Beatriz Cid, Eduardo Antonio Letelier Araya, Pablo Saravia, Julien Vanhulst, Nelson Carroza and Daniel Sandoval
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the social economy discourses in four regions of Chile, characterized by their internal economic heterogeneity.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the social economy discourses in four regions of Chile, characterized by their internal economic heterogeneity.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an intentional sample, semi-structured interviews were applied to 45 key informants from the public sector, universities, consultant enterprises, cooperatives and civil society organizations. Through a content analysis, thematic axes were identified that allowed to characterize and to recognize the narratives that key informants held about their initiatives, experiences or ventures.
Findings
The results allow us to understand the diversity of discourses and practices about alternative economies, being able to organize them from two axes: the tension between molar and molecular subjectivities; and the tension between reform and transformation (which refers to a transformative type of institutional and socio-material change). These axes propose an interpretative framework that integrates a diversity of distinctions and/or polarities and problematizes the homogeneity of formal economic discourse.
Research limitations/implications
The discourses analyzed by this paper offers representativeness by saturation. It do not allow to ponder for sure the relative presence of each of these discourses in the field of economic diversity. The analysis of what type of actors sustain each type of discourse remains pending.
Social implications
The high discourse heterogeneity makes it possible to foresee major difficulties in terms of political articulation and the visibility of various alternative economic experiences, initiatives or ventures as part of a social transformation movement.
Originality/value
Previous studies developed in Latin America about social and solidarity economy have been focused in objective dimensions as the volume of incomes, expenditures or jobs. This is the first study aimed at characterizing the subjective field of discourse held by different actors who recognize themselves as part of an alternative economy movement.
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Sadoth Sandoval Torres, Daniel Lopez Cravioto, Juan Rodríguez Ramírez, Lilia L. Méndez Lagunas, Luis Gerardo Barriada Bernal and Laura V. Aquino González
Mesquite pods offer a high nutritional content; A flour can be produced from them; nevertheless, the moisture content makes the milling process difficult. Then, before the milling…
Abstract
Purpose
Mesquite pods offer a high nutritional content; A flour can be produced from them; nevertheless, the moisture content makes the milling process difficult. Then, before the milling operation a drying process must be implemented, but drying technology must be studied in order to characterise the process and identify the effect of drying temperature on the magnitude of drying rate.
Design/methodology/approach
Prosopis Laevigata pods were collected in Oaxaca (Southern of Mexico) and they were dried. Three stages of maturity were identified and pods in the stage three of maturity were dried by forced convection. The internal structure of the pods was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pods were dried in a tunnel dryer at 40, 50, 60 and 70° C, 10% relative humidity and air velocity of 2.6 m/s. From experimental data, a lumped analysis was conducted for drying.
Findings
We found that the internal microstructure of this material is a limiting factor for moisture migration. In order to reduce the moisture content in the pods, a minimum air temperature of 60° C must be applied. The characteristic drying curve shows a good agreement with the experimental drying kinetics. The nutritional composition (carbohydrates, sugar and protein) of pods reveals important applications for the food industry.
Practical implications
The mesquite pods are important ethnic foods. In order to obtain flour, the drying of pods is mandatory. Drying must be applied in stage three of maturity which can be identified based on color changes and moisture content. The moisture content affects the performance of milling operation, then a minimum drying temperature of 60° C and low relative humidity must be applied. SEM images show the complex microstructure of the pods which hinders the moisture diffusion. The drying characteristic curve was deduced for the first time; it helps to understand the drying behavior of pods. The chemical composition of mesquite pods reveals interesting applications for the food industry. The methodology for drying is useful for researchers and producers.
Originality/value
Mezquite pods is an interesting ethnic food for people with celiac disease. This is the first time a research paper describes the drying process at detail. The SEM images, the convective drying operation and the characteristic curve are presented for the first time. The information will be useful for the industry and academia.
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Priya Sharma, Jose Sandoval-Llanos, Daniel Foster and Melanie Miller Foster
This study aims to examine the role of key network actors in relation to the discourse structure of a microblogging hashtag stream within a global agricultural educators’…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of key network actors in relation to the discourse structure of a microblogging hashtag stream within a global agricultural educators’ conference over two years. Prior work in online networks suggests that participation is dominated by highly active members, and in this study, the authors focus on examining what types of discourse are shared and reshared by key actors.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a combination of social network analyses and qualitative discourse coding to examine approximately 1,390 posts associated with the conference hashtag over two consecutive years.
Findings
The study analyses uncovered a set of common key participants over both years and common types of discourse used by those key participants. Key participants took on roles of resharing messages and contributed to discourse by retweeting posts that highlighted participants’ thoughts and feelings related to the conference and the discipline.
Research limitations/implications
This research has implications for encouraging diverse participants and diverse discourses related to key community goals. Design suggestions include identifying and inviting key actors as collaborators to reshare discourse that clearly aligns with community goals and using smaller hashtag spaces to encourage broader participation.
Originality/value
Prior work on microblogging has highlighted either the types of discourse and information sharing or the structures of the network interactions within conference hashtag streams. This study builds on this prior work and combines discourse and structure to understand the ways in which key network figures reshare discourse within the community, a facet that has been underreported in the literature.
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Kirti Nayal, Rakesh D. Raut, Maciel M. Queiroz, Vinay Surendra Yadav and Balkrishna E. Narkhede
This article aims to model the challenges of implementing artificial intelligence and machine earning (AI-ML) for moderating the impacts of COVID-19, considering the agricultural…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to model the challenges of implementing artificial intelligence and machine earning (AI-ML) for moderating the impacts of COVID-19, considering the agricultural supply chain (ASC) in the Indian context.
Design/methodology/approach
20 critical challenges were modeled based on a comprehensive literature review and consultation with experts. The hybrid approach of “Delphi interpretive structural modeling (ISM)-Fuzzy Matrice d' Impacts Croises Multiplication Applique'e à un Classement (MICMAC) − analytical network process (ANP)” was used.
Findings
The study's outcome indicates that “lack of central and state regulations and rules” and “lack of data security and privacy” are the crucial challenges of AI-ML implementation in the ASC. Furthermore, AI-ML in the ASC is a powerful enabler of accurate prediction to minimize uncertainties.
Research limitations/implications
This study will help stakeholders, policymakers, government and service providers understand and formulate appropriate strategies to enhance AI-ML implementation in ASCs. Also, it provides valuable insights into the COVID-19 impacts from an ASC perspective. Besides, as the study was conducted in India, decision-makers and practitioners from other geographies and economies must extrapolate the results with due care.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first that investigates the potential of AI-ML in the ASC during COVID-19 by employing a hybrid approach using Delphi-ISM-Fuzzy-MICMAC-ANP.
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Patrick Blessinger and John M. Carfora
This chapter provides an introduction to how the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach is being used by colleges and universities around the world to improve faculty and…
Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to how the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach is being used by colleges and universities around the world to improve faculty and institutional development and to strengthen the interconnections between teaching, learning, and research. This chapter provides a synthesis and analysis of all the chapters in the volume, which present a range of perspectives, case studies, and empirical research on how IBL is being used across a range of courses across a range of institutions to enhance faculty and institutional development. This chapter argues that the IBL approach has great potential to enhance and transform teaching and learning. Given the growing demands placed on education to meet a diverse range of complex political, economic, and social problems and personal needs, this chapter argues that education should be a place where lifelong and lifewide learning is cultivated and where self-directed learning is nurtured. To that end, this chapter argues that IBL helps cultivate a learning environment that is more meaningful, responsive, integrated, and purposeful.
Linda M. Waldron, Danielle Docka-Filipek, Carlie Carter and Rachel Thornton
First-generation college students in the United States are a unique demographic that is often characterized by the institutions that serve them with a risk-laden and deficit-based…
Abstract
First-generation college students in the United States are a unique demographic that is often characterized by the institutions that serve them with a risk-laden and deficit-based model. However, our analysis of the transcripts of open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 22 “first-gen” respondents suggests they are actively deft, agentic, self-determining parties to processes of identity construction that are both externally imposed and potentially stigmatizing, as well as exemplars of survivance and determination. We deploy a grounded theory approach to an open-coding process, modeled after the extended case method, while viewing our data through a novel synthesis of the dual theoretical lenses of structural and radical/structural symbolic interactionism and intersectional/standpoint feminist traditions, in order to reveal the complex, unfolding, active strategies students used to make sense of their obstacles, successes, co-created identities, and distinctive institutional encounters. We find that contrary to the dictates of prevailing paradigms, identity-building among first-gens is an incremental and bidirectional process through which students actively perceive and engage existing power structures to persist and even thrive amid incredibly trying, challenging, distressing, and even traumatic circumstances. Our findings suggest that successful institutional interventional strategies designed to serve this functionally unique student population (and particularly those tailored to the COVID-moment) would do well to listen deeply to their voices, consider the secondary consequences of “protectionary” policies as potentially more harmful than helpful, and fundamentally, to reexamine the presumption that such students present just institutional risk and vulnerability, but also present a valuable addition to university environments, due to the unique perspective and broader scale of vision their experiences afford them.
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Jody Marie Bartz, Jennifer Kurth and Matthew Wangeman
Facilitating inclusive supports and services for learners with low-incidence disabilities involves collaborative teaming, understanding the benefits and challenges involved in…
Abstract
Facilitating inclusive supports and services for learners with low-incidence disabilities involves collaborative teaming, understanding the benefits and challenges involved in delivering inclusive supports, and appreciating the diverse and unique needs of this population. In this chapter, we provide families, educators, researchers, academics, related service personnel, and other professionals with examples of models of service and support delivery. Emphasis will be on school-age learners with low-incidence disabilities. Additionally, an insider perspective of the opportunities for, as well as benefits and barriers to, successful implementation of supports and services for learners with low-incidence disabilities is presented. The chapter concludes with future directions for research.
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Based on the importance of citizen participation and the collaborative potential of online social media tools, this study tests four proposed influences on administrators who are…
Abstract
Based on the importance of citizen participation and the collaborative potential of online social media tools, this study tests four proposed influences on administrators who are deciding whether or not to adopt these tools to engage citizens. A survey of 157 department managers from large U.S. cities shows that 82% report using some form of social media to engage citizens and that perceived organizational influences and administrator preconceptions have the strongest impact on the respondentsʼ decision to adopt social media. Possible explanations for the results are that the use of online social media in the public sector may be following a similar path of adoption as earlier forms of e-government or managers may be operating in a rational environment when deciding whether or not to adopt online social media tools.