Through social learning, animals acquire information from others, such as skills and knowledge about the environment. High fidelity transmission of locally adaptive information can lead to population-specific traits, or cultural traits, which are fundamental to the emergence of culture. Despite social learning being widespread in the animal kingdom, culture is rare in nature. This thesis investigates the evolution, ecology, and dynamics of social learning, to increase our understanding why species differ in their ability to generate and accumulate cultural traits, and ultimately how complex human culture emerged. Chapter 2 introduces a novel computational model that explicitly incorporates competition into the social learning context. The model predicts that social learning is most adaptive where resources are unevenly distributed and stable through time, even if individuals compete for limited resources. The model provides an explanation for reports of animals disregarding social information, even if it is available. Testing these predictions Chapter 3 presents a bumblebee foraging experiment. The results support the theoretical predictions, showing that foragers use social information to find rewarding flowers, even if social cues indicate competition. Chapter 4 further examines the trade-off between access to social information and competition. Individuals that are central in a learning network have more opportunities to acquire information from others, but also face an increased likelihood to engage in competition. The results of this model suggest that across different learning contexts centrality is only beneficial for dominant individuals because dominance can mitigate the effect of competition. This also shows that individual phenotypic differences affect the utility of social information. Chapter 5 uses a dynamic network model approach to tests whether these differences modulate the structure of learning networks and by extension of the population. The model shows that this is the case and that where social learning is favoured by the environment networks are more structured. Chapter 6, studies the drivers behind individual differences in social learning. The chapter focusses on reports of sex differences in social information use and finds that they can be explained by differences in risk taking behaviour. The results highlight the importance of the feedback between learning individuals, and how this shapes social learning dynamics on an individual as well as on a population level.

People with visible facial difference often experience other people reacting negatively to their appearance. For many, this is part of everyday life. Research has identified social support as critical in adaptation processes. This is the case both for those whose facial difference was apparent at birth, and those who experienced injury or illness. There is a lack of a comprehensive theoretical construct for exploring how personal communities provide resources needed by adults to live well with visible facial difference. The combination of semi-structured interviews and creation of personal community maps provided opportunities to explore the interplay between respondent accounts and patterns of relationships people are embedded within. Seventeen adults with visible facial difference and two unaffected ‘significant others’ were interviewed. The findings provide evidence that personal communities are important social spaces for negotiation of resources that enable adults to feel connected, valued and safer within wider communities. Social support was not described as a property of the individual, but as experienced with combinations of people that change according to situation, place, or time. A diversity of personal community patterns were found, largely consistent with findings from Spencer and Pahl (2006), with one variation which increased intimate support. Some personal communities were less supportive and consequently people were at risk of isolation. Processes within personal communities were helpful both in dealing with negative social environments and in helping establish different versions of ‘normal’ life. The importance of focussing on social contexts, when seeking to understand how people live with visible facial differences, is highlighted.

The study outlines general trends evident in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), participants’ perceptions and the promotion of CMC across the curriculum in a South African Secondary School. This case study focuses on the Global Teenager Project (GTP), which started as a bi-national pilot project in April 1999 between secondary schools in South Africa and the Netherlands. The study sets out to investigate how well the GTP can be incorporated into the existing school curriculum through the teacherresearcher’s direct involvement in facilitating the project at a school where she is a fulltime teacher. The main purpose of the study is to review existing literature to establish how collaborative learning could be achieved through a CMC environment between teenagers from various countries based on the research done at an international level and link the practice at this school to the existing international trends. It was found that the GTP has great potential in enhancing collaborative learning within various learning areas at Nathaniel Nyaluza Secondary School (NNSS). Despite the usefulness of the GTP and the overwhelming enthusiasm learners displayed, its success at NNSS depended on the motivation of teachers and how easily the activities of the GTP could be incorporated within day-to-day teachers’ activities. / Hodgkinson, Cheryl

This thesis seeks to extend the application of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to temporal graphs, in particular providing new insights for the understanding of covert networks. The analyses undertaken reveal informative features and properties of individuals' affiliations under covertness that also illustrate how both individuals and events influence the network structure. The review of the literature on covert networks provided in the initial two chapters suggests the presence of some ambiguities concerning how authors define structural properties and dynamics of covert networks. Authors sometimes disagree and use their findings to explain opposite views about covert networks. The controversy in the field is used as a starting point in order to justify the methodological application of SNA to understand how individuals involved in criminal and illegal activities interact with each other. I attempt to use a deductive approach, without preconceived notions about covert network characteristics. In particular, I avoid considering covert networks as organisations in themselves or as cohesive groups. I focus on individuals and their linkages constructed from their common participation in illicit events such as secret meetings, bombing attacks and criminal operations. In order to tackle these processes I developed innovative methods for investigating criminals' behaviours over time and their willingness to exchange tacit information. The strategy implies the formulation of a network model in order to represent and incorporate in a graph three types of information: individuals, events, and the temporal dimension of events. The inclusion of the temporal dimension offers the possibility of adopting a more comprehensive theoretical framework for considering individuals and event affiliations. This thesis expands the analysis of bipartite covert networks by adopting several avenues to explore in this perspective. Chapter 3 proposes a different way to represent two-mode networks starting from the use of line-graphs, namely the bi-dynamic line-graph data representation (BDLG), through which it is possible to represent the temporal evolution of individual's trajectories. The following chapter 4 presents some reflections about the idea of cohesion and cohesive subgroups specific to the case of two-mode networks. Based on the affiliation matrices, the analysis of local clustering through bi-cliques offers an attempt to analyse the mechanism of selecting accomplices while taking into account time. Chapter 5 is concerned with the concept of centrality of individuals involved in flows of knowledge exchanges. The theoretical and analytical framework helps in elaborating how individuals share their acquired hands-on experiences with others by attending joint task activities over time. Chapter 6 provides an application of the approaches introduced in the preceding chapters to the specific case of the Noordin Top terrorist network. Here, the knowledge of experience flow centrality measure opens up a new way to quantify the transmission of information and investigate the formation of the criminal capital. Finally, the last Chapter 7 presents some future research extensions by illustrating the versatility of the proposed approaches in order to provide new insights for the understanding of criminals' behaviours.

FERREIRA, Isabelle Azevedo. Resistência e projeto: o ambientalismo na construção da identidade do movimento dos trabalhadores rurais sem terra. 2014. 141f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Comunicação Social, Fortaleza (CE), 2014. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2015-12-22T11:51:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_dis_iaferreira.pdf: 1084662 bytes, checksum: c21f8edd51d012f3d3abe06ed46ea3b9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2015-12-22T12:25:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_dis_iaferreira.pdf: 1084662 bytes, checksum: c21f8edd51d012f3d3abe06ed46ea3b9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-22T12:25:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_dis_iaferreira.pdf: 1084662 bytes, checksum: c21f8edd51d012f3d3abe06ed46ea3b9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Esta pesquisa faz uma reflexão sobre a constituição de um ambientalismo no Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, considerando a incorporação do meio ambiente no projeto político do movimento e a existência de uma série de mudanças nas formas de articulação e mobilização dos movimentos sociais nas últimas décadas, que tem possibilitado novos aspectos para a cidadania e a constituição de novas identidades políticas e de valores para os movimentos (SHERER-WARREN, 2012). Desta forma, o objetivo principal é investigar a construção da identidade (BOGO, 2010; HALL, 2006; CASTELLS, 1999) do projeto político ambiental no Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra através da Campanha Permanente Contra o Agrotóxico e Pela Vida. Queremos ainda, de maneira específica, identificar e analisar os elementos que constituem o ambientalismo no MST (LEIS, 2004; VIGNATTI,2005; COSTA NETO, CANROBERT E CANAVESI, 2002; BORGES, 2007; NEGRI, 2005;MENDONÇA,2010), analisar a mobilização ambiental do MST no espaço público (HABERMAS, 1984; GOMES,2008), investigar como a Campanha Permanente contra o agrotóxico e pela vida dá visibilidade a agenda ambiental (MAIA, 2008; THOMPSON, 2008). Para investigar a construção destes processos, esta pesquisa será desenvolvida em três fases: pesquisa bibliográfica, análise documental (SILVA et al, 2009) e análise de conteúdo (FONSECA, 2011; Bardin, 1998). Desta forma, o trabalho está centrado na análise da comunicação desenvolvida pelo MST e da Campanha Permanente Contra o Agrotóxico e pela Vida, porque entendemos que esta campanha é a fase mais recente deste ambientalismo, na qual diversos movimentos rurais uniram-se a outras organizações para combater o uso indiscriminado de agrotóxico no campo, o agronegócio e apresentar uma alternativa ambiental ao campo. Entendemos que essa construção e atuação em rede de movimentos sociais é uma das características deste ambientalismo. Os resultados do projeto constatam que o ambientalismo no MST se desenvolve a partir de três pontos importantes: as Redes de Movimentos Sociais, a visibilidade e a cidadania comunicativa.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Esta pesquisa faz uma reflexÃo sobre a constituiÃÃo de um ambientalismo no Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, considerando a incorporaÃÃo do meio ambiente no projeto polÃtico do movimento e a existÃncia de uma sÃrie de mudanÃas nas formas de articulaÃÃo e mobilizaÃÃo dos movimentos sociais nas Ãltimas dÃcadas, que tem possibilitado novos aspectos para a cidadania e a constituiÃÃo de novas identidades polÃticas e de valores para os movimentos (SHERER-WARREN, 2012). Desta forma, o objetivo principal à investigar a construÃÃo da identidade (BOGO, 2010; HALL, 2006; CASTELLS, 1999) do projeto polÃtico ambiental no Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra atravÃs da Campanha Permanente Contra o AgrotÃxico e Pela Vida. Queremos ainda, de maneira especÃfica, identificar e analisar os elementos que constituem o ambientalismo no MST (LEIS, 2004; VIGNATTI,2005; COSTA NETO, CANROBERT E CANAVESI, 2002; BORGES, 2007; NEGRI, 2005;MENDONÃA,2010), analisar a mobilizaÃÃo ambiental do MST no espaÃo pÃblico (HABERMAS, 1984; GOMES,2008), investigar como a Campanha Permanente contra o agrotÃxico e pela vida dà visibilidade a agenda ambiental (MAIA, 2008; THOMPSON, 2008). Para investigar a construÃÃo destes processos, esta pesquisa serà desenvolvida em trÃs fases: pesquisa bibliogrÃfica, anÃlise documental (SILVA et al, 2009) e anÃlise de conteÃdo (FONSECA, 2011; Bardin, 1998). Desta forma, o trabalho està centrado na anÃlise da comunicaÃÃo desenvolvida pelo MST e da Campanha Permanente Contra o AgrotÃxico e pela Vida, porque entendemos que esta campanha à a fase mais recente deste ambientalismo, na qual diversos movimentos rurais uniram-se a outras organizaÃÃes para combater o uso indiscriminado de agrotÃxico no campo, o agronegÃcio e apresentar uma alternativa ambiental ao campo. Entendemos que essa construÃÃo e atuaÃÃo em rede de movimentos sociais à uma das caracterÃsticas deste ambientalismo. Os resultados do projeto constatam que o ambientalismo no MST se desenvolve a partir de trÃs pontos importantes: as Redes de Movimentos Sociais, a visibilidade e a cidadania comunicativa.

Orientador: José Maria Ferreira Jardim da Silveira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T02:55:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ramos_JosileneAndrade_M.pdf: 3503382 bytes, checksum: 4ce3179b0ef3b6599666ed632316c807 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Desde a década de 1990 a cotonicultura brasileira vem apresentando crescimento, tendo a adoção de tecnologias, em especial variedades de algodão geneticamente modificadas, cujo seu cultivo foi liberado em 2005, como um grande fator no aumento da produtividade e redução dos custos e consequente retomada da cultura em antigas regiões produtoras desfavorecidas por crises que causaram a retração desta cultura. De salientar que o lançamento das cultivares está envolto a discussões sobre seus impactos ambientais. Embora se tenha observado o ressurgimento da cotonicultura em diversas regiões do país o cenário é ainda de grande disparidade produtiva entre as regiões do Centro ¿ Oeste e do Nordeste do país. O acesso à tecnologia, o nível de escolaridade, e o acesso à assistência técnica são os principais vetores das desigualdades. No que diz respeito ao acesso à tecnologia, pode-se afirmar que independentemente da maior ou menor disponibilidade de tecnologias desenvolvidas para os agricultores familiares, mostra-se necessário ter claro que a maior dificuldade principal refere-se à capacidade de inovar, e esta está relacionada não só à tecnologia em si, mas também à inserção nos mercados, condições de financiamento, disponibilidade de recursos, análise de risco, dentre outros fatores. Desse modo a criação de redes sociais entre os pequenos cotonicultores tem se mostrado como uma alternativa para que se tenha melhor acesso à tecnologia. É nesse contexto que a rede de cotonicultores de Catuti foi escolhida para ser o objeto de estudo desta dissertação na medida em que chama atenção por ser uma organização de pequenos produtores que retomaram o cultivo de algodão através da utilização de sementes transgênicas, e apresentar ganhos de produção, e plantio de forma sustentável. O estudo de caso mostrou através do software PAJEK, que a organização em forma de rede propicia ao elo de vários atores de naturezas distintas, o que por seu turno possibilita a inserção no mercado e a adoção de tecnologia por parte dos pequenos agricultores associados à Cooperativa de Produtores Rurais de Catuti (COOPERCAT) / Abstract: Since the 1990s the Brazilian cotton industry is showing growth, with the adoption of technologies, particularly genetically modified varieties of cotton, whose cultivation was released in 2005 as a major actor in increased productivity and consequent resumption of culture in ancient regions disadvantaged producers by crises that caused the decline of this culture. Please note that the release of cultivars is wrapped discussions about their environmental impacts. We observed a resurgence of cotton production in various regions of the country the scenery is still great disparity between the productive regions of the Mid - West and Northeast. Access to technology, education level, and access to technical assistance are the main vectors of inequalities. With regard to access to technology, it can be stated that regardless of the greater or lesser availability of technologies developed for family farmers, must have showed clear that most main difficulty relates to the ability to innovate, and this is related not only to technology itself, but also to the insertion in the markets, financing conditions, availability of resources, risk analysis, among other factors. Thus the creation of social networks among small cotton farmers has proved to be an alternative in order to have better access to technology. It is in this context that the network of cotton farmers Catuti was chosen to be the object of study of this dissertation in that it draws attention for being an organization of small producers who resumed the cultivation of cotton through the use of transgenic seeds, and present extraordinary gains production, planting and sustainably. The case study showed PAJEK through the software, the organization in network provides the link various actors of distinct natures, which in turn enables the insertion in the market and the adoption of technology by small farmers associated with the Cooperative Rural Producers Catuti (COOPERCAT) / Mestrado / Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente / Mestra em Desenvolvimento Econômico

Orientador: Antonio Márcio Buainain / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T14:56:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Viegas_IsabelFernandesPinto_D.pdf: 3944537 bytes, checksum: 3d38c0b0e67b377eee3c5de361f7e3a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: As características do sistema econômico dominante e suas implicações sobre a agricultura, ao mesmo tempo em que criam tendências de concentração, padronização e exclusão, também criam oportunidades que podem atuar no sentido contrário, permitindo o desenvolvimento de nichos e diferenciações baseadas em características dos produtos/serviços, dos processos e dos próprios produtores. O Comércio Justo e Solidário emergiu como uma proposta de inserção produtiva para atores com potencial limitado de inserção no mercado convencional visando, além de viabilidade econômica, aspectos qualitativos e dimensões que em geral não são valoradas pelos mecanismos de mercado. A hipótese que orienta este trabalho é a de que, dentro de certos limites, o Comércio Justo e Solidário funciona de forma coerente com seus princípios originais, mas à medida que o aumento da abrangência e escala eleva a complexidade das operações, haverá reflexos na sua organização que podem afastá-lo dos princípios básicos e que podem implicar na exclusão de um grupo relevante de beneficiários potenciais. O presente trabalho busca responder em que medida o Comércio Justo e Solidário pode atender aos seus princípios originais, funcionando com base em redes ampliadas de produtores e comércio. Apoia-se na hipótese de que redes sólidas, compostas por atores com objetivos diversos, mas coerentes e convergentes com os princípios originais, podem garantir a legitimidade de um sistema de Comércio Justo e Solidário. Para isso, busca verificar como algumas redes de Comércio Justo e Solidário certificadas e não certificadas se organizam, enfatizando as relações estabelecidas e os objetivos predominantes dos atores participantes que determinam essas relações. A metodologia baseou-se em pesquisa bibliográfica, entrevistas, observação e análise das redes sociais. Foram entrevistados atores de oito redes de Comércio Justo e Solidário utilizando o método Net-Map Toolbox (SCHIFFER, 2007) para a elaboração de mapas das diferentes relações estabelecidas entre os atores (apoio, subsídios, comerciais, pessoais, conflitos e normas), sua influência e seus objetivos (econômicos, coesão do grupo, desenvolvimento, políticos, exploração e desestruturação). Para a análise da composição das redes e coesão das relações foram utilizados os programas Ucinet (BORGATTI; EVERETT; FREEMAN, 2002) e NetDraw (BORGATTI, 2002) e foram estimadas as densidades. As redes apresentaram desenhos diversos, de difícil comparação, indício da auto-organização que, de acordo com o referencial teórico considerado (OSTROM, 1998), é fator chave para o sucesso da ação coletiva. As principais similaridades apresentadas foram em relação à diversidade de atores em termos de atuação e objetivos, ao predomínio de relações pessoais em relação às demais consideradas, à baixa percepção relativa de conflitos e de relações de normatização. Em geral, as organizações consideradas atuam a favor da reciprocidade, uma vez que as relações pessoais próximas, o compartilhamento de responsabilidades e a descentralização de recursos favorecidos nessas redes tendem a estabelecer a confiança e a reduzir o oportunismo / Abstract: The characteristics of the dominant economic system and its implications on agriculture, while creating trends of concentration, standardization and exclusion, they also create opportunities that can act in the opposite direction, allowing the development of niches and differentiation based on product characteristics / services, processes and producers themselves. The Fair Trade has emerged as a proposal for inclusion of players with limited potential of insertion in the conventional market, aiming not only the economic viability, but quality attributes and other dimensions that are not valued by market mechanisms. The hypothesis that guides this work is that, within certain limits, the Fair Trade is consistent with its original principles, but as the scope and the scale increase, also increases the complexity of operations. This will be reflected in the organization which can loose the basic principles and that can lead to the exclusion of a relevant group of potential beneficiaries. It relies on the assumption that strong networks composed of actors with different goals, but consistent and convergent with the original principles, can guarantee the legitimacy of a system of Fair Trade. This doctoral dissertation seeks to answer in which extent Fair Trade can meet its original objectives, working on extended networks of producers and trade. It thus tries to see how some networks of Fair Trade certified and not certified are organized, emphasizing the relationships established and the overriding objectives of the actors involved that determine these relationships. The methodology was based on literature review, interviews, observation and analysis of social networks. Actors from eight Fair Trade networks were interviewed using the method Net-Map Toolbox (SCHIFFER, 2011) to map different relations between actors (support, subsidies, trade, personal, conflicts and norms), their influence and their objectives (economic, group cohesion, development, politcs, exploitation and disruption). To analyze the composition of networks and the cohesion of the relations it were used the programs Ucinet (BORGATTI; EVERETT; FREEMAN, 2002) e NetDraw (BORGATTI, 2002) and densities, reciprocity and transitivity were estimated. The networks presented different designs, difficult to compare evidence of self-organization that, according to the theoretical referencial (OSTROM, 1998), is the key to the success of the collective action. The main similarities presented were in relation to the diversity of actors in terms of performance and goals, the predominance of personal relationships than the others considered, the low perception of conflict and normatization relations. In general, the organizations considered act in favor of reciprocity, since the close personal relations, sharing of responsibilities and descentralization of resources favored in these networks the establishment of trust and reduce opportunism / Doutorado / Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente / Doutor em Desenvolvimento Economico

This study aims to investigate the possible influence of Western culture on second-year Chinese students at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in 2007 by focusing on their Internet usage. Roland Robertson’s theory of glocalization is employed as the theoretical framework in this study. The research design is qualitative in nature. Individual semi-structured interviews are the method of collecting research data while a thematic analysis is the means of analysing and interpreting the research data. The sample comprises twelve second-year Chinese students who are studying at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in 2007 and have access to the Internet. This study has found that Western culture has exerted multi-faceted influences on the Chinese students through their Internet usage, and that they always negotiate such influences by selecting, adapting and appropriating what is useful in Western culture in an eclectic manner.

In this dissertation, I enumerate several privacy problems in online social networks (OSNs) and describe a system called Footlights that addresses them. Footlights is a platform for distributed social applications that allows users to control the sharing of private information. It is designed to compete with the performance of today's centralised OSNs, but it does not trust centralised infrastructure to enforce security properties. Based on several socio-technical scenarios, I extract concrete technical problems to be solved and show how the existing research literature does not solve them. Addressing these problems fully would fundamentally change users' interactions with OSNs, providing real control over online sharing. I also demonstrate that today's OSNs do not provide this control: both user data and the social graph are vulnerable to practical privacy attacks. Footlights' storage substrate provides private, scalable, sharable storage using untrusted servers. Under realistic assumptions, the direct cost of operating this storage system is less than one US dollar per user-year. It is the foundation for a practical shared filesystem, a perfectly unobservable communications channel and a distributed application platform. The Footlights application platform allows third-party developers to write social applications without direct access to users' private data. Applications run in a confined environment with a private-by-default security model: applications can only access user information with explicit user consent. I demonstrate that practical applications can be written on this platform. The security of Footlights user data is based on public-key cryptography, but users are able to log in to the system without carrying a private key on a hardware token. Instead, users authenticate to a set of authentication agents using a weak secret such as a user-chosen password or randomly-assigned 4-digit number. The protocol is designed to be secure even in the face of malicious authentication agents.