The Diputación de la Grandeza and the organization of ‘Retrospective Art Exhibitions’ in the second half of the nineteenth century

This paper analyses the art policies deployed by old Spanish nobility in the second half of the nineteenth century, and in particular those who became involved in organising what were then known as retrospective art exhibitions. The old nobility, whose families held titles that dated back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and belonged to the category of Grandes (Grandees) of Spain, joined together in the Diputación de la Grandeza de España – a private association created in opposition to the new nobility. It was a consultative institution attached to the Crown and created in 1815 under the honorary presidency of the King. This paper argues that the distinction sought by this regrouping of the old nobility does not imply lack of engagement in the new artistic model based on the notion of fine arts, in which they were responsible for a number of rather telling nuances. As well as sharing with the bourgeoisie the general idea that the arts were in need of protection, the nobility cultivated the image that patronage of the arts was linked to tradition, and this had consequences for the evaluation of history, the musealisation of their private collections and the public reception of old art.     

Political Parties and Governors as Determinants of Legislative Behavior in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, 1988–2006

This article examines the relative importance of regional and national forces in shaping the behavior of Brazilian legislators at the national level. A widely held view is that national legislators respond to state pressures in making decisions, rather than pressures from the national government. Governors not only can influence national debates but also can determine outcomes by exerting control over their states' legislative delegations. This article examines a dataset of all roll-call votes in the Chamber of Deputies between 1989 and 2006 to isolate and evaluate the impact of local pressures on legislative voting. Spanning the terms of five presidents and five different congresses, the data show that the local influence is weaker than the national on the voting decisions of individual legislators and the voting cohesion of state delegations. Alternative institutional resources allow the central government to counteract the centrifugal pressures of federalism and other institutional influences.     

Conceptualising components,conditions and trajectories of food sovereignty’s ‘sovereignty’

This paper addresses the ambiguity of the term ‘sovereignty’ in food sovereignty (FS), intending to clarify the ‘aspirational sovereignty’ that food sovereignty movements indicate as the ideal configuration of power that would allow FS to flourish, or which might help measure movement towards FS. Since aspirational sovereignty is conditioned by existing power relations, the paper elaborates components of ‘actually existing sovereignty’, based on readings of a variety of political and social science literatures. By critically assessing the difference between actually existing and aspirational sovereignty across three geographic–political levels, the paper offers strategic options for constructing FS, and suggests what such an elaborated definition of FS’s sovereignty might offer future research on FS.     

Exu is not Satan – the dialogics of memory and resistance among Afro-Brazilians

ABSTRACT

In 2000s Brazil, an unprecedented number of Brazilian afrodescendentes (Afro-Descendants) have been mobilizing to secure rights and resources for the Brazilian black population. From carnival parading in ‘cultural’ groups to electoral campaigning, from consciousness-raising education to antiracist community outreach, black activists have been aggressively taking a critical stance toward the discursive fabric of Brazilian race relations and national identity. Placing examples of their discursive struggles over Afro-Brazilian history and culture under the lens of intertextual and heteroglossic relations, I illustrate black activists’ efforts to dispute what they see as misconceptions about black people and blackness that have found their way into the dominant narrative conceptions of Brazilian society. In doing so, I argue, they are accomplishing something of broader social significance: They are revising not only the history and collective memory of race relations in Brazil but blackness itself.     

The Principle of the ‘Common’, Legal Pluralism and Decolonization in Latin America

Law and Critique - This paper aims to introduce, in the context of Latin America, the theoretical epistemic discussion regarding the theme of the ‘common’ as a political principle which...     

A quantitative differentiation method for plastic bags by wide angle X-ray diffraction for tracing the source of illegal drugs

Thirty-three shopping bags, commonly encountered in the packaging of drug doses, were characterized by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). Using this single technique, without sample preparation, nearly all the considered samples could be differentiated, achieving a discriminating power of 0.992. The rather large degree of variability existing in grocery bags, even though they are mass produced, was shown, confirming that these items can be useful in tracing the source of illicit drug doses.     

Microsatellite autosomal genotyping data in four indigenous populations from El Salvador

Fifteen microsatellite loci (D3S1358, TH01, D21S11, D18S51, PENTA E, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, CSF1PO, PENTA D, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX, and FGA) have been genotyped in four indigenous populations from El Salvador (Central America), namely, Conchagua, Izalco, Panchimalco, and San Alejo. Here we have obtained values for several indices of forensic interest for these population samples. Population differentiation test showed no significant statistical differences between these four populations, and an AMOVA test indicates that most of the genetic variation (approximately 100%) occurs within individuals. Population pairwise genetic comparisons with other population samples seem to indicate the existence of a major Native American component in the populations from El Salvador.     

CAUSATION IN EC MERGER CONTROL

"there are ever so many ways that a world might be; and oneof these many ways is the way that this world is" (David Lewis,1986)

This article looks at two areas of merger control under EC Lawwhere the principles of causation are applied and, in our view,misapplied. The article traces the development of the conceptof the "counterfactual" in antitrust law. It then draws on thisanalysis in considering the operation of the "failing firm defense,"and in particular the standard of proof employed by the Commissionwhen analyzing the "counterfactual" in relation to the failingfirm defense. We argue that the Commission employs an excessivelyhigh standard of proof, and that this standard of proof contributesto the drawing of the failing firm defense too narrowly, througha misapplication of the principles of causation. We then proceedto contrast and prefer the approach of the UK Competition Commissionin recent cases. In the final part of the article we considerscenarios where two or more mergers are contemplated in thesame market at the same time, in cases of both parallel andoverlapping mergers. In these complicated scenarios, which requireprospective, multifaceted analysis, we set out in detail how,despite inherent difficulties, a similarly rigorous applicationof the principles of causation produces coherent results.