The free-market city: Latin American urbanization in the years of the neoliberal experiment

We examine the evolution of Latin American cities in the last two decades of the twentieth century and in the first years of the twenty-first on the basis of comparable data from six countries comprising over 80 percent of the region’s population. These years correspond to the shift in hegemonic models of development in the region, from import-substitution industrialization to neoliberal “open markets” adjustment. We examine how the application of the new policies correlates with change patterns in four areas: urban systems and urban primacy; urban unemployment and informal employment; poverty and inequality; and crime, victimization, and urban insecurity. We present detailed analyses of each of these topics based on the latest available data for the six countries. We conclude that significant changes in patterns of urbanization have taken place in the region, reflecting, in part, the expected and unexpected consequences of the application of the new model of development. Implications of our findings for each of the four areas examined and for the future of the region are discussed. Alejandro Portes is department chair and Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of sociology, and director of the Center for Migration and Development at Princeton University. His current research focuses on the adaptation process of second-generation immigrants and the rise of transnational immigrant communities in the United States. Bryan R. Roberts is professor of sociology and C.B. Smith Chair in US-Mexico Relations at the University of Texas, Austin. His most recent work explores issues of develorment, globalization, immigration, and social policy in Latin America. Data on which this paper is based were collected by theLatin American Urbanization at the End of the Twentieth Century project, sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. We thank our collaborators and directors of country teams, without whom this study would not have been possible: Marcele Cerruti and Alejandro Grimson in Argentina; Licia Valladares, Bianca Freire-Medeiros, and Filippina Chinelli in Brazil; Guillermo, Wormald, Francisco Sabatini, Yasna Contreras and their collaborators in Chile; Marina Ariza and Juan Manuel Ramirez in Mexico; Jaime Joseph and the Centro Alternativa research team in Peru; and Ruben Kaztman, Fernando Filgueira, Alejandro Retamoso and their collaborators in Uruguay. We would also like to thank Carolina Flores and Lissette Aliaga for their assistance in assembling and analyzing survey data-bases from the six countries. We also thank anonymous referees of this journal for their comments. Responsibility for the contents is exclusively ours.     

Phylogenetic evidence for multiple independent duplication events at the DYS19 locus

Duplication events at Y chromosome STR loci have been repeatedly described in human populations. DYS19 is probably the best known example and it exhibits duplicate state in individuals from all continents. Despite the large amount of available data, evolutionary relationship between DYS19 duplication-bearing chromosomes has not been so far investigated. We address the genealogical correlation among such chromosomes by analysing newly identified DYS19 duplicated Y chromosomes by SNP genotyping and microsatellite-based network analysis. SNP and network analysis show that DYS19 duplicated Y chromosomes associate with different Y chromosome lineages. These results indicate that DYS19 duplication occurred more than once during human evolution.     

Corsica: France's Petite Security Problem

The island of Corsica has experienced for the past thirty years a wave of low-scale terrorism. Self-declared Corsican nationalists fight for their homeland to become independent from mainland France, without much success, and with diminishing support from the island's population. Even though the level of violence has never reached the levels of destruction and casualties as in other European homegrown-terrorist groups, it is important for the Nikolas Sarkozy administration to deal with Corsican pseudo-separatism once and for all. This movement (whether criminal in nature or truly nationalistic) has proven to be long-lasting, resourceful, and deadly, thus it should not be underestimated.     

A Uniform, Internationally Oriented Legal Framework for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan?

The growth in commercial transactions with Mainland China, HongKong Special Administrative Region and the Taiwan region (Taiwan)as well as the economic integration in the entire area havelead to an increase in disputes. Considering the importanceof arbitration as a mechanism for resolving commercial disputesin the area, the paper discusses whether a substantial "clash"between their legal frameworks for the recognition and enforcementof foreign arbitral awards can be observed. After a criticalanalysis, the paper concludes that these frameworks are eithersubject to or modelled on the New York Convention. Yet, eachhas a distinct approach to the implementation, and dissimilaritiesarise. Furthermore, the specific legal framework for the recognitionand enforcement of Mainland China awards in Hong Kong and Taiwan,and vice versa, still raises some concerns and is not fullyreliable.