Firenze University Press: E-Journals
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La realtà dei genitori separati e il supporto emotivo e relazionale nella separazione: il movimento dei GENitori sinGLE (GenGle) come gruppo di mutuo-auto-aiuto online. Uno sguardo pedagogico-sociale
Get PDFSelf-help is considered a culture, a social movement, a lifestyle based on reciprocity, and a methodology to overcome situations of hardship. It is based on the participatory action of people within a group who, starting from a problem, decide to activate themselves to provide help contributing with their own history and their own knowledge, and skills. The focus of Self-Mutual-Aid (SMA) is the group; this experience makes subjects feel united. Emotional participation in group life triggers a circular communication, which lead members to recognize and experience skills, even identifying unexpressed personal characteristics. The diffusion of communication technologies has enabled the development of brand new forms of self-help. The potential offered by Web 2.0 contributed to redefine the configuration of SMA. The phenomenon of online SMA groups is growing, taking on different forms, such as: SMH online groups, SMA communities, episodic experiences. Online SMA groups represent an important source of support, and this due to the potential that the network has in helping relationships. The analysis is focused on a particular virtual platform, called GenGle, which is, to date, the first social network dedicated to single parents and their children. GenGle was born in 2014 as a social aggregator; it was created to provide real support to single-parent families. The fundamental aim of this research is to evaluate the potential of GenGle movement, as a group of Self-Mutual-Aid, and if and how it could be considered an effective model of educational care
The productive potential and limits of landscape conflicts in light of Ralf Dahrendorf’s conflict theory
Get PDFRalf Dahrendorf’s conflict theory posits social conflict as, under certain circumstances, productive. Working from a constructivist view of language, we ask to what extent this applies to the conflicts currently arising around the social construct of «landscape», either from different interpretations of that concept or from different evaluations of the physical manifestations of human activity to which it refers. Are such conflicts socially productive? How can they become so? Our theoretical premises are clarified in a review of recent empirical inquiries into the German energy transition, a national undertaking which – following the political decision to exit nuclear-powered energy production by 2022 – has turned into a central field of social conflict, due to the ensuing massive growth not only of alternative power plants but also of electricity transmission networks. Regarding controversy in this context as normal, and eschewing simple solutions, we argue for the importance of recognizing opposing interests as legitimate, not categorizing opposition as per se immoral, agreeing rules of procedure, and accepting decisions that abide by those rules. Conclusions are drawn for both theory and practice
Ripartire da Dahrendorf: attualità di un inattuale
Get PDFRalf Dahrendorf has often been considered a “shallow” and untopical author. In the wake of masters such as Kant, Weber and Popper, he went against the tide, posing as an alternative to the German tradition represented by Hegel, Marx and the Frankfurt Institute. With an open methodological approach and a political key oriented towards social liberalism, also inspired by the works of Thomas Marshall and Amartya Sen, he re-elaborated the concepts of class, conflict, life chances, and produced analyzes that led him to denounce the divorce between capitalism and citizenship rights. The article aims to retrace its intellectual itinerary in order to reconsider its possible relevance in a season marked by great inequality, the crisis of social cohesion and the rise of new collective movements in a populist form. In short, both its forecasts on the need for forms of bottom-up democracy and on the risks of the re-emergence of authoritarian temptations in some political regimes are proving to be founded
Uzungwa Scarp Nature Forest Reserve: a unique hotspot for reptiles in Tanzania
Get PDFWhile knowledge of African vertebrate biodiversity has increased dramatically in recent years, the field of herpetology which encompasses many threatened and endemic species, has lagged behind, and many areas have not been adequately explored. Intensive field work was conducted during the rainy season from December 2017 to April 2018 to assess reptile occurrence mostly in previously unexplored areas of the Uzungwa Scarp Nature Forest Reserve (USNFR) which is part of the Udzungwa Mountain ranges in the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM), and adjacent agricultural areas. Bucket pitfall traps, funnel traps, night transects and opportunistic search methods were used to sample reptiles across four zones: in lowland, submontane and montane forests of the USNFR, and in neighboring farmlands. Forty-five reptile species across 14 families were recorded, mostly concentrated on the lowland and submontane forests. The number of endemic and threatened species in the USNFR reaches 20 and 14 respectively, and most are found in the submontane forest. Nineteen species were new records for the USNFR, five of them representing range extensions. Reptile species richness, abundance and diversity differed significantly across the four zones, except between montane and farmland zones and between lowland and submontane. However, farmland zone was discordant from other zones in terms of species composition. This study adds to the importance of the EAM not only in harbouring large numbers of species but also as an important hotspot for endemic and threatened reptiles. It also calls for proper land-use practices in farms adjacent to protected areas for sustainable conservation of biodiversity
Wheat rust evolution in Spain: an historical review
Get PDFRusts are important wheat diseases worldwide. The three rust diseases of wheat are yellow rust, leaf rust and stem rust, and each has characteristic features. The Guadalquivir valley in the south–west and Girona in the north–east are the areas Spain most affected by these diseases. Key factors for understanding the history of wheat rust epidemics in Spain are historical weather records in the rust–prone areas and characterization of rust resistance in historical varieties currently preserved in seed banks. These diseases in Spain have been of moderate importance, with stem rust being the most significant disease. During the second half of the 20th century several major epidemics occurred. In 1958 and 1978 severe outbreaks of yellow rust occurred in the Guadalquivir valley. These were probably associated with crop intensification, especially a large number of host landraces replaced by just a few cultivars, as well as immigration of external pathogen inoculum. From the early 1970s, CIMMYT elite cultivars arrived in Spain. These possessed good resistance to leaf and stem rust (Sr2), and had early heading dates. Subsequently, stem rust severity rapidly decreased in Spanish fields, but leaf rust epidemics became frequent during 1998–2008 on durum wheat in south–west Spain. In 2013, races virulent on Lr14a gene were first reported in Spain, but they did not result in disease epidemics. In 2012–16 yellow rust epidemics were recorded at many locations due to incursion of the ‘Warrior’ race. Despite the availability of effective fungicides and resistant cultivars to manage the three rust diseases, these diseases continue to threaten wheat production in Spain. In 2016, stem rust caused epidemics on durum wheat in Sicily (Italy), which has similar climatic conditions to those found in the south and east of Spain. Alert systems and international co-operation are needed to characterize the resistance of cultivars, and to monitor the movement and virulence of the wheat rust fungi
Population structure of the faba bean blight pathogen Ascochyta fabae (teleomorph, Didymella fabae) in Tunisia
Get PDFAscochyta blight, caused by Ascochyta fabae (teleomorph: Didymella fabae) has decreased faba bean production in Tunisia and worldwide. The teleomorph has recently been observed in Tunisia, raising new questions of how to control this major disease. Isolates (317) of the pathogen were obtained between 2011 and 2013, from four geographical regions in Tunisia (Beja, Bizerte, Jendouba and Tunis). The 240 isolates obtained in 2012 were compared for mating type frequency and genetic variation by using ten polymorphic SSR markers. Of these isolates, MAT1-2 was more common (2:1) in Tunisia than MAT1-1, but this ratio can change according to population. Low to high genetic variation was detected between locations and among pathogen populations. Beja showed the greatest genotypic richness (R = 0.42), followed by Tunis (R = 0.25), Bizerte (R = 0.13), and Jendouba (R = 0.11). Indices of association (IA) and Rd were significantly different from 0 in all the populations, suggesting high multilocus linkage disequilibrium and confirming clonal populations. Population structure of the isolates was inferred using Bayesian analyses, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Minimum Spanning Networks, which all revealed that the populations from each location were not distinct. Evaluating changes in seasonal genetic diversity showed low to high variances of FST values between the two cropping seasons in all regions. However, the PCA analysis failed to separate the A. fabae isolates sampled during the two successive seasons into two groups, indicating that these populations did not constitute distinct genetic groups. These results suggest that gene flow was limited among populations, even those separated by short geographic distances. Future studies should enlarge the number of samples of representative populations, to overcome the limitations of a small sample size and to provide a more accurate assessment of A. fabae population structure
