“I've always suffered from sirens'’: The cinema vamp and Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood

The most important source for Robin Vote, the heroine of Djuna Barnes’ modernist novel, Nightwood (1936), is the vamp, whose heyday in the middle teens was also the period of Barnes’ highest productivity as a newspaper journalist. The vamp, as full‐grown femme fatale and “wild child,” appeared first in her early feature articles, later in short plays, stories, and poems. These and her stylish pen and ink sketches of vamps established her reputation as a “specialist.” She was one of the first to note that “vamping” was a habit of mind as well as a mode of fashion. Barnes’ interest in both manifestations of the vamp craze powered her conception of Robin Vote, a vamp malgré lui.     

Building Criminal Authority: A Comparative Analysis of Drug Gangs in Rio de Janeiro and Recife

Why do drug gangs develop sophisticated authority functions in some places and not in others? Comparing two Brazilian cities, Rio de Janeiro and Recife, this article argues that territorially embedded informal authority structures from earlier times, coupled with sporadic and extremely violent policing, encouraged drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro to develop authoritative functions and residents to acquiesce to them. In Recife, by contrast, drug gangs inherited diffuse and territorially independent authority structures and confronted a much less lethally violent police force. Consequently, they failed to find common cause with local residents, and their organizational development was truncated.     

Cultural heritage and national identity in Afghanistan

An innate sense of the essence of their culture sustained Afghans through 24 years of conflict and displacement. Although they continue to cherish the diversity of regional differences, individuals cling tenaciously to their national identity, upholding traditional values and customs that distinguish them from their neighbours. From the beginning of the twentieth century, attempts to foster unity through nation-building activities in mostly urban areas met with mixed success; the latest attempts to cast Afghans in a puritanical Islamic mould met with disaster. Years of discord stretched taut the fabric of the society and national traits once honoured hallmarks of the culture were compromised. Yet the fundamentals of the culture remain strong, changed in some ways but readily recognisable as uniquely Afghan. Current expectations aim to engage various cultural elements as bonding vehicles to hasten reconstruction and strengthen peace.     

Gender mainstreaming in organisational culture and agricultural research processes

Despite increased attention to gender issues in the international development arena since the rise of feminism in the 1970s, few agricultural research organisations have integrated gender in their problem diagnosis and technology development. Gender mainstreaming can significantly enhance the impact of research and technology development. Entrenching gender mainstreaming in organisations and their research agendas remains a challenge. To overcome it requires political will, accountability, a change in organisational culture, and technical capacity within an organisation. This article presents an experience of gender-mainstreaming practice in the institutional culture and agricultural research processes by Urban Harvest and the International Potato Centre (CIP).