Conveners as champions of collaboration in the public sector: a case from South Africa

This article analyses the role of conveners in facilitating interorganisational collaboration. Consistent with previous research, the article shows that conveners help overcome the obstacles frequent in interorganisational collaboration processes. It also illustrates further how their effectiveness depends on their credibility among the partners, their familiarity with the collaborative project and their being perceived as unbiased intermediaries. Most interestingly, the article advances our knowledge on conveners by suggesting that their behaviour is consistent with that common among ‘champions’ of innovation. They are likely to assume a leadership role and use influence politics, such as salesmanship, personal appeal and persuasion. These findings build on a case study of successful collaboration between two government agencies in South Africa. We believe, however, that the findings are likely to apply to other types of organisation, private and voluntary, and to other country contexts. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Good governance and multidimensional poverty: A comparative analysis of 71 countries

In 2015, the international community committed to “reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions.” According to international development agencies, good governance is crucial to achieving this. We examine the relationship between good governance and multidimensional poverty using hierarchical models and survey data for 71 countries. Our results suggest there is a direct effect of good governance on multidimensional poverty and that good governance is associated with reduced horizontal inequalities. However, we find evidence of a beneficial effect of good governance for middle‐income countries but not for low‐income countries. Thus, while our results suggest that good governance can play a role in reducing multidimensional poverty, they also suggest that governance reforms alone might not yield the desired effect for all countries.     

Brazilian Legal Culture: From the Tradition of Exception to the Promise of Emancipation

This article investigates the existence of an original Brazilian legal culture. It parts from a critical examination of the key moments in the history of Brazil through the accounts of its most important scholars, such as Caio Prado Júnior, Darcy Ribeiro, Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, Wilson Martins, Oliveira Viana, Roberto Damatta, José Murilo de Carvalho, among others. It identifies in the Brazilian legal culture something one might call tradition of exception, which can be found in many of its most prominent aspects, such as the persistent denial of any general or abstract regulatory standards, the uncritical introduction of foreign doctrines and legal patterns, the maintenance of aristocratic traditions in social life and the historical disregard of the Brazilian people as political subject. The article also offers a reflection on the problems and potentials of the current historic moment, in which for the first time Brazilians face the possibility of a genuine cultural emancipation.     

The experience of the Forensic Anthropology Service of the Medical Examiner's Office in Porto Alegre, Brazil

The Forensic Anthropology Service of the Medical Examiner's Office of Porto Alegre was created in September 1997 to examine human skeletons, establish identification and identify lesions that may explain death. From September 1997 to December 2006, 344 skeletons were examined (mean: 37 examinations/year), and 322 were human remains. Most skeletal remains belonged to men (61%) whose age was estimated at 21-50 years (61%). The most frequent bone lesions were caused by fractures (71%), firearm projectiles (11%) and the effects of weather (10%). Antemortem bone changes due to consolidated fractures, degenerative bone processes, congenital bone diseases, and medical procedures were found in 38 skeletal remains (14%). Identification was possible in 83 cases (26%); of these, 78% were identified by DNA analysis, 16% by dental examination, and 6% by anatomic changes associated with healed fractures.     

The spectre of Haiti: structural antiblackness,the far-right backlash and the fear of a black majority in Brazil

Abstract

This article situates the far-right backlash in Brazil within the larger Latin American context, including its colonial legacy, leftist governments’ failure to deliver promises of inclusion, and the US–China geopolitical dispute over the region’s strategic natural resources. By situating Bolsonaro’s electoral victory within these dynamics, our analysis presents an alternative to two common perspectives. First, studies of the region’s political moment and of Brazilian society in particular do not pay enough attention to institutional and everyday racism, and instead focus mostly on comparative analysis of governmental policies and social class dynamics. Second, critical perspectives that take into account racial inequalities are often not attuned to structural dynamics of gendered antiblackness, and instead present racism as a broad set of practices that negatively affect non-white people in related manners. Our context-specific analysis of the electoral reemergence of the far right in Brazil aims at contributing to an understanding of persistent dynamics of racial inequality within the region as part of a long, enduring and foundational odium of Black people.     

Chinese Geopolitics: Space Program Cooperation among China,Brazil, and Russia

With the Obama Administration’s foreign policy pivot to Asia, the Chinese government is concerned about the possibility of new challenges in their foreign policy sphere of influence. Since the 1990s, many political and military analysts have explored the eventual rivalry between these two states. However, events in the Middle East preoccupy U.S. attention, leaving China moderately free in Southeast Asia, though it is uncertain for how long this will persist and if the United States will reallocate its attention to contain China. In this case, the Chinese government will need to develop countermeasures to sustain its geopolitical interests. There are two focuses in this analysis: (1) the Chinese geopolitical naval situation, exploring the problems in the geosphere surrounding China and the eventual competition with other regional powers and the United States in East Asia; and (2) the potential for space program cooperation with Russia and Brazil, which, in turn, dramatically changes the balance of power in outer space through positive aspects of Russian technical capabilities and strategic Brazilian geographic (Alcântara launch site).     

Articulated Thoughts of Intimate Partner Abusive Men during Anger Arousal: Correlates with Personality Disorder Features

This study extends Eckhardt et al. (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66:259–269, 1998) research on cognitive correlates of anger arousal among intimate partner abusers (IPA; n = 130), distressed/nonviolent (DNV; n = 27), and satisfied/nonviolent men (SNV; n = 21) during a standardized anger induction task by examining variables thought to differentiate batterers. Variables pertinent to the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (Psychological Bulletin, 116:476–497, 1994) typology—borderline and antisocial personality, psychopathy, general violence, and partner violence—were correlated to articulated cognitive distortions. Since between group comparisons were not significant, articulated anger was correlated with antisocial, borderline, and psychopathic features. Borderline personality features correlated positively with articulations reflecting jealousy. Articulated themes were more consistently related to psychopathology than to violence, suggesting that tailoring treatments to personality features of clients may prove fruitful.     

The Variability of Ecstasy Tablets Composition in Brazil

The content of ecstasy tablets has been changing over the years, and nowadays 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is not always present in the tablets. The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical composition in the seized tablets labeled as ecstasy. We analyzed samples from 150 different seizures made by Sao Paulo's State Police by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. MDMA was present in 44.7% of the analyzed samples, and another twenty different active substances were identified in these tablets, such as caffeine, 2C‐B, piperazines, amphetamines, phencyclidine, and others. Methamphetamine was present in 22% of these samples. The results demonstrate a huge shift in the pattern of trafficking of synthetic drugs, where MDMA has been replaced in tablets mostly by illicit psychoactive substances, in a clear attempt to bypass the law. The great variability in the tablets composition may lead to an increased risk of drug poisoning.     

THE CONCEPT OF PERSON AS AN EMERGENT PHENOMENON

The definition of person hasn＇t still been satisfactorily agreed upon in scientific studies or in those of a philosophical nature. In the field of law, the concept is even weaker. However, it appears that person is an elementary concept as well as one of great practical influences. In the field of Jurisprudence, one is able to reflect upon some of the repercussions that a renewed definition could lead to. Questions related to studies on embryos.