acase@tulane.edu

Tatarstan’s degree of political, economic and cultural sovereignty within the Russian Federation is the result of Soviet era ethno-national politics. The re-adoption of the ethnic federal state model in 1992 by Russia allowed ethnic regions such as Tatarstan to challenge the federal authorities for con-federal relations within the Federation. The Tatar leadership has attempted to work within the institutional and legal framework of the Russian Federation in an attempt to codify their state sovereignty within the Russian Federation. The political and economic concessions gained through tedious negotiation with the center have provided the Republic with the means to build a culturally distinct and semi sovereign state in the heart of the Russian Federation. / text

A tese aborda diferentes dimensões da relação entre centros e periferias na produção, circulação e legitimação do conhecimento, a partir de um estudo de caso que se debruça sobre a área da genética humana e médica no Brasil. Busca-se discutir as razões, estratégias, contingências e constrições das colaborações internacionais realizadas pelas(os) pesquisadoras(es) brasileiras(os) em um contexto disciplinar percebido como estruturalmente desigual. Trata-se de explorar as potencialidades do estudo de caso para a identificação em termos mais específicos de fatores e processos que têm sido descritos de modo generalizante nos discursos contemporâneos sobre a internacionalização da ciência e a transformação dos modos de produção de conhecimento científico. Para tanto, foi feito um trabalho de campo que compreendeu a seleção de uma amostra de pesquisadoras(es) da genética humana e médica no Brasil, que levou à identificação dos programas de pós-graduação de excelência na área, localizados em quatro universidades públicas: Universidade de São Paulo campus Ribeirão Preto; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Universidade Federal do Pará; e Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Essa seleção baseou-se na Avaliação Trienal da Capes 2010-2012 (que eram os dados mais recentes disponíveis quando do desenho da pesquisa). Foram então realizadas 46 entrevistas semiestruturadas com pesquisadoras(es) pertencentes às instituições em que esses Programas estão sediados, a grande maioria delas realizada in loco, para cuja análise foi utilizado o programa Atlas Ti. A exploração desse material, devidamente localizado no contexto histórico do desenvolvimento da área no país, permitiu analisar as representações das(os) pesquisadoras(es) em termos de estratégias negociadas e renegociadas no cotidiano das colaborações nacionais e internacionais e a constituição das agendas de pesquisa, simultaneamente em consonância e em tensão com os padrões e parâmetros do que se convencionou chamar de ciência internacional. Os dados balizam a discussão sobre as possibilidades de reconhecimento da pesquisa em genética humana e médica realizada por brasileiras(os), que explora as tensões entre o local e o internacional, considerando os aspectos que marcam as formas contemporâneas de competição no interior de atividade científica em um campo disciplinar específico. A análise revela a pluralidade das relações entre centros e periferias, em dinâmicas sociais que transformam e recriam desigualdades nacionais, regionais e globais no campo contemporâneo da produção de conhecimento em genética humana e médica. / This doctoral dissertation deals with different dimensions of the relation between centres and peripheries in the production, circulation and legitimation of knowledge, departing from a case study looking at human and medical Genetics in Brazil. Its aims are to discuss the reasons, strategies, contingencies and constrictions of international collaborations taken through by Brazilian researchers in a disciplinary context perceived as structurally unequal. Thus it is about exploring the potentialities of this case study to identify under more specific terms the factors and processes that have been hitherto described in a generalizing manner throughout contemporary discourses on internationalization of science and the transformation of the modes of production of scientific knowledge. To achieve this, a fieldwork has been taken through, comprehending the selection of a sample of researchers in the field of human and medical Genetics in Brazil, therefore leading to the identification of graduate programmes of excellence, located in four public research universities: Universidade de São Paulo campus Ribeirão Preto; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Universidade Federal do Pará, and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. This selection based itself upon the 2010- 2012 Triennial Evaluation Process of Capes (which were the most recent data available at the moment when the research happened to be designed). After this first preparatory step, 46 semi-structured interviews were held with researchers belonging to the institutions hosting these programmes, the most part of them in loco, after which the software Atlas Ti was used to analyse them. Exploring this material, duly situated in the historical context of the areas development in Brazil, allowed to analyse the representations of these researchers in terms of the strategies employed to negotiate and renegotiate in everyday national as well as international collaborations, alongside the constitution of research agendas, all of them simultaneously in consonance and tension regarding patterns and parameters of what has been agreed upon to receive the name of international science. This data appears as a yardstick to evaluate the discussion concerning the possibilities of recognizing research in human and medical Genetics performed by Brazilian researchers, examining tensions between the local and the international, taking into consideration the aspects that characterize contemporary forms of competition among scientific activity in a specific disciplinary field. The investigation and concurrent analysis reveal the plurality of relations between centres and peripheries, paying special attention to social dynamics that produce and recreate national, regional and global inequalities in the contemporary field of knowledge production in human and medical genetics.

A tese aborda diferentes dimensões da relação entre centros e periferias na produção, circulação e legitimação do conhecimento, a partir de um estudo de caso que se debruça sobre a área da genética humana e médica no Brasil. Busca-se discutir as razões, estratégias, contingências e constrições das colaborações internacionais realizadas pelas(os) pesquisadoras(es) brasileiras(os) em um contexto disciplinar percebido como estruturalmente desigual. Trata-se de explorar as potencialidades do estudo de caso para a identificação em termos mais específicos de fatores e processos que têm sido descritos de modo generalizante nos discursos contemporâneos sobre a internacionalização da ciência e a transformação dos modos de produção de conhecimento científico. Para tanto, foi feito um trabalho de campo que compreendeu a seleção de uma amostra de pesquisadoras(es) da genética humana e médica no Brasil, que levou à identificação dos programas de pós-graduação de excelência na área, localizados em quatro universidades públicas: Universidade de São Paulo campus Ribeirão Preto; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Universidade Federal do Pará; e Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Essa seleção baseou-se na Avaliação Trienal da Capes 2010-2012 (que eram os dados mais recentes disponíveis quando do desenho da pesquisa). Foram então realizadas 46 entrevistas semiestruturadas com pesquisadoras(es) pertencentes às instituições em que esses Programas estão sediados, a grande maioria delas realizada in loco, para cuja análise foi utilizado o programa Atlas Ti. A exploração desse material, devidamente localizado no contexto histórico do desenvolvimento da área no país, permitiu analisar as representações das(os) pesquisadoras(es) em termos de estratégias negociadas e renegociadas no cotidiano das colaborações nacionais e internacionais e a constituição das agendas de pesquisa, simultaneamente em consonância e em tensão com os padrões e parâmetros do que se convencionou chamar de ciência internacional. Os dados balizam a discussão sobre as possibilidades de reconhecimento da pesquisa em genética humana e médica realizada por brasileiras(os), que explora as tensões entre o local e o internacional, considerando os aspectos que marcam as formas contemporâneas de competição no interior de atividade científica em um campo disciplinar específico. A análise revela a pluralidade das relações entre centros e periferias, em dinâmicas sociais que transformam e recriam desigualdades nacionais, regionais e globais no campo contemporâneo da produção de conhecimento em genética humana e médica. / This doctoral dissertation deals with different dimensions of the relation between centres and peripheries in the production, circulation and legitimation of knowledge, departing from a case study looking at human and medical Genetics in Brazil. Its aims are to discuss the reasons, strategies, contingencies and constrictions of international collaborations taken through by Brazilian researchers in a disciplinary context perceived as structurally unequal. Thus it is about exploring the potentialities of this case study to identify under more specific terms the factors and processes that have been hitherto described in a generalizing manner throughout contemporary discourses on internationalization of science and the transformation of the modes of production of scientific knowledge. To achieve this, a fieldwork has been taken through, comprehending the selection of a sample of researchers in the field of human and medical Genetics in Brazil, therefore leading to the identification of graduate programmes of excellence, located in four public research universities: Universidade de São Paulo campus Ribeirão Preto; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Universidade Federal do Pará, and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. This selection based itself upon the 2010- 2012 Triennial Evaluation Process of Capes (which were the most recent data available at the moment when the research happened to be designed). After this first preparatory step, 46 semi-structured interviews were held with researchers belonging to the institutions hosting these programmes, the most part of them in loco, after which the software Atlas Ti was used to analyse them. Exploring this material, duly situated in the historical context of the areas development in Brazil, allowed to analyse the representations of these researchers in terms of the strategies employed to negotiate and renegotiate in everyday national as well as international collaborations, alongside the constitution of research agendas, all of them simultaneously in consonance and tension regarding patterns and parameters of what has been agreed upon to receive the name of international science. This data appears as a yardstick to evaluate the discussion concerning the possibilities of recognizing research in human and medical Genetics performed by Brazilian researchers, examining tensions between the local and the international, taking into consideration the aspects that characterize contemporary forms of competition among scientific activity in a specific disciplinary field. The investigation and concurrent analysis reveal the plurality of relations between centres and peripheries, paying special attention to social dynamics that produce and recreate national, regional and global inequalities in the contemporary field of knowledge production in human and medical genetics.

The aim of the Master's thesis is to analyze the growing interest of the global economic system centers in the region of developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa with the account on weakening position of the West in relation to this region. The thesis will be structured into two sections. The first part will focus on the relationship between the West and countries of the African continent and the circumstances allowing not only the access of new challengers, but also alternative development models. In this respect the thesis will use the theoretical works of Adrian Leftwich and Claus Offe dealing with the issues of democratization and economic development and their mutual incompatibility. The second part of the thesis will analyze relations with these emerging, non-western power centers and their alternative development models. The research question of the thesis is formulated whether these alternative centers of the global economic system in the region of sub-Saharan Africa propagate their own conception of development models, with proclaimed respect for local conditions, as a challenger to the Western concept of development policy. The hypothesis assumes a certain degree of autonomy in case of developing countries in choosing "their" partner center. These centers are forced to offer certain...

This thesis examines the development of relations between mainland France (center) and its peripheries, French Polynesia and New Caledonia, which are located in the South Pacific. The thesis aims at answering the following questions: which factors have played a role in the mobilization of the peripheral cultures against the dominant center? How has the center reacted to the peripheral mobilization and its demands? Why has the separatism become much stronger in New Caledonia than in French Polynesia? The thesis examines the historical, societal and political developments in French Polynesia and New Caledonia since the dawn of their colonization till the present day in order to respond to the stipulated questions.

Sur la base d’une étude historique des rapports entre les cycles techno-économiques du système mondial et le processus de transformation économique, politique et idéologique d’un pays périphérique comme l’Équateur, cette recherche présente une analyse critique sur le processus de développement du champ technoscientifique de ce pays et le projet de modernisation postnéolibéral mis en place par son gouvernement entre 2007-2017. L’exposition est organisée en deux parties. La première analyse les rapports entre les transformations techno-économiques mondiales et les cycles économiques et politiques locaux ; les rapports entre ces cycles, les vagues de modernisation du système d’éducation supérieure équatorien et la reproduction des élites locales ; et enfin, les rapports entre ces deux derniers et le processus de développement scientifique, technologique et industriel du pays. La deuxième partie est consacrée à l'étude en détail du dernier de ces cycles, caractérisé par la mise en place du projet postnéolibéral de modernisation technoscientifique. Cette étude se focalise particulièrement sur trois projets : la réforme de l’éducation supérieure, le programme de bourses d’étude à l’étranger et le projet de construction de Yachay, une ville dédiée à la science, à la technologie et à l’innovation. Les résultats de ces analyses dévoilent le caractère idéologique de ces projets, conçus et dirigés par un même réseau d’intellectuels et financés par l’essor des exportations de matières premières qui a accompagné cette phase ascendante du cycle périphérique. Enfermés dans leur quête idéologique d’un modèle de développement alternatif et les contraintes imposées par les processus de transformation du système mondial, ces acteurs ont fini par produire un projet de modernisation contradictoire basé sur une abstraction empirique adaptée à leurs besoins de légitimation politique. La fin de l’essor économique a dévoilé les limites de ce projet idéologique dont les résultats concrets sont une plus lourde bureaucratie, le gaspillage des ressources publiques et l’accumulation de pouvoir. Nous suggérons que ce résultat est un effet du décalage entre les cycles de transformation à la périphérie et au centre du système mondial et du processus de reconfiguration global liée à la montée de l’influence chinoise et au déploiement de la dernière vague de transformations techno-économiques. Cette recherchée s’inscrit ainsi dans la lignée de réflexion sur les transformations du système mondial. / Based on a historical study of the relationship between the techno-economic cycles of the global system and the economic, political and ideological transformations in Ecuador, this research presents a critical analysis of the development process of the technoscientific field in this country and the post-neoliberal modernization project implemented by its government between 2007-2017. The thesis has two parts. The first one develops an analysis on three levels: the relationships between the global techno-economic cycles and the political and economic transformations in Ecuador; the relationships between these transformations, the waves of modernization of the Ecuadorian higher education system and the reproduction of local elites; and the relationship between the latter and the scientific, technological and industrial development of the country. The second part presents a detailed study of the last cycle, characterized by the implementation of the post-neoliberal project of technoscientific modernization. This study focuses, particularly, on three projects: the higher education reform, the scholarship program for studies abroad and the Yachay technopole project. These analysis results reveal the ideological character of these projects, designed and directed by the same network of intellectuals and financed by the rise of commodity exports which accompanied this upward phase of the peripheral cycle. Trapped in their ideological quest for an alternative development model and the constraints imposed by the transformation processes of the global system, these actors have finally produced a contradictory modernization project based on an empirical abstraction adapted to their needs for political legitimization. The end of the economic upswing has unveiled the limits of this ideological project whose concrete results are a heavier bureaucracy, waste of public resources and the accumulation of power. We suggest that this result is an effect of the three interrelated processes: the gap between the transformation cycles at the periphery and at the center of the global system, the global reconfiguration linked to the rise of Chinese influence and the deployment of the latest techno-economic wave of innovation. This research aims thus to contribute to the debate on the historical transformations of the global system.