Bolívar Echeverría: azares de la filosofía (In Memorian)

Hernández plantea en este tributo al desaparecido filósofo y ensayista ecuatoriano, Bolívar Echeverría, que su discurso crítico asume lo que se llamaría, más que filosofía, el pensar. El pensamiento en la América Latina de los 60 se debatía entre varias inquietudes, afirma. Primero, se pretendía hacer una filosofía nacional o de la militancia política. Segundo, se percibía como un problema la necesidad de la filosofía de inscribirse en la Academia. Por último, se instaba a que en filosofía también primara el compromiso de los intelectuales con el presente. Y en el presente coexistían la embriaguez por el cambio revolucionario y cierto pesimismo de la época –agotamiento, dolor y horror por las víctimas de las transformaciones–. Entonces, según Hernández, Echeverría se preguntó por la relación entre Modernidad y Revolución, entre Modernidad y los períodos posteriores de la estabilidad de la Reforma. Consiguió formular la época y formular, a la vez, un pensamiento crítico.Y avanzó más: observó que, pese al efecto devastador del proyecto moderno, la cultura resistía y hacía surgir nuevas formas para mantener las esferas del mundo de la vida. Era el caso de lo barroco, “una estrategia para hacer ‘vivible’ algo que básicamente no lo es”. Moverse en estas sendas, se pregunta Echeverría, ¿no equivale al acontecimiento del pensar?

Operación masacre: la fundación mitológica del testimonio (Estudios)

A partir de Operación masacre, de Rodolfo Walsh, la autora distingue, en este ensayo, el testimonio de otras narrativas. Señala que no es literatura de bandidos, porque el sustrato son memorias de víctimas o de sobrevivientes de la impune violencia de Estado. Afirma que tampoco es reportaje o crónica periodística: en estos últimos no median una serie de entrevistas orales ni se plantean imágenes históricas totalizadoras. La autora insiste en el carácter revolucionario del testimonio, que busca construir una verdad absoluta, un discurso sin fisuras. A diferencia de la novela-testimonio, que es instrumento de conocimiento, este género tendría un sentido fundamentalmente histórico. Sostiene que, en Argentina, las víctimas directas de la violencia son quienes pueden solicitar reparación, por eso, los escritores de testimonio de la posdictadura se debaten entre la pertenencia al grupo de víctimas y la voluntad de asumir las causas políticas. Nofal concluye que Walsh, a diferencia de ellos, toma la palabra y dice la verdad desde su lugar de ciudadano y desde el espacio literario.

Protección, violación, reparación, y sanción: ejes temáticos de la teoría y práctica del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos (Tema Central)

El tema de los Derechos humanos se ubica en el corazón de la teoría moderna del derecho internacional. Desde el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, esta rama de la ciencia jurídica ha conocido múltiples desarrollos, buscando primordialmente la protección de esos derechos, conceptualizados en generaciones. Este proceso se ha caracterizado por la creación de mecanismos –de alcance regional y universal– cuyo papel es reparar el daño causado a las víctimas de violaciones de los derechos humanos, y, en ciertos casos, castigar a sus verdugos. El presente artículo analiza estas varias facetas de una disciplina en constante evolución, a través de ejemplos concretos que permitirán efectuar una ponderación de la eficacia del sistema internacional de salvaguardia de los Derechos humanos.

Diet and diversity at later medieval Fishergate: The isotopic evidence

We present the results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen for 155 individuals buried at the Later Medieval (13th to early 16th century AD) Gilbertine priory of St. Andrew, Fishergate in the city of York (UK). The data show significant variation in the consumption of marine foods between males and females as well as between individuals buried in different areas of the priory. Specifically, individuals from the crossing of the church and the cloister garth had consumed significantly less marine protein than those from other locations. Isotope data for four individuals diagnosed with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) are consistent with a diet rich in animal protein. We also observe that isotopic signals of individuals with perimortem sharp force trauma are unusual in the context of the Fishergate dataset. We discuss possible explanations for these patterns and suggest that there may have been a specialist hospital or a local tradition of burying victims of violent conflict at the priory. The results demonstrate how the integration of archaeological, osteological, and isotopic data can provide novel information about Medieval burial and society.

Measuring the discrepancy between fecundity and lifetime reproductive success in a pollinating fig wasp

Lifetime reproductive success in female insects is often egg- or time-limited. For instance in pro-ovigenic species, when oviposition sites are abundant, females may quickly become devoid of eggs. Conversely, in the absence of suitable oviposition sites, females may die before laying all of their eggs. In pollinating fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae), each species has an obligate mutualism with its host fig tree species [Ficus spp. (Moraceae)]. These pro-ovigenic wasps oviposit in individual ovaries within the inflorescences of monoecious Ficus (syconia, or ‘figs’), which contain many flowers. Each female flower can thus become a seed or be converted into a wasp gall. The mystery is that the wasps never oviposit in all fig ovaries, even when a fig contains enough wasp females with enough eggs to do so. The failure of all wasps to translate all of their eggs into offspring clearly contributes to mutualism persistence, but the underlying causal mechanisms are unclear. We found in an undescribed Brazilian Pegoscapus wasp population that the lifetime reproductive success of lone foundresses was relatively unaffected by constraints on oviposition. The number of offspring produced by lone foundresses experimentally introduced into receptive figs was generally lower than the numbers of eggs carried, despite the fact that the wasps were able to lay all or most of their eggs. Because we excluded any effects of intraspecific competitors and parasitic non-pollinating wasps, our data suggest that some pollinators produce few offspring because some of their eggs or larvae are unviable or are victims of plant defences.

Youth justice reform: redressing age discrimination against children?

This article considers whether the system of reprimands and final warnings in the youth justice system in England and Wales constitutes age discrimination for the purposes of human rights law. Whilst much youth justice discourse has addressed the use of diversionary measures that steer children away from formal justice processes, little attention has been paid to measures which negatively discriminate against children, in comparison to adults, without reasonable justification. The discussion contextualizes the issue within discourses on the sociology of childhood and youth justice, and considers why there is a general reluctance to recognize children as ‘victims’ of age discrimination.

Does political proximity to the U.S. cause terror?

We analyze the impact of political proximity to the United States on the occurrence and severity of terror. Employing panel data for 116 countries over the period 1975–2001 we find that countries voting in line with the U.S. are victims of more and deadlier attacks.

Taphonomic mycota: fungi with forensic potential

Forensic archaeologists and criminal investigators employ many different techniques for the location, recovery, and analysis of clandestine graves. Many of these techniques are based upon the premise that a grave is an anomaly and therefore differs physically, biologically, or chemically from its surroundings. The work reviewed in this communication demonstrates how and why field mycology might provide a further tool towards the investigation of scenes of crime concealed in forest ecosystems. The fruiting structures of certain fungi, the ammonia and the postputrefaction fungi, have been recorded repeatedly in association with decomposed mammalian cadavers in disparate regions of the world. The ecology and physiology of these fungi are reviewed briefly with a view to their potential as a forensic tool. This application of mycology is at an interface with forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy and may provide a means to detect graves and has the potential to estimate postburial interval.

Contribution to collective harms and responsibility

In the present contribution, I discuss the claim, endorsed by a number of authors, that contributing to a collective harm is the ground for special responsibilities to the victims of that harm. Contributors should, between them, cover the costs of the harms they have inflicted, at least if those harms would otherwise be rights-violating. I raise some doubts about the generality of this principle before moving on to sketch a framework for thinking about liability for the costs of harms in general. This framework uses a contractualist framework to build an account of how to think about liability for costs on the basis of the presumably attractive thought that individual agents should have as much control over their liabilities as is compatible with others having like control. I then use that framework to suggest that liability on the basis of contribution should be restricted to cases in which the contributors could have avoided their contribution relatively costlessly, in which meeting the liability is not crippling for them, and in which such a liability would not have chilling effects, either on them or on third parties. This account of the grounds for contributory liability also has the advantage of avoiding a number of awkward questions about what counts as a contribution by shifting the issue away from often unanswerable questions about the precise causal genesis of some harm or other. Instead, control over conduct, which plausibly has some relation to the harm, becomes crucial. On the basis of this account, I then investigate whether a number of uses of the contributory principle are entirely appropriate. I argue that contributory liability is not appropriate for cases of collective harms committed by coordinated groups in the way that, for example, Iris Marion Young and Thomas Pogge have suggested and that further investigation of how members of such groups may be liable will be needed.

Health in Brazil 5 Violence and injuries in Brazil: the effect, progress made, and challenges ahead

Although there are signs of decline, homicides and traffic-related injuries and deaths in Brazil account for almost two-thirds of all deaths from external causes. In 2007, the homicide rate was 26.8 per 100 000 people and traffic-related mortality was 23.5 per 100 000. Domestic violence might not lead to as many deaths, but its share of violence-related morbidity is large. These are important public health problems that lead to enormous individual and collective costs. Young, black, and poor men are the main victims and perpetrators of community violence, whereas poor black women and children are the main victims of domestic violence. Regional differentials are also substantial. Besides the sociocultural determinants, much of the violence in Brazil has been associated with the misuse of alcohol and illicit drugs, and the wide availability of firearms. The high traffic-related morbidity and mortality in Brazil have been linked to the chosen model for the transport system that has given priority to roads and private-car use without offering adequate infrastructure. The system is often poorly equipped to deal with violations of traffic rules. In response to the major problems of violence and injuries, Brazil has greatly advanced in terms of legislation and action plans. The main challenge is to assess these advances to identify, extend, integrate, and continue the successful ones.

Kriminalitetens geografi : vardagsbrottslighetens spatiala fördelning i Borlänge

The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the geographical distribution of everyday criminality in the town of Borlänge during the year 2002 and to analyze which measures to be taken in the physical social planning to decrease this everyday criminality there. The term everyday criminality is here to be understood as those categories of crime that appear most frequently in the records of reports to the police every year. Here two kinds of crime have been in focus, thefts from cars and office burglary.In fulfilling this aim two main questions have been answered. The first one is how the everyday criminality was distributed geographically in the town of Borlänge during the year 2002. The second one is which measures to be taken in the physical social planning to decrease this everyday criminality in the town of Borlänge.In order to answer the first question a spatial autocorrelation analysis, Local Moran LISA has been used. This method is based on the measurement Moran´s I and shows the spatial autocorrelation for every single location. To answer the second question three different theories of crime prevention through environmental design have been studied and applied in the analysis. These are Jane Jacobs’ ideas about ”the living city”, Oscar Newman´s ideas about ”defensible space” and Ronald V. Clarke´s theories about crime prevention.The major conclusions that can be drawn from this thesis are that the risk of being exposed to thefts from cars, during the analyzed time period, was highest in Centrum and Hagalund and their surroundings. The lowest risk of being exposed to this type of crime was found in Domnarvet and Islingby, during the year 2002. The highest risk of being a victim of the crime office burglary was found in Hagalund and its surroundings and in the single area of Kvarnsveden. The corresponding lowest risk was found in Lergärdet and its surroundings and in Norra Backa and Kupolen. The measures that should be taken in order to decrease these types of criminality can be divided into overall changes and place-specific changes. When it comes to the crime thefts from cars a more attractive central business district, a better view of parking lots from nearby buildings, dividing of larger parking lot zones into smaller ones, migration of hidden parking lots and stronger access control to parking lots where problems with this kind of crime have occurred have been suggested as overall changes. The corresponding place-specific changes are to remove vegetation that is blocking the view, better lighting and to put up signs with information about increased risk of exposure to crime at parking lots with the most problems. To decrease the amount of office burglaries overall changes as to create a better view of the area from nearby surroundings, move bigger office compartments or divide them into smaller units, rebuild characteristic buildings and increase security by strengthening the access control to offices with these kinds of problems could be useful. Finally there are possibilities to decrease office burglary by using place-specific measures as surveillance cameras combined with signs containing information about these, high fences and better lighting around the buildings where a higher risk of being exposed to this kind of criminality is present.

Vem är den ekonomiske brottslingen? : En jämförelse mellan länder och brottstyper

Who is the economic criminal? A comparison between countries and types of crime In white collar crime research two particularly competing definitions (Sutherland versus the Revisionists) have dominated the field during the last two decades. Sutherland’s definition states that the sociodemographic profile is homogeneous (entrepreneur with high education and high or regular income), despite type of white collar crime or context. The definition given by the Revisionists states that white collar criminals’ demographic profile is heterogeneous (everyone can be convicted for white collar crime). As a consequence of this divided definitional approach we have a contradictive outcome of who the white collar criminal is. Our purpose is to investigate the qualification of the two definitions by analyzing heterogeneity/ homogeneity based on crime type and national context. The investigation is based on seven countries from the EES 2004 (European Social Survey). We use four types of crime. The results show a rather homogeneous demographic profile but there is also a certain substantial heterogeneity depending on kinds of crime and context. The results altogether indicate that the Revisionists’ definition is more correct in its description of the white collar criminal than Sutherland’s definition. The demographic profile of the white collar criminal seems to be more complex than a profile confined to just one social category would be and the contextual factor has an impact on the variety of the demographic profile. An important task for future research is to hold the door open for further demographic investigations depending on the type of crime and country that the study is based on. 

Våld i nära relationer : En kvantitativ utvärderingsstudie av projektet "Våga Hjälpa!"

Victims of domestic violence (DV) are growing, still the number of cases reported isn't. In Rättvik only half the amount of cases are reported compared to two years ago. Rättvik is working to reduce DV by starting the project "Våga Hjälpa!". The purpose of this study was to use a quantitative approach to examine if the project is known in Rättvik. The study's based on a survey with a 27% response rate. The analysis was made by SPSS and interpreted on the basis of conformity, the bystander effect and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Results show that the majority haven't been in contact with DV and that the knowledge of how to act is evenly spread. The study concludes with an objective evalution of "Våga Hjälpa!" where our study results are related to the project objectives. The evaluation partly shows a fullfilled result but also some improvement opportunities.

O exército brasileiro na segurança pública

Este estudo descritivo-explicativo teve como finalidade demonstrar as principais dificuldades enfrentadas pelo atual Sistema Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, em conseqüência, pelos órgãos de segurança pública, para diminuir os índices de criminalidade e violência praticados no país. Para isso, enfoca o Exército Brasileiro como possível subsistema do sistema de segurança pública, abordando aspectos da estrutura funcional e operacional da Força Terrestre que poderiam ser empregados, em apoio aos órgãos policiais, no combate à criminal idade. Conclui apresentando possíveis setores em que o Exército Brasileiro poderia atuar na área da segurança pública, sem prejudicar suas missões constitucionais.