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We focus on the notion of borders to explore how mobility and immobility in the city affect the relationship between human development and urban culture. We define borders as a relational space made of territoriality, representations and different possibilities of mobility and immobility. Drawing on research in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, we suggest a systematic approach to the analysis of borders and identify the socio-institutional, spatial and symbolic elements that make them more or less porous and thus more or less amenable to human mobility. We highlight the association between porosity in city borders and human development and illustrate the model contrasting two favela communities in Rio de Janeiro. We show that participation in the socio-cultural environment by favela grassroots organisations increases the porosity of internal city borders and contributes to the development of self, communities and the city. To focus on borders, their different elements and levels of porosity means to address simultaneously the psychosocial and cultural layers of urban spaces and the novel ways through which grassroots social actors develop themselves through participation and semiotic reconstruction of the socio-cultural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how children in different cultures and socio-economic contexts develop representations about the public sphere. It addresses how contexts of representation shape the form and content of children’s thinking while expressing the two-way transactions between the child and their social world. Drawings by children from two age groups (seven- and 10-year-olds) and two socio-economic milieus (affluent and deprived), in four cultures (Germany, Mexico, Brazil and Romania), supported by observations and interviews, were used to investigate children’s representations of their public world and their position within it. Findings show that public spheres characterised by collectivism, poverty and/or marginalisation: a) accelerate decentration bringing the public world and its complexity to the foreground of children’s depictions, and b) show a strong link between self and the public world. In affluent or individualistic public spheres we recognise the classical developmental pathway proposed by Piaget, with a clear increase in the separation between self and society as children grow. Children’s representations are flexible semiotic systems whose form and content interact productively with the context in which they develop. These results reject conceptions of children’s knowledge as a prototype of adult knowledge, suggesting that children’s societal knowledge evolves through adaptive strategies to specific socio-cultural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article develops a social representational approach to understanding expert knowledge and its relation to health. Research with homelessness professionals (HPs) working in the UK voluntary sector shows that expert definitions of homelessness can either undermine or enhance the health of the homeless. Guided by the concepts of social representations and cognitive polyphasia, the analysis reveals a contradictory field of knowledge, which reflects the struggle of professionals to sustain a humanizing approach and resist the pressures of statutory agendas. We conclude pointing to the need of recognizing the impact of professional's knowledge on the health and care policies for the homeless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to contribute to the debate about participation and health by presenting a framework for psychosocial interventions in primary health care. It highlights the social psychological dimensions of participation and the role it plays in improving conditions of living and thus health. The Freirean concepts of dialogue, recognition and conscientization, combined with understanding of local knowledge are suggested as guiding notions for psychosocial interventions seeking to enhance community participation and develop the local level. The article discusses the challenges as well as the potential gains experienced in the process of participation presented. It concludes by reaffirming the importance of participation and empowerment in health interventions struggling against health inequalities and seeking health for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]