This thesis deals with the determinants and mechanisms of individual secularisation processes in a cross-national perspective. In this ‘collected volume’ of six stand-alone articles, I examine religious beliefs and behaviours as well as attitudes towards religion and politics, whereby the validity of the main theories of religious change (classical secularisation theory, existential security hypothesis, supply-side explanations, historical/cultural approaches and conflict theories) are put to an empirical test. The main conclusion is that the fundamental mechanisms suggested by secularisation theories are valid and that we can identify main determinants of religiosity worldwide. However, only a combination of existing approaches is capable of explaining a broad range of the phenomena observed. Chapter 1 (co-authored with Nan Dirk de Graaf and Peter Schmidt) deals with the fundamental mechanisms that facilitate the socialisation of religious beliefs. Under conditions of high inequality, religion acts as a source of social capital that benefits the religious socialisation of individuals outside of the family context. If levels of inequality fall, this ‘social value of religion’ is diminished and religious socialisation depends more strongly on parental efforts, thereby gradually leading to intergenerational secularisation. In Chapter 2 (co-authored with Anja Neundorf) we show that the state in Eastern Europe played a crucial role in de-establishing as well as re-establishing religious plausibility structures, which explains lower levels of religious belief in Cold War cohorts as well as the religious revival after the end of the Cold War. Chapters 3 and 4 examine the topic of religion and politics and the mechanisms behind the support for the 9/11 attacks in the Muslim world. Levels of existential security and income inequality have a strong impact on the preferences for religious politicians in a cross-sectional as well as in a longitudinal perspective. Moreover, religiosity and altruistic behaviour run the risk of being converted into pro-terrorist support under conditions of high levels of inequality and low development levels. The final two chapters show that –in a world-wide comparison development levels, inequality and the Socialist history of countries explain 75% of the variation in religiosity between countries. Furthermore, future developments in religious change will also be subject to changes in fertility. The main drivers of secularisation processes can be identified, but for the majority of the world population these conditions are not met at present, nor will they be met in the near future.

The issue of women's reproductive rights has become an international concern in the recent decade. Ongoing debates on women's reproductive rights in world conferences and conventions have heightened the need for empirical research and theoretical explanations of women's reproductive rights Nevertheless, very few sociological studies have treated women's reproductive rights as a dependent variable. This study examines the effects of family planning programs and the processes of modernization on women's reproductive rights. Several facets of modernization; processes of socioeconomic development, secularization, women's education, and levels of gender equality are considered. The study involves 101 countries identified by the World Bank (1994) as developing countries. It is argued, on the one hand, that variations in women's reproductive rights in developing nations may be explained by the social changes brought about by modernization processes. On other hand, the universality of the anti-natalistic population policies in developing countries in the late 20th century provides a strong state control over fertility rate, which may contribute to the attainment of women's reproductive rights. Using linear structural equation analysis, the study finds that fertility decline due to family planning programs leads to the achievement of women's reproductive rights. The empirical findings support the hypothesis that socioeconomic development has a positive effect on women's education, and that there is no statistically significant relationship between modernization and gender equality. The results of the study, meanwhile, indicate that, in developing societies, women's education is negatively related to women's reproductive rights. The study suggests: first, family planning programs as a social policy in developing countries influence fertility decline, and enhance women's reproductive rights; second, gender equality in society is an important factor that increases the level of reproductive rights for women in developing countries; and finally, the finding that women's education reduces the attainment of reproductive rights may imply the need to develop valid scales for measuring reproductive rights. The findings of this study contribute toward the development of a structural model of reproductive rights.

This paper analyzes the utilization of repression and democratic institutions by a non-democratic government striving for political power and private rents. We find that economic development has different impacts on policy choices, depending on whether it appears in the form of rises in income or in education: A higher income level reduces democracy, whereas more education leads to both more democracy and more repression. These theoretical findings are corroborated by panel data regressions.

In the 1950s, scholars in Europe and the United States announced the end of political ideology in the West. With the rise of affluent welfare states, they argued, ideological movements which sought to overthrow prevailing liberal democracy would disappear. While these arguments were questioned in the 1960s, similar ideas were presented after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Scholars now claimed that the end of the Cold War meant the end of mankind’s “ideological development,” that globalization would undermine the left/right distinction and that politics would be shaped by cultural affiliations rather than ideological alignments. The purpose of No alternatives is to compare the end of ideology discussion of the 1950s with some of the post-Cold War theories launched at the time of, or in the years following, the fall of the Berlin Wall. Juxtaposing monographs, essays and papers between 1950 and 2000, the dissertation focuses on three aspects of these theories. First, it analyzes their concepts of history, demonstrating that they tended to portray the existing society as an order which had resolved the conflicts and antagonisms of earlier history. Second, the investigation scrutinizes the processes of post-politicization at work in these theories, showing how they sought to transcend, contain or externalize social conflict, and at times dismiss politics altogether. Third, it demonstrates how the theories can be understood as legitimizing or mobilizing narratives which aimed to defend Western liberal democracy and to rally its citizens against internal threats and external enemies. As the title of the dissertation implies, the end of ideology discussion of the 1950s and the post-Cold War theories of the 1990s sought to highlight the historical or political impossibility of any alternatives to the present society.

Esta dissertação teve como intenção analisar o Proálcool (1975-1990) e suas consequências para o setor sucroalcooleiro paulista, relacionando-o ao processo de modernização retardatária promovida pelo Estado brasileiro, que redefiniu o papel do campo no processo de acumulação capitalista, no Brasil. Pretendeu-se verificar se a necessidade reiterada de intervenção estatal via créditos subsidiados junto à produção do setor indicava uma crise da acumulação capitalista na sua forma atual, a partir do que Marx denominou como capital fictício. Assim, se colocou como questão se a dívida dos fornecedores e industriais do complexo agroindustrial sucroalcooleiro paulista para com a União, no final da década de 1980 (final do terceiro período do Proálcool), expressava o momento fictício de reprodução do capital na incapacidade (sem a intervenção do Estado) de reprodução do setor, tanto pela exploração do trabalho como pela incorporação da renda da terra ao capital que se territorializava no campo. Esta dissertação procurou verificar tal questão através da história dessa territorialização (e sua consequente diferenciação de áreas nas DIRAs, em São Paulo), e também avaliar dados, para então compreender quais as relações entre a inserção nesse momento particular da acumulação capitalista e a transformação das relações de produção particulares conforme existentes no Brasil (como o agregado, no Vale do Jequitinhonha) e em São Paulo (como o colono), anteriormente ao processo de modernização. O trabalho precarizado do bóia-fria pôde, assim, ser entendido como expressão da crise da sociedade do trabalho, sendo a alta composição orgânica dos capitais no setor percebida de forma fetichista como desenvolvimento econômico o fundamento da conformação das características daquele trabalho. Através de trabalho de campo à área de Olímpia-SP, pretendeu-se, então, compreender a forma pela qual as personificações do capital (proprietário de terras, capitalista e trabalhador) subjetivam o momento da crise, enquanto o da própria forma social capitalista. / This thesis aimed at analyzing the Proálcool (1975 1990) and its consequences to the sugarcane industry at São Paulo state, trying to relate it to the process of modernization promoted by Brazilian State, which redefined the role of agriculture on the national process of capitalist accumulation. It sought, also, to verify if that industrys state subvention necessity for credit outpointed a capitalist accumulation crisis on its actual form, from what Marx called fictitious capital. Therefore, we questioned if the sugarcane industry debts with the Brazilian State, at the end of the 1980s (as the last period of Proálcool), expressed the fictitious moment of capitalist reproduction as the impossibility (one without State subventions) of that industry to reproduce itself whether from labor exploitation, or from the ground rent extraction. This dissertation tried to answer it by thinking on the history of capital territorialization on local agriculture and by data examination, in order to comprehend the relations between its insertion at this particular capitalist accumulation moment and the changing of social production relations as they existed before that modernization process (the agregado, at Vale do Jequitinhonha; and the colono, at São Paulo). Precarious labor of day-laborers, thus, could be interpreted as an expression of labor society crisis, being the high capital organic composition of sugarcane industry the ground from where this labors characteristics are/were conformed, although this composition is widely seen as economic growth. With fieldworks at Olímpia area (São Paulo), we intended to comprehend how capital personifications (landlord, capitalist and laborer) see this crisis moment and if they relate it as being from the capitalistic social form itself.

Investiga o processo de modernização em Campina Grande - PB, e a manifestação e difusão da arquitetura moderna brasileira na cidade, durante as décadas de 1940 a 1960. A partir de um processo de revisão historiográfica da modernidade arquitetônica no Brasil já firmado, mas que exclui algumas regiões do país, propõe confrontar os influxos externos com os condicionantes históricos, econômicos, tecnológicos e culturais específicos da cidade em estudo. Refletindo sobre os mecanismos e características de incorporação da linguagem moderna, objetiva ainda a identificação dos agentes envolvidos e a percepção das ações perante a população citadina, abrindo novas perspectivas de leitura e compreensão dos desdobramentos da produção nacional fora dos grandes centros do país. Pretende, por fim, fornecer subsídios para políticas de documentação e preservação, ressaltando a importância do repertório arquitetônico moderno. / This dissertation investigates the process of modernization in Campina Grande - PB, and the emergence and diffusion of Brazilian modern architecture in the city, during the decades between the 1940s and 1960s. From a historiographical review of architecture modernity in Brazil already firmed, but which excludes some regions of the country, it proposes confronting external influences with historical, economic, technological and cultural determining factors of the city studied. Reflecting on the incorporation of modern architecture mechanisms and characteristics, it aims to identify agents involved and the perception of the actions on the part of the city´s habitants, disclosing new prospects of reading and understanding the developments of national architecture production outside the major centers of the country. Lastly, this work intends to provide subsidies for documentation and preservation strategies, emphasizing the importance of modern architecture.

A Modernização Dirigida a Arquitetura (do inglês - Architecture-Driven Modernization (ADM)) é uma iniciativa do Object Management Group (OMG) no sentido de padronizar os tradicionais processos de reengenharia de software utilizando metamodelos. O metamodelo mais importante da ADM é o Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM), cujo objetivo é representar todos artefatos de um determinado sistema, de forma independente de linguagem e plataforma. Um passo primordial durante processos de modernização de software é a aplicação de refatorações. No entanto, até o presente momento, há carência de abordagens que tratam das questões referentes a refatorações no contexto da ADM, desde a criação até a aplicação das mesmas. Além disso, atualmente, não existe uma forma sistemática e controlada de facilitar o reúso de refatorações que são específicas do KDM. Diante disso, são apresentados uma abordagem para criação e disponibilização de refatorações para o metamodelo KDM e um apoio ferramental que permite aplicá-las em diagramas de classe da UML. A abordagem possui dois passos: (i) o primeiro envolve passos que apoiam o engenheiro de modernização durante a criação de refatorações para o KDM; (ii) o segundo resume-se na especificação das refatorações por meio da criação de instâncias do metamodelo Structured Refactoring Metamodel (SRM) e posterior disponibilização delas em um repositório. O apoio ferramental, denominado KDM-RE, é composto por três plug-ins do Eclipse: (i) o primeiro consiste em um conjunto de Wizards que apoia o engenheiro de software na aplicação das refatorações em diagramas de classe UML; (ii) o segundo consiste em um módulo de propagação de mudanças, permitindo manter modelos internos do KDM sincronizados; (iii) o terceiro fornece apoio à importação e reúso de refatorações disponíveis no repositório. Além disso, o terceiro módulo também contém uma linguagem específica de domínio, a qual é utilizada para auxiliar o engenheiro de software a instanciar o metamodelo SRM. Foi realizado um experimento, buscando reproduzir os cenários em que engenheiros de software realizam refatorações em instâncias do metamodelo KDM. Os resultados mostraram que a abordagem, bem como o apoio ferramental podem trazer benefícios para o engenheiro de software durante a atividade de aplicação de refatorações em sistemas, representados pelo metamodelo KDM. / Architecture Driven Modernization (ADM) is an initiative of the Object Management Group (OMG) whose main purpose is to provide standard metamodels that enable the conduction of modernization activities as reverse engineering and software transformation. In this context, the most important metamodel is the Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM), whose objective is to represent software artifacts in a language- and platform-agnostic fashion. A fundamental step during software modernization is refactoring. However, there is a lack of approaches that address how refactoring can be applied in conjunction with ADM. In addition, few efforts have investigated how refactorings can be reused and systematically applied within the context of KDM representations. We propose an approach for creating and cataloging refactorings tailored to KDM. Our approach is twofold: (i) the first part comprises steps that help the software modernization engineer create KDM-compliant refactorings; (ii) the second part has to do with turning these refactoring descriptions into Structured Refactoring Metamodel (SRM) and making them available to be reused. To automate these activities, we developed a tool that makes it possible to apply refactorings to Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams. Our tool, named KDM-RE, comprises three Eclipse plug-ins, which can be briefly described as follows: (i) a set of Wizards aimed at supporting the software modernization engineer during refactoring activities; (ii) a change propagation module that keeps the internal metamodels synchronized; and (iii) a plug-in that supports the selection and reuse of the refactorings available in the repository. Moreover, we developed a domain specific language to minimize the effort required to instantiate SRMs. We carried out an evaluation that simulates how software modernization engineers would go about refactoring KDM instances. Our results would seem to suggest that our approach, when automated by our tool, provides several advantages to software modernization engineers refactoring systems represented by KDMs.

A pesquisa examina o projeto político do desenvolvimento humano em suas formas de implementação, no Brasil. As propostas que emanam do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD), sobretudo através dos Relatórios do Desenvolvimento Humano (RDH), ganham características particulares no ambiente sociopolítico nacional. O projeto oriundo do órgão internacional se concretiza, principalmente, através dos esforços de implementação dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento do Milênio (ODM). O objeto da pesquisa é constituído, assim, pelas representações discursivas dos diversos agentes políticos e econômicos direcionados ao cumprimento dos objetivos e metas denominados ODM. Uma das preocupações centrais da pesquisa diz respeito aos métodos e às instituições disciplinadoras da ação individual e coletiva dos diferentes sujeitos sociais e políticos atuantes em favor dos Objetivos do Milênio. Analisa-se as bases teóricas e metodológicas que dão suporte ao projeto político e examina-se as práticas organizacionais e as representações sob o prisma de uma sociologia da mudança social que interroga, centralmente, as relações de poder e dominação. / The research examines the human development political project in its forms of implementation, in Brazil. Proposals emanating from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), particularly through the Human Development Reports (HRD), acquire particular characteristics in the national socio-political environment. The project originated from the international organization is realized mainly through the efforts to implement the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The research object is constituted, therefore, by the discursive representations of the diverse political and economic actors directed to the fulfillment of the objectives and goals denominated MDG. One of the central concerns of the research refers to the disciplinary methods and institutions for the individual and collective action of the different social and political actors working for the Millennium Development Goals. It analyzes the theoretical and methodological bases that support the political project and examines the organizacional practices and representations under the prism of a sociology of social change that interrogates, centrally, the relations of power and domination.

A Zona Franca de Manaus (ZFM), criada em 1967 pela ditadura militar, termina em 2023, mas ha uma proposta de modificacao da Constituicao Federal do Brasil para que ela dure ate 2073. A partir da compreensao do discurso enquanto pratica social (Focault, 1987, 2002, 2005; Hajer, 1995, 2005, 2006) e da categorizacao dos discursos ambientais (Dryzek, 2005), foram analisados 265 pronunciamentos dos parlamentares do Amazonas, 19 edicoes de uma revista institucional e 626 materias do mais importante jornal local, tudo publicado entre 2007 e 2010. Eles revelam um deslocamento do discurso de legitimacao da ZFM do ideario do progresso ao do desenvolvimento sustentavel, guiado pela modernizacao ecologica. As industrias passaram a ser apresentadas como responsaveis pela conservacao das florestas, gracas a geracao de empregos urbanos: afirma-se que se os incentivos fiscais acabarem, havera desemprego e desmatamento. Esse roteiro fatalista, autoritario, nao reconhece o papel dos povos e comunidades tradicionais na conservacao da floresta nem esta aberto ao debate publico sobre outros modelos de desenvolvimento para a regiao amazonica. / The Manaus Free Trade Zone (ZFM) will end in 2023, but there is a proposal to amend the Brazilian Federal Constitution so that it lasts until 2073. From the understanding of discourse as a social practice (Foucault, 1987, 2002, 2005; Hajer, 1995, 2005, 2006), this paper is based on the critical analysis of 265 parliamentary pronouncements, 19 editions of a institutional magazine and 626 news from the most important local newspaper, all published between 2007 and 2010. It reveals a shift in the discourse about the ZFM, guided by ecological modernization. The industries are now presented as responsible for protecting the rainforest: it is said that if the tax incentives stop, there will be unemployment and deforestation. This fatalistic story line does not recognize the role of traditional peoples and communities in forest conservation and neither is open to the public debate about other models of development for the Amazon.

Nessa dissertação, procuramos discutir o processo de territorialização do que veio a ser instituído em Minas Gerais, a partir da década de 1960, como o Vale do Jequitinhonha. Abordamos esse processo de territorialização em seus contornos coloniais, uma vez que seu sentido conformou as relações sociais de produção particulares que passaram a viabilizar a acumulação de capital com a generalização do trabalho livre. Nesse contexto, instaurou-se no nordeste mineiro uma dinâmica regional de expansão da fazenda agropecuária, fundada na relação de agregação de lavradores, na qual o controle territorial, por meio da possibilidade do emprego direto da violência, condicionou a subordinação do trabalho. Essas relações sociais de produção regionais, por sua vez, passaram a ser objeto da intervenção estatal a partir das décadas de 1960 e 1970. Abordamos essa intervenção como parte do processo de modernização retardatária, movido nacionalmente como esforço de industrialização e de superação de formas de acumulação tidas como arcaicas. Modernização que, por meio da imposição de uma forma determinada de desenvolvimento, fundada na consolidação da propriedade da terra e na formação do trabalhador assalariado, deveria alimentar a indústria em formação no centro-sul do país. Por fim, partimos do processo de expropriação dos antigos lavradores do Vale do Jequitinhonha para observar a transformação dos mesmos em trabalhadores bóias-frias, em condições definidas pelos limites da modernização, que explicita seu caráter crítico. / This thesis discuss the process of territorialization established in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from the 1960s onwards, the Vale do Jequitinhonha region. We approach this process of territorialization in its colonial boundaries since its sense conformed particular social relations of production which began to enable capital accumulation with free labor generalization. In this context, a regional dynamic of agricultural farm expansion was set up in the northeast of Minas Gerais based on the relation of a particular subordination of the local population (of the agregados) , in which the territorial control, through direct violence, conditioned the labor force exploitation. Eventually, these social relations of regional production became the object of governmental intervention from the 1960s and the 1970s. We see this intervention as part of the nationwide accelerated modernization process, as an effort of industrialization and overcoming accumulation methods regarded as archaic. This was carried out through the imposition of a specific pattern of development, based on the consolidation of land ownership and salaried labor force training, which should supply the newly established industry in the central and southern regions of Brazil. Finally, we focus the expropriation process of former land workers from the Vale do Jequitinhonha to observe their transformation into day-laborers, in conditions defined by the modernization limits, which reveal its critical character.