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...     

Literary reviews

Autobiographies of the townships. Gone with the Twilight: a story of Sophiatown. Don Mattera London: Zed Press. 1987. 151pp. £19.95hb/£5.95pb

Kaffir Boy: growing out of apartheid. Mark Mathabane London: Pan. 1987. 354pp. £3.50pb

Subtle dissent: Malawi's poetry of protest. Nightwatcher, Nightsong. Frank M Chipasula Peterborough, UK: Paul Green. 1986. 25pp. £1.50pb

Napolo Poems. Steve Chimombo Zomba, Malawi: Manchichi Publishers. 1987. 55pp n/p

Selective blindness. Women in African Literature Today, Vol. 15. Edited by Eldred Jones, Eustace Palmer and Marjorie Jones London: James Currey/Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press. 1987. 162pp. £7.50/$8.95pb

Ngambika: studies of women in African literature. Edited by Carole Boyce Davies and Anne Adams Graves Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press. 1986. 298pp. $35.00hb/$11.95pb

Form and content. Reading the African Novel. Simon Gikandi London: James Currey. 1987. 172pp. £8.95pb

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Textual adventure. Around the Day in Eighty Worlds. Julio Cortázar Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Christensen San Francisco: North Point Press. 1986. 293pp. J22.50hb

A Change of Light and other stories. Julio Cortazar Translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa London: Arena. 1987. 275pp. £3.50pb

Master of the fantastic. The Dream of Heroes. Adolfo Bioy Casares Translated from the Spanish by Diana Thorold London: Quartet Books. 1987. 212pp. £9.95hb

Popular heroes. I Dreamt the Snow was Burning. Antonio Skarmeta Translated from the Spanish by Malcolm Coad London/New York: Readers International. 1985. 220pp. 57.95/£4.95pb

Burning Patience. Antonio Skarmeta Translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver London/Methuen. 1988. 126pp. £9.95hb

Struggling towards a voice. Angel. Merle Collins London: The Women's Press. 1987. 294pp. £12.95hb/£4.95pb

Nowhere to hide. The Arkansas Testament. Derek Walcott London: Faber & Faber. 1988. 117pp. £3.95pb

Unity of the spirit. Modern Arabic Poetry: an anthology. Edited by Salma Khadra Jayyusi New York: Columbia University Press. 1987. 498pp. Hb n/p

Defiant creativity. Let It Be Told: essays by Black women writers in Britain. Edited by Lauretta Ngcobo London: Pluto Press. 1987. 146pp. £12.95hb London: Virago Press. 1988. 176pp. £4.50pb

Charting the Journey: writings by Black and Third World women. Edited by Shabnam Grewal, Jackie Kay, Liliane Landor, Gail Lewis and Pratibha. Parmar London: Sheba Feminist Publishers. 1988. 322pp. £7.95/$10.95pb     

Italy and the community after thirty years of experience

Convincing the Pakistani military to focus its attention on the Afghan Taliban and associated groups has so far proved unsuccessful. The Obama administration's reliance on economic incentives and regional peace initiatives, such as a dialogue with India on Kashmir, has failed to deliver tangible results. Instead, India's footprint within Afghanistan has expanded, leaving Pakistani elites ever more anxious. Balancing Indian and Pakistani interests in South Asia remains a top priority for Western governments, and most importantly the US. In the current milieu this will require shifting Western bureaucratic focus from the age old and seemingly intractable Kashmir dispute to maintaining the peace within Afghanistan. This article outlines why this shift should be considered, and how the India--Pakistan trust deficit might be bridged.     

Dixit versus Williamson: the ‘fundamental transformation’ reconsidered

Comparing the literature on hold-up and strategic entry deterrence leads to a puzzling role for sunk or specific investments in affecting investor’s incentive. In one case, non-redeployable investments decrease investor’s ex-post bargaining power. In the other they increase it. When the entry deterrence effect is acknowledged, the threat of hold-up against investor is largely weakened. Contrary to previous literature, in this respect, asset specificity may even constitute an endogenous enforcement device for incomplete contracts. We conclude that the impact of asset specificity on investor’s post-contractual power, far from being general, depends on the nature of interactions between contractual arrangements and market structure.