Paper

Digital music and the “death of the long tail”

Abstract:

The new technology of digital distribution is changing the pop-rock music market. In the middle of the last decade Chris Anderson (Anderson, 2006) stated that the death of the CD and the dematerialization of music had created a long tail of marginal non-hits. The aggregate demand for these non-hits gave birth to important and valorized niches of pop-rock songs and memorabilia. This phenomenon has promoted the democratization of the access to cultural goods. But, growing evidence exists on the persistence of the so-called superstar effect. The impact of live music has renewed the relevance of highly extravagant outcomes for the privileged group of really great stars. The “winner takes all” effect dominates the music market, and streaming as a form of digital distribution fuels this effect. This new technology is posing several new issues to the development of the market and cultural policy. Our fundamental research questions then are: Is there empirical evidence of the long tail or superstar effect in the pop-rock music market? How did enterprises adapt their business strategies to this online technological revolution? Therefore, in Digital music and the “death of the long tail”, we examine different sources of data on the pop-rock market, such as the revenues from digital music sales and live music performances, to confirm the importance of the “winner takes all” effect and the persistence of important niches in alternative pop-rock music.

Quotation:

“Coelho, M., Mendes, Z. (2019). “Digital music and the “death of the long tail”. Journal of Business Research, 101, 454-460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.015“

Declinações: Identidades de Género e Construção da Nação em Filmes de Licínio Azevedo

Abstract:

Declinações: Identidades de Género e Construção da Nação em Filmes de Licínio Azevedo addresses the representation of gender differences in nation building in Mozambique in two fiction films by Brazilian-Mozambican filmmaker Licínio Azevedo, namely: Virgem Margarida (2012) and Comboio de Sal e Açúcar (2017). Focusing on different moments in the history of Mozambique, the films address little explored aspects of the crises and the historical, political, social and cultural changes experienced by the new independent country. Virgem Margarida focuses, in particular, on the experience of the re-education camps lived by women, while in Comboio de Sal and Açúcar the male characters of the Frelimo army involved in the civil war stand out. The two films bet on a representation of the genders – understood as social and cultural constructions – able to account for their differences, thus shattering, on the one hand, the monolithic image of women, and on the other, the Mozambican national identity itself. The films represent several possible “decliNations”, understood here in accordance with the multiple meanings of the word: refusals, deviations, or even “flexions of gender, number”, etc., of the Nation.

Quotation:

Falconi, J. (2019). Declinações: Identidades de Género e Construção da Nação em Filmes de Licínio Azevedo. Perspectiva Histórica 13: 81-105. http://www.perspectivahistorica.com.br/revistas/1563933990.pdf“

Cultural and creative entrepreneurs in financial crises: Sailing against the tide?

Abstract:

Cultural and creative entrepreneurs in financial crises: Sailing against the tide? Scientific Annals of Economics and Business focuses on a range of idiosyncrasies of cultural and creative entrepreneurs (CCEs) to study the resilience of CCEs in times of crisis (economic, financial and debt crisis). The demographics of CC firms (born and dead), trends and performance and the association between subsidies received and firm survival are analysed. It mainly analyses micro firms in a country where CCEs are particularly financially challenged, namely Portugal. It exploits the unique availability of micro accounting data at the private firm level over an 8-year period (2004-2011), which allows to include the effects of the last financial crisis, and to understand the evolution of the economic success criterion. The results obtained on the impact of subsidies on survival are interesting in both the CCE and the political perspectives, suggesting a positive impact of subsidies in periods of recession, and a negative impact of subsidies in periods of economic growth. Furthermore, CCE firms were found to be more dynamic than other firms in other sectors.

Quotation:

Fontainha, E., & Lazzaro, E. (2019). Cultural and creative entrepreneurs in financial crises: Sailing against the tide?. Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, 66(Special issue – dedicated to the VIII Wo), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.47743/saeb-2019-0022

Perspective piece on “Transfers in an Aging European Union” by Fanny A. Kluge, Joshua R. Goldstein and Tobias C. Vogt

Abstract:

The growth in the longevity of Europe’s population is a consequence of developments in various fields, including medicine, nutrition and welfare policies, and reflects overall progress in well-being, human development and quality of life. However, as the continued improvement in life expectancy has been accompanied by a decline in fertility rates, which migration is not sufficient to compensate for, it has resulted in a growing ageing population, which raises critical societal challenges. Several articles presented in this journal explore the short and long-term effects of population ageing in the EU and in each of its member countries. The article written by Fanny Kluge, Joshua Goldstein and Tobias Vogt, Transfers in an ageing European Union, (hereafter “KGV”) contributes to understanding the effects of population ageing on the fiscal budgets of EU-28 countries and “its implications for potential transfer flows between EU countries”. The results of “KGV” open several avenues for further research. Elsa Fontainha comments on the work of Fanny A. Kluge, Joshua R. Goldstein and Tobias C. Vogt on population transfers in the European Union.

Quotation:

Fontainha, E. (2019). Perspective piece on “Transfers in an Ageing European Union” by Fanny A. Kluge, Joshua R. Goldstein and Tobias C. Vogt. Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 13, 55-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2018.10.006

Mobilidades Contemporâneas no Contexto Pós-Colonial: Mbembe, Glissant e Mattelart

Abstract:

Taking up again the idea of subject derived from the reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, concepts and worldviews will be mobilized that contribute to better understand contemporary mobilities. Reference is made to the process, the organization and the conditions in which current human mobilities are carried out to establish relationships between displacement, identity processes and narratives of belonging to places. In Mobilidades Contemporâneas no Contexto Pós-Colonial: Mbembe, Glissant e Mattelart we seek to observe this problematic from a paradigm interested in the possible positive effects, in the short and long term, of a change in the narrative on the international mobility of people. Armand Mattelart analyses, from the space of the city, the struggles of peoples and groups that question previously demarcated territories. To make his declared utopia viable, Édouard Glissant proposes the “creolisation of the contemporary world”, or the “All-World”, starting from the will born in the Caribbean archipelago, or rather, in mestizo America. Achille Mbembe, speaking of our condition of passers-by, of our common situation of vulnerability in the world, proposes a thought of passage, of crossing and circulation in which to inhabit is not to belong, refusing classifications that immobilise, in praise of an ethic that considers translation, misunderstandings and conflicts, recovering the body, the face, the word.

Quotation:

“Kowalewski, Daniele, Schilling, Flávia, Magalhães, Giovanna Modé, & Évora, Iolanda. (2019). Mobilidades Contemporâneas no Contexto Pós-Colonial: Mbembe, Glissant e Mattelart. Lua Nova: Revista de Cultura e Política, (108), 137-156. Epub November 28, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-137156/108“

A poesia de Glória de Sant’anna: um roteiro de leitura dos primeiros livros

Abstract:

Through in-depth analysis of thematic aspects of the work of Glória de Sant’Anna, a poet of Portuguese origin who lived for over two decades in Mozambique, we will analyze in A poesia de Glória de Sant’Anna: um roteiro de leitura dos primeiros livros the poetic imaginary based on natural elements, especially aquatic, which are resumed by the generation of post-independence poets. Through the articulation of thematic elements identifiable with water, we intend to contribute to the definition of a thematic core built around the imaginary of the Indian Ocean, which has been asserting itself since the colonial period and which constitutes one of the key thematic cores for understanding Mozambican poetry. In this essay, we intend to demonstrate that in the most intimate texts, the poet metaphorically reworks the oceanic imaginary, turning it into a universal space of identification between the lyric self and the vastness of the Indian Ocean horizon. This work is financed by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the NILUS-Narratives of the Indian Ocean in the Lusophone Space Project (PTDC/CPC-ELT/4868/2014). This text reworks an essay that will be published in a collection of texts in tribute to Glória de Sant’Anna (in press) and is the result of the research of the PhD thesis defended in 2017.

Quotation:

“Spinuzza, Giulia. A poesia de Glória de Sant’Anna: um roteiro de leitura dos primeiros livros. Mulemba, UFRJ, Brasil, vol. 11, n. 21, Dezembro 2019, p. 136 https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/mulemba/issue/view/1302/showToc”

Entre silêncios e interferências: mulheres na imprensa colonial

Abstract:

In Entre silêncios e interferências: mulheres na imprensa periódica colonial we adress the presence of women in the colonial periodical press of the former Portuguese Empire means trying to define, even if only provisionally, the main aspects of the “object” of reflection proposed in the present dossier. Firstly, by proposing a joint approach, under the term “colonial”, of the periodical press published both in the former metropolis and in the various spaces colonised by Portugal, we point to some perspectives of the historiography on European colonialisms which have been shattering polarized visions, analysing the social and political reverberations between metropolis and colonies, the transits of ideas and imaginaries, as well as the “manufactured” dimension of the difference (Burton 1994; Cooper and Stoler 1997). The dossier results from the panel “The ‘women’ and the colonial periodical press” organized in the framework of the International Congress Politics and Culture in the Colonial Periodical Press, which took place from 22 to 25 May 2017, near the CHAM-Centre of Humanities of the New University of Lisbon, in partnership with the CEI-IUL-Centre of International Studies of ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa and the CEC-Centre of Comparative Studies of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. The Congress was an initiative of the International Study Group of the Colonial Periodical Press of the Portuguese Empire, created by Sandra Ataíde Lobo (CHAM-UNL), Adelaide Vieira Machado (CHAM-UNL) and Cátia Miriam Costa (CEI-IUL). Various entities and researchers from different research centres have joined the Group.

Quotation:

“Falconi, J.; Wieser, D. (2019). Entre silêncios e interferências: mulheres na imprensa periódica colonial, Revista ex aequo- Revista da Associação Portuguesa de Estudos sobre as Mulheres, n. 39. https://doi.org/10.22355/. exaequo.2019.39.01.10.22355/”

Comparação entre composição corporal e capacidades físicas em jogadores de basquetebol de diferentes faixas etárias

Abstract:

The aim of Comparação entre composição corporal e capacidades físicas em jogadores de basquetebol de diferentes faixas etárias was to compare the relationship between body composition and physical abilities in basketball players aged 12-13 and 14-15 years old. Twenty-four basketball players from a team in the Setúbal Peninsula were involved in the study, twelve belonging to each age group. The involvement of young people and adolescents in regular sports practice has evolved in modern society, and the consensual references in the literature of benefits related to sports practice at physical and cognitive level contribute to this. They made evaluations related to body composition and strength of lower and upper limbs. Correlations were observed between body composition and handgrip strength and an inverse relationship between groups between handgrip strength and countermovement jumping. The muscle mass, showed a close relationship with handgrip strength in both age groups. It is fundamental to evaluate and control the training in the most varied age groups in basketball in order to detect talent, to improve the training prescription and to improve the sport performance.

Quotation:

Santos, F., Nunes, P., Fernandes, J., Figueiredo, T., Figueira, A., Pereira, A., Ferreira, C., Conceição, A., Louro, H., & Espada, M. (2019). Comparação entre composição corporal e capacidades físicas em jogadores de basquetebol de diferentes faixas etárias. Revista UIIPS, 7(2), 210-220.

A Caminho de uma Recaída da Economia Mundial? Ainda Algumas Notas sobre a Natureza da Crise Económica e Financeira de 2008-2009 e os seus Impactos na Economia Europeia

Abstract:

Based on the analysis of the latest data on the evolution of the world economy, the reasons that may underlie the persistence of the difficulties in recovering, in a sustained manner, the rates of growth, particularly in the euro zone, more than a decade after the outbreak of the crisis of 2008-2009, are discussed. The nature of this global economic crisis is discussed in A caminho de uma recaída da economia mundial? : Ainda algumas notas sobre a natureza mundial? : Ainda algumas notas sobre a natureza da crise económica e financeira de 2008-2009 e os seus impactos na economia europeia, its impacts at the European regional level, the emergence of what has been called an identity crisis of the European integration project, the inefficiency of the euro system as an adjustment mechanism, internal and external, and the role of unconventional monetary policy. The conclusion is that Europe needs to undertake a profound redefinition of its integration project, including the redesign of the euro system in light of the recent experience of unconventional monetary policy. In this process, it is considered that there is an important place for Portugal, as an Atlantic European country, whose identity was formed and consolidated in the process of constitution of the global economy.

Quotation:

Mendonça, António .2019. A caminho de uma recaída da economia mundial?: Ainda algumas notas sobre a natureza mundial?: Ainda algumas notas sobre a natureza da crise económica e financeira de 2008-2009 e os seus impactos na economia europeia”, Lusíada – Economia & Empresa, nº 26, p. 31-66

Class, politics and dynamic accumulation processes around the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, 2005–2014

Class, politics and dynamic accumulation processes around the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, 2005–2014 by Ana Sofia Ganho levels a Marxist political economy lens at the development of the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo valley. Focusing on a defined time period, 2005–14, it interrogates the ways that class dynamics shaped, and were shaped by, China’s development cooperation model for Mozambique, and examines changing Mozambican accumulation interests in the context of sudden price rises in agricultural commodities. The article aims to understand how this project relates to Mozambique’s dominant strategy for capital accumulation, such as the dynamics it has enabled for capitalist factions in power. But it also seeks to comprehend the rural differentiation dynamics that the project has generated, particularly with regard to the desideratum to create a new group of rural capitalists. Together with historically situated challenges, this can provide crucial information about the form(s) that the agrarian question of transition to a capitalist agriculture is taking in Mozambique.

Abstract:

This study levels an international political economy lens at the development of the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, by examining how class relations shaped and were shaped by global trends, Chinese resources and Mozambican dynamic accumulation interests. The paper argues that the project has served the expansionist interests of the ruling capitalist group associated with central government circles, limiting land-based possibilities at province level. In addition, the plan to locally transform small producers into rural capitalists through ‘modern’ Chinese methods has failed to confront the historical interdependence of the commercial and so-called family sectors and the diversity of livelihood sources for the reproduction of food and labour.

Quotation:

Ganho, Ana Sofia (2022) Class, politics and dynamic accumulation processes around the Sino-Mozambican rice project in the lower Limpopo, 2005–2014, Review of African Political Economy, 49:171, 107-137, DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2022.2050557

Access the article here.