The Effects of a Calamity on Income and Wellbeing of Poor Microfinance Borrowers: The Case of the 2004 Tsunami Shock

We investigate the effects of the 2004 Tsunami on a sample of microfinance borrowers. Our findings show that the severe loss of income of damaged borrowers only partially explains the dip in wellbeing. This is because the latter is also related to economic losses not measured by current income (that is, loss in wealth or in permanent income) and by psychological or emotional effects. Finally, we find that the role of risk on the Tsunami impact is partially captured by the interaction of the damage dummy with borrowers' productive activity.     

Virtuous Interactions in Removing Exclusion: The Link between Foreign Market Access and Access to Education

We outline a methodology which aims to give an answer to the widespread demand of impact analyses by regulators or by funding agencies which need to evaluate the current and past performance of development projects and may lack time series evidence. We devise a retrospective panel data approach to evaluate the dynamics of the effects of fair trade affiliation on the schooling decisions of a sample of Thai organic rice producers across the past 20 years. We find that the probability of school enrolment in families with more than two children is significantly affected by fair trade affiliation years. We try to ascertain whether our finding is robust to endogeneity of producers' choices of local cooperative affiliation and adoption of organic techniques. The significant difference between pre- and post-fair trade affiliation performance documents that fair trade participation generates a significant break in the schooling decisions of affiliated households.     

Introduction: The Meaning and Employment of 'Civil Society' in Latin America

This article discusses the recent adoption of the concept of civil society by Latin American social movements and political theorists. Our argument is that civil society has been employed in two contexts in Latin America: 1) in the re-interpretation of the ambiguous reception of liberalism in the region; 2) in the analysis of the constitution of a realm of societal autonomy throughout the struggle against authoritarianism. It is our contention in this article that social movements and civil associations are playing a central role in both processes.     

‘Religious virtuosi’ and charismatic leaders. The public authority of mystic women in nineteenth-century Italy

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the fama sanctitatis of three mystic women who lived in Italy in the nineteenth century. Through their exceptional phenomena, they earned celebrity and notoriety, becoming charismatic leaders in their communities. These women had an impact on contemporary society by providing innovative models. For the nuns locked in monasteries, Maria Rosa Serra (1766-after 1806) was a model of an active nun. To the ‘angels of the hearth’, Elisabetta Canori Mora (1774–1825) proved that holiness could also be achieved in the domestic sphere. In contrast to the image of the secluded virgin, Maria Domenica Lazzeri (1815–1848) was a model of the ‘victim souls’ in a semi-public place. The analysis of these women allows us to learn more about the charismatic power in the construction of religious celebrities; the women’s role in the nineteenth century; the creation of new models and the autonomy granted them by the Church.     

Reasonable Interpretation: A Radical Legal Realist Critique

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - The notion of reasonable interpretation of legal texts, as opposed to the absurd or unacceptable...     

Discordance of Gross and Histologic Findings in Estimating the Range of Fire of Gunshot Wounds

Forensic pathologist use soot and/or stippling surrounding entrance gunshot wounds in categorizing range of fire. If absent, some pathologists suggest utilizing histology when the range is diagnostically critical. This study investigates the concordance of macroscopic and microscopic findings in estimating range of fire by evaluating gunshot entrance and exit wounds made through human tissue analogs at defined distances using two handgun calibers. Examination of over 150 entrance wounds verified the ease of visually detecting soot from a muzzle distance of contact to 1 foot (30.5 cm), and its absence at 9 feet (274.3 cm). Distinctly apparent was bullet wipe surrounding the entrance wounds regardless of muzzle distance. Although variations existed, dark material was histologically identified in many skin, soft tissue, and bone sections at all ranges with both calibers. These nonparallel results decrease the dependability of histology for range of fire estimation and reinforce using gross observation.     

In‐Depth Analysis of Computer Memory Acquisition Software for Forensic Purposes

The comparison studies on random access memory (RAM) acquisition tools are either limited in metrics or the selected tools were designed to be executed in older operating systems. Therefore, this study evaluates widely used seven shareware or freeware/open source RAM acquisition forensic tools that are compatible to work with the latest 64‐bit Windows operating systems. These tools' user interface capabilities, platform limitations, reporting capabilities, total execution time, shared and proprietary DLLs, modified registry keys, and invoked files during processing were compared. We observed that Windows Memory Reader and Belkasoft's Live Ram Capturer leaves the least fingerprints in memory when loaded. On the other hand, ProDiscover and FTK Imager perform poor in memory usage, processing time, DLL usage, and not‐wanted artifacts introduced to the system. While Belkasoft's Live Ram Capturer is the fastest to obtain an image of the memory, Pro Discover takes the longest time to do the same job.     

The Politics of Preferential Trade Liberalization in Authoritarian Countries

While autocracies constitute a third of all signatories of preferential trade agreements (PTAs), very little research has explained why some autocrats join PTAs while others do not. We argue that this variation reflects the leader’s degree of vulnerability to elite-led coups during leadership change–whether a leader enters power legally or extralegally. New extralegal leaders are more vulnerable than new legal leaders, which encourages extralegal leaders to use PTAs to both build support from exporters and pressure disloyal importers. We test our hypotheses using a dyadic data set of 120 autocracies from 1960 to 2014. Our results show that extralegal leaders sign more and deeper PTAs than legal leaders. Moreover, we find that extralegal leaders with a high risk of coups are more likely to form deep PTAs than extralegal leaders with a low risk of coups. In line with our argument, we also provide evidence that extralegal leaders sign trade agreements that are likely to be enforced. Our article has implications for the political economy of trade and for development studies.     

Charismatic women in religion. Power,media and social change

ABSTRACT

‘Charisma’ can be a catch-all term that obfuscates more than it reveals. What it does reveal often says more about the historical and cultural context in which ‘charisma’ was deployed than about its subject. In this introduction we trace the concept’s contextual shifts across its intersections with gender, religion and power. We explore the different ways in which women in the religious sphere have been considered charismatic, thereby addressing Max Weber’s definition of ‘charisma’ as well as its subsequent reinventions in the social sciences and the humanities. Particular focus goes to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the mediatization of ‘charisma’ created new opportunities and risks for women in religion.