A construção dos problemas públicos. Elementos para uma análise do caso Timor

Authors

  • Isabel Babo Lança École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris

Abstract

Social problems, instead of public problems, are mostly spoken of in both everyday language as well as in sociological language. According to Gusfield (1981), when a situation acquires a social dimension it becomes a public problem: the situation is a matter of controversy and of conflict in the arena of public action. In so doing, it is dealt with by the collective action of public power, of institutions or a social movement. Therefore, specific aspects are fundamental in the construction of public problems: defining the causes of the problematic situation andthe question of ownership i.e. who has the power to define the problem and who should solve it. The objective of this article entails knowing what can be understood by a culture of public problems as well as an analysis of the way inwhich the East Timor case became an international public problem which mobilized a collective action.

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Issue

No. 4 (2000)

Section

Shorter Article

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