A colonização da fronteira agrícola amazônica no estado de Rondônia foi acelerada nas décadas de 1960 e 1970. Este movimento favoreceu a consolidação da modernização da agricultura, processo pelo qual passava o sul e o sudeste do país. A agricultura praticada por milhares de migrantes, consistiu em derrubar e queimar a floresta que existia, deixando a região com um grande passivo ambiental em decorrência das práticas predatórias. Os movimentos sociais rurais juntamente com o apoio da igreja católica inseriram nas comunidades o debate da diversificação produtiva como alternativa ao sistema de monocultivos que se implantava na região. Com este cenário foi criada a Associação dos Produtores Alternativos em Ouro Preto do Oeste, que teve um trabalho diferenciado para a promoção da agricultura familiar e ecológica dentro do estado, vindo a encerrar as atividades em 2007. Utilizando-se do arcabouço teórico-metodológico da Perspectiva Orientada aos Atores este trabalho apresenta a problemática da agricultura na região amazônica numa perspectiva de construção da transição agroecológica para o estado de Rondônia. Procurou-se resgatar a dinâmica de colonização da região central do estado de Rondônia e o histórico de ação da APA, identificando as mudanças nas práticas e sistemas de produção dos modelos de agricultura, construindo uma análise para as políticas públicas de desenvolvimento rural socioambiental em voga. Para isso fez-se uso de técnicas de coletas de dados com entrevistas semi-estruturadas, da observação livre e do diário de campo. A análise dos dados coletados apontou para a consolidação de uma agricultura ecológica na região, sobretudo aquela encontrada no campesinato que tem por principal característica a resistência aos Impérios Alimentares. Conclui-se também que políticas públicas como o PAA, PRONAF, PAIS e PROAMBIENTE, agem de maneira diferenciada a partir da tomada de consciência e disputa pelo poder dos atores. / The colonization of the agricultural frontier in the Amazonian state of Rondônia was accelerated in the years 1960s and 1970s. This movement encouraged the consolidation of the modernization of agriculture, a process observed in south and southeast of Brazil. The agriculture practiced by thousands of migrants, consisted of cutting down and burning the forest that existed, leaving the region with a large environmental passive as a result of predation practices. The rural social movements along with the support of the Catholic Church inserted in the communities debate diversification of production as an alternative to the system of monocultures, which was implanted in the region. Under this scenario was created the Association of Alternative Producers in Ouro Preto do Oeste, who had a unique work to promote family farming and ecological within the state, that has been shut down in 2007. Using the theoretical and methodological Actor Oriented Perspective this paper presents the problems of agriculture in the Amazon region with a view to building the agroecological transition to the state of Rondônia. We tried to rescue the dynamics of colonization of the central region of Rondônia State and the history of action of APA, identifing changes in agricultural practices and production systems in models of agriculture, building an analysis for public policy environmental development in vogue. For this was made use of techniques data collection with semi-structured interviews, free observation, and the field notes. The analysis of the collected data pointed to the consolidation of ecological agriculture in the region especially that found in the peasantry whose main characteristic is this resistance to empires Food. It also appears that public policies such as PAA, PRONAF, PAIS and PROAMBIENTE, act differently from the awareness and power struggles of the actors.

Este trabalho busca compreender como o modelo de substituição de insumos para uma agricultura de base ecológica se tornou falácia do modelo de desenvolvimento rural. Optou-se por estudar o Projeto Café de Lerroville (PCL) e a transição para uma agricultura de base ecológica para analisar como o processo de transição foi definido por aspectos socioculturais, econômicos e políticos. Agentes de desenvolvimento rural propuseram para os cafeicultores de duas comunidades no município de Londrina – PR a inserção das associações à rede de comércio justo solidário. A base teórica deste trabalho busca na perspectiva orientada ao ator e na abordagem agroecológica elementos para entender a constituição e o processo de transição pautado na substituição de insumos. Os objetivos específicos da pesquisa são: (i) apresentar o Norte do Paraná e algumas práticas cotidianas e culturais dos agricultores; (ii) analisar o PCL, as técnicas inseridas pela transição e ressaltar ações diretivas ou participativas dos agricultores na mudança de sistema de cultivo; (iii) examinar as relações entre os atores envolvidos, as etapas e a trajetória de transição para uma cafeicultura orgânica. A observação de campo, a vivência no local, as entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas, a construção de mapas genealógicos e mapas das propriedades fazem parte do conjunto metodológico, na intenção de testar a seguinte hipótese: a substituição de insumos do modelo atual de agricultura orgânica incorpora os padrões convencionais de transferência tecnológica, prescreve a transição sem estar atrelada a metodologias participativas e deixa de permitir uma relativa autonomia do agricultor. O nicho de mercado para produtos orgânicos, as representações sociais sobre os sistemas de cultivo, a transferência vertical de conhecimento e o descomprometimento com as normas sociais e os costumes da comunidade (por parte das instituições) definiram a trajetória do Projeto Café de Lerroville. A análise das entrevistas mostrou que os aspectos econômicos e políticos da experiência de transição são o aparente da transição e também explicam a desmotivação dos agricultores com a transição como, por exemplo: o interesse destes pelo nicho do mercado orgânico; a relação conflituosa entre as instituições, agentes de desenvolvimento e agricultores. Os aspectos sociais e culturais estão nos bastidores das explicações sobre o “insucesso” da experiência e foram descobertos durante a pesquisa etnográfica, como por exemplo: a importância das atividades religiosas de lazer para a manutenção social do grupo; as sutis divergências entre as associações que se tornaram uma cooperativa durante a transição e a cultura do café como agente que move e faz a história de vida e da região. / This project sought to understand how the model of replacing supplies towards an ecology-based agriculture became a fallacy of rural development. We focused on the Lerroville Coffee Project (Projeto Café de Lerroville - PCL) and the shift in its work model in order to analyze how the transition to an ecology-based agriculture is defined by socio-cultural, economic, and political aspects. Development agents linked do the state administration proposed to coffee farmers from two communities in Londrina, Brazil that they join the fair trade network. The theory in this project turns to the actororiented perspective and the agro-ecological approach in order to find elements to understand the transition constitution and process based on supply replacement. The specific goals of the research are: introduce the North region of Paraná State as well as some of the farmers’ daily and cultural practices; analyze PCL, the techniques brought about by the transition at hand and highlight directive or participative actions by the farmers on the change in cultivation system; and examine the relation among the actors involved, the steps and the transition pathway toward an organic agriculture. Field observation, on-site experience, structured and semi structured interviews, and building of both genealogical and land maps make up the methodology set, aimed at testing the following hypothesis: The replacement of supplies in the current organic agriculture model incorporates the conventional standards of technology transference, prescribes the transition without linking it to participative methodologies and fails at allowing farmers’ relative autonomy. The market niche for organic products, the social representations about cultivation systems, the vertical transference of knowledge and the lack of commitment with social norms and community habits by the institutions defined the pathway of Lerroville Coffee Project. The analysis of the interviews showed that the economic and political aspects of the transition experience are what shows from the transition and also explain the farmers' lack of motivation regarding the transition such as: their interest to the organic market niche; the confliting relation among institutions, development agents and farmers. The social and cultural aspects are the backstage of the "failure" of the experience and were brought about during the etnographic research such as: the importance of religious leisure activities to the group's social sustenance; the subtle disagreements between the associations which became a cooperative during the transition and the coffee production culture as an agent which drives and makes up a history of life and of the region.

Em um contexto de pobreza e exclusão elétrica, a comunidade rural de Linha Betânia composta por dezessete famílias de pequenos agricultores vivendo em condições de isolamento e com um baixo nível de desenvolvimento, localizada no município de Sananduva/RS, foi beneficiada por um projeto de desenvolvimento local promovido e apoiado pelas Ações Integradas do Programa Luz para Todos, o qual teve sua implementação iniciada em 2007, após essas famílias terem tido acesso à energia elétrica por meio do mesmo Programa. As Ações Integradas, como um incremento do Programa Luz para Todos, pretendiam com o projeto contribuir para a melhoria das condições de vida das famílias atendidas e outras do entorno, por meio da construção de uma microdestilaria de álcool combustível e uma agroindústria comunitária, visando também fortalecer a capacidade produtiva e organizativa dessas famílias. A ideia iniciada pelas Ações Integradas do Programa Luz para Todos se converteu em um processo de implementação que envolveu atores estatais e não-estatais, a saber, as famílias de pequenos agricultores beneficiadas; a Cooperativa Regional de Eletrificação Rural do Alto Uruguai Ltda. (Creral), organização social representante dessas famílias e parceira do Programa Luz para Todos; e os agentes das Ações Integradas do Programa, entre eles, dois consultores da parceira do Programa com o Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD). Para analisar o processo de implementação desse projeto, em relação aos pressupostos do desenvolvimento local de participação e protagonismo dos atores locais a partir da perspectiva orientada ao ator, objetivo deste trabalho, utilizou-se da estratégia de pesquisa estudo de caso, de caráter descritivo, com uma abordagem qualitativa. Foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os principais atores envolvidos no processo de implementação, bem como foram utilizados documentos para o levantamento de dados. Constatou-se que os esforços integrados de atores estatais e não-estatais foi fundamental para o êxito da implementação do projeto de desenvolvimento local em Linha Betânia. Foi possível observar sinergias entre os atores envolvidos, tendo-se um processo caracterizado pela parceria, participação e solidariedade em direção a um movimento de mudança protagonizado pela ação dos principais atores envolvidos. Com destaque para a atuação da Creral que, juntamente com os agentes do Programa Luz para Todos e as famílias beneficiadas, agiram e defenderam, de forma geral, um novo paradigma societal, com uma postura crítica. Todavia, no que tange à rede de parceiros estabelecida para o processo, pode-se dizer que, com relação aos ideais das Ações Integradas do Programa Luz para Todos, de firmar ações intersetoriais e intergovernamentais, faltou uma maior articulação de modo a formar parcerias nos diferentes níveis de governo e diferentes setores. Ou seja, o projeto de desenvolvimento local implementado em Linha Betânia não encontrou respaldo na esfera municipal, principalmente na primeira etapa, o que leva a concluir que é necessária uma maior articulação dos atores já envolvidos, a fim de ampliar os esforços na implementação dos projetos das Ações Integradas do Programa Luz para Todos. / In a context of poverty and electrical exclusion, the rural community of Linha Betânia composed of seventeen families of small farmers living in isolation conditions and with a low level of development, located in Sananduva/RS, was benefited from a local development project sponsored and supported by the Integrated Actions of Energy for All Program, which had started its implementation in 2007, after these families had access to electricity through the same program. The Integrated Actions, as an increase in the Energy for All Program, had the intention with the project to contribute to improving the living conditions of the families attended through the construction of a small-scale distillation of ethanol from sugar-cane and community agro-industry, aiming to strengthen the productive and organizational capacity of these families. The idea initiated by the Integrated Actions of Energy for All Program has become a process of implementation that involved state and non-state actors, the families of small farmers benefited; the Rural Electrification Regional Co-operative of the High Uruguay Ltda. (Cooperativa Regional de Eletrificação Rural do Alto Uruguai - Creral), social organization representative of these families and partner of the Energy for All Program; and the agents of the Integrated Actions of the Program, among them, two consultants from the program partnership with United Nations Development Program (UNDP). To analyze the process of implementing this project in relation to the assumptions of the local development of participation and protagonism of local actors from the actor-oriented perspective, objective of this work, was used the strategy of research case study, descriptive in nature, with a qualitative approach. It were made semi-structured interviews with key actors involved in the implementation process, and documents were used for the data collection. It was found that the integrated efforts of state and non-state actors were crucial for the successful implementation of local development project in Linha Betânia. It was possible to observe synergys between the actors involved, and it was a process characterized by partnership, participation and solidarity toward a movement for change protagonized by the action of the main actors involved. With emphasis on the role of Creral which, together with the agents of the Energy For All Program and beneficiary families, acted and defended, in general, a new societal paradigm, with a critical posture. However, with regard to the established network of partners to the process, we can say that with respect to the ideals of the Integrated Actions of Energy for All Program, to enter into intergovernmental and intersectoral action, greater articulation failed to form partnerships in different levels of government and different sectors. That is, the local development project implemented in Linha Betânia has not found support in the municipal sphere, especially in the first stage, which leads to the conclusion that a greater articulation of actors now involved is necessary, in order to expand efforts in the implementation of projects of Integrated Actions of Enegy for All Program.

A criação do Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar (PRONAF) foi um marco na política pública de crédito para o financiamento da agricultura familiar e ponto referencial da agricultura familiar como ator social e político no cenário do desenvolvimento rural brasileiro. O objetivo do trabalho é ampliar a compreensão sobre as formas e usos dos recursos do PRONAF em que pese as diferentes razões e aspectos motivacionais que levam os agricultores familiares a utilizar os recursos visando ao seu fortalecimento e à garantia das condições sociais e materiais, a fim de permanecerem como agricultores. Esta dissertação discute as formas que os agricultores familiares estão utilizando os recursos do programa. A pesquisa busca elementos para problematizar as formas de utilização dos recursos do PRONAF pelos agricultores familiares na busca de condições para se reproduzirem socialmente. Apesar de existir uma vasta produção acadêmica sobre o PRONAF focada na avaliação institucional do programa, entretanto, o que se pretende enfatizar no presente estudo é a visão que os beneficiários expressam, utilizando a perspectiva orientada ao ator como referencial teórico e analítico. Utilizou-se a modalidade de estudo de caso, onde foram usados os dados quantitativos gerados pela Pesquisa AFDLP (UFRGS; UFPel; CNPq, (2003), realizada no município de Salvador das Missões. Nos procedimentos metodológicos da pesquisa qualitativa foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com (22) informantes, observação direta e dados secundários. As conclusões demonstraram que a alocação de crédito rural aprofunda a diferenciação social e produtiva entre os agricultores familiares, onde os agricultores capitalizados potencializam os recursos do crédito disponibilizado pelo PRONAF, transformando parte dos recursos em capital de giro da unidade produtiva que permite, inclusive, a ampliação patrimonial, enquanto os agricultores em situação de fragilidade produtiva e econômica canalizam os recursos para a sobrevivência imediata, deteriorando ainda mais suas condições financeiras. / The creation of the Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar (PRONAF) was a milestone in the public policy of credit for the financing of family farming and reference point as an actor in social and political landscape of rural Brazil. The objective is to expand the understanding of the forms and uses the resources of PRONAF in spite of the different reasons and motivational aspect leading the farmers to use their resources to strengthen and ensure the social and material in order to remain as farmers. This thesis discusses the ways that farmers are using the resources of the program. The research seeks to problematize the ways elements of resource use by farmers of PRONAF in search of conditions to reproduce socially. Although there is a vast academic production on PRONAF focused on institutional evaluation of the program, however, what is emphasized in this study is the vision that the beneficiaries express oriented perspective using the actor as the theoretical framework and analytical. Using the method of case study, where we used the quantitative data generated by AFDLP Search (UFRGS; UFPel, CNPq, (2003) held in the city of Salvador Mission. The methodological procedures of qualitative research were semistructured with (22) informants, direct observation and secondary data. The findings showed that the allocation of rural credit deepens the social differentiation between productive and family farmers, where farmers capitalized maximize the resources of the credit available of PRONAF, transforming part of the resources in working capital that allows the plant, including the expansion method, while farmers in situations of fragility and economic productive channel resources for immediate survival further deteriorating their financial conditions.

Community-based management of natural resource (CBNRM) projects have commonly failed to deliver conservation and development benefits. This thesis examined how the theoretical assumptions of common pool resource (CPR) theory have contributed to the indifferent performance of CBNRM projects. Evidence was gathered from two CBNRM case studies in Zanzibar to show that CPR institutional design does not sufficiently acknowledge the politics or social relations of project sites. Moreover, these limitations reduce CPR theory's explanatory power and the functionality of CBNRM projects. This is because CPR theory's influence on CBNRM projects is to frame people with fixed identities and related interests as 'rational resource users', rather than people enrolled in multiple network relations with differentiated means of influence, interests and responsibilities. Actor-oriented theory is used to show that CBNRM would benefit from a shift in the correlation with institutional design factors to understanding the operation of power and conflict at project sites. These findings suggest that currently CBNRM projects are too mired in concern about regulating the 'direct' relationship between resource users and conservation objectives, with problematic implications. It is shown that actor-oriented theory is more sensitive to the different capacities, interests and strategies of actors in CBNRM institutional transformation processes. While actor-oriented theory does not offer a parsimonious or predictive theory to reform CPR theory or CBNRM policy, it can provide insights into pre-project conditions and emergent practice useful for explaining project interventions.

During adolescence, individuals place increasing emphasis on peer relations. Both positive and negative relationships contribute to adolescents’ academic performances and well-being. Adolescence is also a period when individuals actively engage in gossiping. Despite the various benefits brought by gossip such as information exchange, norm regulation and amusement, those who are labelled as “gossipers” tend to suffer from bad reputation and thus becoming less favored in friendship selection. Instead of focusing on evident gossiping behaviors, the current study takes an innovative approach of looking at gossip perception and the friendship and disliking relationship between perceived gossipers who are not necessarily real gossipers but are nominated when others were being asked “Who do you think talks you out with other classmates behind your back?” and the self-perceived targets. The research is conducted by applying Meta Analysis and Bayesian Multilevel Random Coefficients Analysis to 11 Hungarian classrooms of the RECENS project “Competition and Negative Networks” (2017) using Stochastic Actor Oriented Modelling (SAOM) in R. Results from Meta Analysis are in line with the expectation that gossip perception should make the self-perceived target less likely to befriend the perceived gossiper and more likely to dislike him/her. No evidence is found to support that having a shared perceived gossiper should bring two self-perceived targets closer or a self-perceived target should be more likely to dislike the friend of the perceived gossiper following Heider’s Balance Theory (1946). However, no gossip perception related effects are found statistically significant according to the results of the Bayesian approach. Overall, gossip perception is not powerful enough to affect adolescents’ attitude, whether positive or negative, towards one another.

Despite decades of development efforts to combat desertification processes in southern Zimbabwe, a development deadlock occurs. Using the local knowledge systems as a basis, and making an effort to strategically facilitate the revival of their capacity for checks and balances as a development approach, endogenous development could become more realistic. The actor-oriented RAAKS.methodology offers relevant tools for a case study'in which an insight into the processes of innovation is obtained in order to confirm this. The Charurnbira case study shows that many local interfaces hinder development. Although the facilitation of platform processes could enhance endogenous development, the external environment provides a serious constraint. The method employed did ndt permit broad conclusions, but a deeper examination of recent experiences suggested that by giving local people a greater say in natural resource use, local knowledge could be utilized more effectively and better use could be made of traditional management structures. / Development Administration / M.A. (Development Administration)

<p>The research reported here is a meta-evaluative case study of project evaluation in the context of Official Development Cooperation (ODC) in the education sector in Tanzania, where the particular focus is on capturing the relative values attached to evaluation by various stakeholder groups.</p><p>Perspectives from the constructivist paradigm are adopted, implying relativist ontology, subjectivist epistemology, and naturalistic interpretive methodology. Based on these perspectives, a review is provided of development theories and evaluation theories, including the actor-oriented approach to development, participatory monitoring & evaluation, utilization-focused evaluation, and responsive-constructivist evaluation. An exploratory qualitative case study strategy is taken, combining several complementary methods e.g. in-depth interviews, questionnaires, document analysis, and observations.</p><p>Evaluation is considered as an applied social research, implying a managerial and political purpose. It is a reflective interactive process, where the relevance, effectiveness and impact of an intervention in pursuit of certain objectives are assessed, adding value in order to construct knowledge for the enhancement of decision-making. In order to facilitate understanding of the cases under study, their structural contexts are investigated: 1) ODC evaluation systems and strategies (international/ macro context); and 2) ODC in the education sector in Tanzania (national/meso context). Each case (at local/micro level) is located within these contexts and analyzed applying a meta-evaluative framework.</p><p>Integrating the perspectives of the stakeholders, the study demonstrates the strengths of, and constraints on, each case, factors which are to some extent determined by their respective time-frames. A number of significant discrepancies between theory and practice in ODC evaluation are reported. Findings indicate the significance of constructing consensus values that are based on a synthesis of multiple stakeholders’ values and perspectives complementing each others. The study also find that evaluation ought to be used as a powerful tool in which the values, needs and aspirations of various stakeholder groups can be reflected, especially those of local communities, who are now too often powerless in ODC projects in the education sector.</p>

The research reported here is a meta-evaluative case study of project evaluation in the context of Official Development Cooperation (ODC) in the education sector in Tanzania, where the particular focus is on capturing the relative values attached to evaluation by various stakeholder groups. Perspectives from the constructivist paradigm are adopted, implying relativist ontology, subjectivist epistemology, and naturalistic interpretive methodology. Based on these perspectives, a review is provided of development theories and evaluation theories, including the actor-oriented approach to development, participatory monitoring &amp; evaluation, utilization-focused evaluation, and responsive-constructivist evaluation. An exploratory qualitative case study strategy is taken, combining several complementary methods e.g. in-depth interviews, questionnaires, document analysis, and observations. Evaluation is considered as an applied social research, implying a managerial and political purpose. It is a reflective interactive process, where the relevance, effectiveness and impact of an intervention in pursuit of certain objectives are assessed, adding value in order to construct knowledge for the enhancement of decision-making. In order to facilitate understanding of the cases under study, their structural contexts are investigated: 1) ODC evaluation systems and strategies (international/ macro context); and 2) ODC in the education sector in Tanzania (national/meso context). Each case (at local/micro level) is located within these contexts and analyzed applying a meta-evaluative framework. Integrating the perspectives of the stakeholders, the study demonstrates the strengths of, and constraints on, each case, factors which are to some extent determined by their respective time-frames. A number of significant discrepancies between theory and practice in ODC evaluation are reported. Findings indicate the significance of constructing consensus values that are based on a synthesis of multiple stakeholders’ values and perspectives complementing each others. The study also find that evaluation ought to be used as a powerful tool in which the values, needs and aspirations of various stakeholder groups can be reflected, especially those of local communities, who are now too often powerless in ODC projects in the education sector.

Despite decades of development efforts to combat desertification processes in southern Zimbabwe, a development deadlock occurs. Using the local knowledge systems as a basis, and making an effort to strategically facilitate the revival of their capacity for checks and balances as a development approach, endogenous development could become more realistic. The actor-oriented RAAKS.methodology offers relevant tools for a case study'in which an insight into the processes of innovation is obtained in order to confirm this. The Charurnbira case study shows that many local interfaces hinder development. Although the facilitation of platform processes could enhance endogenous development, the external environment provides a serious constraint. The method employed did ndt permit broad conclusions, but a deeper examination of recent experiences suggested that by giving local people a greater say in natural resource use, local knowledge could be utilized more effectively and better use could be made of traditional management structures. / Development Administration / M.A. (Development Administration)