Documents found
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4111.More information
The following treatment of U.S.-Canada relations begins with the Ottawa-Quebec nexus and its impact upon the connection with the United States. Then the analysis proceeds through bilateral relations. The essay concludes with a look at multilateral interactions from the focus of both Canada and the United States. Thus the analysis proceeds from the most specific to the most general, and from the most internalized to the most external. Concluding with a paradox, the argument of the essay is that despite the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of imminent external threat, uncertainty has never loomed larger in the relation of Canada to its southern neighbor, for all parts of Canada including Quebec, and for the Canadian polity as a whole.
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4113.More information
Folklore festivals and other presentations of folk music for tourists are frequently interpreted as pale representations of “real” folk music at best, and commercial corruptions at worst. The author at least has been guilty of such interpretations. In this article, he interprets folklore festivals in southern Poland as highly meaningful calendric rituals necessary for the survival of certain ways of life. Folklore festivals replace, sometimes quite deliberately, more commonly recognised calendric rituals formerly enacted to preserve agricultural livelihood. One thing preserved and protected by the folklore festival ritual is the concept of “authentic folk music.” Once the protective ritual is performed, the participants are free to go and engage in other “non-authentic” music activities. The author shows how these notions of authenticity and preservation are negotiated by performers, festival promoters, local musical folklorists, and tourists. Rather than being repulsed by the inevitable changes in “back-region” performance practices for stylised “front-region” staged performances, he views them as meaningful responses to changing social, economic and cultural conditions.
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4115.More information
Apocalyptic representations are relevant in the field of mental health. The ideologies in numerous sects are based on images and interpretations fed by biblical references, but also by postmodern representations such as extraterrestrials and UFOs. These charismatic leaders present problematical psychological profiles which can carry them, as their followers, to extreme behaviors. Anxieties associated to technological innovations such as nuclear weapons, deterioration of the environment, as well as the media announcements can provoke stressful reactions, affecting the well-being of individuals. Delusions including apocalyptic and end of the world references are often reported among patients with psychotic disorders. These issues are discussed using historic and contemporary examples.
Keywords: Apocalypse, santé mentale, délires, sectes, violence, suicide, anxiété, Apocalypse, mental health, delusions, sects, violence, suicide, anxiety
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4116.More information
AbstractChildhood, infantia, is lack of saying, misery that is not spoken. Victor-Lévy Beaulieu is the writer of this reality at the limit of oneself, and his novel continuously transmutes the abject into the divine, lack into overflow, helplessness into ecstasy. In his writing, the infans becomes something hideous and the causality of the book. Satan Belhumeur is at the centre of this "childhood itinerary" written like a memory: remembering, emasculation of the world and redemption.
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4117.More information
Like many watercourses close to urbanized areas in Brazil, the Passauna River and its reservoir supplying the city of Curitiba suffers from organic pollution due to growing anthropogenic pressure. However, a recent study has detected a surprising enrichment of the sediments by Pb (> 100 ppm) and Cr (> 200 ppm), despite this basin's protection against industrial pollution. The objective of this study was to assess the reality of this pollution and to understand the nature of the polluting sources. Measurements of trace metals were performed in water and sediments sampled in this basin, using trace-metal clean techniques and supplemented by grain-size and total organic carbon (TOC) analysis for sediments samples. The interpretation of the results has been supported by the calculation of contamination indexes (Enrichment Factor, Geo-accumulation Index) and the use of statistical analysis tools (correlation, PCA). This work showed that a former municipal landfill, located along the bank of the river, had a light and localized impact on the sediments with Cu, Pb and Zn. No impact with Pb has been recorded in the rest of the study area, but a geogenic source explaining the enrichment of superficial sediments with Cr has been detected in the lower part of the river and entrance of the reservoir.
Keywords: contamination métallique, indices de contamination, ressource en eau, chrome, analyse statistique, metal contamination, water resource, contamination indexes, chromium, statistic analysis
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4118.More information
The objective of this article is to analyze the key factors that influence the effectiveness of an International Framework Agreement (IFA). Effectiveness is analyzed in terms of compliance of local labor management practices with the commitments made in the IFA. We regard negotiation as a process, composed of three phases (pre-negotiation, negotiation stricto sensu, post-negotiation) and embedded in a context. We develop an analytical model, based on Process Studies, highlighting the influence on IFA effectiveness of the positions, behaviors and interactions of the protagonists in the negotiation and application of this IFA. We detail the negotiation processes of four IFAs, concluded in the years 2010, by two French multinational corporations (MNCs) and two Global Union Federations (GUFs). These IFAs address labor management issues (occupational health and safety, gender equality, sustainable employment). This research is based on document analysis, observations and 38 interviews with international, European, national and local trade unionists, and members of the top management (TM) of these MNCs. It pays particular attention to the pre-negotiation phase and highlights the interactions between managerial and trade union actors throughout the negotiation process. We show that the position of the MNC top management (“social” or “managerial”) is a decisive factor in the progress of the IFA negotiation, in its outcome (“substantive” agreement) and its effectiveness. The “qualitative” position of the GUF may be a major element in the progress of the negotiation (choice of the IFA theme) and its outcome (provisions on sensitive issues). Finally, the mobilization of local unions, supported by the GUF, is essential to the effectiveness of an IFA. We reveal learning processes and IFA and International Collective Bargaining specificities.
Keywords: Accord-cadre international, effectivité, processus de négociation, négociation collective internationale, fédération syndicale internationale, International Framework Agreement, Effectiveness, Negotiation process, International collective bargaining, Global Union Federation
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4119.More information
Québec provides a fascinating case study of secularization and its limits. Prior to the 1960s, this historically Roman Catholic province may have had the highest level of church attendance of any region in North America. Since the 1960s, attendance has plummeted to the point that it now is among the lowest. Many observers assume Québécois have given up on religion, holding only to a kind of« cultural Catholicism. » The author draws on extensive census and survey data to show that Catholicism in Québec remains highly pervasive, characterized by ongoing identification and the selective consumption of the Church's teachings, particularly with respect to everyday life. However, large numbers of Catholics who have limited involvement in the Church indicate that they are receptive to greater participation - if the Church can touch their lives in significant ways. These findings suggest that a renaissance of organized religion in Québec is possible but, to the extent it takes place, the key player will be the Roman Catholic Church. It is less clear whether or not the Catholic Church is both willing and equipped to provide the required response in the foreseeable future. Consequently, the current situation appears to be less a problem of demand- in the form of receptivity to meaningful ministry - as it is a problem of supply.