Population: malady or symptom?

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) opened the dawn of a new era in discourse over population. A newfound consensus was reached between North and South which was not there during the two previous world population conferences in Bucharest and Mexico. While consensus was reached at the 1994 ICPD on the need for action, however, debate over population is far from settled. Causes of population growth, the links between population growth and economic development, and environmental degradation remain controversial topics. The authors analyze the basis of the ICPD consensus at the local, national, and global levels. They also compare the development discourse to the political discourse over population. Both discourses emphasize different aspects of a far more complex reality. The question is which discourse to choose as a basis for drawing policy recommendations. The emerging view on the way to Cairo was that consensus would be achieved on the basis of development discourse. Success on the action plan rests upon the belief that more contraceptives, more health services, and more schools will be enough to reduce fertility rates. The political discourse, however, is better than the development discourse as a basis for policy making because it stresses the need for integration rather than running the risk of exclusion. The political discourse is also more demanding.     

The hate that dare not speak its name: Pornography qua semi-political speech

In this essay we shall examine the contemporary jurisprudential thinking and legal precedents surrounding the issue of the sanctionability of pornography. We shall catalogue them by their logical presumptions, such as whether they view pornography as speech or act, whether they view pornography as obscenity, political hate-speech or anomalous other, whether they would scrutinize legislation governing pornography by a balancing of the harm of repression against the harm of permission, and who exactly they view as the victims.We shall take a special interest in the most recent, but unsuccessful, attempt by a subgroup of feminists to proscribe pornography by treating it as neither political speech nor sexual speech but speech which causes harm which is both political and sexual. They would like it to be considered as a special kind of odious propaganda undeserving of protection because it promulgates a mental state conducive to criminal activity, and hence is criminal in and of itself. However, the repression of propaganda, even odious propaganda, is not so easily accomplished in this country.Most anti-censors have emphasized the uncertainty of the causal connection between pornography and sexual violence. We shall contend that this is not the essential issue, and that, even if we agree with the allegations of pornography's prurient non-intellectual appeal and its tendency to excite criminal hostility, the current understanding of the Bill of Rights allows sanctioning only under the stringent requirement of the showing of a clear and present danger of specific and immediate acts.We raise the question of whether there should be a new standard for speech which is simultaneously political and sexual, and/or for speech whose harmful message is presented subliminally, on the grounds that such speech may not be adequately opposed by counter speech in the marketplace of ideas.     

Migration and social gender relations: the anthropological perspective

"This article reviews Mexican research of female migration. An analysis is made of socio-demographic and anthropological studies that cover the relations between inequality among the genders, the causes and features of migration, and the work performed by female migrants in their places of origin and destination. The paper responds to the growing interest shown in international literature [on] migration in order to determine the influence of gender identity in the motivations and features of the migration of women, as well as the consequences of spatial mobility on their social conditions and their autonomy." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Urban aspects of labor migration: the situation in the countries of origin

"A bibliographical review serves to analyze the role of urban growth in patterns of international labor-force migration, as well as the effect of this migration on the development of the countries of origin, especially on their cities. While the review confirms the general idea that international migrants are either peasants or highly qualified personnel, it also shows that qualified workers are increasingly involved in international labor movements and that a great part of them come from large cities. It is to be expected that in these circumstances large cities of the countries of origin will become more integrated to international migratory systems." (SUMMARY IN ENG)