Afro‐Cuban Religion,Ethnobotany and Healthcare in the Context of Global Political and Economic Change

‘Globalisation’, driven by neoliberal‐based policies, can be seen to have significant impacts on ethnobotanical practices, particularly through the commercialisation of traditional knowledge and rise in identity‐based social movements. Despite its relative political and economic isolation in comparison to more ‘neoliberalised’ areas of Latin America, local‐level shifts occurring in post‐Soviet Cuba are similar to those occurring elsewhere in the region. Afro‐Cuban ritual activities have proliferated, particularly in Havana, leading to an increased dependence on the rich magico‐medicinal pharmacopoeias employed in hybridised religions such as santería and palo monte – suggesting that ‘globalisation’ may have profound, albeit indirect, implications for even the most economically marginalised countries such as Cuba.     

Mediated political masculinities: the commander-in-chief vs. the new man

The media play a very influential role in our perceptions of our political leaders, irrespective of where in the world they appear. Since the latter part of the twentieth century, our leaders’ personalities came to play an increasing role in their appeal, in particularly their gendered performances. As Barack Obama's presidency draws to the end of its second term, this paper will examine the representation of his persona in the context of the election in 2008 when he became the first Black US president. Much has been written of him being the first Black president of the USA, however, if we explore his campaign through a gendered lens, we can see that he is equally revolutionary. This contrasts with the gendered construction of male political leaders in other parts of the world, particularly that of Vladimir Putin in Russia. Building on work carried out in relation to the mediatisation and personalisation of politics in the last 50 years, this article shows how gendered performances can be seen to mirror changes in society.     

From Third World internationalism to ‘the internationals’: the transformation of solidarity with Palestine

This paper examines the formation of the concept of ‘the internationals’ in Palestine. The post-Oslo term began to be used in the second intifada to denote white solidarity activists in the colony. In tracing the rise of the concept, the paper charts some of the ways solidarity with the Palestinian people has been domesticated under the Oslo ‘peace process’. Situating and analysing the rise of the concept of ‘the internationals’ within the assemblage of apparatuses and ideological forces inscribed during Oslo, it explains how these material structures have contributed to shifting the notion and praxis of solidarity. Taking Third World internationalist and anti-imperialist feminist practices of solidarity as its starting point, the paper historicises and theorises some of the changes that have taken place over time. It offers an anti-colonial, anti-racist, feminist critique of the individualisation of solidarity and centres indigenous Palestinian perspectives. It concludes by surveying the ways Palestinians are creating alternatives and rebuilding international solidarity.     

Caught in-between: social developments and young men in urban India

Abstract

The lives of young middle-class men in India are greatly different to their parents and older generations. As India economically liberalizes, there is a generational gap that has developed. Young men begin to start bridging this gap by living their lives through various negotiations and performances of appropriate masculinities in the contexts that surround them. Social developments in India mean that processes of consumption, urbanization and new practices of romantic and sexual expression have to be managed alongside older gendered expectations and responsibilities on young men. Through an ethnographic approach, this paper explores the social and cultural realities of young Indian men to understand how they are caught in-between and creatively manage their lives and relationships.     

Che,Chevys, and Hemingway's Daiquiris: Cuban Tourism in a Time of Globalisation

In Cuba over the past two decades, diverse and apparently contradictory aspects of tourism have emerged along with state‐led development and market‐driven initiatives. This ethnographic account examines the complex ways in which Cubans and international visitors experience tourism as an economic and cultural force. Despite the unintended consequences of tourism, which has produced growing social inequality and illicit trade, tourism has met surprising success in appealing to desires for both pre‐revolutionary pleasures and enduring revolutionary culture and politics.     

US–European Intelligence Co-operation on Counter-Terrorism: Low Politics and Compulsion

Since 9/11, intelligence has been viewed as an integral part of a controversial 'war on terror'. The acrimonious public arguments over subjects such as Iraqi WMD assessments, secret prisons and the interrogation of detainees suggest intense transatlantic discord. Yet improbably, some of those countries that have expressed strident disagreement in public are privately the closest intelligence partners. It is argued here that we can explain this seeming paradox by viewing intelligence co-operation as a rather specialist kind of 'low politics' that is focused on practical arrangements. Intelligence is also a fissiparous activity, allowing countries to work together in one area even while they disagree about something else. Meanwhile, the pressing need to deal with a range of increasingly elusive transnational opponents—including organised crime—compels intelligence agencies to work more closely together, despite their instinctive dislike of multilateral sharing. Therefore, transatlantic intelligence co-operation will continue to deepen, despite the complex problems that it entails.     

The World Bank on ‘agriculture for development’: a failure of imagination or the power of ideology?

The paper provides a critique of the World Bank's 2008 World Development Report on the role of agriculture in the development process, specifically its conception of capitalist farming as a pathway out of rural poverty. It is argued that the Report is unable to overcome a fundamental deficit in development thinking based on modernisation theory and an ideological predisposition towards (and belief in) the agency and working of the market. The paper also argues that the failure of the Report to propose radical land redistributive measures for tackling rural poverty derives from its failure to grasp the fundamental cause and dynamics of rural poverty.     

Does taxation lose its role in contemporary democratisation? State revenue production revisited in the third wave of democratisation

Echoing the call for ‘no taxation without representation’, the development of modern taxation went hand-in-hand with Western democratisation. However, taxation appears to have lost its role in the third wave of democratisation. Unlike early democratisers, contemporary autocracies tend to introduce a ready-made modern taxation system before democratisation. With advice from international organisations, the value added tax (VAT), which mature democracies innovated, has been adopted for economic adjustment and development in globalised markets. Despite these divergences, it is argued in this article that a fundamental relationship between taxation and representation remains. Taxation inherently involves a social contract between revenue-seeking rulers and citizens, and thus involves their bargaining over representation. Therefore, the production of state revenue intervenes in contemporary democratisation as well. By factoring in the effect of the VAT in 143 developing countries between 1960 and 2007, an entropy-balancing analysis has confirmed its important role in contemporary democratisation. The taxation-democratisation linkage has travelled from early to contemporary democratisation.     

经济全球化与发达资本主义国家经济

本文从历史的发展和资本主义经济现实出发,阐述了经济全球化并不完全是由发达国家发动和倡导的一场运动,而是由科学技术进步和社会生产力发展推动的一种客观趋势.由于和资本主义相生相伴,经济全球化不可避免地带有资本主义性质,在经济全球化中,发达国家受益最多,但同样也面临一些冲击和挑战.各国只有不断地进行调整和变革,才能适应全球化的发展趋势.随着参与经济全球化国家类型的增多,经济全球化的发展趋势并不必然是资本主义化.