Papers by Ursula Oswald Spring
Springer eBooks, 2020
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Food serves three basic functions for most living beings. Firstly, food creates energy. Firstly, ... more Food serves three basic functions for most living beings. Firstly, food creates energy. Firstly, food creates energy required in the absorption and translocation of nutrients necessary for growth, sustenance, and biological and physical activities of the organism. Secondly, food supplies reducing agents indispensable in synthetic processes inside cells. Thirdly, food purveys the materials – structural and catalytic chemical components of living cells – that are built through anabolism. When one of these functions is absent, living organisms substitute the deficiency with the other functions. Nutrition is the process through which food substances are absorbed and used by living organisms. Commencing with the act of feeding, the process continues with digestion, where proteins are broken down into amino acids. Subsequently, intestines absorb nutrients, which, once integrated, are then distributed throughout the body for assimilation and metabolic transformation within each cell. The last stage is excretion of waste and toxins.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
This text offers suggestions on how to overcome the divide between Europe and Latin America. On t... more This text offers suggestions on how to overcome the divide between Europe and Latin America. On the one hand, it deals with the link between Europe and other globalised countries, and it particularly proposes several economic reflections in terms of competitiveness of production, pricing and quality vis a vis North America and Europe. On the other hand, it addresses the second challenge: how to bridge the divide between rich and poor countries? This part focuses on the multilateral policies and how to promote a globalisation process with less violence that allows different poor or threshold countries to form part of the global concert. What forms of global governance are required to establish mechanisms to convene, set a common agenda, and engage in a process of democratic decision-making with benefits for both hemispheres?
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Water covers 41 per cent of the Earth’s surface. However, only 3 per cent is freshwater and 68.7 ... more Water covers 41 per cent of the Earth’s surface. However, only 3 per cent is freshwater and 68.7 per cent of this is frozen in polar ice caps and glaciers; 30.1 per cent is located in deep aquifers and 0.9 per cent in other conditions. Thus, only 0.3 per cent is surface water, of which 87 per cent is in lakes and dams, 11 per cent in wetlands and 2 per cent in rivers (UN Water 2015). This freshwater is shared among a growing population, where the number of people tripled during the last century, but water use increased six fold. Further, 41 per cent of the Earth’s surface belongs to drylands, where 30 per cent of the population lives. These water-scarce regions produce half of the livestock worldwide and grow 44 per cent of the global food supply.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
The world faces social and environmental crises together with an increasing risk of extreme event... more The world faces social and environmental crises together with an increasing risk of extreme events (IPCC 2012). These include economic crises, population growth, climate change, water scarcity and pollution, food crises (FAO 2000, 2016), soil depletion, erosion and desertification, urbanisation with slum development, rural-urban and international migration, physical and structural violence, gender, race and ethnic discrimination, youth unemployment, social and gender inequality, and an increasing loss of ecosystem services. The interaction of these multiple crises may result in extreme outcomes, especially for vulnerable people living in risky places, and may reduce their human, gender and environmental security.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Mexico’s domestic market in the late 1970s was characterised by a struggle between private commer... more Mexico’s domestic market in the late 1970s was characterised by a struggle between private commercial capital and state capital in which transnational investments and technology were also involved. On the one hand, merchants requested price liberalisation; on the other, consumers wanted food prices to be controlled to protect the consumption of the majority of people in the country. This contradictory struggle requires a deeper analysis that takes into account the mechanisms and processes involved therein. This chapter explores the commercial development and concentration of the potato trade, the interrelationships of production and trade cycles, the marketing system, and the organisation of merchants. It studies the effects produced on costs and profits by this commercial activity, which was stabilised due to socio-political relations. Finally, the chapter considers the future of trade organisations and their development in domestic and foreign markets.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Engendered-sustainable peace 1 has rarely been discussed from a critical perspective and has been... more Engendered-sustainable peace 1 has rarely been discussed from a critical perspective and has been even less analysed by peace researchers (Oswald Spring 2016). The question is why has this been the case? To understand the lack of visibility of gender and feminist studies in peace research, we must go back to the socially developed system of power, dominance, violence and control exercised by patriarchy (Wallerstein 1994). This system originated thousands of years ago in societies that have developed irrigated agriculture and were able to produce a food surplus. These surpluses allowed a primitive accumulation of capital, an incipient social stratification and an emerging division of labour within these societies. Greater productive achievements in the Fertile Crescent, in India, China, Mesoamerica and South America improved living conditions and enabled these societies to promote trade and interchange with neighbours. To control potential conflicts over scarce resources and to obtain luxury goods, in each of these societies male leaders emerged, who consolidated their power in supposedly supernatural relations with superior beings (gods and goddesses). These ideological mechanisms permitted them to rule over local and, later, regional societies. Further conquests of neighbouring regions allowed these kingdoms to take away other communities' land, expropriate their food and hire slaves for free work. Internally, as gods these kings dominated society using violence, subjugation, fear and political-religious controls. In these new social conditions, women were gradually expelled from positions of power and their work within the household lost in visibility and value. This unpaid household work has continued until today, with women in all countries spending more time than men on caring, child raising and cleaning. But the unequal system has also influenced paid work. 1 Part of this text was orally presented in German on 31 May 2017 during a book launch at the Rathaus in Mosbach, Germany.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
All the different theoretical and disciplinary imputes I got in my life tried to overcome the pre... more All the different theoretical and disciplinary imputes I got in my life tried to overcome the prevailing constraints of science in theoretical, conceptual and empirical respects and to collectively experiment with research to understand better the complex socio-environmental reality. There was also increasing concern about the discrimination of women in science and the increasing number of poor and marginalised women on earth. Why did this occur all over the world in industrialised, developing and communist countries? What are the deep-rooted causes for this discrimination and subordination? Therefore, my interest in gender studies emerged in conjunction with an integrated epistemological approach to interdisciplinary research.
SpringerBriefs in environment, security, development and peace, 2016
Water security (WS) evolved toward the protection against floods, droughts, plagues, environmenta... more Water security (WS) evolved toward the protection against floods, droughts, plagues, environmental services protection, health preservation, and conflict negotiation. The part of human and gender security deepening, as well as environmental security proposing a great (HUGE) security. This overcomes the political-military vision where water was used as a weapon. A combination of market failures, inefficient institutions, and lack of governance have aggravated conflicts and provoked violent outbreaks. Specialists have insisted on political mechanisms and negotiations between governments and those affected, which have brought about international treaties and water regimes. Growing citizen complaints about deterioration in quality and water shortage have transformed the demands for water into a basic human right, making a distinction between use value (survival) and exchange value (merchandise), with progressive tariffs for saving. Thus, WS is oriented toward people and peace, where participative governance and pacific negotiation of conflicts drive the recovery and protection of ecosystems as the lead of sociopolitical practice and an indicator of socio-environmental progress, and where science offers methodologies, methods, and proposals for norms and laws that are capable to protect the planet’s future and the survival of humankind.
The anthropocene: Politik - economics - society - science, 2021
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
The research project Food System and Society The Mexican Case studied were the following question... more The research project Food System and Society The Mexican Case studied were the following questions: 1. Why are many millions of peasants and urban workers hungry or malnourished in a world of plenty? Why do periodic famines exist in different parts of the world despite the fact that elsewhere half of the food is thrown away? 2. What are the mechanisms that contribute to the deterioration of the peasant economy and push millions of people to abandon their land and migrate into miserable slums in large cities? 3. What are the crucial national policies to ensure sufficient, adequate and permanent access to basic foodstuffs for all social groups and prevent seasonal and cyclical variations that may affect the supply? 4. How could a maximum degree of autonomy and self-determination be achieved on basic foods, in order to reduce the vulnerability to price fluctuations in the international market? How are political pressures (food power) counterbalanced without falling into an autarchy but instead promoting a model that optimizes the advantages of specialisation to a prudent degree? Which processes and techniques to produce staple foods preserve and even improve the physical environment in the medium and long term and reinforce a more harmonious relationship between nature and society?
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Sustainable development requires a deep understanding of peace and security that is centred on hu... more Sustainable development requires a deep understanding of peace and security that is centred on human beings. It includes a gender perspective of equality and equity, embedded in environmental concerns. This human, gender and environmental peace and security (Oswald Spring 2009; see book PAHSEP 18) – ‘HUGE’ – effort should be undertaken by millions of organised citizens, who seek a balance among humans and the natural environment for the benefit of future generations. A significant contribution to this goal of building a sustainable culture of peace is the Earth Charter (2000), which integrates concerns for a peaceful and sustainable future world. Such actions are orientated towards mitigation of the present environmental destruction by creating synergies for an engendered and sustainable peace-building (Chap. 6) that might be able to strengthen the long-standing and former more harmonious relationship between humankind and nature.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
On the eve of a new millennium we were facing a globalisation process which embraced, for the fir... more On the eve of a new millennium we were facing a globalisation process which embraced, for the first time in human history, what could be termed all of life’s phenomena. This process continues to go beyond those aspects which are strictly productive: the economy, technology, scientific progress and the relations of a predetermined productive process (Hunter 1995). It interrelates personal and local processes with regional, national and international ones, penetrating the most intimate spaces of human feeling and social representations (Serrano 2010). The question as to which direction the development of the planet (or indeed a continent, country, social or ethnic group, or a human being and his individuality) is going is expressed with increasing rigour and urgency (Oswald Spring 2001a, b).
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
These chapters offer reflections on my scientific work and my life experience, first in post-colo... more These chapters offer reflections on my scientific work and my life experience, first in post-colonial Africa in the 1960s, later the critical psychological re-elaboration of several traumatic experiences in Africa during the student revolt in Europe in 1968 and finally my field research, political activities and social involvement with bottom-up women and peasant movements in Mexico, Latin America, India, Thailand and North Africa. This chapter links the social and natural sciences, climate studies and humanities from a gender perspective. Later, based on my involvement and experience with bottom-up social movements, I address the environmental care for and restoration of ecosystem services for socially vulnerable people in particular.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
This biography is a subjective account of my memories about my life experiences and scientific tr... more This biography is a subjective account of my memories about my life experiences and scientific training that have shaped my intellectual development. They have influenced my commitment to fight for a more just and equitable society for women and men and for a more peaceful world. Three continents forged my intellectual experiences, and I have received very contrasting impacts that have left deep footprints on my scientific and social commitments and on my life as a mother, a social activist, policymaker and as a socio-environmental scientist who has aimed for a more just and peaceful world.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Oswald Spring, Ursula (1978). “La Monopolizacion del Mercado Interno en Mexico: el Caso de la Pap... more Oswald Spring, Ursula (1978). “La Monopolizacion del Mercado Interno en Mexico: el Caso de la Papa” [The Monopolization of the Internal Market in Mexico: The Case of the Potatoes], Comercio Exterior, Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 1349–1358.
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Climate change is the greatest threat to people, their survival, the conservation of ecosystems a... more Climate change is the greatest threat to people, their survival, the conservation of ecosystems and their ecosystem services. New scientific evidence reviewed in the fifth assessment report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2013a, 2014a, b) confirmed that the average global temperature rise is unequivocal and thus supports the assessment of its Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC 2007). Furthermore, its Working Group I (IPCC 2013a) highlighted that the atmosphere and the ocean have warmed up, the layers of snow and ice have decreased, sea level has risen and greenhouse gas concentrations (GHG) in the atmosphere have substantially increased due to anthropogenic GHG emissions. The study also confirmed that each of the last three decades has successively become warmer than any preceding period since 1850 and that the years from 1983 to 2012 have probably been the period of the 30 warmest years during the past 1,400 years.
Springer eBooks, Dec 19, 2018
This chapter analyzes structural factors of patriarchal authoritarianism, exclusion, discriminati... more This chapter analyzes structural factors of patriarchal authoritarianism, exclusion, discrimination, exploitation, violence and destruction through the concept of “engendered-sustainable peace”. This concept attempts to understand the deeply anchored links between patriarchy and war system that are related to physical–natural and sociocultural violence. The sources of threats were consolidated over thousands of years by patriarchal institutions, religious bodies, self-identified beliefs and social representations. The totalitarian exercise of power has also affected natural resources, climate and ecosystems. Wealth got further concentrated in a small group of oligarchs, who manage global capital and control governments. Faced with these global threats, the chapter raises a question whether this concept can provide a deeper understanding and new tools to promote a sustainability transition with nature and humankind?
Pioneers in arts, humanities, science, engineering, practice, Sep 5, 2018
Climate change is severely affecting Mexico and Central America (IPCC 2014a) and has caused diffe... more Climate change is severely affecting Mexico and Central America (IPCC 2014a) and has caused different impacts on men and women, regions and social classes. Several studies have shown that during disasters more women die than men. Why do the Red Cross, the World Bank and insurance companies only report the global number of deaths and damage, while other international agencies address the vulnerability of women and ignore the vulnerability of men? This approach has reinforced a woman-victim vision to justify their exclusion from decision-making processes and sharpen their post-disaster trauma. These behaviours also deprive society of efficient female support in the post-disaster period, when women have the capacity to organise refugee camps and collaborate in reconstruction processes. This lack of equity not only occurs in disaster management, but is imbued in all social processes of the present global patriarchal system.
Uploads
Papers by Ursula Oswald Spring