Information exchange networks at the climate science‐policy interface: Evidence from the Czech Republic,Finland, Ireland,and Portugal

Scientifically informed climate policymaking starts with the exchange of credible, salient, and legitimate scientific information between scientists and policymakers. It is therefore important to understand what explains the exchange of scientific information in national climate policymaking processes. This article applies exponential random graph models to network data from the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, and Portugal to investigate which types of organizations are favored sources of scientific information and whether actors obtain scientific information from those with similar beliefs as their own. Results show that scientific organizations are favored sources in all countries, while only in the Czech Republic do actors obtain scientific information from those with similar policy beliefs. These findings suggest that actors involved in climate policymaking mostly look to scientific organizations for information, but that in polarized contexts where there is a presence of influential denialists overcoming biased information exchange is a challenge.     

Validation of the MiniFiler™ Kit in archaeological samples

We evaluate the usefulness of MiniFiler™ Kit in the field of ancient DNA. A set of samples belonging to different locations from Iberian Peninsula, with ages ranging from Neolithic to XVII century, was tested. Results could be replicated in only one burial site, probably due to the taphonomic conditions. Other cases could only produce partial or none genetic profiles.     

Emotions and Sentiments in Judicial Deliberation

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - The traditional perspective on emotions, anchored in the Western philosophical tradition,...     

The gender-apartheid analogy in the transnational feminist imaginary: Ms. Magazine and the Feminist Majority Foundation, 1972-2002

Abstract

This article considers the rhetorical implications of transnational exchange between feminist activists in the late twentieth century. It uses Gloria Steinem’s Ms. Magazine (est. 1972) and the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) as a lens through which to understand the emergence of the gender-apartheid analogy in the 1990s. During the 1970s and 1980s, Ms. demonstrated knowledge of and commitment to the anti-apartheid movement. However, when the FMF and Ms. began using apartheid as an analogy for gender-based oppression in the Middle East after the fall of the apartheid regime, the limitations of transnational understanding became fundamentally apparent. This article traces the historical and rhetorical foundations for the use of race-based analogies in women’s rights activism. It then examines the journalistic and foreign policy perspectives espoused toward the South African apartheid regime and women’s rights abuses under fundamentalist Islamic regimes. At the turn of the twenty-first century, this article argues, the transnational feminist imaginary was shaped by a process of inspiration and appropriation which delimited solidarity and understanding across transnational networks of feminist activists.     

Recovering the transnational life of Charlotte Maxeke: an interview with Zubeida Jaffer

Abstract

A conversation with Zubeida Jaffer, discussing her recent book Beauty of the Heart: The Life and Times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke (2016) and Maxeke’s perspectives towards colonialism, women’s rights, and transnational pan-African movements during the twentieth century.     

Tensions between congress and the executive in nineteenth-century Argentina: federal intervention and separation of powers

SUMMARY

This article analyses the debates that took place in the Congress of Argentina between the enactment of the constitution in 1853 and the end of the century, regarding the powers of the executive and legislative branches for intervening in the provinces in case of internal conflict or external attack. It focuses on the controversies arising from different bills submitted to congress in order to enact a general intervention act to resolve, once and for all, the powers of each branch in that matter. Although those bills did not pass, a study of them shows the existing disagreements about the operation of the federal system and the separation of powers. Some of the differences were linked to the discussion of American constitutional doctrine in which Argentina had been engaged since the mid nineteenth century in order to solve the dilemmas of organizing its political institutions. This article claims that this analysis contributes to ongoing debates on the roots of political conflict in Argentina by showing the importance of institutional controversies, and argues that it is necessary to address the role of congress and of doctrinal dissent in order to revise the role that historiography has given to the disputes over power as an overall explanation for political confrontations.     

The Economics of Forced Migration

This article reviews the economics literature on the impacts of forced migration. The literature is divided into two parts: impacts on forced migrants and impacts on host communities. Studies exploring the impact of forced migration due to WWII suggest that the long-term impact is often positive. The literature for developing countries suggests that there are serious consequences of forced migration for those forced to migrate. These consequences range from worse labour market outcomes to less consumption smoothing. The impact on host communities seems to be mixed and there are winners and losers. The article provides suggestions for future research.     

Axonal injury in young pediatric head trauma: a comparison study of β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) immunohistochemical staining in traumatic and nontraumatic deaths

We tested the independent utility of β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) immunohistochemical staining as evidence of brain trauma in the deaths of young children. Blinded reviewers retrospectively reviewed immunostained brain tissues from homicidal deaths, age-matched control cases without evidence of trauma, as well as cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The reviewers correctly identified five of the seven cases with documented inflicted head trauma. However, one of seven age-matched control cases and one of 10 SIDS/sudden unexplained death in infancy (SUDI) cases demonstrated staining patterns similar to those seen in cases of inflicted trauma. We discuss these cases and the circumstances surrounding them with the intent to explain the difficulties associated with immunohistological interpretation of axonal injury. Although the utility of β-APP is quite powerful if not confounded by global hypoxic-ischemic injury, ultimately, β-APP studies should be only one piece of information in the determination of cause and manner of death.