1,721,200 research outputs found
Analisi ecologica, analisi sociale, alla ricerca di una sintesi
No full textLa recensione del libro di Elena Battaglini è una bella occasione per
mettere a fuoco due questioni: la presunta crisi degli studi sullo sviluppo
locale, le problematiche epistemologiche relative all’analisi ecologica; le
due questioni sono legate, perché approcci territoriali ben fondati possono
gettare sguardi inediti sulla società, come allo stesso tempo vi sono evidenti
differenze socio-territoriali che attendono una consacrazione scientifica
Energia e urbanizzazione: un gioco nuovo e incerto
No full textIl testo tratta del retrofit energetico-ambientale degli edifici al fine di introdurre una ri-cerca sociologica sulle politiche e sui campi organizzativi che presiedono a tale fenomeno in Italia e, in particolare, in tre città di media grandezza (Alessandria, Bolzano e Padova). L’ambito di indagine viene inserito in una breve rassegna dell’urbanizzazione italiana alla ricerca di fattori di lungo termine di freno del retrofit (par. 2); viene poi schematizzato dentro una tipologia delle più ampie azioni di riqualificazione urbana (par. 3); è infine sollecitato da una interpretazione, ispirata al dono agonistico, concetto con cui si tenta di rendere conto degli aspetti relazionali del retrofit energetico in edilizia (par. 4)
Rivers as catalysts for environmental mobilisation: a test in the eastern Lombard plain
Full text linkThe paper concerns a case of environmental mobilisation in the Chiese basin, a medium length river that flows between Trentino and Lombardy. The case seems to contradict the idea that ecological mobilisation is almost absent in semi-rural areas due to cultural and territorial factors. To verify this hypothesis, the socio-environmental mobilisation along the Chiese is compared with that of the neighbouring river basins. We found more long-term and inclusive mobilisation along the Chiese river, and this is due not only to the local identity strength of the river, but also the occurrence of catalytic events that have threatened the sense of dignity and territorial justice of the inhabitants of the Chiese valley. After reviewing the specific literature on environmental mobilisation, we adopted a model of ‘baseline conditions-events catalysts-collective action’ and applied it to the specific case. The history of the mobilisation serves as empirical material on which to test the hypothesis
Storage and scarcity. New practices for food, energy and water
No full textIn an era of abundance, at least part of humanity has stopped thinking about the future provision of basic vital resources such water, energy and food. Storage actions, with all their variants whether real or imagined, are sources of innovation in the provision and treatment of crucial resources. This book deals with cases of water, food, energy and biodiversity storage as a response to a new era of scarcity. Examining multilevel storage policies, consumers’ practices and local organisations, author Giorgio Osti explores a variety of examples such as the need to stock agriculture produce, the industry and practices of food conservation, the role of artificial water basins in controlling floods and droughts and the development of batteries able to compensate for the intermittence of renewable energy sources. Storage and self-sufficiency can be achieved in many technical ways, at different territorial levels and according to different policies or philosophies. Being more a grasshopper or an ant - the two extreme positions - depends not only on the technologies available but also on different analyses of the environment and different attitudes to the future. This book offers an environmentalist perspective that uncovers hidden or absent activities of ultramodern societies that will be useful to students of environmental sociology as well as those researching and studying at the interface of environmental studies and geography
Neorurali e figli di agricoltori non invertono la corsa verso la città
No full textIl ritorno alla terra come fenomeno sociale va anzitutto distinto fra il movimento che
avviene all’interno della biografia di un individuo e quello che avviene nella sua famiglia.
Come per gli emigrati, un eventuale ritorno alla terra di origine può infatti riguardare
l’emigrato stesso, i suoi figli (seconda generazione) o nipoti (terza generazione
e oltre). In un paese in cui ancora nel secondo dopoguerra il 50% della popolazione
attiva era occupata in agricoltura, le possibilità di ritorno di una seconda o terza generazione
non sono così remote. Un’ulteriore distinzione riguarda il ritorno a risiedere
in aree rurali con o senza l’avvio di un lavoro nel primario, sia esso l’agricoltura, l’allevamento
o l’attività forestale. Mentre la prima distinzione ci pone di fronte ad un
fenomeno che, almeno in Italia, è numericamente contenuto - si tratta per lo più di
attività agrituristico-ricreative - la seconda invece implica lo spostamento di considerevoli
masse di persone, a causa degli effetti stessi dell’urbanizzazione
The moral basis of a forward society: Relations and forms of localism in Italy
No full textThe article deals with different manifestations of localism in Italy. The beginning of research on localism, with the exclusion of older backward community studies, can be dated to the 1980s. It has three main areas of meaning: as the space directly controlled by the senses; as the source of
a special economic development; as the desirable level of governance. However, all these perspectives neglect the importance of relations and their spatial form. This is compensated with the assembly of a framework of local places based on the length and symmetry of relations; an
operation which yields four types of locale: island, ghetto, periphery and network. The article uses this framework to analyse manifestations of localism in Italy. These are industrial districts, midstream regional federalism, and the rise of the Northern League party. Political mobilisation is considered to be the final and most inclusive dimension of localism. Such mobilisation signals a forward local society no longer based on amoral familism
Frames, organisations, and practices as social components of energy
No full textThe paper examines three social dimensions of energy. The first one is cognitive; energy is a way of knowing, a macro-concept which works as a frame. Moreover, energy is conceived as a social product; its physical aspects are inextricably bound up with human interactions and meaning attributions. The second dimension is energy organisation. Energy is an instrument used by human beings in order to
achieve a goal. In that sense, energy can be assimilated to a technology: that is, a set of knowledges, tools, and actions assembled according to certain rules and traditions. Of energy as organisation it is interesting to consider how it becomes an institution. Its third dimension is practical: it guides our behaviour. This meaning sums up the other two. Energy consumption makes it possible to understand
different lifestyles, different logics of action, different habits or customs. It is intrinsic to the most common practices. Worries about consumption or resources depletion are included in some practices of which energy is one of the most
important components. The paper concludes with a comment on the energy crisis as a test for the illustrated multidimensional scheme
Etica civile e gestione della terra
No full textLa prospettiva di un’etica civile che possa far da guida per le società moderne può trovare una buona esemplificazione nell’ambito dell’uso del suolo. Possiamo ipotizzare esista un parallelo fra la crescente complessità della società, che qualcuno chiama anche globalizzazione, e usi del suolo sempre più vari e impattanti. Non si tratta solo di collegare l’etica civile alla questione ambientale ma anche di indagare su come la domanda di terra finisca per essere una gigantesca metafora del funzionamento della societa
Green social cooperatives in Italy: a practical way to cover the three pillars of sustainability?
Full text linkThis article provides an introductory description of Italian green social cooperatives which are democratic nonprofit organizations specializing in the provision of environmental services. The background to this topic is the literature on the “third sector,” usually called social entrepreneurship, and the “sociology of environment,” mainly that part concerned with consumption and lifestyles. Green social cooperatives are a concrete attempt to unify the three pillars of sustainability. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first part highlights the challenges that the environmental crisis raises for social enterprises and considers three dimensions in particular: work integration, generalized or linear exchange, and the theory of the commons. The discussion reveals mismatches between the urgency of moving toward a sustainable world and the competences of social enterprises. The second part examines this asymmetry and uses the social cooperative, the main empirical expression of social enterprise in Italy, as its point of departure. The article proposes a typology with which to frame green social cooperatives and employs a qualitative approach to outline a concrete case for each type. The result is the emergence of a social area, at present decidedly underdeveloped and undersized, but with considerable potential for job creation and environmental services. The analysis demonstrates that social enterprises are interesting hybrids of economic and social sustainability, but to promote the environmental pillar of sustainability they must combine work and habitation (or production and consumption) according to a logic of sufficiency
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