Deterioration of building materials and artworks in the ‘Santa Maria della Stella’ church,Saluzzo (Italy): Causes of decay and possible remedies

An in-depth scientific survey revealed the deterioration mechanisms affecting the ‘Santa Maria della Stella’ church in Saluzzo, Italy, where various salt crystallization processes are strongly damaging the building materials and artworks. Rainwater seepage permeates the vault and interior, causing: (1) epsomite growth as interstitial columnar crystals (resulting in pictorial coating detachment) or superficial, powdery efflorescence; (2) formation of nesquehonite/hydromagnesite crusts on wall paintings; and (3) nitratine growth causing pigment staining and detachment. These processes involve selective Mg²⁺ mobilization from magnesian-lime mortars and bacterial-induced formation of nitrates from guano, with consequent precipitation of degrading salts. The study confirms how characterization of all deterioration agents is fundamental to planning a viable cultural heritage conservation and restoration programme.     

The Landless Workers Movement’s itinerant schools: occupying and transforming public education in Brazil

Abstract

This article explores how social movement co-governance of public education offers an alternative to neoliberal educational models. The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) is one of the largest social movements in Latin America. We describe one of the many schools that the MST co-governs, the Itinerant School Paths of Knowledge (Caminhos do Saber), located in an occupied encampment in the state of Paraná. We analyze three of the most unique pedagogical innovations in the school: the teacher’s incorporation of ‘portions of reality’ into classroom teaching, the student work collectives, and the participatory student evaluation process. Although these pedagogies are seemingly mundane changes to everyday school practice, we argue that they represent a challenge to the neoliberal educational model being implemented globally. These movement pedagogies are likely to continue, despite recent conservative attacks, and they offer several concrete lessons for how to effectively contest neoliberal educational practices in other global contexts.     

The treatment of the Holocaust in high school history textbooks: a case study from Spain

The Holocaust was one of the most significant events of contemporary history and still has great relevance for current times. This paper analyses the portrayal of the Holocaust in secondary education history textbooks in Spain. As this type of research has grown in the international arena, the need to review critically this event in Spanish textbooks has become ever more evident. This paper reviews what has already been written on this subject in the international arena and makes a number of methodological observations both quantitatively and qualitatively. In the review, a number of deficiencies in the representation of the Holocaust were found. This strongly indicates the need to contextualise the study of the Holocaust and frame it within a structural perspective that would account for its multi-causal origin. Attention is also drawn to the need to improve the content, dispel some myths and improve deficiencies identified in textbooks on the subject.     

The Myth of Universal Sensitive Responsiveness: Comment on Mesman et al. (2017)

This article considers claims of Mesman et al. (2017) that sensitive responsiveness as defined by Ainsworth, while not uniformly expressed across cultural contexts, is universal. Evidence presented demonstrates that none of the components of sensitive responsiveness (i.e., which partner takes the lead, whose point of view is primary, and the turn‐taking structure of interactions) or warmth are universal. Mesman and colleagues’ proposal that sensitive responsiveness is “providing for infant needs” is critiqued. Constructs concerning caregiver quality must be embedded within a nexus of cultural logic, including caregiving practices, based on ecologically valid childrearing values and beliefs. Sensitive responsiveness, as defined by Mesman and attachment theorists, is not universal. Attachment theory and cultural or cross‐cultural psychology are not built on common ground.     

Sticky information and heterogeneous needs as determining factors of R&D cooperation with customers

The aim of this work is to investigate the factors determining cooperation in developing innovations between firms and a specific group of agents, customers and users. The central point of the analysis is two variables recognised in previous studies as important factors in the study of cooperation with these agents, but which basically have been dealt with from a purely theoretical viewpoint. These variables are: (1) the existence of sticky information (information which is costly to obtain, transfer and use) and (2) the presence of heterogeneous needs in the market. Regarding the first variable, we have also taken into account two kinds of information which can be sticky: information on needs and information of technological nature. The findings obtained, using a Spanish sample of firms, show clearly that all these three factors exert a positive influence on cooperative relationships with these agents.     

Turning Social Capital Into Social Performance: Three Case Studies and a New Framework for Value Creation

Sociologists, political scientists, and economists have described different dimensions and functions of social capital from their disciplinary perspectives, emphasizing the value and impact of social relationships, governance institutions, or efficient and reliable economic transactions, respectively. In this article, we propose to integrate all three perspectives and the research accumulated in those fields in a common, practical framework for effectively using social capital assets in producing value‐adding social and organizational performance.