A New Nationalism for a New Era: The Political Ideology of Mexican Neoliberalism

The structural economic reforms justified by neoliberal ideas that transformed Mexico's statist political economy in the 1980s posed a direct challenge to the nationalism inherited from the revolutionary era that had long served to legitimise the interventions of the social state. This article examines the strategy adopted by the administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988–1994) to reconcile the rival ambitions of neoliberalism and nationalism and its reasons for doing so. It does so by examining ideas concerning the state, society and the individual found in writing and speeches published in political organs and the press during this period.     

Jurisprudential Dilemmas of European Law

Making a first sketch of philosophical issues arising fromEuropean Community law I want to present a series ofmore or less obvious, and more or less interrelated dilemmas,or even double binds.(i) Deepening the community becomes incompatible withwidening membership. (ii) National states seem bothnecessary for and obstructive in articulating transnationalproblems. (iii) The more democracy is needed as a warrantfor the public exercise of political power in Europe, themore the very concept of democracy on a European scaleevades understanding. (iv) European unity presupposes aunifying rule of law, while member states have radicallydifferent conceptions of this principle. (v) Even the verycore of European integration, the common market, is subjectto two conflicting and, indeed, incompatible doctrines ofcompetition. In explaining the nature of each dilemma I willtry to take my cue from the Maastricht Treaty wherever thisseems suitable. Then I will elaborate on the jurisprudentialproblems involved in it. Finally, each section will be closedby an attempt to state the nature of these problems inphilosophical terms.     

Immigrants into Citizens

This paper examines the citizenship test which is part of the UK naturalisation process. The test is based on the government publication Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship. A detailed analysis of its two editions (2004 and 2007) reveals that the conception of the citizen, and the picture of British government and society underlying each are very different. There is, additionally, a mismatch between the rationale offered for the Life in the United Kingdom test and what the latter can in fact test: the attitudes and civic virtues mentioned in the rationale are untestable on-line. A society which aspires to be a democracy, it is argued, needs to scrutinise carefully the fairness and democratic appropriateness of its procedures for admitting new citizens.     

When the exception becomes the rule: borders,sovereignty, and citizenship

Borders are a unique political space, in which both sovereignty and citizenship are performed by individuals and sovereigns. Using the work of Agamben and Foucault, this article examines how decisions made at the border alienate each and every traveler crossing the frontier, not simply the ‘sans papiers’ or refugees. The governmentality at play in the border examination relies on an embedded confessionary complex and the ‘neurotic citizen’, as well as structures of identity, documentation, and data management. The state border is a permanent state of exception that clearly demonstrates the importance of biopolitics to the smooth operation of sovereign power.     

Democracy,Subsidiarity, and Citizenship in the ‘European Commonwealth’

Is there a ‘constitutional moment’in contemporary Europe? What if anything is the constitution of theEuropean Union; what kind of polity is the Union? The suggestionoffered is that there is a legally constituted order, and that asuitable term to apply to it is a‘commonwealth’, comprising a commonwealthof ‘post-sovereign’ states. Is it a democraticcommonwealth, and can it be? Is there sufficiently ademos or ‘people’ for democracy to be possible?If not democratic, what is it? Monarchy, oligarchy, ordemocracy, or a ‘mixed constitution’? Argued: thereis a mixed constitution containing a reasonableelement of democratic rule. The value of democracy isthen explored in terms of individualistic versusholistic evaluation and instrumental versus intrinsicvalue. Subsidiarity can be considered in a similarlight, suggestively in terms of forms of democracyappropriate to different levels of self-government.The conclusion is that there is no absolute democraticdeficit in the European commonwealth.

     

Catching the Bad Guy: Morphing Composite Faces Helps

Composite faces built by eyewitnesses commonly are poor likenesses of the target face. When there are multiple witnesses, however, an opportunity exists to morph the composites. Morphs were rated as more similar to the target face than were the mean ratings of the individual composites. However, as hypothesized, the morph also came to resemble non-target faces more than the individual composites did (a prototype effect). This prototype effect was so strong that the morphs resembled non-targets more than the individual composites resembled the targets. In addition, morphing composites produced an attractiveness bias, which made the morphing of composites less effective for less attractive targets. Even when the prototype effect and the attractiveness bias were controlled for, however, a true morph-superiority effect continued to exist. The author won the Psi Chi/APS Albert Bandura Graduate Research Award in 2005--2006 for this study.     

Multiple Self‐Inflicted Stab Wounds to Neck,Chest and Abdomen as a Unique Manner of Suicide

Abstract: This is a case report of a 30‐year‐old man found dead in his flat lying on the floor with multiple stab wounds over the body, surrounded by an extensive volume of blood. Examination of the scene of death showed a secure flat, locked from inside. A blood‐stained knife was present close to the body and two unstained notes left on the sofa at the locus. A small plastic bag containing white powder (which following toxicological examinations appeared to be cocaine) and an almost full bottle of beer were present on a table. Autopsy revealed more than 40 stab wounds to neck, chest, and abdomen arranged in isolated groups within which the wounds showed similar directions and had a transverse orientation. Together with hesitation marks located on the neck and wrists these characteristics allowed to interpret this case as a suicide.