Revista Sem Aspas

Space and education

Guilherme Guerra, Juliana de Souza Silva — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0300

The present article examines conceptions of the educational space as articulated in the propositions of three significant authors: Johann Pestalozzi, Maria Montessori, and Célestin Freinet. Given that all of them, to varying extents, questioned the modes of organization of the educational space, this text seeks to comprehend and compare their educational objectives and how they conceived the manipulation of school space to achieve these objectives. Building upon the contributions of Pierre Bourdieu (2010), who posits that space functions as one of the devices for the promotion of symbolic violence, the intention is to shed light on the discussion surrounding this variable that is crucial for the development of educational work but does not always receive the attention it deserves in discussions about education.

Participatory institutions in Brazil, their challenges and the “export” of models abroad

Inácio de Paula e Silva — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0300

The objective of this paper was to expose the recent paradigm of demobilization of Participatory Institutions (PIs) in Brazil, while at the same time analyzing how the Participatory Budget (PB), an important Brazilian PI, had its model “exported” to an Asian country: Japan. The PIs, institutionalized mechanisms that promote social participation, have a unique potential for strengthening democracy, as proposed by several of the authors listed in the references of this work. Through bibliographical and documentary research, based mainly on the author's monographic case study, it became clear that the active effort against the PIs represents a conscious undertaking to weaken democracy. On the other hand, the international dissemination of PB shows, as will be exposed, the perennial importance of this participatory experiment created in Brazil, setting up a scenario in which the referred country appears as a “laboratory” for developing participatory experiments adopted internationally.

Stages of populism in Latin America

Matheus Silveira Lima — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0300

This article presents three striking moments of populism, in which two ideas deserve to be clarified in more depth: populism developed in Latin America as a possibility of modernization, made possible through the change of axis of the mechanisms of domination, of the old European colonialism, for North American financial capitalism. The other issue concerns the correlation between populism and patrimonialism, in that both bring progress, but “freeze” and become obstacles to new advances, especially with regard to strengthening organized civil society. Therefore, to a large extent, they begin to receive a very negative conceptual and academic interpretation. In this sense, understanding populism means permanently making a historical movement, back and forth, between politics and economics, to understand Latin America in its specificities, derailments, and accelerated resumptions of movement in search of an idealized future.

Capitalism, nature and COVID-19

Letícia Luciano — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0300

Significant environmental challenges characterize the 21st century. The social crises, arising from or amplified by these problems, provide a portrait of the complexities of our time. This article analyzes how the spheres of the natural and social environments are interconnected, refuting the old conception of a "society separate from nature," as both feed into each other. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of a biological crisis embedded within a broader social crisis: the crisis of capitalism. Both ecological and social issues result from the complex interaction between society and nature.

Truth, symbol ans post-coloniality

Juan Felipe do Prado Alves — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0300

Postcolonial studies have played a significant role in social sciences by introducing an innovative perspective on cultural development and interactions. The primary objective of this research is to present the particularities of these studies, highlighting their purposes and the academic influences stemming from the so-called post-structuralism. To this end, the theoretical contributions of Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu will be discussed in relation to the development of human sciences within the context of modernity, as well as how their ideas fostered the emergence of postcolonial studies.

Local power and modernization

Bruno Camargos — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0300

This article analyzes two classic works of Brazilian sociological literature on local power: “Coronelismo, Enxada e Voto” (1949) by Victor Nunes Leal and “Mandonismo local na vida política brasileira e outros ensaios” (1976) by Maria Isaura Pereira de Queiroz. Based on the analysis of these essays and their previously selected critical reviews, this study aims to discuss the divergences and convergences in these authors' views on local power throughout Brazilian history, as well as the limits and possibilities of their contributions to contemporary sociological discussions on local power. It was observed that these works offer a solid theoretical and methodological framework for understanding local political power, grounded in the perspective of totality. However, given recent social, urban, and media transformations, there is a need to recontextualize and critically review these classic studies to better address contemporary issues related to local power in Brazil.

The participatory institutions in the current Lula government

Gabriel Rodrigues Bogdan — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0300

The article examines the resurgence of Participatory Institutions (PIs) under the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, considering the dismantling that occurred in previous administrations. The qualitative research uses process tracing, specifically causal process observations (CPOs), to investigate the current role of National Councils and Conferences. Data from ministry websites, legislative norms, and news show that 65.8% of ministries have PIs, with notable focus on Human Rights, Environment, and Health. The study highlights the growth of advisory councils, but points to their vulnerability to the Executive’s agenda. In contrast, there is an effort to expand participation through conferences, with 23 events already held or scheduled until 2025. The analysis concludes that, although still in a phase of reconstruction, the government aims to strengthen participatory policy as a strategy for democratic legitimacy, utilizing digital tools and promoting greater interaction between the state and civil society.

Ontological-libertarian turn in planetary decolonial political thought

Milagros Elena Rodríguez — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0300

In the present rhizomatic transmethodical inquiry, with the complex transparadigm the complex research objective of analyzing the ontological-anarchist (or libertarian) turn in planetary decolonial political thought is fulfilled. We do it from transmethods, this time rhizomatic deconstruction, in its deconstruction or decoloniality of the crisis and then reconstruction. In the disruptive framework, without preeminence, the flag of anarchism is liberation, so its political action develops planetary consciousness. Democracy in the planetary decolonial project is the search for human happiness, thereby liberation; which does not mean debauchery; Well, in the laws of the States we have statutes to comply with; It is essential to work with actions to safeguard life in every sense.