Tocqueville in Miami: Political culture and political organizing in Miami's Cuban community

This study examines the effectiveness of civic organizations focusing on leadership and the role of culture in politics. The study is based on a quasi-experimental research design and relies primarily on qualitative data. The study focuses on Miami's Cuban community in order to examine the role of public initiative in grassroots civic and community organizations. ^ The Miami Cuban community is a large, institutionally complex and cohesive ethnic community with dense networks of community organizations. The political and economic success of the community makes it an opportune setting for a study of civic organizing. The sheer number of civic organizations to be found in Miami's Cuban community suggests that the community's civic organizations have something to do with the considerable vibrancy and civic capacity of the community. How have the organizations managed to be so successful over so many years and what can be learned about successful civic organizing from their experience?^ Civic organizations in Miami's Cuban community are overwhelmingly ethnic-based organizations. The organizations recreate collective symbols that come from community members' memories of and attachments to the place of origin they hold dear as ethnic Cubans. They recreate a collective Cuban past that community members remember and that is the very basis of the community to which they belong.^ Cuban Miami's ethnically based civic organizations have generally performed better than the literature on civic organizations says they should. They gained greater access to community ties and social capital, and they exhibited greater organizational longevity. The fit between the political culture of civic organizations and that of the broader political community helps to explain this success. Yet they do not perform in the same way or in support of the same social purposes. Some stress individual agency rather than community agency, and some pursue an externally-oriented social purpose, whereas others focus on building an internal community.^

Middle -class immigrant identities: Dominican-Americans in South Florida

Identity studies of immigrants are complex because of multiple influences affecting identity reconstruction during immigration and acculturation: nationality, socio-cultural differences, occupations, education, spatial and geographic locations, age, gender, and personal attributes. Most immigrant identity studies deal with lower-income immigrants, who do not have the resources of middle- and upper-middle-class immigrants. South Florida is “home” to many middle-class immigrants, including Dominican-Americans. This dissertation interviewed sixty-six Dominican immigrants in South Florida, in order to determine their reconstructed identities after immigration/resettlement and to discover what influences contributed to these changes in identities. ^ The research design of this dissertation utilized an inductive, qualitative model, with the “grounded theory” method of data collection, categorization, and analysis. Participants were selected by a snowball sampling and interviewed with an informal questionnaire. Results were transcribed, categorized, tabulated, and analyzed for conclusions and theorization on immigrant identity. ^ The dissertation addressed numerous influences relating to identity reconstruction: the differing circumstances of immigration, the unique resources of middle- and higher-class immigrants, the nurturing environment of South Florida for immigrants with education and professional skills, and the boundary protection offered by suburban spaces. The interviewees displayed a wide range of age, length of residence in the United States, reasons for immigration, entry ports, settlement, relocations, occupations, and claimed identities. Identity was cross-tabulated with the various influences, as a means of invalidating certain influences and indicating possible trends. ^ The dissertation concluded that middle-class immigrant identities are diverse and multiple, as are the related influences. None of these immigrants had become totally assimilated, nor have they retained dual, non-overlapping attachments or frames of reference. Instead, many of the immigrants seemed to have developed or negotiated two or more identities, according to need, context, and personal interest. A cosmopolitan community such as South Florida seems to have encouraged such multiplicity of identity. However, rather than forming free-flowing identities, most of these immigrants eventually developed diverse and hybrid identities that have bounded attachments to various networks, groups, and places in South Florida. ^

Eficiência mastigatória e qualidade das próteses totais confeccionadas pelas técnicas tradicionais e simplificada: um ensaio clínico

Traditional methods for dentures fabrication require a wide clinical and laboratory procedures; however, there is no scientific evidence that these methods can produce better results when compared with simplified methods. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a simplified methods for denture fabrication, comparing it to the traditional one through masticatory efficiency and prosthesis quality. Method: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 50 patients, 25 rehabilitated with prosthesis produced by traditional technique and 25 rehabilitated by a simplified technique. The masticatory efficiency was evaluated by colorimetric method, using chewing capsules. The quality of prosthesis was obtained using a reliable and reproducible instrument. Statistical analysis of the masticatory efficiency and quality of the prosthesis was obtained by the Mann-Whitney test. Results: 39 patients completed the study, 18 on traditional group and 21 on simplified group. There was no difference between groups for the masticatory efficiency (p = 0.835) and the quality of the prosthesis (p = 0672). The evaluation of the overall quality of the prosthesis according to oral conditions, demonstrated significant difference on the height of the mandibular ridges (p = 0.010) and mandibular muscle attachments (p = 0.039). Conclusion: Complete dentures fabricated by simplified method were considered effective from the point of view of masticatory efficiency and quality of prosthetics, with results similar to those made by the traditional method.

Eficiência mastigatória e qualidade das próteses totais confeccionadas pelas técnicas tradicionais e simplificada: um ensaio clínico

Traditional methods for dentures fabrication require a wide clinical and laboratory procedures; however, there is no scientific evidence that these methods can produce better results when compared with simplified methods. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a simplified methods for denture fabrication, comparing it to the traditional one through masticatory efficiency and prosthesis quality. Method: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 50 patients, 25 rehabilitated with prosthesis produced by traditional technique and 25 rehabilitated by a simplified technique. The masticatory efficiency was evaluated by colorimetric method, using chewing capsules. The quality of prosthesis was obtained using a reliable and reproducible instrument. Statistical analysis of the masticatory efficiency and quality of the prosthesis was obtained by the Mann-Whitney test. Results: 39 patients completed the study, 18 on traditional group and 21 on simplified group. There was no difference between groups for the masticatory efficiency (p = 0.835) and the quality of the prosthesis (p = 0672). The evaluation of the overall quality of the prosthesis according to oral conditions, demonstrated significant difference on the height of the mandibular ridges (p = 0.010) and mandibular muscle attachments (p = 0.039). Conclusion: Complete dentures fabricated by simplified method were considered effective from the point of view of masticatory efficiency and quality of prosthetics, with results similar to those made by the traditional method.

Virgin Territory: Theology, Purity, and the Rise of the Global Sex Trade

Sex sells. A lot. But who exactly is on the market?

What kinds of bodies are calibrated for traffic and consumption, and how exactly do they get there? When it comes to “sex” trafficking—which comprises a minority percentage of human trafficking, yet dominates the moral imagination as an “especially heinous” crime—the rise in predominantly white, evangelical Christian American interest in the trafficked subject galvanizes an ethical outrage that rarely observes critiques of race, ethnicity, sexuality or class as conditions of possibility. Though a nuanced mandate to fight trafficking is all but cemented in the contemporary American political and moral conscience, Virgin Territory accounts for the ways Christian ideas of purity annex both gender and sexuality inside the legacies of racialized colonial encounter, and foreground the market expansion of the global sex trade as it exists today.

In Part I, I argue that the narratives of virginity tied to Mary’s body simultaneously foregrounded the gendered, sexed Other as sparked disdain for the religious Other, for the Jewish body and for Mary’s Jewish identity. Through this analysis I explore the connections of racial identity to the Christian theological elision of Jewish election. I demonstrate how the questions of sexual ethics materialized at the site of the Virgin Mary, and align the moral attachments of sex and purity in the production of whiteness. These machinations, tied to the emerging European identity of empire, irrupt horrifically into the narrative ontology of dark flesh in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

In Part II, I highlight the function of these narratives inside of the moments of colonial encounter, demonstrating how the logics of purity and virginity were directly applied to manage dark female flesh. I map the visual iconography of the Black Madonna first through a Dutch painting entitled The Rape of the Negress. I read this image through the social theological imagination instantiating the idea of the reprobate body and white imperial gaze. This analysis foregrounds a theological reading of Sarah Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus,” as the center of a complex sex trafficking investigation, outlining the genealogy of race, as well as the ideologies of the racial, ethnic and national Other, as mitigating factors in the conditions of possibility of a global sex trade. By restoring these narratives and their theological undertones, I reiterate the ways Christian thought is imbricated in the global sex trade, and propose theological strategies for rethinking humanitarian responses to sex trafficking.

The Affordable Care Act and the Transformation of US Health Care

The neoliberal period was accompanied by a momentous transformation within the US health care system.  As the result of a number of political and historical dynamics, the healthcare law signed by President Barack Obama in 2010 ‑the Affordable Care Act (ACA)‑ drew less on universal models from abroad than it did on earlier conservative healthcare reform proposals. This was in part the result of the influence of powerful corporate healthcare interests. While the ACA expands healthcare coverage, it does so incompletely and unevenly, with persistent uninsurance and disparities in access based on insurance status. Additionally, the law accommodates an overall shift towards a consumerist model of care characterized by high cost sharing at time of use. Finally, the law encourages the further consolidation of the healthcare sector, for instance into units named “Accountable Care Organizations” that closely resemble the health maintenance organizations favored by managed care advocates. The overall effect has been to maintain a fragmented system that is neither equitable nor efficient. A single payer universal system would, in contrast, help transform healthcare into a social right.

El Cambio Climático en la Estrategia Global de Seguridad de la Unión Europea

El cambio climático es uno de los mayores desafíos de la actualidad. La UE ha abordado el tema de forma claramente insuficiente desde el punto de vista teórico, con unos planteamientos demasiado inmovilistas y hasta conformistas con su propia acción. Pero, al mismo tiempo, ha sido uno de los primeros y principales actores internacionales en actuar y posicionarse claramente en la lucha contra el cambio climático. La Estrategia Global de Seguridad de la UE no aborda adecuadamente ni el cambio climático como prioridad fundamental ni algunas de sus implicaciones en las políticas de los Estados Miembros de la UE.

The Challenge of Migration and the Global Security Strategy of the European Union

This article discusses the challenges of irregular migration for the security of the EU. They are analyzed starting with the European Security Strategy 2003, and the Report on its Implementation, 2008, and notes many failures: The EU Members did not follow the directives adopted in Brussels, the mismanagement of migration and asylum policies, and numerous actions that can be characterized or described as improvised, scattered or irresponsible. The 2016 Global Strategy recognizes these failures and call attention to the European leaders to reconsider how the EU functions and operates, suggesting the need for greater unity and cooperation to achieve a more effective migration policy. However, the article points out that practically all of the sections of the new Strategy dealing with migration were already embodied in previous Strategies, and stress that in parallel with the publication of the 2016 Global Strategy, actions are already undertaken, such as the EU readmission agreements signed with several important third countries of origin.

Comparing long-term placements for young children in care: Does type of placement really matter?

This paper presents findings from the third phase of a longitudinal study, entitled Care Pathways and Outcomes, which has been tracking the placements and measuring outcomes for a population of children (n = 374) who were under the age of five and in care in Northern Ireland on the 31st March 2000. It explores how a sub-sample of these children at age nine to 14 years old were getting on in the placements provided for them, in comparative terms across five placement types: adoption; foster care; kinship foster care (with relatives); on Residence Order; and living with birth parents. This specifically focused on the development of attachment and self-concept from the perspective of the children, and behavioural and emotional function, and parenting stress, from the perspective of parents and carers. Findings showed no significant placement effect from the perspective of children, and a statistically weak, but descriptively compelling, effect from the perspective of parents. The findings challenge the notion of adoption as the gold standard in long-term placements, specifically from the perspective of children in terms of their parent/carer attachments and self-concept, and highlight what appears to be the central importance of placement longevity for delivering positive longer-term outcomes for these children, irrespective of placement type.

De territorios y fronteras… el devenir de una literatura territorial. En: LaRivada V.3 Nº4

En este artículo nos proponemos desplegar el itinerario y las constelaciones que orientaron nuestras investigaciones de los últimos años sobre el territorio literario y cultural misionero. Las dimensiones y segmentaciones que se ponen en funcionamiento en las operaciones de lectura en las que estamos comprometidos nosotros mismos, las hemos pensado como un territorio identitario(s) con fronteras móviles, como un lugar de la cultura en tanto zonas de transacción, negociación y pasajes perpetuos. Pensamos que resultaría pertinente argumentar sobre la situación cultural compleja, desde la interculturalidad y no desde una mirada homogeneizadora y monológica; esto nos brindará la oportunidad de reflexionar acerca de los desplazamientos, despliegues y repliegues de los proyectos creadores y de la dinámica de la vida cotidiana en relación con el desglose de un espacio geográfico-cultural.

La vanguardia en los bordes: el grupo triángulo. En: LaRivada, V. 3, nº 4

El proyecto que desarrollamos entre 2007 y 2012, La memoria Literaria en la provincia de Misiones, surgió de la necesidad de relevar, escanear, archivar y conservar los manuscritos de aquellos puntales de la literatura de la provincia. Era una rica veta virginal que tuvo como umbral a los poetas de triángulo (Acuña, Ramírez, Felip Arbó), trío primero de una literatura autónoma en Misiones. Estos autores instalan el derecho a significar desde la periferia geográfica, del privilegio y del poder. El corpus modula una semiosis convencionalizada en un conjunto de marcas que generan códigos vertebradores de la matriz orgánica del adentro y el afuera. El modelo político y el canon literario se organizan según dicha matriz, muchas veces con apelación al negativo como principio. Este proyecto rescata una memoria literaria que tiene que ser escrita.

El relato de orilla(s) de Juan Enrique Acuña. En: LaRivada, V. 3, nº 4

El escritor misionero Juan Enrique Acuña (1915-1988) fue además titiritero y productor cultural y formó parte del grupo literario triángulo que introdujo la vanguardia a la provincia en la primera mitad del siglo XX. Su poética y narrativa presentan un universo ficcional donde cobran importancia los bordes genéricos y culturales propios de Misiones. De este modo, se evidencia una escritura sumamente localista con líneas de fuga que desacomodan un paisaje que si bien resulta familiar es un espacio otro. El concepto de relato de orilla es el resultado de un proceso de trabajo (que culminó en mi tesis de Licenciatura) en el marco del proyecto de investigación denominado La memoria literaria de Misiones a cargo de la Dra. Mercedes García Saraví, en el cual indagamos manuscritos no éditos de escritores misioneros a partir de exponer y aplicar metodologías provenientes de la Genética Textual. La propuesta de acercamiento a estos tipos de discursos implicó, además, reflexionar sobre los bordes de una escritura todavía en proceso, en el sentido del tratamiento de los textos en clave genética. Todo ello, redundó en la construcción de un continuum teórico crítico para indagar y revisar la demarcación de bordes geográficos que a su vez generan zonas-otras (de desborde). Éste y otros procedimientos de análisis ofrecen la posibilidad de una lectura enriquecedora relativa a la apropiación de términos como género y frontera.

PASAJES territoriales. Raúl Novau, encrucijadas autoralesliterarias-animalarias. En: LaRivada, V. 3, nº 4

Los autores territoriales son aquellos que habitan y habilitan un espacio geográfico que también deviene político e ideológico; la literatura producida por estos autores, la literatura territorial, mapea y focaliza en puntos espaciales y opera como un dispositivo de poder, como una maquinaria legitimadora de representaciones culturales. El territorio se instala como una metáfora espacial del escritor animalario quien marca un espacio, lo ocupa y atraviesa, a partir de un proceso siempre inacabado de localización de fronteras discursivas, semióticas y simbólicas que a su vez resulta indispensable para pensar y deslindar los proyectos de los escritores. La figura autoral de la cual nos ocupamos es la de Raúl Novau, cuya producción literaria ofrece itinerarios de lectura lúdica y placentera, pero que además invita a la diseminación de conversaciones y debates respecto a temáticas polémicas y vinculadas con tensiones culturales de este territorio y sus fronteras –como el hambre, la miseria, la situación de los inmigrantes, la pobreza del colono, la marginación de las comunidades guaraníes, las diversas carencias/ausencias en las zonas rurales, entre otros. Por otra parte, la literatura de este autor también explora las vinculaciones e intersticios entre la literatura y los animales desde una escritura caleidoscópica y polifónica; en ella, la animalidad y la humanidad conversan habilitando planos dialógicos superpuestos e imágenes múltiples, a la vez que escande en líneas de fuga con temáticas y problemáticas que diseminan lecturas críticas respecto a las fronteras interculturales, dinámicas y lábiles del territorio misionero.

Homenaje al antropólogo Enrique “Quique” Martínez. En: LaRivada, V. 3, nº 4

Cuando comenzamos a idear la sección Homenaje para este 4to Número de La Rivada, pensábamos abordar los estudios sobre el campesinado en la región. Este tema había sido uno de los que más preocupó a las ciencias sociales vernáculas y sobre el cual se produjeron gran cantidad de libros y artículos, razón por la que creíamos merecía integrar la sección Homenajes de nuestra publicación, repasando las principales líneas teóricas y los estudios de campo sobre el tema y planteando los tópicos centrales del debate actual. Para lograr ese cometido pensamos en convocar a los principales referentes y especialistas del medio, entre ellos, al antropólogo, Enrique “Quique” Martínez. Lamentablemente, su fallecimiento nos sorprendió en enero de este año y fue entonces que, como equipo Editorial, decidimos postergar el homenaje a la temática del campesinado y dedicar esta sección a “Quique”, cuya trayectoria y aportes como docente e investigador de la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales y de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales y su desempeño en otros ámbitos como el INTA, han dejado una profunda huella entre quienes tuvieron la suerte de tenerlo de profesor, colega, compañero de trabajo o amigo. Fue así que, con la espontánea colaboración de muchas personas que quisieron escribir una semblanza de Quique o con las de aquellas que accedieron a nuestro expreso pedido, y fundamentalmente, con la ayuda de su compañera, la antropóloga y profesora Lila Sintes, hemos reunido una serie de cartas de personas que lo han conocido y compartieron parte de su vida y su trabajo, relaciones de amistad y compañerismo en diversos momentos de su vida, con el propósito de rendirle un merecido homenaje. Las cartas que presentamos a continuación reconstruyen en su conjunto recuerdos distantes y recientes, reviven anécdotas, destacan momentos y experiencias compartidas. Nos muestran diversas cualidades de Quique, en sus curiosas rutinas, en su amor por los libros y en la pasión y seriedad para defender sus ideas y compartir su sabiduría como así también, en su desempeño como docente e investigador, en su dedicación al estudio, en su rigurosidad y talento para abordar los más variados temas sin dejar de ser fiel a sus convicciones. Asimismo, las palabras aquí reunidas destacan los duros años de la dictadura, los exilios propios y ajenos, la estadía en Costa Rica, la vuelta al país, su llegada a Misiones e inserción en la Universidad, entre tantas muchas otras experiencias vividas junto a su familia, amigos y compañeros de trabajo dando cuenta de la trayectoria de una persona que nunca fue ajena a los vaivenes políticos que agitaron al país, la provincia y sus instituciones. Invitamos entonces a los lectores a conocer a este destacado profesor de nuestra FHyCS a través de estas cartas que constituyen un afectivo obituario con que el Equipo Editor de La Rivada, alejado de toda solemnidad pero aún conmovido por su ausencia, rinde un homenaje al hombre y al profesional.

Las artes marciales son un modo de vida. Disciplina corporal, moralidad y trabajo entre los practicantes de Taekwondo y Gumdo en Geoje-Do, Corea del Sur. En: LaRivada, V. 3, nº 4

La tesis de Gonzalo Ariel Millán titulada “Las artes marciales son un modo de vida”. Disciplina corporal, moralidad y trabajo entre los practicantes de Taekwondo y Gumdo en Geoje-Do, Corea del Sur” busca dar cuenta de la producción de un tipo particular de cuerpo y experiencia sensorial como es la de los practicantes de dichas artes marciales. Aplicando la técnica de observación participante, Millán se somete al proceso de socialización propio de estas disciplinas marciales captando sus particularidades así como aquellos elementos que las artes marciales coreanas tienen en común con la estructura social y la historia del pueblo coreano.