Thesis deals with the issue of the conceptualization, analysis and understanding of the Balkans after 1991 as a specific geopolitical area in order to examine the proclivity of the region towards conflicts and give general idea of the geopolitical position of the Balkans in local and global context. First, the definition of the Balkans and its borders in physic and politico geographical structure along with the historical definitions and geopolitical position settings and significance prior 1991 are tackled. Then follows the application of the geopolitical theories and concepts on the geopolitical map with the states of the Balkans after 1991 in order to conceptualize the area and thus having a framework for examination and comparison of the territorial changes and geopolitical events that occurred in this historical period as well as for better understanding of strategic significance of internal and external geopolitical position of the Balkans. As a third step follows the explanation and outline of the greater territorial irredentist and geopolitical concepts of the Balkan nation states which have been revived and actualized in the period after 1991 serving as a background and basic platform for their geopolitical agenda. Lastly, the thesis tackles the territorial changes that came as a result of...

Pendant les années 1990, l'ouverture de l'économie argentine a conduit à une transformation de l’agriculture pampéenne : de nouveaux objets techniques et acteurs ont modifié la pratique agricole et la relation que l’activité entretenait avec les territoires. Cette transformation se traduit aussi au niveau des systèmes d’information et de connaissances agricoles (SICA). Dans la région centrale de la province de Santa Fe, un SICA de base territoriale et régionale (SRICA) s’est consolidé pendant la période de la modernisation des années 1960. Une catégorie particulière de professionnels, les « agronomes de terrain », y occupait une fonction centrale comme médiateurs légitimes entre la recherche publique réalisée au niveau régional et les agriculteurs.Les transformations des années 1990 conduisent à la fragmentation de ce SRICA. Il en émerge un système de connaissances lié aux grandes cultures (SICGC), promu par les entreprises fournisseuses d’intrants et les producteurs innovateurs agissant selon une logique a-territoriale qui remet en question la fonction des agronomes de terrain. Ces acteurs voient se modifier leurs pratiques professionnelles, leurs relations de travail et leurs espaces de références techniques. Ainsi, conscients de leur perte d’influence dans les nouveaux SICGC, certains cherchent à défendre leur place à partir de la maîtrise locale des nouveaux problèmes agricoles.Ce travail cherche à comprendre les changements touchant le groupe professionnel des agronomes de terrain, comme un moyen pour analyser les transformations qui affectent la profession et pour apporter des éléments nécessaires pour repenser la formation des ingénieurs agronomes. / In the 1990s, the opening of Argentine economy creates the proper conditions for the transformation of the Pampas agriculture: new technical objects and agents that altered farming practices and its relationship with territories.These changes are also clear in the central area of the Santa Fe province and in agricultural knowledge and information systems (AKIS). This region had experienced the consolidation of a territorial and regional AKIS during modernization 1960, whose configuration was operated by the State and joined by the private sector. This pattern gave “field agronomists” a vital role as legitimate mediators between research (conducted in regional government agencies) and farmers. The transformations of the ‘90s led to the fragmentation and differentiations of this regional AKIS, among which we find a system linked to extensive farming fostered by the suppliers of input material and innovative farmers whose non-territorial logic challenges the work of field agronomists. They watch their professional practices and work relations being modified and, aware of the weakening of their situation in the new extensive farming AKIS’s, they attempt to retain their position by managing new agricultural problems locally.This work intends to grasp the changes occurred in the practices of field agronomists in order to analyze the changes that impact on the profession agricultural engineers and provide elements of reflection for their training.

Uma série de transformações ambientais, territoriais, sociais e econômicas têm influenciado os modos de vida das culturas tradicionais estabelecidas nas diversas regiões do Brasil e do mundo. Um dos aspectos que é tocado por essas mudanças é a prática da produção artesanal dos artefatos que auxiliam as atividades domésticas e produtivas dessas populações. Esta pesquisa analisou a atual produção de artefatos artesanais em povoados historicamente fixados na região da Barra do Rio Mamanguape, Paraíba, e também investigou as características presentes do uso de tais artefatos no cotidiano de uma das vilas locais. Essa prática tradicional é fundamentalmente associada às atividades de subsistência desenvolvidas pelas populações da região, como a agricultura, a pesca artesanal e o extrativismo, e tem sido delineada por diferentes fatores de dimensão local e global. Algumas implicações dessa dinâmica são o rareamento da presença da figura do artesão naqueles povoados, bem como o desaparecimento de algumas de suas expressões tradicionais. Foram verificadas variações nas características de alguns artefatos de origem indígena milenar, associados à cultura Potiguara. Também foi constatado o surgimento de outras expressões materiais que decorrem das interações das populações locais com o contexto urbano e industrial, em hibridismo com os elementos culturais tradicionais constituídos a partir da sua histórica relação com os ecossistemas circundantes e a biodiversidade nela existente. Práticas e sentidos embutidos na maneira de produzir o mundo artificial analisada neste contexto foram elencados como aspectos pertinentes ao processo de reconfiguração da atividade do design. Tal reconfiguração é discutida no âmbito de suas práticas e valores, como atividade urbana e industrial responsável pela concepção de grande parte da nossa cultura material, e diante da nossa conjuntura socioambiental. / Traditional cultures of many regions of Brazil have been influenced by many sociocultural, economical, environmental and territorial changes. One of the aspects of their culture that has been changed is the artisanal production of artifacts that are used in everyday domestic and professional activities. This research analyzed the current production of this kind of artifacts in traditional communities situated at Barra do Rio Mamanguape region, Paraíba, and also investigated usage characteristics of artisanal objects in one of the local villages. These traditional practices are associated to subsistence activities developed by the local population, like agriculture, artisanal fishery, gathering, and has been influenced by a number of local and global changes. We have observed that the declining number of artisans and the extinction of some expressions of the traditional material culture are outcomes of these changes. We also verified variations in the characteristics of some artifacts that are linked to the ancient culture of Potiguaras indigenous people. We have observed the emergence of new material expressions determined by interactions between local population and the urban and industrial contexts, involving the traditional elements and maintaining their relationships with local ecosystems and biodiversity. Practices and meanings embedded in the local production of artifacts, as part of the construction of artificial world, were listed as relevant aspects to be considered in the reconfiguration process of values and practices of design, as urban and industrial activity responsible for conceiving our material culture.

Uma série de transformações ambientais, territoriais, sociais e econômicas têm influenciado os modos de vida das culturas tradicionais estabelecidas nas diversas regiões do Brasil e do mundo. Um dos aspectos que é tocado por essas mudanças é a prática da produção artesanal dos artefatos que auxiliam as atividades domésticas e produtivas dessas populações. Esta pesquisa analisou a atual produção de artefatos artesanais em povoados historicamente fixados na região da Barra do Rio Mamanguape, Paraíba, e também investigou as características presentes do uso de tais artefatos no cotidiano de uma das vilas locais. Essa prática tradicional é fundamentalmente associada às atividades de subsistência desenvolvidas pelas populações da região, como a agricultura, a pesca artesanal e o extrativismo, e tem sido delineada por diferentes fatores de dimensão local e global. Algumas implicações dessa dinâmica são o rareamento da presença da figura do artesão naqueles povoados, bem como o desaparecimento de algumas de suas expressões tradicionais. Foram verificadas variações nas características de alguns artefatos de origem indígena milenar, associados à cultura Potiguara. Também foi constatado o surgimento de outras expressões materiais que decorrem das interações das populações locais com o contexto urbano e industrial, em hibridismo com os elementos culturais tradicionais constituídos a partir da sua histórica relação com os ecossistemas circundantes e a biodiversidade nela existente. Práticas e sentidos embutidos na maneira de produzir o mundo artificial analisada neste contexto foram elencados como aspectos pertinentes ao processo de reconfiguração da atividade do design. Tal reconfiguração é discutida no âmbito de suas práticas e valores, como atividade urbana e industrial responsável pela concepção de grande parte da nossa cultura material, e diante da nossa conjuntura socioambiental. / Traditional cultures of many regions of Brazil have been influenced by many sociocultural, economical, environmental and territorial changes. One of the aspects of their culture that has been changed is the artisanal production of artifacts that are used in everyday domestic and professional activities. This research analyzed the current production of this kind of artifacts in traditional communities situated at Barra do Rio Mamanguape region, Paraíba, and also investigated usage characteristics of artisanal objects in one of the local villages. These traditional practices are associated to subsistence activities developed by the local population, like agriculture, artisanal fishery, gathering, and has been influenced by a number of local and global changes. We have observed that the declining number of artisans and the extinction of some expressions of the traditional material culture are outcomes of these changes. We also verified variations in the characteristics of some artifacts that are linked to the ancient culture of Potiguaras indigenous people. We have observed the emergence of new material expressions determined by interactions between local population and the urban and industrial contexts, involving the traditional elements and maintaining their relationships with local ecosystems and biodiversity. Practices and meanings embedded in the local production of artifacts, as part of the construction of artificial world, were listed as relevant aspects to be considered in the reconfiguration process of values and practices of design, as urban and industrial activity responsible for conceiving our material culture.