Alternative Rationalities Research Articles

The House Always Wins: Gambling as a Veblenian Social Practice

The unequal distribution of economic rewards under capitalism requires institutions that perpetuate “enabling myths” which justify the distribution as fair or natural. In this article, we argue that the rise in popularity of sports betting in the United States reflects an increasing reliance of neoliberal capitalism on one particular enabling myth: the belief in luck. Thorstein Veblen’s writing in The Theory of the Leisure Class suggests the belief in luck as a “minor myth” that helps sustain the grand marginalist myth at the heart of neoliberal capitalism: the myth of meritocracy. The belief in luck provides an alternative rationalization for unfavorable economic outcomes when meritocracy breaks down. Rather than resulting from systemic or individual failures incompatible with meritocratic logic, the belief in luck ascribes negative economic outcomes to an otherwise teleological or supernatural force. Gambling in general—and sports betting in particular—constitutes a Veblenian social practice that serves to inculcate the belief in luck, thereby aiding in the naturalization and justification of economic inequalities.

Navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurial identity threats to persist: The countervailing force of a relational identity with God

While an economic paradigm has been productive for entrepreneurship, religion has been proposed as an alternative rationality to advance research in our field. To extend a theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity research, our study inductively develops a conceptual model that explains how individuals navigate entrepreneurial identity threats based on the interaction between a relational identity with God (RIG) and an entrepreneurial identity to persist in entrepreneurial action. Our study suggests this can happen when entrepreneurs engage in inter-identity work mechanisms - affirming and humbling - to mitigate these identity threats. Specifically, a relational identity with God acts as a countervailing force to an entrepreneurial identity during times of identity threats to generate inter-identity meaning change, resulting in interidentity stability and entrepreneurial persistence. Through our study, we advance knowledge on the theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity by inductively developing theory on a new religious identity construct (RIG), elaborating theory of inter-identity work by shifting the focus from structural to content changes, and extending theory on entrepreneurial action, persistence, and well-being based on theological rather than economic considerations.

Energy Security, Decarbonization, and the Environmental Justice Movement

This article will analyse two key challenges of today: 1) energy security and decarbonization in the context of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, and 2) decarbonization and energy security from the perspective of environmental justice. Energy security and decarbonization are integral components of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, they are addressed in SDG 7, which aims to ensure universal access to clean and affordable energy. Access to energy is crucial for the development of vital sectors such as agriculture, business, communications, education, healthcare, and transportation, and a lack of access to energy can impede human and economic development. In addition, the effects of climate change are disproportionately borne by those residing in the developing world. This inequity needs to be at the core of any climate change research – both at a practical and theoretical level. However, some scholars have argued that dominant modes of thinking about climate change and environmental hazards have often chosen to ignore this inequity or have not placed such inequity at the core of their analysis. This is where the Environmental Justice movement acts as a game-changer. We argue that it provides an alternative rationality to approach environmental hazards, with the social injustices and inequities at its center that are direct or indirect effects of environmental degradation and climate change.

Unravelling the rationalities of childhood cycling promotion

Decrease of children’s independent mobility (CIM) has worried academics, policymakers, educators and other professionals for decades. Research and policy often emphasise that promoting children’s physically active and independent transport modes as cycling is important to achieve better public health, solve environmental challenges and increase related economic benefits. Yet, cycling promotion is not a neutral process and all promotion efforts are derived from latent notions of ‘cyclists’ and ‘cycling’. This paper discusses different rationalities of childhood cycling promotion and the representations of ‘children’ as independent ‘cyclists’ they entail. We argue that in order to efficiently promote cycling across contexts, we should better understand children’s cycling experiences and meanings they ascribe to it and how their mobilities emergence in the flux of social, institutional and political relations. By applying action research to a local cycling promotion project in Finland we explore how instrumental, functional and alternative rationalities emerged and resulted in differing representations of children as cyclists. While all rationalities played a role in different stages of the project, the results highlight that alternative rationalities as children’s autonomy, positive emotions and friendships were considered the most important drivers of new cycling practices among project participants. In conclusion we propose children’s autonomous mobility as the most appropriate term to depict their cycling and other self-imposed (but relational) mobility practices.

Rescuing gender: An exploration of embodied resilience‐making in the Chilean miners' catastrophe

AbstractIn this paper, we explore the theoretical and empirical links between gender and resilience within the context of crisis management by developing a theoretically oriented analysis of the iconic case of the 33 Chilean miners rescue. Analytic focus is placed on the capacity of resilience‐promoting actors to embody and transform the discursive and practical dimensions of gendered regimes that predominate at an organizational level. As a result, we can distinguish four distinct modalities—normative redefinition, emotional reaccommodation, resistance, and affective affirmation—through which the gendered dimension of resilience becomes undone and redone, based on the action of alternative rationalities and affects. Overall, our findings indicate that resilience cannot be made possible without effectively disputing the norms that dispose how bodies, in all their diversity, are able to be recognized and socially experienced to face and manage crises effectively.

Аспекты рациональности управленческих решений в сфере предпринимательства

This article features managerial decisions in business area, where the state plays the role of an external regulator of public relations and the main influencer. The legal tools that affect decision-making in business depend on the social mechanisms of business regulations. The author describes the position of the rational regulator that evaluates the decisions made by a business entity. Positive law is an integral part of objective reality and is a set of codified principles of legally appropriate behavior. Imperative and dispositive regulations of public relations in business area imply that a business entity can choose a model of managerial and entrepreneurial behavior based on the rules provided by the legislator. The active role of the state as an external regulator of the social relations reflects the problem of dissonance between legal and social norms underlying managerial decision-making, which leads to additional economic and transaction costs. The paper also features the problem of frustration conflict between the regulator and the business environment in the context of applying the rationality proposed by the state in business activities and the problem of choosing the right managerial decision for its subjects. By refusing from a radical and negative assessment of the entrepreneur's management decisions, the state can solve this problem. The state needs to be more tolerant to business risks as an alternative rationality, without identifying them with deviant behavior. By preventing alienation of business from the state, one can eliminate the conflict between law and favorable climate in business area, i.e. maximal convergence of social and legal norms.

Feeding “the commons”: rethinking food rights through indigenous ontologies

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to open possible new domains for thinking the relationship between commons and food rights by trying to respond to the challenges of alternative ways of experiencing humans-nature interdependence. The idea of a self-standing individual separated from nature – which underpins both the economicist view of “common goods” as resources, and the Western definition of human rights as something owed to people – not only prevents us from seeing what is at play in countless local struggles worldwide, but it also limits the possibilities of a plural redefinition of food rights. In order to let alternative rationalities emerge, it is necessary to set aside the onto-epistemological framework that sees society as separated from nature, body from mind, subject from object, and the individual from the collectivity. By approaching food commons through the lens of indigenous senses of co-belonging among people, land, and food expressed in relational ontologies, my intention is to bypass both the resource-based, and the sociocentric view of the commons, and see them as life made in common. Finally, I look at the possibilities offered by indigenous relationality to expand notions of food sovereignty and decolonize food rights.

Virtual water requirement of cow milk production under two different dietary strategies

Nutritionists have liberty to choose various feeds for formulating a balanced ration depending upon the nutritive value, availability and feed cost. Although final target in an alternative ration is to obtain similar energy, protein and other nutrients, it would be favourable to consider virtual water (VW) requirement which must be spent while making a balanced ration. This paper compared two isonitrogenous and isocaloric balanced dairy cow rations for their VW requirements. VW in the maize silage-based ration was greater than that of alfalfa and wheat straw-based diet (39.73 versus 34.45 m3). It was also found that by-product feeds such as molasses, beet sugar pulp, corn gluten, and soybean meal require a lesser amount of VW, thus, they could be the best candidates to be used as much as conventional main feeds in the ration of dairy cattle for decreasing VW requirement of milk. Using feeds with less water utilization could reduce water requirement for milk production up to 12%.

Peningkatan Kualitas Ampas Kelapa melalui Fermentasi dengan Suplemen Organik Cair sebagai Pakan Ayam Kampung

Agricultural people are responsible for providing food, such as meat, eggs and milk. In providing meat, especially chicken, the cost of feed becomes an obstacle for breeders. The local wisdom of plants in Papua is an opportunity to create quality local feed. Utilization of dregs can be used as an alternative ration. The low nutrient content contained in coconut dregs requires a touch of technology to optimize coconut dregs into quality feed. The fermentation process can be a solution to these problems. The experiment used a completely randomized design (CRD) with three treatments and 6 replications. R0 = 100% Basal Feed (BF); R1 = BF 80% + Fermented Coconut Dregs 20%; R2 = BF 60% + Fermented Coconut Dregs 40%. The implementation stages consisted of (1) coconut dregs fermentation stage and (2) In-Vivo test on native chickens with the observed variables: feed consumption, body weight gain and feed conversion. The results showed that fermented coconut dregs could be given as starter phase native chicken feed without disturbing the metabolic process. The average provision of coconut dregs as native chicken feed with variable feed consumption, average daily gain (ADG), and FCR had no significant effect (P> 0.05). This means that the addition of fermented coconut dregs up to 40% has not had a significant effect on ration consumption, ADG, and FCR, so further studies are needed. Keywords: Chicken, Coconut Dregs, Consumption, ADG, FCR

Formulasi Ransum Alternatif Untuk Meningkatkan Efisiensi Usaha Peternakan Sapi Perah (Studi Kasus pada Peternakan Bestcow Farm Jember)

This study aimed to examine the formulation of the cheapest alternative dairy rations and analyze the income and cost-efficiency of Bestcow Farm Jember. This research was conducted at Bestcow Farm Jember. The research location was chosen using purposive sampling with the consideration that Bestcow Farm has a fairly large population of dairy cattle, 50 heads. The research parameters taken were alternative ration formulations, income analysis, and cost-efficiency. This research used a descriptive method based on the results of data collection obtained from direct interviews with company employees and Bestcow Farm recording. The alternative ration formulation 2 was an alternative formulation ration with the cheapest price. This alternative ration formulation was feasible to be applied to Bestcow Farm Jember to get higher income.

EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL INCLUSION OF MALAYSIAN RUBBER SEED, Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg. (EUPHORBIACEAE) ON THE TAMBACU DIET

In intensive production systems, fish are exposed to stressful conditions, becoming more susceptible to diseases, which may reflect on their growth parameters. Alternative growth promotion methods without environmental impacts have become the target of researchers and fish farmers. For this reason, the objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of including Malaysian rubber seed in the feeding of tambacu raised in cages. The seeds were collected on a farm in the municipality of Imperatriz, Maranhão, a sample was sent for physical-chemical analysis of the fixed oil. For inoculation in the diet, the husks were removed, dried at room temperature, crushed and manually mixed with the commercial ration feed following the experimental design. The quality of the water was measured throughout the experiment. Biometric measurements were performed to infer growth gains with the tested diet. The results show an influence on the inclusion of 40% of the Malaysian rubber seed in the tambacu diet during rearing. In order to reduce costs resulting from the use of alternative ration feeds, we suggest the use of Malaysian rubber seed in an attempt to minimize barriers due to the high prices of commercial ration feeds within the fish farming production chain.

Neoliberal environmentality in the land of Gross National Happiness

This paper explores how a growing trend towards neoliberalization throughout Bhutan manifests within environmental governance in particular. Bhutan’s well-known Gross National Happiness (GNH) development strategy can be seen to represent a shift towards a variegated governmentality more generally that increasingly exhibits neoliberal tendencies as the country seeks to negotiate its further integration into the global economy. Part of this integration entails efforts to promote ecotourism as a key element of the country’s future conservation strategy. Ecotourism has been described as a growing manifestation of a “neoliberal environmentality” (Fletcher, 2010) within environmental conservation policy and practice, and hence Bhutan’s promotion of ecotourism can be seen as contributing to the promotion of neoliberal conservation. Yet in practice, my analysis demonstrates that environmental governance in Bhutan is a complex of external neoliberal influences filtered through local formal and informal institutions, specifically a Buddhist worldview, a history of state paternalism and the Gross National Happiness governance model, all of which express contrasting governance rationalities. This study thus contributes to governmentality studies by promoting a variegated environmentality perspective that calls for more nuanced analyses beyond “variegated” neoliberalization. This perspective also affords a holistic understanding of discrepancies between the vision and execution of neoliberal conservation that can be attributed to the articulation of alternative rationalities in policy formulation and implementation.

El buen vivir como racionalidad económica alternativa

Firstly, this article seeks to analyze the concept of reason by proposing good living / living well as an alternative rationality and as a special way of understanding and projecting oneself in the world. Secondly, it examines the indigenous worldview by highlighting its holistic concept of life along with its vision of nature. The principle of relationality is analyzed as an alternative to the substantialist view of the world and, finally, a vital economy is postulated at the service of human life. It is argued that the economy for life derived from good living operates as an alternative to capitalist rationality, as it helps mitigate many of its harmful effects. Finally, some of the practical tensions of the proposal are presented, which hinder their application in today’s world. Part of the current research on this new worldview is reviewed and compared with the principles of capitalist logic. Thus, we arrive at a proposal where a vital balance between nature and economy is possible

Análisis de los costos de producción y la cadena de valor de las plantas tradicionales que cultivan los campesinos de Cundinamarca, Colombia

El artículo analiza los costos de producción y la cadena de valor de las plantas tradicionales que cultivan los campesinos de Cundinamarca, específicamente del municipio de Chipaque. Así, se evidencian los retos productivos a los que se enfrentan, dadas las tensiones entre la racionalidad economicista y una racionalidad alternativa en la cual se toman en cuenta las prácticas socioeconómicas junto con las diversas formas de valorar. Se resalta el carácter heterogéneo de los campesinos y el funcionamiento de la cadena de valor de las plantas tradicionales desde la parcela hasta las ventas en la plaza de mercado municipal, en la ciudad de Bogotá, y a partir del proceso de deshidratación.

269 Sustainability defined and practiced in a modern cattle feeding enterprise.

Abundant feed grains provided the opportunity for cattle feeders to create an industry that excels in developing light weight cattle produced from diverse pastureland into high quality finished beef. The collective knowledge and best management practices available to today’s commercial cattle feeding industry, developed through trial-and-error and formal research, supports a mature, competitive industry and efficient production. However, interested external groups and consumers have questioned whether cattle feeding satisfies the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, and societal. The use of technology in animal agriculture faces special scrutiny from those who have idealized historical production practices. Technologies available to enhance production efficiency include those applied directly to the animal and those included in the feed. Growth promotion through hormone implants and beta-adrenergic agonists provide benefits through increased production, while ionophores improve efficiency through reducing inputs and increasing production. Reducing their use can have negative environmental impacts. In addition, antibiotic use from classes important to human medicine face pressures from many concerned about the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria challenging both human and animal health. As these antibiotics are used to treat, control, and prevent disease, the most effective way to decrease use is by improving cattle health outcomes through other means. Alternative ration compositions can improve liver abscess outcomes, but result in increased feed usage and decreased HCW from each animal. Addressing Bovine Respiratory Disease in the feedyard is best accomplished through ensuring cattle are prepared prior to arrival. Finally, an effort to better understand contributions to resistance must accompany an antibiotic use strategy. Less controversial technologies support operational efficiency, data collection, and information utilization. Their challenges include demonstrating usefulness, implementation, and the possibility of discouraging skilled labor (animal husbandry) by relying on machines. Alteration of any production strategy challenges the economic status quo and introduces risk into the business.

Aníbal Quijano e a racionalidade alternativa na América Latina: diálogos com Mariátegui

RESUMO Este artigo tem como objetivo discutir a perspectiva “decolonial” de Aníbal Quijano (1930-2018) e seus usos a partir de José Carlos Mariátegui. Em primeiro lugar, relacionamos o contexto histórico latino-americano desde a década de 1980 ao esforço de interpretação de Mariátegui por Aníbal Quijano, balizado, sobretudo, pela formulação de uma teoria fundacional (filosófica, epistemológica, ética e política) sobre a especificidade da América Latina. Na sequência, Quijano redescobre, assim, certo Mariátegui associado à renovação crítica da teoria social latino-americana. Através de múltiplos mecanismos de difusão, ele estabelece uma reconhecida caracterização filosófica e epistemológica do arsenal mariateguiano, visto como bastião da crítica eurocêntrica (“racionalidade alternativa”), para legitimá-lo como referência fundamental da teoria da “colonialidade do poder”.

Zambrano’s poetic reason in the light of Frankfurtian Critical Theory

ABSTRACTMaría Zambrano's biggest contribution to intellectual history is, without a doubt, her poetic reason; her unique attempt to overcome the limiting coordinates of the framework of rationality established by the Enlightenment. Having spent forty-five years in exile, the relevance of this Republican thinker has only been acknowledged in recent decades. Since then, the political content of her early work, as well as her engagement with the Republic's cause prior to and during the Spanish Civil War are well known. Nevertheless, although Zambrano still wrote some political books after the Civil War, most notably, Persona y democracia (1958), the political component of her thought after this period has passed largely unnoticed. This article intends to take a wider approach to Zambrano's political engagement by exploring the political significance of her poetic reason. Here I contend, first, that poetic reason, far from being an isolated attempt at developing an alternative rationality, is actually in line with the critique of instrumental reason proposed by the Frankfurt School and, second, that, in fact, there are meaningful parallels between poetic reason and Frankfurtian Critical Theory. Thus, the purpose of this article is to explore such parallels and their significance in revealing the political dimension of Zambrano's thought.

Principles for supporting city–citizen commoning for climate adaptation: From adaptation governance to sustainable transformation

This paper examines whether or not specific forms of adaptation governance that involve city administrations and citizens can help (or hinder) creating a foundation for more sustainable climate adaptation and transformation. Based on the analysis of recurring patterns of social adaptation dilemmas (caused by the interdependencies between adaptation providers and beneficiaries), associated actor constellations, policy approaches, and gaps, this paper presents principles for supporting city–citizen commoning for climate adaptation (i.e. joint actions needed to create systems to manage ‘shared’ adaptation resources). The presented principles can assist in facilitating the management of public goods for adaptation, including privately-provided adaptation goods, and relate to four strategic aims: i) the effective management of collective and individual resources; ii) comprehensive risk reduction; iii) sustained local–institutional linkages (mainstreaming); and iv) matching different actors’ views, efforts and capacities. The principles synthesise and extend the literature by considering, and providing space for, a comprehensive understanding of risk and its root causes, and for alternative rationalities or (‘nonrational’) behaviours intended to address them. The latter takes account of the subjectivities (e.g. emotional attachments to resources and seascapes), which are as important as power structures with respect to how climate adaptation is managed. In fact, subjectivities are central to the operation of city administrations as they are an integral part of how people understand their relationship to others. In an adaptation context, this means focusing on practices and interactions that are required for taking adaptation actions, and how they can both promote and frustrate attempts to collaborate. We conclude that the developed principles can support more sustainable climate adaptation and transformation by holistically addressing existing adaptation dilemmas, actor constellations, and the associated policy gaps that make current approaches ineffective.

THE CONСEPT OF AUTHENTHIС DEVELOPMENT AS AN ALTERNATIVE IDEOLOGY OF MODERNIZATION

This article is devoted to Russian identity and “Russian way” in ecology, economy, politics and social relations. It also can be considered as presentation of the new concept of development. The author formulates the concept of authentic development as a global and local ideology which key aspects are tradition, family and agriculture values, conservative strategy and alternative rationality. After the Soviet system’s transformation, one of the problems of contemporary Russia is non-critical attitude to Western political and social theory that leads to the deformation of the social relations and ideological crisis. Also, the subject of the article is critical analysis of postmodern consumer society. The author uses methods of political conceptology. The author proposes “philosophy of life”, integrated in the project of socio-political transformation. One of main conclusions of the study consists in assertion that the global liberal democracy concept has exhausted itself because it was made in the framework of repressive logic. Russia today does not need modernization or democratization. It needs its own authentic development project. Moreover, the project of authentic development can be universally alternative ideology for the most various participants of international relations.

Introduksi Teknologi Pengolahan Pakan di Kecamatan Pattallassang Kabupaten Gowa Propinsi Sulawesi Selatan

The purpose of science and technology activities for the community is to provide skills to farmers groups inutilizing the potential of existing natural resources as an alternative to ducks, utilizing high-protein ammonia bran, andmaking herbs as additive feed. Specific targets to be achieved are the fulfillment of livestock nutrition needs, especiallyducks with resource utilization with the fulfillment of food needs. Not only use the feed without processing. Through thisactivity farmers and agricultural extension, workers are expected to synergize to learn to utilize available local food,raising public awareness to utilize local resources into the nutrient-rich feed. Method of implementation of activities to becarried out is the socialization of activities on farmer groups, training for members of farmer groups, how to make a feedwith some feed processing technology and assistance to farmers. Output target IbM program is an alternative ration forducks, ammonia bran as a source of protein, herbal medicine. The method used is PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) /RRA (Rapid Rural Appraisal). Learning methods, extension training, training, and visits (Laku), field school education(SL), demonstration plots, guidance and mentoring, learning by doing. The resulting results of the system. Breeders arenot familiar with feed processing technology and farmers have not utilized local feed as a constituent of rations. Thetechnology applied to the breeder group is to use herbal ingredients as a feed additive, making silage as a source ofprotein one source for duck livestock