How to embed reflexivity in public participation in techno-science and to open it up to the agency of publics are key concerns in current debates. There is a risk that engagements become limited to “laboratory experiments,” highly controlled and foreclosed by participation experts, particularly in upstream techno-sciences. In this paper, we propose a way to open up the “participation laboratory” by engaging localized, self-assembling publics in ways that respect and mobilize their ecologies of participation. Our innovative reflexive methodology introduced participatory (...) methods to public engagement with upstream techno-science, with the public contributing to both the content and format of the project. Reflecting on the project, we draw attention to the largely overlooked issue of temporalities of participation, and the co-production of futures and publics in participation methodologies. We argue that many public participation methodologies are underpinned by the open futures model, which imagines the future as a space of unrestrained creativity. We contrast that model with the lived futures model typical of localized publics, which respects latency of materials and processes but imposes limits on creativity. We argue that to continue being societally relevant and scientifically important, public participation methods should reconcile the open future of research with the lived futures of localized publics. (shrink)

Affirmative action has been a particularly contentious policy issue that has polarised contributions to the debate. Over recent times in most western countries, support for affirmative action has, however, been largely snuffed out or beaten into retreat and replaced by the concept of ‹diversity management’. Thus, any contemporary study that examines the development of affirmative action would suggest that its opponents have won the battle. Nonetheless, this article argues that because the battle has been won on dubious ethical grounds it (...) is important that we do not allow affirmative action to sink unnoticed. This article explores and challenges the ethical and philosophical underpinnings of opponents’ views and finds their cases against affirmative action are not ethically sound. The article concludes there are strong ethical grounds for those organisations which seek to do well, to reassert affirmative action programmes in the global efforts to eradicate systemic discrimination and disadvantage. (shrink)

The Monarchia, Dante's treatise on political theory, addresses the fundamental question of what form of political organisation best suits human nature; it embodies a political vision of startling originality and power, and illuminates the intellectual interests and achievements of one of the world's great poets. The whole text is here presented in a new translation, the first for forty years, based on a more up-to-date and scholarly version of the Latin original than has previously been available. The translation, together with (...) accompanying introduction and notes, has been prepared by Prue Shaw. In this new and accessible form, the Monarchia will interest not only Dante specialists, but also students of literary studies, political history and philosophy. (shrink)

The importance and urgency of using ethical principles in the creation and content of climate change policy is well recognised. This article closely examines the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) engagement in ethical elements of international climate policy for abatement. The primary finding is the use of narrow framing around ‘nature based solutions’. The IUCNs’ own policy references to ethical principles such as fairness and justice are not adequately applied to the content of policy or to its critique. Recommendations are made (...) on how the IUCN (and NGOs generally) could enhance its ethical engagement to act consistently with the claim of moral leadership. (shrink)

The emergence of the “4th Industrial Revolution,” i.e. the convergence of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, advanced materials, and bioengineering technologies, could accelerate socioeconomic insecurities and anxieties or provide beneficial alternatives to the status quo. In the post-Covid-19 era, the entities that are best positioned to capitalize on these innovations are large firms, which use digital platforms and big data to orchestrate vast ecosystems of users and extract market share across industry sectors. Nonetheless, these technologies also have the potential (...) to democratize ownership, broaden political-economic participation, and reduce environmental harms. We articulate the potential sociotechnical pathways in this high-stakes crossroads by analyzing cellular agriculture, an exemplary 4th Industrial Revolution technology that synergizes computer science, biopharma, tissue engineering, and food science to grow cultured meat, dairy, and egg products from cultured cells and/or genetically modified yeast. Our exploration of this space involved multi-sited ethnographic research in both the cellular agriculture community and alternative economic organizations devoted to open source licensing, member-owned cooperatives, social financing, and platform business models. Upon discussing how these latter approaches could potentially facilitate alternative sociotechnical pathways in cellular agriculture, we reflect upon the broader implications of this work with respect to the 4th Industrial Revolution and the enduring need for public policy reform. (shrink)

How did meat emerge to become such an important feature in Western society? In both popular and academic literatures, biophysical and political-economic factors are often cited as the reason for meat’s preeminent status. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive investigation of these claims by reviewing the available evidence on the political-economic and biophysical features of meat over the long arc of Western history. We specifically focus on nine critical epochs: the Paleolithic, early to late Neolithic, antiquity, ancient Israel and (...) early Christian societies, medieval Europe, early modern Europe, colonial America, the American frontier, and the modern industrial era. We find that except under conditions of environmental scarcity, the meaning and value of meat cannot be attributed to intrinsic biophysical value or to the political-economic actors who materially benefit from it. Rather, meat’s status reflects the myriad cultural contexts in which it is socially constructed in people’s everyday lives, particularly with respect to religious, gender, communal, racial, national, and class identity. By deconstructing the normalized/naturalized materialist assumptions circling around meat consumption, this paper clears a space for a more nuanced appreciation of the role that culture has played in the legitimation of meat, and by extension, the possibility of change. (shrink)

Discussions about “disruptive” food controversies abound in popular and academic literatures, particularly with respect to meat production and consumption, yet there is little scholarship examining what makes an event disruptive in the first instance. Filling this gap will improve our understanding of how food controversies unfold and why certain issues may be more likely to linger in the public consciousness as opposed to others. I address these questions by using focus groups and in-depth interviews to analyze five potentially upsetting topics: (...) dietary warnings about meat consumption, meat safety recalls, eating meat directly from the skull of the animal, the morality of killing animals for food, and the “pink slime” debate. Findings suggest that disruptive events involve negative affective reactions to safety hazards, disgust-provoking sensory cues, and/or ethical dilemmas. When these cues exist in isolation from one another, consumers’ reactions are quite often short-lived, while the simultaneous presence of multiple disruptive elements in the context of a single issue or event can trigger a far stronger reaction. (shrink)

According to recent literature in the sociology of expectations, expectations about the future are “performative” in that they provide guidance for activities, attract attention, mobilize political and economic resources, coordinate between groups, link technical and social concerns, create visions, and enroll supporters. While this framework has blossomed over the past decade in science and technology studies, it has yet to be applied towards a more refined understanding of how the future of the modern agrofood system is being actively contested and (...) understood. I seek to redress this gap by using the sociology of expectations to explain the discursive topography surrounding in vitro meat, a nascent agrofood technology whereby processed meat products are developed from stem cells as opposed to live animals. In discussing the obstacles and challenges which confront the proponents of this technology, I utilize three key concepts from the sociology of expectations: (1) hype, (2) retrospective prospects, and (3) the role of myth, metaphor, and ideology. I find that despite sluggish results and financial setbacks, the controversial legacy of previous agrofood technologies, and persistent cultural skepticism, the core ideological justifications for in vitro meat have proven to be resilient in buoying the technology through rough discursive waters. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to provide further clarity to the technical and policy difficulties associated with mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by identifying and distilling the core tensions which propagate and animate them. We argue that these complexities exist across four critical dimensions: the epistemological, the ethical, the political, and the practical. Adequately confronting the challenge of agricultural emissions will require improved transparency in emissions measurement, increased science communication, enhanced public participatory mechanisms, and the integration of ethical (...) deliberation in scientific and policy discussions. (shrink)

This paper is an outline of a semester long experiment with students in a bioethics course at the College of Staten Island. The experiment traces the complexities students face in moral reasoning. The author recounts the specific moral questions that arose amidst efforts to construct a collaborative list of definitions for terms of moral justification. The project contributed to students’ general knowledge of bioethics and its principles of judgments. The intensive engagement with the principles of moral justification allowed students to (...) grapple with complex moral issues, to research literature for basic terms, and to approach philosophical arguments across the history of philosophy. (shrink)

How does one teach an Intro to Philosophy course without a text? Having discovered that textbooks would not arrive until the third week of the semester, the author designed a course which strove to emphasize writing skills while still capturing students’ attention. Students wrote a short “Personal Philosophy” paper in which they shared their commitments regarding rationality, freedom, ethics, science, the existence of God, the value of life, and aesthetics, and then explained the sources of their beliefs. This paper was (...) supplemented and completed later in the course with a second “Critique” paper. Students used the philosophical tools acquired through lectures and readings to address if and how their beliefs on the content of the first paper had changed, focusing especially on inconsistencies in those beliefs, unfounded assumptions, new insight into the sources of their beliefs, and the most surprising change in their beliefs. After reviewing the instructions for the papers and detailing other structural features of the course, the author concludes by noting that the class was so successful that its design became standard for the author’s Intro to Philosophy course at College of Staten Island. (shrink)

This paper is an outline of a semester long experiment with students in a bioethics course at the College of Staten Island. The experiment traces the complexities students face in moral reasoning. The author recounts the specific moral questions that arose amidst efforts to construct a collaborative list of definitions for terms of moral justification. The project contributed to students’ general knowledge of bioethics and its principles of judgments. The intensive engagement with the principles of moral justification allowed students to (...) grapple with complex moral issues, to research literature for basic terms, and to approach philosophical arguments across the history of philosophy. (shrink)

How does one teach an Intro to Philosophy course without a text? Having discovered that textbooks would not arrive until the third week of the semester, the author designed a course which strove to emphasize writing skills while still capturing students’ attention. Students wrote a short “Personal Philosophy” paper in which they shared their commitments regarding rationality, freedom, ethics, science, the existence of God, the value of life, and aesthetics, and then explained the sources of their beliefs. This paper was (...) supplemented and completed later in the course with a second “Critique” paper. Students used the philosophical tools acquired through lectures and readings to address if and how their beliefs on the content of the first paper had changed, focusing especially on inconsistencies in those beliefs, unfounded assumptions, new insight into the sources of their beliefs, and the most surprising change in their beliefs. After reviewing the instructions for the papers and detailing other structural features of the course, the author concludes by noting that the class was so successful that its design became standard for the author’s Intro to Philosophy course at College of Staten Island. (shrink)

Food systems transformations require coherent policies and improved understandings of the drivers and institutional dynamics that shape (un)sustainable food systems outcomes. In this paper, we introduce the Chilean National Organic Agriculture Law as a case of a policy process seeking to institutionalize a recognized pathway towards more sustainable food systems. Drawing from institutional theory we make visible multiple, and at times competing, logics (i.e., values, assumptions and practices) of different actors implicated in organic agriculture in Chile. More specifically, our findings (...) identify five main institutional transformative logics underpinning the interests and actions of organic actors. However, we find that the Law was not motivated by these logics and did not advance them. Rather, the Law was designed to support a market niche targeted to elite consumers and to reinforce agricultural exports. As a result, the Law constrains rather than enables the practice of organic agriculture and access to organic food by consumers, especially at the domestic level. We note that attention to institutional logics in the analysis of food systems, and specifically food system transformation, is relevant to more comprehensive assessments of the transformational potential of food systems policies. We conclude that there is a need to further consider and make visible the way in which different drivers (i.e., laws) are constituted through and by diverse, and often competing, institutional logics. (shrink)

El modelo de desarrollo de “crecimiento con equidad” planteado por la Concertación, tras 18 años de gobierno muestra sus primeras señales de agotamiento. Los éxitos alcanzados en materia económica, de política fiscal y transición política tras la dictadura militar, no han conducido a la equidad. A través de un análisis crítico de los datos político-económicos y sociales disponibles, la autora plantea que los fantasmas del subdesarrollo: estructura productiva basada en productos primarios, mala calidad de la educación, injusta distribución de ingresos (...) y baja inversión en ciencia y tecnología merodean a Chile amenazando con quedarse. Chile cuenta con una extraordinaria situación patrimonial a raíz de las millonarias ganancias obtenidas de las ventas del cobre, pero choca con una clase política temerosa de tomar decisiones de cambio estructural al modelo político y renuente a emprender las necesarias reformas económicas para pasar a la segunda etapa del desarrollo con mayor valor agregado. (shrink)

Desde una perspectiva teórica cercana al giro afectivo, estas páginas se proponen reflexionar sobre la construcción de la esperanza en parte del cine de la Unidad Popular chilena durante los primeros meses del gobierno de Salvador Allende. No se revisan en profundidad filmes sobre los que se ha dicho todo, sino que se rastrea en algunos lo que se da en llamar la imagen-esperanza. Para ello, se eligen tres filmes cuya única nota común es corresponderse de modos diversos con una (...) suerte de «año cero»: El primer año de Patricio Guzmán (1972), Voto + fusil de Helvio Soto (1971), y Palomita blanca de Raúl Ruiz, terminada en 1973 antes del golpe de Estado, y reeditada y estrenada en 1992. En los tres, es posible tematizar una esperanza que parece plantear más interrogantes que opciones tranquilizadoras aun cuando, como decía Guzmán en el diario de filmación de El primer año, «Chile era una fiesta». (shrink)

Tras postular que la democracia nunca ha predominado en la historia universal y nacional a pesar de su buena reputación, el autor desarrolla un contrapunto en el Centenario de la Independencia y en la actualidad, a menos de cinco años del segundo Centenario, para concluir que seguimos ante dos Chiles: uno contento y autosuficiente, que goza de las riquezas conquistadas por el salitre de antaño, hoy por el buen precio del cobre y los altos índices macroeconómicos, siendo en ambos (...) casos, la brecha entre estos dos Chiles enorme. Compartirían además un desprestigio de la política, una mezcla entre la política y los negocios, sistemas electorales muy similares que no dan cuenta de la soberanía popular, y críticos que a pesar de ser acallados por los medios de comunicación, logran desnudar la miseria y explotación del Chile popular. (shrink)

This book analyzes Chile's political economy over the last 30 years and the country's attempt to build a market society in a highly inegalitarian society, now as a member country of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The investigation provides a historical background of Chilean economy and society and discusses the cultural underpinnings of the imposition of free markets, the macroeconomic and growth performance of the 1990s and 2000s and the social record of privatization of education, health and social (...) security. The treatment documents the growing concentration of economic power among small groups of elites in Chile and discusses the limits of the democratic system built after the departure of the Pinochet regime. (shrink)

Rescate y edición de cuatro artículos olvidados de María Zambrano publicados en el diario _Crítica_ de Buenos Aires en marzo de 1937. Los artículos se corresponden con los capítulos de la segunda parte de _Los intelectuales en el drama de__ España_, el libro que Zambrano escribió y publicó en Chile en la editorial Panorama en 1937. En este trabajo se da cuenta del estado de la cuestión relativo al periodo chileno de Zambrano, se procede al estudio de los artículos encontrados, (...) sobre todo en lo que tiene que ver con su correspondencia con los capítulos de la segunda parte del libro chileno y se dan las coordenadas de su circunstancia editorial. (shrink)

The introduction looks at the constitutional situation in Chile since the demand for a new Constitution erupted in demonstrations all across the country, and argues that the notion of ‘constitutional moment’ is inadequate to capture the radicality of the popular mobilisation that is sweeping the country as a pure expression of constituent power.

This Article aims to show how the food industry has instrumentalized the right to freedom of expression to oppose innovative laws in Chile aimed at creating healthier food environments.

Todo poder conlleva elementos de corrupción. Este artículo pretende establecer comparaciones históricas respecto de la perversión de las instituciones, en distintos períodos de nuestro pasado republicano. Si bien la tiranía de Pinochet va a ser recordada como la más criminal y expoliadora de la historia de Chile, en menor grado y brutalidad, la carencia de probidad existió a lo largo de nuestra historia. Este estudio pretende desmitificar la visión de un Chile republicano probo, es decir, carente de malversación y cohecho. (...) El mito de la excepcionalidad de Chile respecto a la probidad es una invención de la historiografía conservadora que exalta al autoritarismo de los gobiernos portalianos, vilipendiando el avance democrático en el siglo XX. El autor pretende probar la falacia de tal visón: si bien es cierto que en nuestra historia hay períodos de mayor corrupción política como es el caso del parlamentarismo 1891- 1925, tan parecido a la actual transición 1990 –2005, en la actualidad existe la misma relación entre negocios individuales y política, el mismo reinado absoluto de los partidos, el mismo sistema electoral y el mismo desprestigio de los políticos. (shrink)

El escenario energético de escasez a nivel mundial se empieza a reflejar fuertemente en América Latina. Chile tiene una política energética diseñada en el período dictatorial, y administrada en la democracia, que hace muy vulnerable su economía, su medio ambiente y su seguridad. En este artículo se analizan críticamente los diversos aspectos que inciden fuertemente en el actual escenario energético chileno, sobre todo en lo que respecta a la política de integración con sus vecinos latinoamericanos, desde donde se puede vislumbrar (...) también una solución sustentable a los problemas energéticos futuros. (shrink)

In Vermont, approximately 1000–1200 migrant workers from Latin America are helping to sustain the state’s dairy industry. These dairy workers, the majority of whom are from Mexico and Guatemala, experience significant mental health impacts stemming from a combination of stressors due to leaving their home of origin and challenges related to working in rural Vermont. This article employs a framework of structural violence and structural vulnerability to situate the lived experiences and health concerns of migrant farmworkers in Vermont’s dairy industry. (...) It presents two case studies of applied projects that have been utilized to address these health concerns, a gardening project called Huertas that addresses issues of food insecurity and barriers in access to fresh and culturally familiar produce, and a participatory comics project called El Viaje Más Caro that aims to address mental health concerns through engaged storytelling and comics production. The authors of this article have designed and carried out these projects with the goal of interrupting the forms of structural violence and structural vulnerability that negatively impact the wellbeing of farmworkers in the state’s dairy industry. This article describes the successes and limitations of these projects with the hope they can be adapted and replicated for other farmworker communities facing similar health barriers. (shrink)

No presents the television campaign for the 1988 plebiscite on whether the Pinochet regime should stay as the government for eight more years (‘Yes’) or hold democratic elections (‘No’). The ‘No’ campaign uses the Aristotelian idea that happiness is an intrinsic value and thus the best concept to galvanise a traumatised nation in favour of change. My paper examines the film’s presentation of how a response to the trauma of the regime becomes transformed into resistance through the idea of a (...) possible future happiness. (shrink)

Little is known about how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerged in lesser developed countries. In order to address this knowledge gap, we used Chile as a test case and conducted a series of in-depth interviews with leaders of CSR initiatives. We also did an Internet and literature search to help provide support for the findings that emerged from our data. We discovered that while there are similarities in the drivers of CSR in developed countries, there are distinct differences (...) as well. In particular, we found that different sectors drive CSR in Chile. In contrast to other geographies where consumer demand and government regulation provided the impetus for CSR efforts, multinational companies (MNCs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are key actors in Chile. MNCs imported their CSR beliefs, skills, and processes into Chile. Their efforts resulted in a virtuous cycle. Once large domestic firms felt pressured by their MNC rivals, they too adopted CSR initiatives. The ability to manage relationships with multiple stakeholders and perceptions of authenticity were also critical to the success of CSR in Chile. Using network theory as a lens, we suggest that network density and centrality largely determine whether CSR efforts will be authentic. Based on these contentions, we suggest avenues for future research. (shrink)

As scholars envision a new regulatory or statutory neurorights schema it is important to imagine unintended consequences if reforms are implemented before their implications are fully understood. This paper critically evaluates provisions proposed for a new Chilean Constitution and evaluates this movement against efforts to improve the diagnosis of, and treatment for, individuals with disorders of consciousness within the broader context of disability law, international human rights, and a capabilities approach to health justice as advanced by Amartya Sen and Martha (...) Nussbaum. Framed in this way, any neurorights regime would need to satisfy several criteria. First it would be obliged to balance both positive and negative rights in the furtherance of human capabilities. Second, it would need to be future oriented and informed about the science it sought to regulate and not fall prey to science fiction fantasies that remain ungrounded in reality. Third, it would need to be specific and avoid generalizations that would lead to conceptual confusion and litigation that could delay scientific progress. Finally, it would need to harmonize novel neurorights with long-established norms in international disability and human rights law. A failure to meet these criteria will destine any novel neurorights regime to the periphery. At this juncture Chile’s nascent constitutional venture into neurorights fails to satisfy these criteria. While there yet may be a role for a more capacious and bivalent articulation of neurorights that account for capabilities and precedent, the current Chilean neurorights reforms are vague and premature. As such they should undergo additional scholarly scrutiny and should not be adopted by other jurisdictions. (shrink)

This paper explores the political awakening of the Chilean people that began in October 2019. It puts forward an alternative reading of the people’s claim for a new constitution. The first section briefly describes the October outcry and provides some context with regards to the nature of the social movement at its root. The two following sections examine two periods in Chilean recent history, the Pinochet regime and the period that has come after its overturn, focusing on two elements: the (...) neoliberal model set up by the dictatorship and the Constitution of 1980, which was designed to block the people’s political agency for the purpose of protecting the model. The final section works with these two elements in order to provide an alternative scheme by which to examine Chile’s awakening, the central question being: what does the claim for a new constitution mean? And critical for these purposes: what constitution is being overturned? Pinochet’s political project distorted constitutional ideas in such a way that only by clarifying the conceptual horizon is it possible to visualize how the concept of constitution and its relationship with the idea of a constituent power of the people can be of help to understand Chile’s constitutional awakening. (shrink)

Acerca de la imagen de tapa: El Negro Matapacos, por Caiozzama. Noviembre 2019, Santiago de Chile.

A partir de la consideración del vínculo entre la dictadura militar y la promoción del pensamiento nacionalista y de los usos del paisaje en la construcción de las narrativas nacionales, se indaga en la obra de Roberto Escobar. En particular, en su Teoría del Chileno (1981) y su defensa del rol del filósofo como poseedor del secreto de la nación, capaz de expresar la posibilidad de compatibilizar modernización e identidad.

Introducción al dossier: Chile, hasta que la dignidad se haga costumbre. Movilización social, proceso constituyente y horizontes de posibilidad post 18 de octubre.