‘Racism: From the Labour Movement to the Far-Right’

This report is a reflection on a recent conference, ‘Racism: From the Labour Movement to the Far-Right’, which was held at the University of Glasgow from Friday 5th to Saturday 6th September 2014. The authors discuss the main themes that the conference sought to address, consider the key highlights of the event including a summary of the opening address by Floya Anthias, and offer some suggestions as to how the initiative may be taken forward.     

From bi-racial to tri-racial: Towards a new system of racial stratification in the USA

In this article I argue that the bi-racial order (white vs non-white) typical of the United States is undergoing a profound transformation. Because of drastic changes in the demography of the nation as well as changes in the racial structure of the world-system, the United States is developing a complex, Latin America-like racial order. Specifically, I suggest that the new order will have two central features: three loosely organized racial strata (white, honorary white, and the collective black) and a pigmentocratic logic. I examine some objective, subjective, and social interaction indicators to assess if the Latin Americanization thesis holds some water. Although more refined data are needed to conclusively make my case, the available indicators support my thesis. I conclude this article by outlining some of the potential implications of Latin Americanization for the future of race relations in the United States.     

“Not helping out”: classed strategies of the (non) contribution of children in immigrant family businesses

This article analyses the role of immigrant entrepreneurs’ class positions in understanding the participation of children in business activities. Immigrant entrepreneurship scholarship has highlighted how the participation of children depends on relations of reciprocity as well as on the lack of opportunities in paid employment. I argue that the (non) contribution of children has to do with the social mobility strategies that migrant families put in place. Drawing on the narratives of fifty-five Latin American entrepreneurs and family members in Spain, I explain (i) the role of the small firm in trajectories of social mobility, (ii) how class positions explain the (non) participation of children, and (iii) the mechanisms by which downward mobility is cushioned through practices of distinction for middle-class entrepreneurs. The article contributes to nuance our understanding of the role of family ties in migrant firms by integrating the impact of class on the lives of migrants’ children.     

Liberalism and racism: an ‘elective affinity’?

This appraisal of David Scott FitzGerald and David Cook-Martín's Culling the Masses: The Democratic Origins of Racist Immigration Policy in the Americas argues that there is no ‘elective affinity’ between liberalism and racism, which is the core argument of the book. The notion of ‘elective affinity’, which the authors borrow from Max Weber, requires a structural homology between the ‘electively’ related elements that just does not exist in this case. The relationship between both is entirely contingent, ‘racism’ being a doctrine of inter-group relations while ‘liberalism’ is a doctrine of intra-group relations, with no consideration of how the boundaries of the group are constituted.     

Assisted reproductive technology in Latin America: an example of regional cooperation and development

¹ Correspondence address. E-mail: fzegers{at}clc.cl BACKGROUND: Since 1990, the Latin American Registry of Assisted Reproductioncovers more than 80% of the assisted reproductive technology(ART) cycles performed regionally. METHODS: 130 centers enter their data online, and after collection, itis analyzed and published regionally. RESULTS: This paper analyses trends in ART procedures initiated between1990 and 2004, and babies born up to 2005. Overall, the datainclude 150,000 embryo transfer (ET) cycles, 33,500 deliveriesand the birth of 44,978 babies. The yearly increment in initiatedcycles is below other regions of the world. The economic, religiousand social factors explaining this limited access to ART arediscussed. Major trends include: an increase in the age of femalepartner undergoing treatments; a marked shift towards an increasein the use of ICSI; and a steady increase in the delivery ratesper ET reaching 24.6% in IVF/ICSI cycles, and 30.7% in OD cycles.Despite a slight decrease in the mean number of ET (2.9), almosthalf of all births are either twins or triplets. CONCLUSIONS: Our region is confronted with two main issues: limited accessto those who can afford it; and a high number of embryos transferredresulting in almost 50% of babies born from multiple births.     

拉丁美洲药用植物

本文简介了拉丁美洲药用植物的总体情况,30多种重要种类的产地、药用部位、活性成分、功效,以及常用种类的简要情况。     

Articulations of Islamophobia: from the extreme to the mainstream?

This article will examine the construction and functions of, as well as relationship between, the diverse and changing articulations of Islamophobia. The aim is to contribute to debates about the definition of Islamophobia, which have tended to be contextually specific, fixed and/or polarized between racism and religious prejudice, between extreme and mainstream, state and non-state versions or undifferentiated, and offer a more nuanced framework to: (a) delineate articulations of Islamophobia as opposed to precise types and categories; (b) highlight the porosity in the discourse between extreme articulations widely condemned in the mainstream, and normalized and insidious ones, which the former tend to render more acceptable in comparison; (c) map where these intersect in response to events, historical and political conditions and new ideological forces and imperatives and (d) compare these articulations of Islamophobia in two contexts, France and the US.     

The Tertiary history of the northern temperate element in the northern Latin American biota

The time of origin of cool-to-cold-temperate plants of northern affinities in the Latin American biota is unsettled. Two models have been proposed-a Paleogene origin from a once widespread temperate rain forest, and a Neogene origin by introductions from the north which is best supported by new evidence. Fourteen palynofloras of Tertiary age are now available from Mexico and Central America, in addition to numerous others from the southeastern United States and northern South America. Pollen of cool-temperate plants occurs in the Eocene of southeastern United States, but not in northern Mexico, central Panama, or northern South America. In the Miocene this pollen is sparse in deposits from Mexico and Guatemala, rare in Panama, and absent from northern South America. In the Pliocene pollen representing a diverse northern temperate element of ten genera is present in the Pliocene of southeastern Veracruz, Mexico, five in northeastern Guatemala, and two (Myrica, Salix) first appear in northern South America; Alnus and Quercus are added in the Pleistocene. This north-to-south and early-to-late pattern is consistent with the appearance of highlands in southern Central America and northern South America in the Neogene, closure of the isthmian marine portal between 3.5 and 2.5 Ma (million years ago), and the late Cenozoic cooling trend evident in the O/O-based paleotemperature curve.     

Reflecting on Loss in Papua New Guinea

This article takes up the conundrum of conducting anthropological fieldwork with people who claim that they have ‘lost their culture,’ as is the case with Suau people in the Massim region of Papua New Guinea. But rather than claiming culture loss as a process of dispossession, Suau claim it as a consequence of their own attempts to engage with colonial interests. Suau appear to have responded to missionization and their close proximity to the colonial-era capital by jettisoning many of the practices characteristic of Massim societies, now identified as ‘kastom.’ The rejection of kastom in order to facilitate their relations with Europeans during colonialism, followed by the mourning for kastom after independence, both invite consideration of a kind of reflexivity that requires action based on the presumed perspective of another.