SIGNIFICANCE OF FORESTS IN TRIBAL VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE: IN CONTEXT TO KHARIA TRIBE IN JHARKHAND,INDIA

Tribal community and their association with nature is deeply rooted. The primitive tribes in India and the world are settled around forests or islands and use their products for their livelihood. The style of architecture, art, culture, beliefs, socio-economic framework is guided by the local environment. As the primitive tribe remain secluded from the urban development and advancement, their beliefs and practices are limited and are based on real time experiences. The availability of resources around the community shapes the type of architectural and cultural practices of the tribe. The forest provides ample resources like wood, fodder, mud, straw, etc. which serves as construction materials, fuel, and source of livelihood for the ethnic community. The article throws light on the influence of forests and its resourceson the vernacular architectural style, the settlement pattern, dwelling units, construction technology and, materials which ultimately responds to the local climate, art, culture, socio-economic framework, and beliefs of the people.

Magnitudes in Badiouʼs Objective Phenomenology and Economic Consumer Choice

The young Marx once remarked that political economy finds itself in an estranged form and is therefore in desperate need of a critical reconstruction of its object [Gegenstand]. He proposed a complete deconstruction of economic objectivity and its categories, hoping to recover the true species-life of man. In the article, we assert that contemporary economic theory remains confined by this estrangement, despite managing to ‘revolutionize’ itself out of the grip of classical political economy. The subjectivist-marginalist reliance on ‘measurable’ consumer preferences not only solidified the discipline’s estrangement, but also wrested away any remaining basic principles of economics through neoclassical reconceptualization. A break with estrangement would require novel critical economic thinking that would do away with the discontinuity between classical and neoclassical (contemporary) economics. It would therefore need a rich enough framework to scrutinize its principal categories. We argue that Alain Badiou’s objective phenomenology possesses a complementary synchronic structure able to conform to basic economic tenets, allowing for a comparative and synthetic approach. This would then be the basis for a new model of economic theorizing. We conclude the article with Marx’s value form, seeing it as a possible central category of a newly proposed economic framework.

Public Procurement Concept as A Path Dependence Result

The rationale and conditions for transformation of a coordination mechanism in public procurement in Russia from market to redistribution, based on the quasi-market technology, are outlined. The authors view modernization of the economic framework of public procurement as an outcome of institutionalizing the rational conduct principles under the influence of such factors as public production conditions and path dependence. The paper describes transformation of the main elements of the machinery for financing public procurement associated with changing the institutional management structure towards support for the “best quality at an affordable price” principle. Alternatives of transaction managements in the financing system of supplying products for public needs are reviewed: from centralized planning in the USSR to the mixed economy in the today’s Russia. A comparative analysis based on the typical features of the market mechanism for transaction coordination justifies the quail-market nature of public procurement technologies in the Russian Federation. Arguments are given for procurement technology dynamics as returning to redistributive transaction coordination that facilitates transformation of public procurement from an economic-structure neutral into a proactive mechanism geared to form new economic orders. A sequence of tasks is given in order to execute the procurement concept in terms of institutional methodology as well as the prospects for developing a system of public procurement as a mechanism of proactive budgeting policy under bilateral economic sanctions that means de-liberalization of international economic relations. Public contractual system is a factor that is gradually restoring an ability to play a stabilizing and stimulating role in order to support the growth of national production and innovations by employing the taxpayer’s money to attain the national strategic development goals

How Central Water Management Impacts Local Livelihoods: An Ethnographic Case Study of Mining Water Extraction in Tarapacá, Chile

Chile’s neoliberal central water management gives shape to a series of conflicts arising from diverse understandings and ways of life linked to water. This article addresses the question of who is responsible for the ecological costs regarding water use of mining activity in the north of Chile. From the perspective of hydro-social territories, we analyze how the local population in Tarapacá is acting on unequal footing regarding environmental information and knowledge. Local and practical experiences are devalued against technical and scientific modeling, supported by legal and political definitions of “the environment” and “water”. Focusing on diverse local narratives, we show how the local population feels threatened by the environmental impacts of mining activity but struggles to find legitimate ways of articulating those anxieties to gain a sense of agency. We conclude that the local ecological consequences of extractivism in this region can only be understood in the context of the wider legal and economic framework regulating the appropriation of water as a resource and that long-term efforts in more participatory sociohydrological modeling might help to broaden the knowledge base for contested decision-making.

Techno-economic impact assessments of energy efficiency improvements in the industrial combustion systems

Industrial energy efficiency assessments not only provide benefits to manufacturers, but also generate significant economic and environmental benefits to localities, states, and the nation through indirect and induced benefits. Quantifying these benefits requires a systematic economic framework for capturing these interactions. This article employs methodologies for improving the energy efficiency of small and medium-size industry through their combustion systems. Combustion systems offer large opportunities to enhance energy efficiency through adopting advanced technologies and better-informed operations. The case studies presented illuminate the potential savings and impacts from implementing energy-efficient combustion recommendations and the importance of energy audits and energy efficiency in the fight against climate change. This study describes and quantifies the cascading economic and environmental impacts of implementing the industrial energy efficiency recommendations offered by an energy auditing program by participating facilities over a ten-year period. Results showed that it is expected that a total of $185M would be saved in energy costs and 2.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions would be avoided annually, and about 972 jobs could be created in the studied region if all the combustion recommendations would be implemented. The broader view afforded by the proposed study can be used to support better energy efficient practices in manufacturing facilities, communities, and states.

Exploring the Factors Influencing Expansion of Nuclear Energy in Croatia

Nuclear energy is an option that enables a significant reduction of greenhouse gases emissions at the national and European Union (EU) level. However, it is also an option that is mostly influenced by public opinion and an option that has strong cross-border impact. Croatia does not consider nuclear options, but a possible future turn to nuclear might have an influence on other EU countries. The possibility for such a turn is analyzed, taking into account public opinion as well as historical and economic factors. Based on the results of a public opinion survey, it can be deduced that the Croatian public is not inclined to nuclear energy and considers it a risky option, although nuclear power plants in neighboring countries are not perceived as a high-risk threat. Trust in government as an information source is very low. Despite historical aspects that suggest scientific and expert knowledge capable of handling nuclear build, public opinion and the low economic framework indicate that a turn a to nuclear in Croatia is highly unlikely.

PRUŽANjE USLUGA PUTEM INFORMACIONO-KOMUNIKACIONIH TEHNOLOGIJA

The new economic framework requires the existence of new forms of work. Their adaptability to changes that occur in the labour market is highlighted as the main reason for their appearance, and the same ones allow the employer to respond quickly and adequately to these changes. Since new, different market rules are present in the digital economy, existing forms of work outside of employment are considered less adequate for employers to respond to the new socio-economic framework. The characteristic of new forms of work, including mobile work, is that they are usually not sufficiently legally regulated, which means that there is no protection present for persons who exercise the right to work through these forms of work. Also, new forms of work and service provisions are a mixture of different legal affairs, whereby the employee or service provider is not included in the organizational structure of the employer. For example, mobil work based on information and communication technologies, or ICT-based mobile work involves regularly performing work tasks or providing services outside the employer's headquarters or outside the worker's home, supported by information and communication technologies and with the establishment of online connections to an employer's computer system, or using virtual collaboration instruments, such as emails, web dating software programs, etc. Although positive aspects of mobile work are often discussed, there are also negative consequences of the flexibility that mobile work in its nature contains, reflected primarily in intensifying work tasks and gradually eliminating the boundaries between family and work obligations.

The depoliticization of health and safety committees and representation: The Ontario case

Studies in several national jurisdictions have highlighted the limitations of joint health and safety committees and worker representatives in affecting change in working conditions. Using Canadian data, this article focuses on the argument that many health and safety committees and worker representatives have been captured or substantially controlled through the State’s promotion of an internal responsibility system framed around a technocratic partnership. The historical development of this framing is first understood within a political economic framework which highlights several major influences, followed by a field theory analysis which explains how these control relations are established by management within workplace settings.