Este trabalho analisa, a partir dos pontos de vista conceitual e sociocultural, o fenômeno de sobrecarga de informação. Este termo designa uma situação em que os indivíduos, tendo em vista uma tarefa, não se sentem capazes de lidar com certa quantidade de informação, a qual, assim definida por critérios pessoais, profissionais e societais, lhes parece necessária para seus objetivos. Assim sendo, se assimila a outros, como multitudo librorum, explosão da informação, fadiga da informação e infobesidade. Para abordar esse objeto, o método usado é o da pesquisa exploratória, isto é, estruturam-se e aprofundam-se os debates presentes na literatura. O material de base do estudo são referências sobre a história da produção da informação e do conhecimento e uma seleção de artigos com os termos \"information overload\" e \"sobrecarga de informação\" encontrados em bases de dados na área da Ciência da Informação. Com tal apanhado, elencamos na pesquisa ocorrências da sobrecarga -- ou de casos análogos -- desde a Antiguidade à Idade Contemporânea, de modo a substanciar uma exposição das características do conceito e esclarecer as relações entre ele e as várias expressões (como as citadas acima) que o manifestam. Com esse estudo, torna-se claro que precisam ser repensadas as perspectivas que entendem os danos advindos do excesso de informação como produtos únicos da contemporaneidade -- é preciso compreender esses acontecimentos nas interrelações de fatores em cada momento e recuperar aprendizados possivelmente esquecidos. Portanto, destacamos o vínculo entre as situações de sobrecarga e o desenvolvimento de novos recursos de tratamento informacional, principalmente no que se refere à Ciência da Informação. / This work analyses, conceptually and socioculturally, the phenomenon of information overload. The term designates a situation in which individuals, having a task in mind, don\'t feel capable of dealing with a certain amount of information that is deemed necessary to their assignment, based on personal, professional and social criteria. Therefore, \"information overload\" is comparable to others notions as multitudo librorum, information explosion, information fatigue and infobesity. To understand this subject, the exploratory research method is used, that is, we structure and deepen previous debates concerning the theme. Our basic material are references in the history of the production of information and knowledge and a selection of articles with the incidence of the terms \"information overload\" and \"sobrecarga de informação\", found in Information Science databases. By these means, we compile instances of overload -- or analogous cases -- since Antiquity to the Contemporary Age, so as to be able to expose the concept\'s characteristics and clarify the relations between it and the various expressions (as the ones cited above) around it. Considering what we found, it becomes clear that it is necessary to rethink perspectives which believe that the damages caused by the information excess are an exclusive product of our days -- it is necessary to understand these circumstances from the point of view of the interrelations of factors in each moment and retrieve possibly forgotten learnings. Hence, we underline the conection between the situations of overload and the development of new informational tools, principally regarding Information Science.

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O presente trabalho faz uma análise do período formativo da Ciência Política nos Estados Unidos, com o objetivo de mostrar que o ideal científico que caracterizaria o Comportamentalismo como paradigma hegemônico da disciplina nos anos 1950-1970 já estavam presentes desde a fundação da American Polítical Science Association [APSA], em 1903. Portanto, a chamada “revolução comportamentalista” não foi um movimento abrupto e repentino, mas sim o resultado de uma longa disputa teórico e metodológica que se travou no interior da APSA, especialmente nas páginas de sua principal revista, a American Political Science Review [APSR]. Neste sentido, o argumento defendido neste estudo é o de que o conjunto de características que passaram a definir o Comportamentalismo já estava sendo debatido e gestado desde o início do século XX. Do ponto de vista teórico, o estudo adota a perspectiva institucional histórica, focando na formação institucional da APSA, mas também recorre a conceitos centrais da abordagem de Thomas Kuhn, tais como as concepções de paradigma, de ciência normal e revolução científica. O material analisado abrange dados bibliográfico-documentais, os discursos oficiais dos presidentes da APSA, de 1903 a 1969, e bibliografia primária [textos de debate teórico-metodológico publicados na APSR] e secundária [textos sobre a história da disciplina]. Os documentos e textos secundários são analisados por meio de interpretação documental; os discursos presidenciais são examinados por meio da técnica de análise de conteúdo. Neste último caso, a intenção era detectar a defesa do ideal científico [método e abordagem] e alguma postura científica para a Ciência Política. Os resultados dão suporte ao argumento central, qual seja, que as diretrizes científicas preconizadas pelo Comportamentalismo foram apresentadas muito antes do período de hegemonia reconhecido pela literatura especializada. / The present work analyses the period of formation of Political Science in the United States, aiming to show that the scientific ideal that would characterize Behavioralism as a hegemonic paradigm in the discipline between 1950-1970 was already present since the foundation of the American Political Science Association [APSA] in 1903. Hence, the so called "Behavioralist Revolution" was not an abrupt and sudden event, but rather the result of a long theoretical and methodological controversy within APSA, especially through its main publication, the American Political Science Review [APSR]. Therefore, this work defends the argument that the defining characteristics of Behavioralism had already been discussed and generated in the beginning of the 20th century. From a theoretical point of view, this work adopts a historical-institutionalist perspective, focusing in APSA's institutional formation, but also mobilizes central concepts from Thomas Kuhn's approach to the philosophy of science, such as paradigm, normal science and scientific revolution. The material hereby analyzed encompasses bibliographical-documental data, APSA's official presidential addresses from 1903 to 1969, and primary bibliography [texts on theoretical-methodological debates published in APSR] and secondary [texts on the History of the discipline]. Documents and secondary texts are analyzed through documental interpretation; presidential addresses are examined through the technique of content analysis. As for the latter, the goal was to identify the defense of a scientific ideal [method and approach] and a scientific position to Political Science. The results support the central argument that the scientific guidelines professed by Behavioralism were already present much earlier than the period of its hegemony as defined by specialized literature on the issue.

O presente trabalho faz uma análise do período formativo da Ciência Política nos Estados Unidos, com o objetivo de mostrar que o ideal científico que caracterizaria o Comportamentalismo como paradigma hegemônico da disciplina nos anos 1950-1970 já estavam presentes desde a fundação da American Polítical Science Association [APSA], em 1903. Portanto, a chamada “revolução comportamentalista” não foi um movimento abrupto e repentino, mas sim o resultado de uma longa disputa teórico e metodológica que se travou no interior da APSA, especialmente nas páginas de sua principal revista, a American Political Science Review [APSR]. Neste sentido, o argumento defendido neste estudo é o de que o conjunto de características que passaram a definir o Comportamentalismo já estava sendo debatido e gestado desde o início do século XX. Do ponto de vista teórico, o estudo adota a perspectiva institucional histórica, focando na formação institucional da APSA, mas também recorre a conceitos centrais da abordagem de Thomas Kuhn, tais como as concepções de paradigma, de ciência normal e revolução científica. O material analisado abrange dados bibliográfico-documentais, os discursos oficiais dos presidentes da APSA, de 1903 a 1969, e bibliografia primária [textos de debate teórico-metodológico publicados na APSR] e secundária [textos sobre a história da disciplina]. Os documentos e textos secundários são analisados por meio de interpretação documental; os discursos presidenciais são examinados por meio da técnica de análise de conteúdo. Neste último caso, a intenção era detectar a defesa do ideal científico [método e abordagem] e alguma postura científica para a Ciência Política. Os resultados dão suporte ao argumento central, qual seja, que as diretrizes científicas preconizadas pelo Comportamentalismo foram apresentadas muito antes do período de hegemonia reconhecido pela literatura especializada. / The present work analyses the period of formation of Political Science in the United States, aiming to show that the scientific ideal that would characterize Behavioralism as a hegemonic paradigm in the discipline between 1950-1970 was already present since the foundation of the American Political Science Association [APSA] in 1903. Hence, the so called "Behavioralist Revolution" was not an abrupt and sudden event, but rather the result of a long theoretical and methodological controversy within APSA, especially through its main publication, the American Political Science Review [APSR]. Therefore, this work defends the argument that the defining characteristics of Behavioralism had already been discussed and generated in the beginning of the 20th century. From a theoretical point of view, this work adopts a historical-institutionalist perspective, focusing in APSA's institutional formation, but also mobilizes central concepts from Thomas Kuhn's approach to the philosophy of science, such as paradigm, normal science and scientific revolution. The material hereby analyzed encompasses bibliographical-documental data, APSA's official presidential addresses from 1903 to 1969, and primary bibliography [texts on theoretical-methodological debates published in APSR] and secondary [texts on the History of the discipline]. Documents and secondary texts are analyzed through documental interpretation; presidential addresses are examined through the technique of content analysis. As for the latter, the goal was to identify the defense of a scientific ideal [method and approach] and a scientific position to Political Science. The results support the central argument that the scientific guidelines professed by Behavioralism were already present much earlier than the period of its hegemony as defined by specialized literature on the issue.

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This thesis considers a range of contemporary poets' responses to science, emphasising the diversity of these engagements and exploring how poetry can disrupt or re-negotiate the barriers between the two activities. My first chapter explores the idea of ‘authority' in both science and poetry and considers how these authorities co-exist in the work of two poet-scientists, Miroslav Holub and David Morley. My second chapter considers the role of metaphor in science and the effect of transferring scientific terms into poetry, specifically with reference to the poetry of Michael Symmons Roberts who engages with the metaphors related to the human genome. In my third chapter I focus on collections by Ruth Padel and Emily Ballou that tell the life of Charles Darwin in verse. I discuss how these collections function as forms of scientific biography and show that poetic engagement with Darwin's thought processes reveals some of the similarities between scientific and poetic thinking. An area of science such as quantum mechanics may seem too complex for a non-scientist to respond to in poetry, but in my fourth chapter I show how Jorie Graham uses ideas from twentieth-century physics to re-think the materialism of the world and our perception of it. My final chapter is concerned with the relationship between ecopoetry and ecological science, with regard to the work of John Burnside. I show that although he is informed about scientific matters, in his poetry he suggests that science isn't the only way of understanding the world. Rather than framing science and poetry in terms of the ‘two cultures', this thesis moves away from antagonism towards productive interaction and dialogue. Whilst science and poetry are clearly very different activities, the many points of overlap and connection between them suggest that poetry is a resonant and unique way of exploring scientific ideas.

Previous research connecting scientific knowledge production with governing of the global environment usually start in international climate change negotiations and related assessments. From that vantage point Earth system science and models are studied as an expansion of Global Circulation Models. By tracing of the history of the present Earth system outlook this thesis offers a reflection about how scientific knowledge produce and connects problems with descriptions of desired order of things and strategies to get there. Knowledge becomes a productive power by shaping fields of possible action in relation to the global environment. The interpreted empirical material consists of scientific discussions from the International global environmental change programmes and particularly the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme on global environmental change (IHDP). The studied period spans from the start of the planning of the IGBP in 1983 to the presentation of the new research programme Future Earth in 2013. The thesis is organised around the effects of the IGBP’s strategy to use predictive Earth system models as a tool to bring a broad range of scientific disciplines together. The results demonstrate the historicity of the present Earth system outlook by showing how ecosystems and human dimensions were attributed new and more important roles as drivers of global change. The thesis also argue for the need to approach the ‘Earth system’ as a result of a productive tension between top-down perspectives found in global modelling and bottom-up empirical research engaging with process interactions down to local scales. / Genom att studera diskussioner inom internationella miljöforskningsprogram spårar den här avhandlingen framväxten av dagens syn på planeten jorden som ett sammanlänkat system – Jordsystemet. Kopplingen mellan makt och kunskap, styrning och mentaliteter, ligger till grund för studiens tolkande ansats. Den knyter samman sätt att betrakta och beräkna den globala miljön, grunden för jordsystemperspektivet, och de handlingsalternativ det synliggör inom politik och vetenskap. Studien baseras primärt på analyser av arkivmaterial från International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) och International Human Dimensions Programme of Global Environmental Change (IHDP). Tillsammans representerar dessa två program ett brett nätverk för forskning om globala miljöförändringar. Den undersökta perioden startar i och med planeringen av IGBP 1983 och avslutas 2013 med att Future Earth etableras som ett nytt internationellt program för forskning om globala miljöförändringar. Avhandlingen undersöker effekter av IGBPs strategi att använda prediktiva Jordsystemmodeller som ett redskap för att integrera och koordinera forskningen om globala miljöförändringar. Studiens resultat visar på historiciteten i nuvarande sätt att betrakta Jordsystemet. Framförallt studeras hur introducerandet av ekologisk och social komplexitet i förståelsen och modelleringen av Jordsystemet hänger samman med en förändrad bild av relationen människa-miljö och därmed också bilden av globala miljöförändringar som vetenskapligt och politiskt problem. Avhandlingen visar att förståelsen av Jordsystemet vuxit fram i en produktiv spänning mellanovanifrånperspektivet i globala modeller och lokalt förankrad socio-ekologisk interaktion.

Jaroslav Průšek and Czechoslovak Sinology. Between politics, Science and Fascination. Abstract This thesis deals with the beginnings of Czechoslovak Sinology in the context of the political and social situation during the post-War period, posing the question: what factors played a decisive role in that process? The study focuses on a few main areas: Jaroslav Průšek, the founder of Czechoslovak Sinology, as an individual actor whose personality combined an engaged approach to social affairs with intellectual honesty based on direct contact with the culture under study (especially its language and literature), and his contribution to building Sinology as a scientific discipline. Of necessity, that was explicitly tied to the contemporary political situation, which shaped scientific practice through the cooperation of all loyal actors, at the ideological as well as institutional and personal level. Through a discourse analysis of contemporary texts, mainly by Průšek, we follow these continuities diachronically: the development of Průšek's thought on China from his student days in the 1920s, through his stay in China and Japan in the 1930s and the particular war years, until the post-War (and post-1948) period; as well as synchronically: the links to the period's mentality, created by shared values. We further...

Social theorists have long argued that literacy is one of the principal causes and hallmark features of complex society. However, the relationship between literacy and social complexity remains poorly understood because the relevant data have not been assembled in a way that would allow competing hypotheses to be adjudicated. The project set out in this thesis provides a novel account of the multiple origins of literate behaviour around the globe, the principal mechanisms of its cultural transmission, and its relationship with the cultural evolution of large-group human cooperation and complex forms of socio-political organisation. A multi-method large-scale cross-cultural approach provided the data necessary to achieve these objectives. Evidence from the societies within which literate behaviour first emerged, and from a representative sample of ethnographically-attested societies worldwide (n=74), indicates that literate behaviour emerged through the routinization of rituals and pre-literate sign systems, eventually spreading more widely through classical religions. Cross-cultural evidence also suggests that literacy assumed a wide variety of forms and socio-political functions, particularly in large, complex groups, extending evolved psychological mechanisms for cooperation, which include reciprocity, reputation formation and maintenance systems, social norms and norm enforcement systems, and group identification. Finally, the results of a cross-cultural historical survey of first-generation states (n=10) reveal that simple models assuming single cause-and-effect relationships between literacy and complex forms of socio-political organisation must be rejected. Instead, literacy and first-generation state-level polities appear to have interacted in a complex positive feedback loop. This thesis contributes to the wider goal of transforming social and cultural anthropology into a cumulative and rapid-discovery science.

This dissertation investigates how Jewish women social scientists relationally established their gendered-racialized subjectivities and theories about race-gender-sexuality-class through their portrayals of black women’s sexuality and family structures in the African Diaspora: the U.S., Brazil, South Africa, Swaziland, and the U.K. The central women in this study: Ellen Hellmann, Ruth Landes, Hilda Kuper, and Ruth Glass, were part of the same “political generation,” born in 1908-1912, coming of age when Jews of European descent experienced an ambivalent and conditional assimilation into whiteness, a form of internal colonization. I demonstrate how each woman’s familial origin point in Europe, parental class and political orientations, were important factors influencing her later personal/professional networks and social science theorizing about women of color. However, other important factors included the national racial context, the political affiliations of her partners, her marital status and her transracial fieldwork experiences. One of the main problems my work addresses is how the internal colonization process in differing nations within the Jewish diaspora differently affected and positioned Jewish social scientists from divergent class and political affiliations. Gendering Aamir Mufti’s primarily male-oriented argument, I demonstrate how Jewish internal divergences serve as an example that highlights the lack of uniformity within any “identity” group, and the ways that minority groups, like Jews, use measures of “abnormal” gender and sexuality, to create internal exiled minorities in order to try to assimilate into the majority colonizing culture. My dissertation addresses three problems within previous studies of Jewish social scientists by creating a gendered analysis of the history of Jews in social science, an analysis of Jewish subjectivity within histories of women (who were Jewish) in social science, and a critique of the either-or assumption that Jewishness necessarily equated with a “radical” anti-racist approach or a “colonizing” stance toward black communities. The data collection followed a mixed methods approach, incorporating archival research, ethnographic object analysis, site visits in Brazil and South Africa, consultations with library, archive and museum professionals, and interviews with scholars connected to the core women in the study.