURA: : SOBRE ALGUNS QUEBRA-CABEÇAS IRRESOLUTOS

O presente artigo visa apresentar algumas experiências etnográficas a partir do meu trabalho de campo no Hotel da Loucura/ RJ, as quais organizam-se em torno de algumas crises epistêmicas na Antropologia sobre o método etnográfico. A partir dessas experiências esboço algumas reflexões sobre os protocolos e os treinamentos existentes para um(a) antropólogo(a) realizar seu trabalho de campo e sua etnografia, pensando-as como montagens e desmontagens de cenas, experiências, conhecimentos e sentimentos os quais parecem nunca compor um quebra-cabeça que tenha um conjunto finito de peças. Argumento que as montagens são parte de um processo de aprendizagem que compõem um percurso à deriva e a desmontagem é um evento de ruptura com o estabelecido e com o conhecido. A fim de dar corpo a esse argumento, exemplifico com algumas passagens do trabalho de campo, como tais (des)montagens podem ser produzidas no texto. Por fim, discuto sobre as relações entre jogos de montagem e suas correlações com um regime epistêmico moderno, do qual o projeto disciplinar antropológico, centrado na etnografia, é herdeiro

Projetos para envelhecer : etnografia das formas de sociabilidades e das trajetórias de vida dos veteranos do remo

Resumo não disponíve

Projetos para envelhecer: etnografia das formas de sociabilidades e das trajetórias de vida de veteranos do remo

Partindo de um exercício etnográfico, com pesquisa de campo iniciada em 2007, esse artigo busca compreender as práticas de sociabilidade relacionadas às trajetórias de vida dos integrantes de um grupo de senhores, veteranos do Remo no Clube de Regatas Guaíba-Porto Alegre. A expressão de seus saberes e práticas são construídas na observação participante no processo ritual que denominam “café na ilha do Oliveira” (pequena ilha do Delta do Jacuí) realizado nas manhãs dos domingos. O uso da imagem fotográfica e fílmica foi um importante recurso e motivo para o encontro intersubjetivo pesquisador/informante. A forma de narrar as experiências dos tempos vividos converge com as trajetórias de vida dos integrantes do grupo de veteranos, o que tece referências de pertença de identidade geracional tratadas a partir do tema da memória coletiva. Estas trajetórias são referidas ao processo de vida urbana e ao sistema de sentidos da sociedade complexa nas tensões e conflitos em torno dos valores de individualização e de hierarquização. Palavras chave: Trajetórias de vida. Projeto. Envelhecimento.   Projects to aging: ethnography of forms of sociabilities and life trajectories of veterans of rowing   Abstract   Based on an ethnographic exercise, with field research started in 2007, this article seeks to understand the practices of sociability related to the life trajectories of members of a group of gentlemen, veterans of the Rowing Club Regatta Guaíba-Porto Alegre. The expression of their knowledge and practices are built on participant observation in the ritual process they call "coffee on the island of Oliveira" (small island in the Delta Jacuí) held on Sunday morning. The use of photographic and filmic image was an important resource and meeting ground for intersubjective researcher / informant. The way of narrating lived experiences of time coincides with the life trajectories of members of the veterans group, which weaves references generational identity of belonging treated as the theme of collective memory. These trajectories are referred to the process of urban life and the system of complex society in the sense of the tensions and conflicts around the values of individuation and hierarchy. Keywords: trajectories of life. Project. Aging