NGO-Action: Urban Activism in Brazilian Film and Society

SNEED PAUL MICHAEL 서울대학교 라틴아메리카연구소 2015 이베로아메리카硏究 Vol.26 No.3

In recent years there has been a boom of films about social exclusion and violence in Rio de Janeiro, a city that is a postcard of the socio-political contradictions plaguing Brazil. With this a new cadre of characters has emerged: the urban social activists associated with non-governmental organizations, or NGOs (or “ONGs” in Portuguese) who serve as a narrative link between viewers and the drug traffickers, prison inmates, street children, police, and residents of favelas portrayed in these films. This article focuses on the presence of these urban social activists and the organizations they represent to explore linkages between filmmaking, community activism, entertainment, and solidarity in three films set in Rio: Tropa de Elite (Padilha, 2007), Falcão: Meninos do Tráfico (MV Bill and Athayde, 2006), and Favela Rising (Zimbalist and Mochary, 2005). Laying out scholarly formulations for evaluating films about poverty in Brazil side by side with arguments about humanitarian activism not only draws attention to the dangers of superficiality in action and art for reinforcing oppression but also underscores the benefits of deep and persevering solidarity for working against it-in social activism, filmmaking, and other artistic and scholarly investigation.

Space and Relationality in Rio’s Favelas: Asfalto and Comunidade

SNEED PAUL MICHAEL 서울대학교 라틴아메리카연구소 2018 이베로아메리카硏究 Vol.29 No.3

In this paper, I offer reflections on contemporary popular culture in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to consider a common metaphor in everyday parlance that pits the objectifying formally urbanized city, called “asphalt,” against the informal “communities” of its favelas. With nods to Paul Gilroy’s understanding of the Black Atlantic world, Martin Buber’s philosophy of dialogue and psychiatric theories of attachment, I explore this contrasting word pairing to locate both a critique of conventional Eurocentric rationalist notions of space, time, knowledge, being and power and an affirmation of an alternative, Afro-Atlantic relational impulse regarding those same categories.

Local food purchasing in the farmers’ market

Christopher Sneed,Ann Fairhurst,Jeremy E. Whaley 한국관광연구학회 2019 관광연구저널 Vol.33 No.4

From local farmers’ markets to local homes, a vast demand exists for local foods. However, the literature on local foods remains undeveloped, especially in the sense of empirically-based research. The study employs value-attitude-behavior theory to examine local food purchases in the farmers’ market context. The study utilizes structural equation modeling via a consumer panel (n = 485) to explore the causal relationships among latent variables related to value, attitude, and behavior in the setting of farmers’ markets. Results indicate that four value constructs (e.g., food novelty, food safety, civic engagement, and environmental concern) influence consumers’ attitudes regarding design, social, and local food quality aspects in the farmers’ market, and eventually influencing behavioral intentions such as purchase intention and word-of-mouth recommendations. Practitioners who focus on the areas of local foods production and consumption must engage with audiences they wish to serve. Practitioners may devise creative marketing strategies to address the needs of their target audience by understanding the relationships among their value, attitude, and behavior.

Brazil’s Favela Funk in Film

Paul Michael Sneed 한국라틴아메리카학회 2020 라틴아메리카연구 Vol.33 No.1

Released in 1994, the first documentary film about Brazil’s favela funk, the feature-length Funk Rio, directed by Sergio Goldenberg, depicted the baile funk dance parties of the time like the “death corridor-style” dances (corredor da morte) and the contests between dance crews. Since then, numerous documentary films have portrayed the evolution of the movement –often demonizing it but at other times romanticizing it–documenting the appearance of subgenres like consciousness funk, proibidão (gangster funk), putaria (“whorish” funk), funk de ostentação (“swag funk”) and evangelical funk. This article introduces a crucial and understudied genre of film studies about a vital and understudied Afro-Atlantic youth culture – one that is urgently situated on the front lines of the culture wars in Brazil today. In so doing, it explores the antiphony –or call and response– at the heart of favela funk aesthetics and practice, and draws attention to the philosophical tensions between Black-Atlantic cultures and documentary filmmaking. Finally, it extrapolates upon these tensions to suggest a critique of the rigid dichotomies prevalent in academic perspectives and the epistemological impulses driving them.

Rapid Repair of Severely Damaged RC Columns with Different Damage Conditions: An Experimental Study

He, Ruili,Sneed, Lesley H.,Belarbi, Abdeldjelil Korea Concrete Institute 2013 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.7 No.1

Rapid and effective repair methods are desired to enable quick reopening of damaged bridges after an earthquake occurs, especially for those bridges that are critical for emergency response and other essential functions. This paper presents results of tests conducted as a proof-of-concept in the effectiveness of a proposed method using externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites to rapidly repair severely damaged RC columns with different damage conditions. The experimental work included five large-scale severely damaged square RC columns with the same geometry and material properties but with different damage conditions due to different loading combinations of bending, shear, and torsion in the previous tests. Over a three-day period, each column was repaired and retested under the same loading combination as the corresponding original column. Quickset repair mortar was used to replace the removed loose concrete. Without any treatment to damaged reinforcing bars, longitudinal and transverse CFRP sheets were externally bonded to the prepared surface to restore the column strength. Measured data were analyzed to investigate the performance of the repaired columns compared to the corresponding original column responses. It was concluded that the technique can be successful for severely damaged columns with damage to the concrete and transverse reinforcement. For severely damaged columns with damaged longitudinal reinforcement, the technique was found to be successful if the damaged longitudinal reinforcement is able to provide tensile resistance, or if the damage is located at a section where longitudinal CFRP strength can be developed.

Bond Behavior Between Steel Fiber Reinforced Polymer (SRP) and Concrete

Xingxing Zou,Lesley H. Sneed 한국콘크리트학회 2020 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.14 No.5

Steel fiber reinforced polymer (SRP) composite materials, which consist of continuous unidirectional steel wires (cords) embedded in a polymeric matrix, have recently emerged as an effective solution for strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. SRP is bonded to the surface of RC structures by the same matrix to provide external reinforcement. Interfacial debonding between the SRP and concrete is a primary concern in this type of application. This study aimed to investigate the bond characteristics between SRP and concrete determined by single-lap direct shear tests with different composite bonded lengths and fiber sheet densities (cord spacings). Specimens with medium density fibers failed mainly due to composite debonding, whereas those with low density fibers failed due to fiber rupture. Results of specimens that exhibited debonding were used to determine the bond-slip relationship of the SRP-concrete interface and to predict the full-range load response, which was in good agreement with the experimental results. A database of SRP-concrete direct shear tests reported in the literature was also established. Four analytical equations derived for fiber reinforced polymer (FRP)-concrete debonding were evaluated based on the database results and were found to predict the maximum load within approximately 15% error on average, however, they all underestimated the effective bond length.

Review of Anchorage Systems for Externally Bonded FRP Laminates

Grelle, Stephen V.,Sneed, Lesley H. Korea Concrete Institute 2013 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.7 No.1

The most recent report by ACI Committee 440 on externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening systems states that systems designed to mechanically anchor FRP should be studied in detail and substantiated by physical testing. To select and design an appropriate anchorage system for use in an FRP strengthening system, it is important that findings from previous research studies be known. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of the performance of different mechanical anchorage systems used in FRP strengthening applications. Each anchorage system is discussed in terms of its purpose and performance. Advantages and disadvantages of each system are discussed, and areas in need of future research are explored.

Test Results and Nonlinear Analysis of RC T-beams Strengthened by Bonded Steel Plates

Wei Ren,Lesley H. Sneed,Yiting Gai,Xin Kang 한국콘크리트학회 2015 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.9 No.2

This paper describes the test results and nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete T-beams strengthened by bonded steel plates under increasing static loading conditions. The first part of this paper discusses the flexural tests on five T-beams, including the test model design (based on similarity principles), test programs, and test procedure. The second part discusses the nonlinear numerical analysis of the strengthened beams, in which a concrete damage plasticity model and a cohesive behavior were adopted. The numerical analysis results are compared with experimental data and show good agreement. The area of bonded steel plate and the anchor bolt spacing were found to have an impact on the cracking load, yield load, and ultimate load. An increase in the area of steel plate and a reduction of the anchor spacing could significantly improve the cracking and ultimate loads and decrease the damage of the beam.

Rapid Repair of Severely Damaged RC Columns with Different Damage Conditions

Ruili He,Lesley H. Sneed,Abdeldjelil Belarbi 한국콘크리트학회 2013 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.7 No.1

Rapid and effective repair methods are desired to enable quick reopening of damaged bridges after an earthquake occurs, especially for those bridges that are critical for emergency response and other essential functions. This paper presents results of tests conducted as a proof-of-concept in the effectiveness of a proposed method using externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites to rapidly repair severely damaged RC columns with different damage conditions. The experimental work included five large-scale severely damaged square RC columns with the same geometry and material properties but with different damage conditions due to different loading combinations of bending, shear, and torsion in the previous tests. Over a three-day period, each column was repaired and retested under the same loading combination as the corresponding original column. Quickset repair mortar was used to replace the removed loose concrete. Without any treatment to damaged reinforcing bars, longitudinal and transverse CFRP sheets were externally bonded to the prepared surface to restore the column strength. Measured data were analyzed to investigate the performance of the repaired columns compared to the corresponding original column responses. It was concluded that the technique can be successful for severely damaged columns with damage to the concrete and transverse reinforcement. For severely damaged columns with damaged longitudinal reinforcement, the technique was found to be successful if the damaged longitudinal reinforcement is able to provide tensile resistance, or if the damage is located at a section where longitudinal CFRP strength can be developed.

Numerical Simulation of Prestressed Precast Concrete Bridge Deck Panels Using Damage Plasticity Model

Wei Ren,Lesley H. Sneed,Yang Yang,Ruili He 한국콘크리트학회 2015 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.9 No.1

This paper describes a three-dimensional approach to modeling the nonlinear behavior of partial-depth precast prestressed concrete bridge decks under increasing static loading. Six full-size panels were analyzed with this approach where the damage plasticity constitutive model was used to model concrete. Numerical results were compared and validated with the experimental data and showed reasonable agreement. The discrepancy between numerical and experimental values of load capacities was within six while the discrepancy of mid-span displacement was within 10 %. Parametric study was also conducted to show that higher accuracy could be achieved with lower values of the viscosity parameter but with an increase in the calculation effort.