Proyectos

One of the most urgent socio-environmental crises facing humanity is the massive deterioration of earth's ecosystems. The scale of this process is so vast that there is talk that we are living through the sixth mass extinction of species, leaving no ecosystem worldwide unaffected. Although when thinking about these processes we tend to concentrate on land-based ecosystems, marine ecosystems are also experiencing massive degradation processes. Human-induced phenomena such as ocean warming, extensive pollution, acidification and deoxygenation, are causing ecological struggles everywhere. In parallel, the relentless extraction and ubiquitous pollution associated with industries such as fishing and aquaculture have also become a leading cause of marine environmental degradation. Given its extensive coastline and the massive scale of its fishing and aquaculture industries, Chile is very much at the center of such processes of anthropogenic marine degradation. Such decay does not only affect the nonhuman component of marine ecosystems – with some studies estimating that 2/3 of the country’s fisheries have been heavily affected – but also the human groups depending on them, especially hundreds of low-income fishing communities all over the country. The recognition of this degradation is not new, motivating since mid-1990s different kinds of public and private interventions to turn marine-based industries towards sustainability. So far, these interventions have been mostly ineffective, mainly because they have taken an incremental approach to the issue, not really challenging the roots of the systems of extractivism that allow ever-growing levels of environmental damage and injustice. The leading hypothesis of this research project is that a new kind of transition project is slowly emerging in the Chilean marine productive sector. Following the relevant literature on sustainability transitions in the fields of political ecology, science and technology studies (STS) and multispecies studies, this project will see these marine transition experiments (MTE) as aiming to enhance the sustainability of the marine productive sector through an experimental redefinition of the identities and relationships among some of its leading components. In particular, the project will focus on three components these experiments usually aim to redefine (with variable intensities): (1) its social component, towards a more nuanced understanding of the socioeconomic, political and cultural complexities involved in transition processes, (2) its epistemic component, towards a holistic approach to knowledge production and circulation, and (3) its nonhuman component, towards a commitment to respect and protect the involved nonhuman biological entities. In order to empirically explore the specific contours and challenges that such MTEs are facing in Chile this research project will engage with experiments focused on a particularly central component of marine ecologies: macroalgae. Although a key component of most marine ecosystems in the country, an ongoing boom on its extraction – that has turned Chile into one of its leading exporters worldwide – has caused massive damage to several key macroalgae ecosystems, and the multiple beings that depend on them. Reacting to this situation, in recent years a series of initiatives much closer to the MTE model have emerged on this area, projects that can be divided on two main types. First, there are MTE focused on domestication, referring to initiatives that aim at replacing the direct extraction of macroalgae from the seabed by its careful and continual cultivation and harvesting. Second, and reacting to the current model based on the export of macroalgae as raw material, there are MTE focused on potentiation, or initiatives aiming at locally processing macroalgae in order to potentiate one particular strain or process, turning it into elaborated products or components of technical processes. The general objective of this research project will be to explore using a transdisciplinary social science approach the emergence of MTEs centered in the macroalgae industry in Chile, putting a specific focus on the barriers and frictions they are currently facing and exploring novel ways to enhance their potential. In empirical terms, this exploration will be based on the development of case studies of ongoing domestication and potentiation MTEs. In each of these cases, multispecies ethnography will be mixed with action-research initiatives, so as not only to describe and analyze in a dense transdisciplinary way the issues and opportunities arising from these initiatives, but also to collaborate with multiple publics on sketching possible ways on which they could be strengthened. Selecting concrete case studies in different locations at a national level, the project will produce and disseminate highly innovative knowledge regarding the barriers and challenges faced by ongoing MTEs, with the final aim of contributing to the urgent need to move towards more sustainable productive engagements with marine ecosystems.

El objetivo general del proyecto en sus tres líneas de investigación con animales es comprobar la existencia de diferencias sexuales en tres paradigmas de condicionamiento clásico, a saber, aversión condicionada al sabor, condicionamiento del miedo y aprendizaje apetitivo. Se utilizarán estos tres paradigmas a fin de establecer si el potencial dimorfismo sexual (para el que existen algunas recientes evidencias) se refiere a mecanismos de aprendizaje o a la manifestación conductual del aprendizaje. Además de responder a esta importante pregunta de investigación, dilucidar la existencia de dimorfismo en cada uno de estos paradigmas es relevante en si mismo y tiene importantes implicaciones clínicas en lo que respecta al comportamiento alimentarios, la etiología y tratamiento de problemas de salud mental relacionados con el miedo y la ansiedad, entre otros.

En América Latina y el Caribe, las inequidades de género persisten en, y a través de, la educación, modelando las trayectorias de vida de niñas/os, jóvenes, mujeres y hombres de manera desigual, e impactando en el desarrollo sostenible de la región. En Chile, si bien se ha avanzado en la reducción de brechas de género en años de escolaridad, existe una fuerte segregación de género entre áreas del conocimiento en la educación superior y entre ocupaciones. Esta segregación horizontal, que genera brechas en oportunidades sociales y condiciones laborales entre hombres y mujeres, tiene sus raíces en procesos de socialización tempranos, y los sistemas educativos son fundamentales en su desarrollo y reproducción a lo largo de la vida. Sustentado en una perspectiva de género y un enfoque del curso de la vida, el presente proyecto busca desarrollar una agenda de investigación interdisciplinaria sobre segregación horizontal temprana en Chile, así como sobre sus antecedentes, moderadores y consecuencias. Para esto, se estudiarán los patrones generizados de elección de cursos electivos de enseñanza media científico-humanista, identificando diferencias entre y dentro de áreas del conocimiento, con foco en: 1) su estabilidad durante el período 2011-2022; 2) su consistencia entre establecimientos, de diversa dependencia administrativa, ubicación geográfica y composición (socio-económica, académica y de género); 3) el rol de otros significativos (padres y apoderados, docentes y pares) en estas elecciones; 4) los principales moderadores a nivel de estudiante, aula/docente y establecimiento escolar; y 5) su influencia en las transiciones a la educación superior. Lo anterior, en el contexto de un sistema escolar altamente privatizado y socio-económicamente segregado; de la desigual implementación de una reforma curricular, a partir del año 2020, destinada a ampliar y estandarizar la variedad de cursos electivos disponibles entre escuelas; y de los efectos diferenciados de la crisis sanitaria por COVID-19 en la provisión de educación, que han ampliado las brechas socioeconómicas y geográficas en resultados educativos, debido al extenso período de cierre de las escuelas y al diferencial acceso y experiencias de educación remota. Se analizará en qué medida estas características y cambios estructurales del sistema educativo interactúan con las diferencias de género en las preferencias y elecciones de los estudiantes. Mediante análisis de datos secundarios (bases de datos administrativas y de evaluaciones estandarizadas de cobertura censal); la aplicación de cuestionarios, en dos ocasiones de medición, a estudiantes de enseñanza media; y la integración de técnicas de análisis estadístico avanzadas (que incluyen análisis de datos longitudinales, modelos multinivel, análisis de clases latentes y análisis de redes sociales), el proyecto generará evidencia para comprender los mecanismos sociales a través de los cuales el género afecta las trayectorias educativas. Así, se espera contribuir al diseño de políticas públicas orientadas a reducir las brechas de género en oportunidades de aprendizaje y en las trayectorias educativas y laborales. Los resultados esperados del proyecto son: 1) publicar artículos en revistas de corriente principal, 2) diseminar resultados en circuitos nacionales e internacionales, 3) fortalecer la capacidad de investigación educacional con perspectiva de género, incorporando investigadoras jóvenes y formando a estudiantes y asistentes de investigación, 4) promover una perspectiva interdisciplinaria y un enfoque del curso de la vida para el estudio del rol del género en educación, 5) establecer una red de colaboración con investigadores internacionales, e 6) identificar relaciones causales, políticas relevantes y buenas prácticas que puedan ser transferidas. El proyecto constituye un aporte novedoso al estudio del rol del género en las trayectorias educativas en Chile. El equipo de investigadoras tiene vasta experiencia en investigación y en la aplicación de métodos cuantitativos avanzados para responder a preguntas sustantivas sobre equidad y efectividad en educación. Nuestra colaboración previa, así como nuestra formación disciplinar complementaria, darán sinergia y viabilidad al presente proyecto.

The impacts of biodiversity loss on the quality of life (QoL) are at the forefront of major national and international agreements; nevertheless, the understanding of these connections is complex and unclear. Our project will address this critical issue, focusing on how rural communities develop and organize themselves to enhance the satisfaction of their QoL under new socio-ecological conditions, in interaction with other social, political and economic trends at local scales. Biodiversity loss will determine changes in the provisioning of nature’s contributions to people, which, in turn, affects multiple dimensions of QoL. However, the existing empirical foundation has been shaped by research with mainly an economic point of view, which has a limited and partial concept of QoL. On the contrary, people have diverse perspectives regarding their QoL and how it can be satisfied by biodiversity; beyond the domain of wealth and income are issues such as health, justice, freedom, and equality, which have not yet been assessed. Changes in nature’s contributions due to biodiversity loss may directly affect the subjective or psychological aspects of QoL. In turn, enhanced biodiversity conservation may improve some aspects of QoL, such as household wealth, by generating income via tourism-related activities or agricultural production, or respiratory health by exposing individuals to beneficial or protective environmental conditions. Respiratory health has received growing attention because respiratory diseases constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, while the scientific literature on causative relationships and mechanisms is almost nonexistent. The scarce existing evidence shows that biodiversity loss could trigger upper respiratory tract infections, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. Furthermore, the scant evidence has a strong bias toward urban spaces, while very few studies have investigated a gradient of environmental exposure in rural communities. Within this framework, our overarching goal is to determine the consequences of biodiversity loss on the QoL of rural communities. While biodiversity loss will be proxied by changes in native vegetation, QoL will be addressed as a multidimensional concept and measured through subjective (i.e. life satisfaction) and objective indicators (i.e. respiratory health). For this, we will complement inductive and deductive approaches to (i) characterize the changes in native vegetation, (i) assess the changes in the order of satisfaction of the dimensions of QoL and the set of nature’s contributions associated with biodiversity loss, and (ii) estimate the changes in life satisfaction and respiratory health in relation to changes in native vegetation among rural people. Fieldwork will be carried out in the district of Alhué, in the Metropolitan Region, a territory with one of the lowest QoLs in Chile that has been seriously impacted by biodiversity changes and anthropic activities. The methodology will rely on qualitative, such as focus groups and semi-structured interviews, and quantitative methods, including satellite image analysis, structured questionnaires, and analysis of medical records from the local public health center. This project will be led by an interdisciplinary team from environmental, social, and medical sciences. This research will become a reference for other scientific disciplines that try to connect the complex linkages between QoL and biodiversity management. Also, outcomes will advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge and provide key insights into public policy making processes.

This research project aims to answer the following question: How is people’s perception of noise related to the socioeconomic, urban, and environmental characteristics of their neighborhoods in the (post)pandemic context? This project seeks to contribute to noise and urban knowledge from an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection between geography, sociology, urban planning and acoustic engineering. It is thus articulated around four specific objectives (SO): SO1) to analyze the relationship between noise complaints and demographic, socioeconomic, urban and environmental variables in 6 municipalities of Santiago; SO2) characterize noise annoyance and strategies adopted by the inhabitants of 6 socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods with different exposure to noise; SO3) to evaluate the soundscapes of 6 neighborhoods; SO4) To propose guidelines for integrating the perception of noise in public policies related to noise and in urban planning.

Materia Específica: El proyecto busca generar información sobre los niveles de legitimidad y justicia procedimental de las policías entre la ciudadanía de Chile durante los próximos 3 años, así como entender los antecedentes que pueden llevar a un aumento o disminución de las mismas.

El objetivo principal del proyecto es generar información sobre los niveles de legitimidad y justicia procedimental de las policías entre la ciudadanía de Chile durante los próximos 3 años, así como entender los antecedentes que pueden llevar a un aumento o disminución de las mismas. A partir del escenario actual posterior al estallido social, post pandemia y de aumento en los niveles de inseguridad ciudadana, resulta clave indagar en las percepciones que diferentes grupos sociales tienen sobre la legitimidad policial y las formas en que distintos eventos (corrupción, abuso policial, posibles reformas) impactan en ella en un contexto de alta incertidumbre y cambio. Esto último confiere a nuestro proyecto un potencial novedoso y transformador a nivel de evidencia empírica hasta la fecha inexistente sobre cómo se produce la legitimidad policial y cómo ésta es un antecedente relevante para tener en cuenta en el marco de posibles reformas policiales.

proyecto busca comprender la variabilidad de la relación entre el Estado y los colectivos de particulares que tienen por objeto cumplir funciones de seguridad a nivel local.

The general objective of LUSO is to analyze how the organizing dimensions of colonial ideological thinking persist and operate in Portuguese society, and what function they have in legitimizing discriminatory attitudes and behaviors toward formerly colonized groups. The research questions will be addressed in four working packages (WP). Specifically, LUSO will (1) develop and validate a new instrument measuring the organizing dimensions of Luso-tropicalism, as a postcolonial ideological thinking, which we propose to be organized in four latent factors (WP1); (2) test the social normativity of Luso-tropicalism (WP2); (3) test if it operates as a legitimizing myth within the general framework of intergroup ideologies (WP3), by proposing that it can dampen support to inclusive social policies (i.e., a suppression effect) and facilitate discriminatory attitudes and behaviors toward disadvantaged people from formerly colonized groups (i.e., a foster process); (4) examine the social diffusion of these assumptions with a sample of the Portuguese population (WP4), while testing potential moderators of those relationships, namely socialization patterns (i.e., intergenerational differences) and group status (high SES vs low SES). LUSO will conduct a multi-method research program that includes qualitative and quantitative studies, correlational and experimental research designs, and an online survey. LUSO will make a substantial contribution to the study of the psychosocial processes of colonial legacy in the national context and will significantly advance the knowledge about the structure of postcolonial ideological thinking in the international scene.

Materia Específica: El proyecto busca comprender las particularidades de la realidad Argentina, dentro del contexto latinoamericano, respecto de una serie de acciones que se incluyen en el repertorio de acción propio del vigilantismo