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Public rhetoric suggests that unauthorized immigrants may engage in marriage fraud for legal security and economic gain. Academic scholarship that emphasizes economically strategic actors corroborates this claim. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 1.5-generation unauthorized Brazilian young adults, I find that most of my respondents are opposed to marrying strictly for papers, even though becoming “legally American” could bring opportunities for socioeconomic mobility. Like their American peers in young adulthood, many 1.5-generation Brazilians emphasized that they are not interested in marrying in their 20s. Women, in particular, articulated their internalization of lifecourse norms as a function of their socialization in the United States. Yet, 1.5-generation Brazilians also disclosed that they did not want to establish new relationships or transform old relationships for instrumental reasons. Ultimately, strategic-economic approaches provide less insight into why my respondents do not marry for papers than the normative and relational dynamics of their transitions to adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances multidisciplinary research, policy, education and activisms which cohere around the concept of the 'water–energy–food (W–E–F) nexus' via an evidence-led critique of normative forms of nexus-thinking which draws upon research with 3705 diverse young people's (aged 10–24 years) W–E–F experiences in SE Brazil. We consider how the neat, cool, ostensibly authoritative buzzword style of W–E–F nexus-thinking is radically unsettled – and sometimes conceptually-critically overwhelmed – via encounters with social scientific data in practice. In particular, the paper presents two interlinked analyses of data relating to young people's everyday engagements with water resources. First, we present a quantitative analysis of young people's everyday participation with/in water resources, highlighting diversities and inequities in relation to age, gender, ethnicity and social class, among other modes of social–cultural heterogeneity and intersectionality. Second, we present a qualitative narration of young people's water-related anxieties, evidencing their intimate everyday interrelations with watery materialities and insecurities – 'black water', 'muddy water', 'shit water' and all. In so doing, we advance an argument for what we term more-than- nexus-thinking: i.e., forms of research, theory and practice which value the apparent conceptual-ethical clarity and interoperability of nexus-thinking, whilst actively thinking-with complexities and deeply-affecting lived experiences of W–E–F in everyday spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an interactive episode analysis which was resulted from a music lesson for children. The idea was to point out the attentional process, in a perspective of Vygotsky and Luria. The study involved a group of three children who weekly had participated in Group Piano lessons at a social project developed in São Paulo State, Brazil. The data were documented by means of a field diary and the transcription of a video recording, and the analyzes were based on studies of historical-cultural approach. It is emphasized that the attention process happens depending on the apparently individual volitional acts but notoriously established during social relationship. Social genesis and perceptions which are expressed in gestures, looks, and speeches point to a complex construction perception of oneself, of the other and of the music in teaching relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to extend the Besag model, a widely used Bayesian spatial model in disease mapping, to a non-stationary spatial model for irregular lattice-type data. The goal is to improve the model's ability to capture complex spatial dependence patterns and increase interpretability. The proposed model uses multiple precision parameters, accounting for different intensities of spatial dependence in different sub-regions. We derive a joint penalized complexity prior to the flexible local precision parameters to prevent overfitting and ensure contraction to the stationary model at a user-defined rate. The proposed methodology can be used as a basis for the development of various other non-stationary effects over other domains such as time. An accompanying R package fbesag equips the reader with the necessary tools for immediate use and application. We illustrate the novelty of the proposal by modeling the risk of dengue in Brazil, where the stationary spatial assumption fails and interesting risk profiles are estimated when accounting for spatial non-stationary. Additionally, we model different causes of death in Brazil, where we use the new model to investigate the spatial stationarity of these causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article advocates the transgression of incumbent theoretical divisions between rural and urban abodes of production and draws on new analyses of contemporary spaces of capital and labour antagonisms in Brazil. It does so to articulate a broadening of the definition of class and class struggle towards an emancipatory praxis that does not necessarily prioritise industrialised workers. The study has a particular focus on the reconfiguration of socio-spatial arrangements linked to 21st century commodity cultivation, extraction and trade and subsequent class tensions on the material and epistemological frontier between (hydro, agro and mineral) mega projects and the autonomous territories of rural subjects. The renewed degradation of conditions for a labour force that has always been precarious, the dissolving dichotomy between proletarianised and peasant labour, and the ongoing resistance to corporate capture by communities is evoked to contrast distinct metabolic relations within rural territories with the objectification of labour and nature under capitalism. The analysis reveals new configurations of class domination, tension and counter movements. Many critical scholars, particularly those in the Global South, have been attentive to alternate readings of the world by indigenous, African descendent, peasant and agro-extractivist communities that may be unfamiliar yet underpin vociferous, and often fatal, resistance to capital accumulation. The task to effectively situate these struggles within a theory of broader, heterogeneous class struggle and integrate this 'wealth' of collective struggle and knowledge towards societal transformation remains important work in progress. In this spirit, the paper offers some possibilities for making new conceptual and material connections between rural and urban productive spaces and across currently fragmented class formations and identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STRiDE was an ambitious four-year project in seven countries aiming to build capacity around generating and using research to support the development of policies to improve quality of life of people with dementia and their carers. The project's innovative approach combined rigorous academic research and hands-on civil society advocacy. This paper explores the project's unique strategy for policy change and compiles case-studies from several of the STRiDE countries. Finally, we share lessons learned and next steps to keep momentum for policy change going in each of these countries – and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the work of waste pickers advances urban sustainability, there has been little focus on how climate change impacts affect them. This paper reports on a pilot study with 61 waste pickers in Minas Gerais, Brazil to understand their perspectives on climate change impacts and actions. It explores how waste pickers experience climate change impacts at home and at work, their adaptive strategies and the specific actions and actors needed to address these impacts. Waste pickers have practical knowledge and experience of climate events. But due to precarious employment and lack of access to services, infrastructure and social support, their responses are improvised and inefficient. They require better institutional support and their proposals must be incorporated into a negotiated approach to urban resilience. Proposals such as the climate bonus – similar to the existing recycling bonus – may help address the structural drivers of vulnerability for waste pickers in Minas Gerais. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peacekeepers are seen as a UN tool for promoting domestic changes in host countries, but little is known about the political consequences when officers return home. During the last 10 years, Brazilian presidents appointed a significant number of former peacekeepers to key political functions. How and why do former peacekeepers end up so involved in government affairs? To answer this question, this paper focuses on the array of skills acquired by peacekeepers in domestic missions and reinforced abroad. Drawing on a set of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to military, former political decision-makers, and researchers, as well as other primary and secondary sources, this paper details how political articulation, experience in conflict management, and prestige empowered Brazilian military officers to resume their tradition of intervention in politics. This paper also shows that peace operations can produce deleterious outcomes for troop-contributing countries in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Football is an integral part of Brazil's historical-cultural process, and tourism represents one of the segments deeply impacted by the occurrence of sporting mega-events. The present study aims to present and critically reflect on the main legacies and impacts that these events brought to the Brazilian population. This paper is based on notes surrounding the legacies put forward for the city of São Paulo. To do this, information gathering lends to suggestions that help situate future planning and organization. The purpose of this paper concerns sociocultural and economic futures and the role of tourism and events for local communities based on the current realities and challenges in Brazil. The article is based on a qualitative approach, where descriptive and explanatory information is triangulated. This study utilizes a range of methods, employing a combination of bibliographic research, documentary analysis, and content analysis to frame the base of the research. Moreover, we use field research techniques such as semi-structured interviews with managers, questionnaires administered to residents, interviews with local representatives, direct observation, and active participation in events held at the main stadium associated with sport mega-events in São Paulo, namely, the Neo Química Arena. Noteworthy findings demonstrate a discrepancy between the objectives pursued by host city planners, who strive to maximize the positive legacies encompassing local infrastructure, stadiums, and the city's image, and the experiences reported by local residents, who have encountered negative impacts and legacies resulting from the same sport mega-event. These adverse effects include issues such as flooding, gentrification, exclusion from decision-making processes, and real estate speculation. Stadiums are considered the greatest tangible legacies of sport mega-events, although their construction and maintenance costs are questionable. The participation of local residents seems to be essential in the promotion, knowledge, appropriation, belonging, support, and transparency in all phases of the mega-event planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the effectiveness of the Brazilian "Maria da Penha" Law—a law that imposed criminal sanctions on and promoted rehabilitation programs for known perpetrators of acts of domestic violence exclusively against women, issued restraining orders against perpetrators, required perpetrators to surrender firearms, and established police units uniquely trained to address violence against women. Using difference-in-difference analyses estimated with data on Brazilian monthly assault-related hospitalizations and with gender as treatment variable, we find that the law contributed to a 22% reduction in assault-related hospitalizations among women as compared with men. Our data is collected from the Brazilian public healthcare system named Sistema Único de Saúde, which provides public information on detailed records of hospitalizations in Brazil. We provide robustness checks of our analyses and examine heterogeneous effects of the law. With respect to the latter, we deduce that the effectiveness of the law in reducing assault-related hospitalizations among women was especially pronounced in municipalities where women are most vulnerable to domestic violence. We conclude with a discussion of our results, with an eye to policy implications and areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates the extent to which imaginaries of climate and ecological breakdown attend to the memories, knowledges, and experiences of communities already impacted by histories of racism, colonialism, and poverty. Drawing on insights from Black studies and decolonial thinking, the article reflects on how the causes and effects of anthropogenic climate change can be mapped onto geographies of racialised violence and social dispossession. Specific emphasis is given to Rio de Janeiro, notably its port area, a geographical space where future-oriented narratives remain oblivious to the city's history of anti-Black violence and Indigenous genocide. In parallel, the paper looks at the recently built Museum of Tomorrow and its public representations of the Anthropocene. Overall, the article contends that pluralising accounts of the Anthropocene might offer alternative epistemic entry points for understanding and interrupting the mounting ecological catastrophe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent pandemic negatively affected the career development of women scientists drawing attention to the need for urgent actions to ensure that gains in gender equality in science are retained. In Brazil, women scientists contributed much to the fight against COVID-19 by supplying valuable information to the media, combating misinformation and looking for ways to reduce the impacts of the pandemic in homes and workplaces. This paper diagnoses inequalities of opportunities in science and emphasizes science communication as an important tool for increasing the visibility and empowerment of women scientists in Brazil. Science communication can strengthen the visibility, presence and voice of women in society and promote equitable practices in terms of gender and race. It can also enable women scientists to work as role models for the younger generations. This paper goes beyond a brief discussion on the impacts of science communication on increasing diversity and makes recommendations to accelerate gender and ethnic–racial equity within science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level of colorism that developed among blacks in the United States (U.S.) and Brazil, during the 20th century, gave rise to intense altitudes of intraracial discrimination. This distinct form of discrimination was based on proximity to whiteness and white privilege. This essay will illustrate how attitudes toward complexion, within the black community, are a direct consequence and perpetual remnant of the white supremacy and racial hierarchy that developed in colonized societies. Colorism manifested itself in different forms in Brazil and in the U.S. However, the level of black-on-black discrimination that it spawned was grounded in the belief that one's immediacy to whiteness created a vehicle for upward mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical scholarship has shown that neoliberalism has reinforced Islamophobia, anti-Muslim racism and projections of Muslims as undesirable in many contexts, particularly in 'the West'. Little is said about other impacts neoliberal ideology has had on the ways Muslim (immigrant) communities are viewed and (dis)integrated into Muslim-minority contexts. Against this backdrop, this paper argues that Muslims can also be desired and systematically mobilized in predominantly non-Muslim countries where neoliberalized economies capitalize on their identities. The argument is illustrated through case studies in contexts of halal food production and trade in New Zealand and Brazil. Drawing on conceptualizations of neoliberal utility/necessity perspectives on immigrants as well as on assemblage thinking, this paper shows, first, that neoliberal restructuring has played a major role in the development of trade relations with the Islamic world and thus in the emergence of demands for Muslim expertise, service providers and workers in both countries. It demonstrates, second, how Muslim identities have been systematically assembled to meet these demands, and third, that the assemblages are at the same time limited by largely (though not exclusively) neoliberal logics. Finally, the paper shows that many of the assembling practices and logics are similar in both contexts and likely to be found elsewhere. Their effects, however, diverge due to different local conditions. The findings imply that relations between neoliberal ideology and the ways Muslims are viewed and (dis)integrated in Muslim-minority contexts are complex and unfold differently across space, and that this complexity deserves greater academic scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the empirical data of school occupations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during 2016 to discuss the production of novel generational orders around the good of public education. Using a decolonial standpoint from where to examine modernization in Brazil and its welfare provision for children, the paper advances the notions of intergenerational practices of co-generativity and politicized generativity as instances of how Southern realities can contribute to new theoretical insights in childhood studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to present a comprehensive knowledge mapping of plastic pollution on coastal/marine tourism research. To achieve this objective, the present study employed a two-tier analysis, including a systematic review of literature and bibliometric analysis of 164 scholarly articles spanning 1999 to 2022. The results underline the multidisciplinary nature of this research domain, characterized by a significant upswing in publications. The dominant countries in this field are identified as Brazil, Australia, and the USA. A noteworthy collaboration dynamic between the Chinese Academy of Sciences, East China Normal University, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences has emerged, signaling opportunities for enhanced cross-border cooperation. Jambeck, who provided data support for this research field, is found as the most cited author. Marine Pollution Bulletin, Environmental Pollution, and Science of the Total Environment are the most prolific journals discussing such topics. The primary research clusters in this field include seasonal comparison, Qinghai Lake, and small plastic debris. Additionally, scholars have recently focused on new topics such as seasonal comparison, case study, spatial pattern, and the Southern Baltic Sea in the last 3 years. This research also reports 10 articles with the highest citations and 10 highly cited papers. Not only this, the present study presents the inaugural bibliometric analysis on plastic pollution in coastal and marine tourism. To the authors' knowledge, it stands as a pioneering investigation of its nature, offering a comprehensive view on the research domain by evaluating a time span exceeding two decades, with a specific emphasis on the literature pertaining to marine tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, a growing number of studies have analyzed the social, spatial, and economic consequences of the sharp rise in corporate ownership of property assets. These studies have shown that financial(ized) rationalities, preferences, and techniques increasingly shape the investment behavior of corporate landlords, with notable effects in cities and regions. Less attention has been given, however, to the heterogeneity of actors that are bundled together under the umbrella of corporate landlords, as well as to the investment strategies these different actors pursue. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by analyzing the investment behavior of three corporate and financial investors in Brazil's commercial property markets: pension funds; listed property firms; and real estate investment trusts. Drawing on institutional and evolutionary approaches to economic geography, we build a typology of investor types in Brazil's commercial property markets which shows that the investment preferences of these actors are largely shaped by three key variables: their organizational rules and routines; their ownership structure; and differential access to financing. In addition, we show that these investment preferences translate into distinguishable patterns of property investment and influence broader property market dynamics by giving shape to an investment value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Less than half of the original two million km2 of the Brazilian Savanna natural vegetation, called the Cerrado Biome, remains standing. Given its climate and socio-biodiversity importance, more effective public policies are needed to protect the remaining natural areas. In this paper, we present the methodology and results of the DETER Cerrado, an early warning deforestation system within the Cerrado region. The findings support that DETER is effective in detecting a wider range of deforestation patch sizes, from the larger patches, heavily associated with agricultural expansion, to the smaller areas (>1 ha <10 ha). Nevertheless, 80% of the deforestation is concentrated in the 10-km radius zone from the DETER Alerts. This area was later detected by the Cerrado Deforestation Monitoring Project (PRODES), the system that accounts for the annual deforestation rate assessment, which highlights the capability of the DETER system to provide support to the surveillance of deforestation in the Cerrado. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of 2020, the world was left in an unprecedented state of shock by the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazil quickly became the epicenter of new cases of contamination, where the propagation of the virus was unrestrained, despite boasting one of the strongest Universal health coverage systems in Latin America. This paper has at least three empirical contributions to the literature about economic resilience and the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly it is a critical issue regarding the "economics versus life" trade-off, which is an essential question for developing countries, given that policymakers must decide between policies to reduce the number of COVID-19 infections without damaging the economy. Secondly, our findings suggest that the early adoption of isolation measures applied in 2020, such as the financial aid and the vaccination have been effective in controlling the effects of the pandemic, especially in vulnerable microregions. Furthermore, it was verified that the Emergency financial aid was a fundamental policy in minimizing the economic impacts of the pandemic and allowing people to practice social distancing, contributing positively to the Employment Resilience Index and negatively related to the growth rate of deaths due to COVID-19. The contribution of our study is to measure an inverted U-shaped curve to demonstrate that policymakers must achieve a minimum of families to decrease the COVID-19 deaths. These contributions are essential and straightforward findings to lead policymakers' decisions in developing countries facing financial constraints in the public budget and population reticence about physical distancing, self-quarantine and vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the sustainability of Brazilian's water and sanitation state-owned companies' services. The assessment was conducted based on the selection of six indicators reflecting three of the sustainability dimensions: social, economic, and environmental. We built a global sustainability index by adopting the MACBETH multicriteria analysis methodology, which aggregates the dimensions of sustainability with their respective indicators. As main result we found that two companies were considered sustainable in each of the three assessed dimensions of sustainability, and that three companies were globally sustainable according to the methodology applied in this study. Setting sustainability targets and increasing regulatory enforcement leads to improved services performance. Further, sustainable sanitation services bring us closer to achieving the national targets for universal access and Sustainable Development Goal 6 established by the United Nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change conditions, natural ventilation potential may reduce over the years and increase dependence on HVAC systems. Moreover, occupants' behaviour regarding natural ventilation is a significant parameter affecting the thermal-energy performance of residential buildings as people tend to occupy their homes differently depending on their life, work and cultural routines. Therefore, in this study, the thermal-energy performance of a Global South (GS) housing case study located in Brazil was assessed in a future weather context. This paper included two major steps: (1) Optimization procedure to create optimized models based on different occupancy patterns; and (2) Parametric analysis to explore the building's thermal-energy performance for a given constructive design option, occupant behaviour and weather data. The optimization procedure included a multi-objective optimization based on the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) to minimize discomfort hours and cooling energy demand, while parametric analysis explored the occupants' behaviour varieties derived from alternative occupancy patterns, ventilation availabilities and HVAC operation modes. The obtained future context simulation results indicated an increase in discomfort hours and cooling energy demand, while the most appropriate architecture design might vary depending on the occupancy behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to conduct a critical review of the academic works on railway history in Brazil. We read and analysed 492 theses and dissertations by graduate students in Brazil (published from 1974 to 2020). A qualitative and quantitative approach was used over time to characterise the increasing production of academic theses and dissertations on railway history in Brazil and which authors, bibliographies, archives, and historical sources have become essential for railway researchers. The results of this review indicate that several academic areas are interested in the theme and some authors have become references to the most varied railway studies. In recent decades, authors who research more specific subjects have gained greater visibility in graduation essays. The bibliography of their studies should be interpreted according to how sources change with time. Authors of the reviewed papers had to use alternatives to research railways due to archival issues and instability of access to documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex load and haul cycles in mining are composed of individual steps, whose times could be better described by a statistical distribution than by the average value. In order to evaluate how loading times and dumping times behave, this paper tested a large dataset of loading and dumping times measured at an open pit limestone mine in Brazil against the distributions most commonly used to model these variables, Log-normal and Normal; as well as Gamma, Logistic, Weibull and Exponential distributions. None of the tested distributions provided statistically significant adherence to the data, but it was possible to identify that for most equipment, Logistic and Normal distributions would produce less error on stochastic modelling then the other tested distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the majority of Brazilian public schools, poverty and social injustice prevail. Most students come from disadvantaged realities, and their future seems to be already defined by a lack of social mobility, exclusion from civil rights, and violence—a situation that has worsened with the global pandemic. Rooted in ethnographic research in public schools in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, this paper explores the role of pedagogies of care in creating alternative, possible, and preferable narratives about the future of these students. By using the metaphor of "school as soil", the study identifies care in four dimensions: time, heterogeneity, mattering, and fertility. It draws on 12 semi-structured interviews with teachers from eight different public schools that were part of a larger doctoral project. By researching school as soil, we examine how pedagogies of care encourage teachers' speculation about preferable imaginaries for the future of their students. Results show that despite precarious resources and scarce institutional support, pedagogies of care appear in multiple reported situations, aiming to inspire learning processes, give voice and agency to the socially marginalized, and allow for ways of thinking that offer alternatives to the seemingly ubiquitous oppressive relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Football is one of the many fields where the display of orthodox masculinity, often related to sexism and homophobia, reaches its peak. Studies indicate that such behaviors negatively affect athletes who do not fit heteronormative standards and closeted gay players, who fear coming out due to an intimidating and toxic environment. Fans have been central to some empirical studies investigating homophobia in football; however, most research to date focuses on western countries. Through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis, this paper examines how Brazilian football fans see the presence of openly gay players on a men's team. One hundred and fifty comments were collected from thirteen online football forums. The results indicate similarities in the responses provided by Brazilian fans compared to western studies. Although fans' positive views towards the presence of openly gay players were expressed, homophobic opinions were also identified in this environment. Several fans also demonstrated no objection to the use of homophobic language. The present study is relevant to the existing literature as it aids in clarifying previous notions of homophobia in Brazilian football. At the same time, it problematizes and officially places Brazil on the map of studies on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores China's increasing media engagement with Latin American partners. It examines the case of Mundo China (MC), a China-news segment broadcast by the Brazilian news channel BandNews TV and co-produced in partnership with CCTV. By conducting content analysis, we assess how China is presented, contrast the framing of China before and since the partnership agreement, and compare the televised image of China between BandNews TV and other news channels in Brazil. The findings show that MC has assisted in diversifying and balancing the ratio of positive frames in relation to the overall China-related reporting across the broadcasters sampled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of literature has concluded that financial liberalisation, in terms of the increased weight and influence of the financial sector, has contributed in a significant way to increasing disparities in income, wealth and society since the 1980s within advanced and emerging economies. Against a backdrop of financialisation, extreme inequality and evolving financial instability, this paper's primary contribution is to analyse the determinants of personal income inequality within one of the world's prominent emerging economies, Brazil. We pay particular attention to the magnitude, significance and scale of the determinants in a financialisation context, from which this paper's relative contributions emerge. Our empirical strategy utilises modern panel data techniques and different instrumental variables approaches for robustness. This paper's analysis provides a first step in the direction of identifying the main mechanisms through which the Brazilian model of financial liberalisation has affected income inequality at the sub-national scale; while providing an early indication of how inequality might evolve in the future. In conclusion, the revealed significant linkages between financialisation, local liquidity preferences, capital account liberalisation and social protection expenditure threaten more extreme inequality, both in Brazil's financial centre-space and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether localized trade shocks from China influence Brazilians' views on integration with the country. We test the following hypotheses: (1) as trade shocks are localized, views on trade should form at the local, rather than at the individual level, and (2) as localized trade shocks affect both workers and companies in a same region, they should also influence legislators' views on China. Our analyses find support for both claims, but only among losers from Chinese trade. Residents and legislators from localities hurt by import shocks tend to hold negative views about economic ties with China, whereas neither residents nor legislators from localities benefitted by export shocks exhibit more positive views about the country. Our paper contributes to the literature on the politics of trade by incorporating meso-level theories of trade preference formation and by establishing the conditions under which the interests of constituencies should shape legislators' views on international trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International broadcasting services are typically designed to serve public diplomacy and soft power objectives. Traditionally, Western powers have explored and benefited from this state-sponsored media category. However, countries in the Global South, like Brazil, have endeavoured to establish cross-border television services to bolster their international presence. This paper scrutinizes TV Brasil Internacional as a case study, examining its designated functions, management, and funding models. The research illuminates through document surveys and semi-structured interviews that while the channel initially reflected Brazil's external policies and public service ideals, structural alterations enabling increased governmental intervention alongside budget cuts rendered the international service dormant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sought to understand public attitudes and behavior toward criminal justice institutions in Brazil. Using a cross-sectional data from a sample of Brazilians, we made very important and intriguing observations about Brazilians' attitudes. Among these observations is the finding that the presence of crime results in favorable attitudes toward the Brazilian judiciary. Also, sense of security, corruption (bribe solicitation), and citizens' trust in the media predicted attitudes toward criminal justice institutions and officials. Given that this study is one of the few studies that have examined this issue in the Brazilian context, the findings serve as a starting point for discussion about improving the relationship between citizens and the system. Specific implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does immigrant racialization look like in a context of legal inclusion? Although scholars have given notable attention to racialization in the face of illegality and exclusionary immigration regimes, less well understood are dimensions of racialization in inclusive legal contexts. Over the past decade, Brazil has experienced three major influxes of forcibly displaced people—from Haiti, Syria, and Venezuela. For each, Brazil radically expanded its asylum and immigration policies in their favor. At the same time, these groups have been disparately racialized in the public sphere. Using a content analysis of media coverage from 2010 to 2020, this paper examines the varied public racialization of Haitians, Syrians, and Venezuelans. Juxtaposing representations sheds light on the relationality of migrant racialization. It finds autonomy and capacity, belonging, and national ramification as key dimensions through which migrants are variably racialized. By interrogating these racial dimensions in the face of legal incorporation in Brazil, this study complicates the relationship between racialization, Othering, and legal status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically explores how queer youth experience sport for development programmes in Brazil. Whilst the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) field is not void of discussions that touch upon heteronormativity and sexuality, the 'sensitive' stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals within SDP initiatives remain rather unheard. Drawing on ethnographic methodology and queer theory, this paper aims to understand the impact of two different SDP programmes located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that use sport to address sexuality and gender issues as part of their mission. The findings of this study indicate that delivery of sexuality-focused projects is a complex, problematic and contested process. Whilst the programme is conceived of as and committed to being LGBT-inclusive, the space is not completely void of heterosexism and homophobia. The queer lens here allowed for the revelation that whilst the SDP initiative provided a relatively supportive environment regarding the free expression of queer desires, it creates rather 'safe(r)' spaces, as the conventional norms of mainstream hetero-patriarchal society permeate these spaces. Furthermore, initiatives led to new means of exclusion and alienating experiences for its non-queer beneficiaries. Ultimately, raising the question of sexual diversity resulted in unexpected consequences outside the SDP space associated with misinterpretations, suspicions and a rejection of the initiatives. The conclusion consists of overall reflections regarding the use of the queer approach within SDP research and suggests possible directions for future studies of this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the influence of multiple actors in both formal and informal governance systems on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Drawing on institutional theory, a quantitative survey was developed and conducted of a sample of 140 firms in the electronics, food, textiles, toys and personal care sectors in Brazil. We examine how institutional pressures and firm-level agency influence the emergence of different patterns of CSR. We distinguish two clusters of companies: active companies identify business outcomes and actors that effectively exert an influence on their CSR practices, while passive companies consider institutional pressures to be of minor importance. Our contribution relates first, to institutional theory concerning the role of different actors in influencing the implementation of social and environmental practices; second, to the importance of collective coordination or its absence in shaping the specific characteristics of CSR; and third, to the agency of firms in responding to institutional pressures as being dependent on their perceptions of business outcomes. The theoretical insights drawn from this study should be applicable to similar countries, that is, to emerging but politically and economically unstable markets with marked social and economic inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how to generate development while preserving the environment is central to the history of the Brazilian Amazon. Many decades of top-down state interventions conceived and executed under a developmentalist framework have resulted in a socioenvironmental crisis. In response, the Sustainable Oil Palm Production Program (SPOPP) was launched in 2010. It promised to break with developmentalist visions and articulate environmental and sustainability concerns. This paper uses assemblage thinking to examine how these contrasting, often impossible-to-balance, views manifest within SPOPP implementation. We describe how non-human actors (trees, diseases, previous policies and agroecological zoning technologies) interact with human actors. However, powerful actors, in the state and beyond, continue to garner support for their developmentalist interests and thwart or depoliticize environmental and social concerns, thus limiting change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on affect and affective atmospheres have been a topic of increasing interest in marketing, particularly in the management of consumption and retail spaces where service providers attempt to orchestrate a prescribed, collective affective response in consumers. This paper draws on the work of Sara Ahmed and Margaret Wetherell to bring the subject back to the fore, providing a more fine-grained theorisation of how individuals land in such atmospheres. We articulate surfacing and sticking as key dimensions of landing, highlighting the heterogeneity of our landing, whereby affect is individually felt through bodily reactions due to how our personal affective history intersects with the socio-political context. Using a poetic affective attunement method, we capture intensely affective atmospheres, namely spirit-permeated religious settings in Brazil; demonstrating how landing results in different orientations or disorientations through which often elided emotional experiences come into view, privileging some subjects and objects whilst disadvantaging others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of conspiracy theories surrounding George Soros and the 'Globalist invasion' had been concentrated primarily in Eastern Europe, Russia and the United States. However, since Jair Bolsonaro's presidential victory in Brazil, Soros has become a target of the far-right in the country. On Soros' 90th Birthday in August 2020, the right-wing group 'Movement for Conservative Brazil' (Movimento Brasil Conservador – MBC) launched a campaign called 'International Day Against George Soros', aiming to attack the billionaire's reputation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how this campaign worked across online platforms as a strategy to popularize the Globalism conspiracy theory in the biggest Latin American country. We aim (1) to map the dynamics of disinformation dissemination across chat apps using hyperlink analysis; and (2) to interpret conspiratorial narratives about George Soros shared on chat apps during the month of his 90th birthday. We collected messages mentioning the anti-Soros campaign in WhatsApp and Telegram public groups and channels to extract hyperlinks and domains. These websites were manually categorized in an effort to analyze which conspiracy theories about George Soros are being disseminated on chat apps in Brazil. Our results suggest an increasing cross-platform dissemination of narratives attacking Soros. This case study illustrates how the rise of a transnationally networked political right has been accompanied by an emerging alternative digital communication infrastructure through which conspiracy theories circulate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address some important issues regarding innovation, sustainability and entrepreneurship in selected case studies based on the Local Innovative and Productive Systems (LIPSs) approach. First, we provide a brief overview of the LIPSs theoretical approach and discuss the relationship between LIPS and sustainability, and then we analyze selected case studies from Brazil in order to understand the relationship between LIPS and sustainability. The case study summarized here were extensive studies carried out by researchers related to a research network specialized in LIPS called RedeSist. The final section provides a brief analysis of how LIPSs have incorporated sustainability and the challenges yet to face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper seeks to analyze, based on the decolonial perspective, how the epistemic and ontological elements of the coloniality of power that operates through the linguistic imperialism of English are made present in the hierarchies of knowledge in marketing. For this, we use the generative trajectory, a semiotic theoretical model of meaning, to analyze advertisements of a transnational online English language company operating in Brazil, which reinforces in its communications the importance of learning English as the only way to succeed in the business world and to overcome the backwardness of local culture and language. The semiotic analysis helped to analyze the manipulation path and strategies and the concretization of the narratives present in the communication made through the ads, unveiling epistemic and ontological elements that make up the coloniality of power and its association to English, which was, in turn, related to the hierarchies of knowledge in marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing stock of road infrastructure in Brazil is still suboptimal and presents a bottleneck for economic growth. Concessions are being used to leverage the development and delivery of road infrastructure, although the first concessions have experienced some difficulties. Based on past lessons, Brazil has revised the regulatory framework and concessions models, by acting at three main critical success factors: creating a clear and transparent regulatory framework, improving procurement rules to ensure a more effective search for the "right" partner (and filtering opportunistic investors), and, finally, establishing a more effective risk-sharing strategy, providing the right incentives to mitigate delays and contractual breach, while increasing the bankability and overall project's quality. This paper provides an overview of these changes and provides valuable lessons for academics and practitioners involved in concession design and management, particularly, in the road sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When, in 1822, Brazil declared its independence from Portugal, its vast territory was little known by the central government in Rio de Janeiro. There was a great need to create reliable maps that would delineate the new country's boundaries. This paper aims to show how a practical application of astronomy, specifically geodesy, was vital in the efforts to build the nation. We follow the professional life of an astronomer, Luis Cruls, director of the National Observatory, professor at the Military School and chief researcher of several expeditions, to discuss the strength of geodesic and cartographic activities in Brazil at the end of the 19th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The current paper discusses the results of a study realized with 66 seekers of 12 psychosocial healthcare services (CAPS) in Brazil, by investigating their social representations. Aims: Throughout a quali-quantitative approach, unstructured interviews have been conducted and focused on two themes: one related to mental suffering and another to the CAPS itself. Method: The data were processed adopting the Iramuteq software for text-mining-analysis. Results: Out of the findings emerged four lexical classes due to the discursive representation of: (1) CAPS (39.7%); (2) social life (29.7%); (3) family (13.6%) and (4) medication and care (17%), where the utterance NÃO (NO) occupies a central position. Accordingly, the NO is associated with ' not there ' and ' not here ', contrasting the care provided outside the CAPS, represented as inhumane or inadequate, to that provided inside the CAPS, linked to feelings of 'not being discriminated, mistreated and unrecognized'. The underlying social representations expressed in the interviews show an opposition between what was experienced outside and what was experienced inside the CAPS. Conclusion: The care received in CAPS units is the expression of a new psychosocial paradigm in a process of implementation, focused on participation and interdisciplinarity, as opposed to the biomedical paradigm focused on the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International trade is one of the key spheres of economic policy. It is crucial for a country to understand the dynamics of its export markets to create a coherent strategy to improve its position in global markets. Research in this field is particularly interesting for both economists and policy makers. However, due to a lack of data, most of the well-established literature is focused on the national level. Therefore, there is little evidence on the influence of local characteristics on export markets. This research aims to evaluate the influence of regional factors on the competitiveness of firms in international markets, focussing on the importance of agglomeration economies and location, among other local factors. To identify this influence, this paper studies the case of Brazil. This country offers rich disaggregated information that allows this type of research and displays enormous differences across rural and urban areas. Given these differences, the assumption of homogeneous effects is too restrictive. Therefore, to study the patterns across different territories around the country, Geographically Weighted Generalized Linear Model (GWGLM) method is applied. The results indicate an interaction between location and the influence of several local characteristics such as human capital, the degree of development and the local economic structure. This relationship creates virtuous circles in a few locations where urban agglomerations create a suitable environment for firms, while opposite patterns appear in other locations. JEL codes: F14, R11 and R12 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1970s, Brazil sought to establish State policies aimed at technological autonomy in the field of Informatics, resulting in the origin of a national industry of computers. This paper will explore another measure that has been little explored by historiography: the control over imports of data processing equipment. Our research intends to show the control exerted by the Commission for Coordination of Electronic Processing Activities (CAPRE) and to discuss how its technicians performed the analysis of user requests, resulting in decisions that either allowed or not the installation of the requested systems. When analysing computer purchase contracts and evaluating the intended uses for the imported systems, they defined the 'merit' of each order and sought to raise users' awareness on the problem of technological dependence. They reveal different discourses on the technological modernization ('efficient/lowercost' imported technologies versus 'self–determination/autonomy' views influencing society's perceptions on Informatics in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Portuguese empire brought inescapable violence to the indigenous communities of Brazil and to those it enslaved. Throughout the centuries of colonial subjugation, driven by the Iberian monarchical traditions of hierarchy, militarism and moral crusade, 'just war' narratives were employed to legitimate the use of violent legal and extra-legal measures against enslaved peoples and others deemed unruly or rebellious and a threat to colonial order. Two centuries after independence, Brazil remains at war with its 'internal enemies'. Its justice practices continue to be characterised by colonial rationalisations. This paper illustrates the contemporary coloniality inherent in the carceral system from the moment of detention pre-trial through sentencing and imprisonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity and counter-disciplinarity are the hallmark of cultural studies and qualitative research, as scholars over the past three decades have discussed through extensive self-reflexive inquiry into their own unstable and ever-shifting methods (Denzin and Lincoln, 2018; Dicks et al., 2006: 78; Grossberg, 2010). Building on the interdisciplinary thought of Jacques Rancière and Caroline Levine on the one hand and traditions of participatory action research and activist anthropology on the other, we bring the methods conversation forward by shifting the focus from disciplines to forms and by making a case for aesthetic practice as qualitative research process. In this paper, the question of methods is approached through the action-based Cartonera Publishing Project with editoriales cartoneras in Latin America – community publishers who make low-cost books out of materials recovered from the street in the attempt to democratise and decolonise literary/artistic production – and specifically through our process-oriented, collaborative work with four cartonera publishers in Brazil and Mexico. Guided by the multiple forms of cartonera knowledge production, which are rooted not in academic research but rather in aesthetic practice and community relations, we offer an innovative 'trans-formal' methodological framework, which opens up new pathways for practitioners and researchers to work, think and act across social, cultural and aesthetic forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to review the research literature on aquatic exercise for health promotion using bibliometric methods and CiteSpace software. The number of studies related to this topic are constantly expanding, with the USA, Brazil, and Australia the centers of this research. Most published papers fall within Sports Science, but the disciplines of Physiology, Psychology, and Rehabilitation were also found to be dominant domains for this literature. The seven most prolific authors were from Brazil or Spain. The most frequently cited references focused on sub-topics of physiology, biochemistry, physical fitness, psychological health, cardiovascular disease, and joint disease. New research trends have shifted to the promotion of cardiovascular health in clinical populations (stroke, overweight, hypertension, endothelium dysfunctional, obese, inflammation, antioxidant, heart failure). Overall, this review found that research hot spots and trends in this realm have focused on improving cardiovascular health with aquatic exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the aesthetic trajectory of Abdias Nascimento in the context of his life's work, arguing that he has to be apprehended as a Quilombola warrior figure, through his entwinement of political and artistic agency. More specifically, it explores how Nascimento harnesses the creative matrix found in the lived history, myth and figuration from candomblé as a dramatist and as a painter. First, it delves into his creation of the Teatro Experimental do Negro (TEN), the first black theater in Brazil and his use of candomblé as a template of dramaturgy in his play, Sortilégio. However, the main analysis centers on his paintings, which combines candomblé symbology, along with other African cultural forms, to create culturally meaningful aesthetic forms that affirmed Afro-Brazilian subjectivity and their historical belonging in the nation and connection to the larger Africana world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper argues that the recent Brazilian crisis was related to a cyclical profit squeeze that took place between 2009 and 2014, following the long expansion that started in 2003. To do so, the cyclical trajectories of the output and the profit rate in the Brazilian economy for the period between 1996 and 2016 are examined by resorting to the framework established by Weisskopf (1979). The results indicate that profit squeezes are rare in the Brazilian economy, possibly due to the truncated character of the business cycles' expansions. However, a profit squeeze did take place in the last cycle, partly as a result of the commodities boom, which attenuated the foreign vulnerability of the economy and allowed for a longer than usual expansion. JEL classification: B50, B51,E32 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the Brazilian economy's rate of surplus value as well as its underlying determinants, i.e., wage rate and labor productivity between 1996 and 2016. In addition, it builds a theoretical narrative of the Brazilian economy that integrates its political successions, highlighting the governments of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010), Dilma Rousseff (2011–August 2016), and the parliamentary coup d'état (December 2015–August 2016). The findings are presented based on the classical political economy tradition, which sees capital-labor struggle as a key, albeit nonexclusive, condition that frames the economic, political, and ideological disputes of society. JEL Classification : B51, E25, N16 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]