Ana Horta

The article examines how social practices of charging and managing the power of mobile phones are formed. The usefulness of the concept of distributed agency as a tool for the understanding of the dimensions that constitute social practices related to energy consumption is explored. Based on findings from interviews and a survey conducted with adolescents, three moments in the formation of these practices are identified: emergence of elementary battery use, acceleration of rhythm and establishment of links, and normalization. The article provides empirical evidence of the distributed agency of bodies, objects, and socio-cultural contexts in the development of these practices.

Researching media coverage of climate change may shed light on the different configurations of global and domestic factors affecting journalism and politics. This article analyzes climate change coverage in Portugal from 2007 to 2014 in comparison with 14 other countries. It shows that the Portuguese press tends to reproduce the global political agenda on climate change, mainly focusing on international events associated with global political decision-making processes, instead of providing a domesticated coverage, as observed in other countries. National and local levels of action are thus obscured. The interplay between global and domestic factors—including characteristics of Portugal’s press and politics, such as national political leaders’ lack of mobilization and communication on climate change, media’s deference to powerful sources, and reliance on international news feeds—creates the conditions for global politics to play an hegemonic role in media representations, which is likely to influence public engagement with climate change.

Energy poverty seriously affects living conditions and health. In spite of its mild climate, Portugal has been pointed out as one of the most vulnerable countries in the European Union. Due to the multidimensionality of energy poverty, attention needs to be paid to specific factors contributing to it in different contexts. This paper contributes to a better understanding of energy poverty by providing results from a study combining the use of an energy poverty vulnerability index and mapping - based on a detailed quantitative analysis of all 3092 civil parishes -, with interviews conducted with 100 households in ten hotspots across the country. The sample of interviewees includes both rural and urban dwellers, several family types, and individuals of different ages, social and economic status, and living in different types of buildings. Results show the extent, but also variability, of vulnerability to energy poverty throughout the country. Findings also show that households may consider normal and acceptable to feel both cold and hot at home, either in winter or in summer. This can hinder the social recognition of the energy poverty problem and the need to tackle its negative consequences on the well-being and health of the population.

For the Portuguese, Europe represents an ideal. It means civilization, culture, development, and wealth. But the Portuguese describe themselves as “second tier Europeans” and as citizens of a country “in the tail of Europe.” This collective self-perception contrasts with the memory of once having been a sea power, and that memory is a cornerstone of the national identity. The paper analyzes how the Portuguese press has been constructing the relationship between Portugal and Europe. The results show generalist Portuguese newspapers have been producing an inconsistent frame of representation of Europe. Between 1985 and 2004, the press showed a tendency for producing a positive conceptualization of Europe but, in other dimensions, the discourse becomes scarce and void. A similar tendency is also present in the discourse of two samples of Portuguese interviewees. The paper suggests the strength of national identity over the current process of deepening European integration. Despite the ...

Automobility became the dominant form of mechanized mobility of passengers in contemporary societies (Dennis and Urry, 2009). In this sociotechnical system the individuals are constrained by structures in which other modes of mobility are discouraged and the use of the car becomes a necessity. In this context of dependency from petroleum, it is important to ascertain how energy issues, and specifically high fuel prices, are publicly constructed as a social problem. This paper presents an analysis of television news coverage of the energy issues, focusing on how newscasts socially construct the issue of high fuel prices. The empirical data of this study consists in all news items on energy issues broadcasted by primetime Portuguese television in two six-month periods: from January to June 2006 and from November 2008 to April 2009. The paper analyzes the attributes used in framing this issue. The analysis shows that energy matters featured on television newscasts mostly cover the oil ...

Na “publicidade verde” as empresas alegam qualidades ecológicas dos produtos, embora muitas vezes estas não possam ser realmente comprovadas ou a informação fornecida seja insuficiente para o efectivo esclarecimento do consumidor. É o caso de menções como "produto amigo do ambiente", “protege a natureza”, "100% natural" ou “não poluente”. O criticismo gerado pelos abusos praticados conduziu a que diversos autores apelidassem o fenómeno de greenwashing (Westerveld, 1986), sugerindo uma camuflagem de produtos convencionais com uma errónea imagem de impactos ambientais reduzidos. O cepticismo desenvolvido relativamente a este tipo de marketing poderá explicar o decréscimo na «publicidade verde» a partir de meados dos anos 90 (Corbett, 2002; Hansen, 2002). Mas nos últimos anos a atenção pública internacionalmente dada aos problemas relacionados com as alterações climáticas e à crise energética parece ter motivado um recrudescimento deste género de publicidade, sobret...

The information and communication technologies (ICT) market has been showing a remarkable expansion. Considering the severe financial and economic crisis some countries are currently facing, and the restrictions in several forms of consumption due to scarcity, what changes may be affecting ICT usage in everyday life? This presentation tries to address how are individuals adapting to new challenges related to inequity of (material) access to ICT and a growing digital divide in ICT usage opportunities, which may emerge and become particularly relevant in a context of scarcity such as the one Portugal is now experiencing. The research adopts an approach based in recent theoretical developments in sociology of communication, which consists in analyzing media as practice. This perspective enables media research to move beyond a narrow focus on audience practices in order to understand the complexity of contemporary media-saturated cultures (Couldry, 2004). Studying the whole range of pra...

Portugal is highly exposed to risks and vulnerabilities related to climate change, such as a continuing increase of average summer temperature, more frequent and intense heat waves and a reduction of rainfall, and, as a consequence, floods, droughts, fire hazards, air pollution, erosion and changes in water quality and availability (Santos and Miranda 2006). Climate change is therefore a vital issue for the country’s future, and media debates are likely to play an important role regarding the choices that have to be made. In fact, the framing of climate change in the media guides public perceptions of reality and offers hints for thinking and acting (Entman 2004) from the individual to the policy-making level. In line with the COMPON research protocol, newspaper articles were selected by searching for the keywords “alterações climáticas” (climate change) in all items published in three dailies (Público, Jornal de Notícias, and Diário Económico) from 2001 to 2010. A random sample of ...

ABSTRACT El desastre nuclear de Fukushima ha sido un recordatorio de desastres nucleares anteriores, como la Isla de Tres Milas y el Chernobil, devolviendo a la esfera pública la discusión alrededor de problemas de seguridad de centrales nucleares. Sin embargo, mientras el riesgo associado a la energia nuclear tradicional (la fisión) fue amplificado en los medios de comunicación, una nueva tecnologia de energia nuclear en investigación (la fusión) quedó ilesa. Una comparación de la cobertura de fusión y fisión por los médios de comunicación en três países (Alemania, España y Portugal), assi como en la prensa internacionale de lengua inglesa dirigida a la élite transnacional, a partir de 2008 hasta 2012 mostra que el desastre de Fukushima no ha tenido un impacto significativo sobre los relatos mediáticos de fusión nuclear. Este trabajo tiene la intención de explicar porqué esto ocurrió.

ABSTRACT In Portugal, the economic crisis has affected various groups of the population, especially the most vulnerable, and forced to reconfigure social services provided by the state. Based on a case study of public school meals, this article examines the way in which the decline of the welfare state is interfering in the sustainability of school’s food provisioning systems and, concomitantly, reconfiguring its effectiveness through the creative capacity of local authorities, school community and partnerships with other modes of provision. The case of school meals provides a gateway to examine the current tensions and reconfigurations moulded through creative institutional arrangements of the various food provisioning systems in times of economic contraction. It is concluded that despite the current weakening of the welfare state, the state - both in its more centralized and decentralized form - continues to hold a central position as a facilitator of access to school meals through institutional creative arrangements, which seek to overcome the effects of the economic crisis and neoliberal policies. welfare state, school meals, creativity, economic crisis

ABSTRACT Purpose ‐ Concerns on children's obesity and overweight have been related to food diets with excessive sugar and fat. Given the relevance of school meals in Portuguese children's lives, schools follow governmental guidelines in order to provide nutritiously balanced and healthy meals. As imbalances persist, this study aims at understanding the acceptance of school meals by children, in the context of competing marketing allures of nutritiously poor foods outside the schools. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Plural qualitative research techniques (focus groups with children and parents, direct observation and interviews with school directors and kitchen staff) were combined to analyse children's food-related meanings and practices, and also images of food displayed at schools and in their surroundings. The empirical data were collected in four primary and secondary public schools with different socio-economic backgrounds in the area of Lisbon. Findings ‐ Results show sharp contrasts between food images and meanings at school canteens and commercial food outlets outside schools. Data suggest that subjection to supervision, unappetizing school meals and images in the canteens stand out against favourite flavours and social levers (such as autonomy and status) of food available outside school. Research limitations/implications ‐ This study has an exploratory nature and results are not-generalizable to other schools of the country. Originality/value ‐ Limited attention has been paid to competing social contexts of children's food consumption at schools and their surroundings in Portugal. Research results can bring insights to conceptual development on school meals and children's food practices.