Il progetto di ricerca indaga la relazione tra agire comunicativo e agency politica, che è caratteristica costitutiva delle pratiche dei media alternativi, nel caso di studio della Red Nacional de Medios Alternativos (RNMA) argentina. Lo studio analizza inoltre le possibilità aperte e i limiti rappresentati dalla forma socio-organizzativa reticolare della RNMA rispetto ai suoi obiettivi politico-comunicativi. Adottando un approccio socio-storico (Costa & Mozejko, 2009), tali pratiche sociali sono analizzate in relazione alle condizioni materiali in cui vengono prodotte e alla capacità d’azione degli agenti sociali che le producono, considerando in maniera processuale l’influenza reciproca tra l’azione degli attori sociali e i limiti imposti dalla struttura dentro la quale si collocano le loro scelte. La ricerca analizza dunque le pratiche politico-comunicative e caratterizza il soggetto sociale che le produce e le condizioni di produzione; l’intreccio tra questi tre ordini di problemi definisce la posizione di potere occupata dalla RNMA in relazione agli altri attori sociali che intervengono nella lotta politica e simbolica per il controllo delle regole di rappresentazione della realtà sociale. / The research project investigates the relationship between communicative action and political agency, which is a constitutive characteristic of alternative media practices. The analysis focuses on an empirical case of study, the argentinian Red Nacional de Medios Alternativos (RNMA). The study also analyzes possibilities and limits linked to the RNMA reticular form of internal collective organization. By adopting a socio-historical approach (Costa & Mozejko, 2009), RNMA social practices are analyzed looking at the material conditions in which they are produced and to the agents' ability-to-act, considering the mutual influence between the actions of the social actors and the limits imposed by the social structure within which their choices are placed. The research then analyzes the RNMA political-communicative practices; characterizes the social subject who act these practices and the context of their production; the intertwining of these three orders of problems defines the position of power occupied by the RNMA in relation to the other social actors involved in the political and symbolic struggle for the control of the rules of representation of social reality

The recent growth of social media and other internet technologies is believed to diminish the control of political elites over information flows and enable citizens to be active participants of political processes. Practice shows, however, that this general tendency acquires different forms in different geopolitical contexts. This master thesis intends to investigate how social media are used for the purposes of daily communication of political opposition in Belarus, where dominant traditional media channels are monopolized by the government. The analysis involves mixed approach methodology, which combines content analysis of Facebook posts of Belarusian opposition representatives and qualitative interviews with them. The research articulates an important role of social media in Belarus as one of a few mediums where opposition politicians can exist without pervasive control of authorities. However, the results show that the presence of opposition on social media doesn't necessarily increase their chances to gain political weight or activates civic participation in the country. The effectiveness of their communication is to a large extent predefined by social and political environment in the country. A practical implication of the study is that potentially effective directions for political communication of Belarusian opposition have been outlined.

The Great Recession that followed the financial crisis of 2008 had a devastating impact on workers, leading to high levels of unemployment and underemployment, increased job insecurity and stagnant or declining wages. While the legitimation crisis of neoliberalism could be viewed as a turning point for labour internationally, the immediate response by political parties across the spectrum was one of austerity measures and cuts to welfare. As the largest collective representatives of workers, trade unions are at the forefront of mobilisations attempting to challenge this consensus. Simultaneously, they are engaging in new activities to enhance public awareness and understanding of the crucial role that trade unions play in the labour market. Thus, the 21st century crisis is creating both challenges and opportunities. Each trade union movement’s response depends on the different forms of power they possess and choose to deploy, their strategies and allegiances, and the specific socio-economic and political context in which they are situated. Questions concerning what constitutes union power and the ways in which it is being exercised and revitalized therefore represent fascinating lines of enquiry to explore. To do so, however, requires a new perspective on trade union power that recognises the significance of the media which has been overlooked in industrial relations theory. Drawing on insights from industrial relations, the sociology of media and social movement studies, this thesis proposes the concept of communicative power to trace how trade unions produce and circulate discourse through the media (either union-owned or corporate) to a mass audience. Methodologically, it uses the tripartite approach which focuses our attention onto three key communication processes involved in trade union attempts to exercise communicative power: the production of union discourse, the circulation of union discourse, and the reception of union discourse. This is applied to four cases involving seven union organisations in the UK and Denmark over a five-year period 2010-2015. Data was gathered using 40 semi-structured interviews with union officials and activists, content analysis of newspapers, union media outlets and social media, and secondary survey data. In sum, this thesis argues that the media is, and always has been, central to how trade unions exercise and revitalize power in society. And within the context of accelerating digital capitalism, it looks set to becoming an increasingly important determinant of their future trajectory.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gerson Leite de Moraes.pdf: 3114571 bytes, checksum: b9bff44912fb7975ff332e203d0d8c2c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work deals with the media power of a religious group that, in the past few years, has taken an important place in the Brazilian social mechanics. Born inside Pentecostal churches, more specifically in the 1980´s, the so-called Igreja Internacional da Graça de Deus (in a free translation - International Church of God´s Grace) cannot be separated from its founder and leader, Romildo Ribeiro Soares, best known as RR Soares. This church, due to its important penetration in religion, politics and media, managed to acquire power and money and, this way, it has stood out when compared to other Pentecostal religions. This power influences even other religions that do not share the same beliefs of this church. By buying TV networks, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, internet sites, a Publishing company and even a music record company, Soares now manages to spread his religious beliefs to the entire Brazilian society. The media power of this church stems from several factors explored by this thesis and it is a branch of the Sciences of Religion that is based on several theoretical backgrounds as an effort to understand how this power has been built and how it influences other national religious groups / Este é um trabalho que versa sobre o poder midiático de um grupo religioso que, nos últimos anos, tem ocupado um espaço importante no cenário nacional brasileiro. Nascida dentro do movimento pentecostal, mais especificamente no ano de 1980, a Igreja Internacional da Graça de Deus confunde-se com o seu líder e fundador, o missionário Romildo Ribeiro Soares, mais conhecido como RR Soares. Com uma atuação forte nos campos religioso, político e midiático, a Igreja Internacional da Graça de Deus, comandada por seu líder maior, tem conseguido acumular capital religioso e midiático, e com isso, concentrado poder para se destacar entre os demais grupos religiosos de matriz pentecostal no Brasil, conseguindo comunicar-se e influenciar de alguma maneira grupos religiosos que tradicionalmente não compartilham das mesmas práticas religiosas que igreja acima citada. Com aquisições de rede de televisão, emissoras de rádio, jornais, revistas, internet, editora e até uma gravadora, a aldeia global de Soares está construída e faz parte de sua estratégia comunicacional para divulgar seus princípios religiosos junto à sociedade brasileira. A força midiática da Igreja Internacional da Graça de Deus advém de vários fatores que foram explorados ao longo da tese. A força midiática da Igreja Internacional da Graça de Deus é uma tese de ciências da religião que vale-se de muitos referenciais teóricos para tentar compreender de que maneira essa força foi construída e de que maneira essa força se manifesta junto a outros grupos religiosos nacionais

In present finite element study, the dynamics of incompressible isothermal flows of Newtonian and two generalised non-Newtonian models through complex mixing-separating planar channel and circular pipe filled with and without porous media, including Darcy's term in momentum equation, is presented. Whilst, in literature this problem is solved only for planar channel flows of Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids. The primary aim of this study is to examine the laminar flow behaviour of Newtonian and inelastic non-Newtonian fluids, and investigate the robustness of the numerical algorithm. The rheological properties of non-Newtonian fluids are defined utilising a range of constitutive equations, for inelastic non-Newtonian fluids non-linear viscous models, such as Power Law and Bird-Carreau models are used to capture the shear thinning behaviour of fluids. To simulate such complex flows, steady-state solutions are sought employing time-dependent finite element algorithm. Temporal derivatives are discretised using second order Taylor series expansion, while, spatial discretisation is achieved through Galerkin approximation in combination to deal with incompressibility a pressure-correction scheme adopted. In order to achieve the algorithm of semi-implicit form Darcy's-Brinkman equation is utilized for the conversion in Darcy's terms and diffusion, while Crank-Nicolson approach is adopted for stability and acceleration. Simple and complex flows for various complex flow bifurcations of the combined mixing-separating geometries, for both two-dimensional planar channel in Cartesian coordinates, as well as axisymmetric circular tube in cylindrical polar coordinates system are investigated. These geometries consist of a two-inverted channel and pipe flows connected through a gap in common partitions, initially filled with non-porous materials and later with homogeneous porous materials. Computational domain is having variety it has been investigated with many configurations. These computational domains have been appeared in industrial applications of combined mixing and separating of fluid flows both for porous and non-porous materials. Fully developed velocity profile is applied on both inlets of the domain by imposing analytical solutions found during current study for porous materials. Numerical study has been conducted by varying flow rates and flow direction due to a variety in the domain. The influence of varying flow rates and flow directions are analysed on flow structure. Also the impact of increasing inertia, permeability and power law index on flow behaviour and pressure difference are investigated. From predicted solution of present numerical study, for Newtonian fluids a close agreement is realised between numerical solutions and experimental data. During simulations, it has been noticed that enhancing fluid inertia (flow rates), and permeability has visible effects on the flow domains. When the Reynolds number value increases the size and power of the vortex for recirculation increases. Under varying flow rates an early activity of vortex development was observed. During change in flow directions reversed flow showed more inertial effects as compared with unidirectional flows. Less significant influence of inertia has been observed in domains filled with porous media as compared with non-porous. The power law model has more effects on inertia and pressure as compared with Bird Carreau model. Change in the value of permeability gave significant impact on pressure difference. Numerical simulations for the domain and fluids flow investigated in this study are encountered in the real life of mixing and separating applications in the industry. Especially this purely quantitative numerical investigation of flows through porous medium will open more avenues for future researchers and scientists.