Back to Basics Mexican Style: Radical Catholicism and Survival on the Margins1

Abstract— The significance of radical Catholic movements among the urban poor in Latin American cities has been the subject of much debate over recent years, though Mexican cases have received less attention. This paper argues that their practical, material objectives cannot be understood in isolation from the holistic religious and moral community in which participants project for themselves. It is also argued that the social justice sought within the base communities is as much a product of a long, if varied, radical, Christian tradition as it is of the particular circumstances of political and economic marginalisation in contemporary Mexican cities.     

Can We Blame it on Rio?

The Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games were the last major sporting event in a decade‐long cycle in the Brazilian metropolis. In the years leading up to the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the city's urban planning agenda was captured by the exogenous demands of hosting the quadrennial spectacular. This capture has exacerbated four tendencies that will pertain in Rio de Janeiro for the foreseeable future: consolidation of consumer sovereignty, restructuring of urban circulations, financialisation of urban territories, and securitisation of exception.     

EXAMINING THE “CRIMINAL CAREERS” OF PROSTITUTES WITHIN THE NEXUS OF DRUG USE,DRUG SELLING,AND OTHER ILLICIT ACTIVITIES*

This paper examines the co‐occurrence of prostitution, drug use, drug selling, and involvement in non‐drug crimes among women who have used serious drugs (e.g., crack, heroin). Existing perspectives on the drug use‐prostitution nexus are re‐examined using three dimensions of the criminal career paradigm: prevalence, lambda, and age of onset. Results show that approximately one‐half of the women who reported regular drug use never prostituted, and that, except for use of crack cocaine, use of other drugs was unrelated to the prevalence, frequency, or age of onset into prostitution. The results also show that committing property crime was associated with an increased prevalence and early onset into prostitution, while selling drugs coincided with a decreased prevalence and delayed onset into prostitution.