La influencia del utopismo renacentista en la consolidación de la identidad internacional de Hispanoamérica. Estudio de caso : Tomaso de Campanella y la Teología de la Liberación

El descubrimiento de América significó el ensanchamiento de las fronteras mentales que sobre el universo tenían los europeos renacentistas. La existencia de un Nuevo Mundo produjo la necesidad en filósofos y escritores de crear sociedades imaginarias que debían ser implantadas allende el océano como ideales de perfección o utopías. Esta corriente de creadores utópicos que prometían construir una América virtuosa y libre de los vicios de la desgastada Europa, conocido ahora como el Utopismo Renacentista, selló para siempre el destino histórico de la América Hispánica. El Nuevo Mundo sería desde su más temprana colonización el crisol de los anhelos humanos y el origen mismo de las utopías. Fenómenos tales como el caudillismo, el populismo, la Teología de la Liberación, entre otros, profundamente enraizados en el espíritu hispanoamericano, pueden ser también comprendidos a partir del carácter utópico del continente, y por tanto, el utopismo se convierte en rasgo fundamental de la identidad internacional de Hispanoamérica. El caso de la Teología de la Liberación es analizado a la luz de la obra del filósofo italiano Tomaso de Campanella, La Ciudad del Sol, donde se encuentra que aspectos como el comunitarismo, la religión como fuente de lo político y el establecimiento de ideales de perfección social son parte fundamental de la esencia identitaria de la América Española.

The elements : a visual exploration of every known atom in the universe.

Las imágenes de esta publicación constituyen la representación visual más completa de cada átomo del universo. Organizada por orden de aparición en la tabla periódica, de cada elemento de los ciento dieciocho que la componen se facilitan datos, cifras, propiedades incluyendo el peso atómico, densidad, punto de ebullición y de fusión, valencia, electronegatividad, y el año y lugar en que se descubrió. Fotografías adicionales muestran cada elemento en formas ligeramente alteradas y sus aplicaciones.

Criminality and legitimization in seawaters: a study on the pirates of Malabar during the age of european commercial expansion (1500-1800)

The maritime piracy included a wide variety of associated criminal activities including attack and confiscation of vessels and merchandise, imprisonment or torturing of merchants and rulers in sea-space in return for ransom money, attack and raiding of coastal trading centers and villages, creation of fear and terror in chief channels of navigation and attacking commercial competitors as a strategy to weaken the trading ability and the wealth-mobilizing ability of their rivals. All this applied to coastal south west India during the period under study. The merchant chiefs of Cannanore like Mamale Marakkar and later under Poca Amame (Pokar Ahamad) and Pocarallee (Pokar Ali) were some of the better known protagonists that the Portuguese had to deal with. But the Malabar corsairs had their corresponding English and Sicilian corsairs in the Mediterranean.

Hemispheric asymmetries in recognition memory for negative and neutral words

Federmeier and Benjamin (2005) have suggested that semantic encoding for verbal information in the right hemisphere can be more effective when memory demands are higher. However, other studies (Kanske & Kotz, 2007) also suggest that visual word recognition differ in function of emotional valence. In this context, the present study was designed to evaluate the effects of retention level upon recognition memory processes for negative and neutral words. Sample consisted of 15 right-handed undergraduate portuguese students with normal or corrected to normal vision. Portuguese concrete negative and neutral words were selected in accordance to known linguistic capabilities of the right hemisphere. The participants were submitted to a visual half-field word presentation using a continuous recognition memory paradigm. Eye movements were continuously monitored with a Tobii T60 eye-tracker that showed no significant differences in fixations to negative and neutral words. Reaction times in word recognition suggest an overall advantage of negative words in comparison to the neutral words. Further analysis showed faster responses for negative words than for neutral words when were recognised at longer retention intervals for left-hemisphere encoding. Electrophysiological data through event related potentials revealed larger P2 amplitude over centro-posterior electrode sites for words studied in the left hemifield suggesting a priming effect for right-hemisphere encoding. Overall data suggest different hemispheric memory strategies for the semantic encoding of negative and neutral words.

''Cashless'' transactions : perceptions of money in mobile payments

A limited number of ‘cashless transaction’ studies addressed the issue that the mode of payment affects perceptions of money and purchase behaviour, the majority of the research is in the area of the credit card payment mode. Credit card based research has shown that when a credit card based payment is used, the volume, value and type of products purchased increase. Whether this is due to the credit element or to the ‘cashless or mobile’ element of the transaction is not known. The notion that the tangibility of cash influences perceptions of money is not novel, but it is untested. This discussion paper suggests that under conditions of cash, there is awareness (conscious/unconscious) that a possession of value transferred and this perception may well have a direct impact on people’s perception of money and their spending behaviour.

The known unknowns and the unknown unknowns of the EMU. Bruegel Policy Contribution 2012/18, October 2012

Extensive prior research on the economics of European monetary union highlighted some potential risks (the known unknowns) but overlooked others (the unknown unknowns). Asymmetries among participating countries, the potentially destabilising character of a one-size-fits all monetary policy, the weakness of adjustment mechanisms, the lack of incentives for fiscal discipline, the possibility of sovereign solvency crises and their adverse consequences were all known and understood. But policymakers often relied on a complacent reading of the evidence. • The potential for financial disruption was vastly underestimated. Economists generally did not consider, or underestimated, the possibility of balance of payment crises such as those experienced by southern European countries, or the risk of a feedback loop between banks and sovereigns. • Remedying EMU’s systemic deficiencies is on the policy agenda. Banking union would go a long way towards addressing the fault lines. The urgent question for economists is if it is going to be enough and, if not, what else should complement the ‘bare-bones’ EMU of Maastricht.

An extension of the well-known quaternary section at Godrevy, St Ives Bay, West Cornwall: analysis and review

The well-known Quaternary section at Godrevy, west Cornwall has been often described during the past half century, however, a further section, about a kilometre to the south is considered for the first time since a brief mention at the beginning of the last century. This 200m long exposure rests upon a raised shore platform and consists of a basal raised beach and littoral sand, overlain by a local diamict revealing evidence of post-depositional frost disturbance and finally Holocene dune sand. It is proposed that this Strap Rock site be included within the general discussion of the Godrevy section.

Analysis of pottery samples from Bourewa, the earliest known Lapita site in Fiji

We have carried out a thorough mineralogical analysis of 16 pottery samples from the Lapita site of Bourwera in Fiji, using micromorphological techniques with optical and polarising microscopes. While the overall mineralogy of all of the samples is similar the samples clearly divide into two groups, namely those with or without the mineral calcite. Our findings are backed up by chemical analysis using SEM–EDX and FTIR. SEM–EDX shows the clear presence of inclusions of calcite in some of the samples; FTIR shows bands arising from calcite in these samples. The study suggests that it is likely that more than one clay source was used for production of this pottery, but that most of the pottery comes from a single source. This finding is in line with previous studies which suggest some trading of pottery between the Fijian islands but a single source of clay for most of the pottery found at Bouwera. We found no evidence for the destruction of CaCO3 by heating upon production of the pottery in line with the known technology of the Lapita people who produced earthenware pottery but not high temperature ceramics.

‘Getting known’: Beckett, Ireland and the creative industries

In the context of national and global trends of producing Beckett’s work, this essay will investigate recent productions of Beckett’s drama which originate in Ireland and tour internationally, examining how these relate to the concept of national identity and its marketability, as well the conceptual and material spaces provided by large-scale festival events. In the last few months, Pan Pan has toured its production of All that Fall from Dublin to the Beckett festival in Enniskillen to New York’s BAM. The Gate Theatre, always a powerhouse of Beckett productions, continues its revival of Barry McGovern’s adaptation of Watt; after the Edinburgh festival, the show will play London’s Barbican in March 2013. While originating in Ireland, these productions – those of the Gate in particular – have an international, as well as domestic, appeal. Examining these and forthcoming Gate productions, I query to what extent a theatre company’s cultural origins and international profile may create a perceived sense of authenticity or definitiveness among critical discourses at ‘home’ and abroad, and how such markers of identity are utilized by the marketing strategies which surround these productions. This article will interrogate the potential convergence of the globalized branding of both Beckett’s work and Irish identity, drawing on the writings of Bourdieu to elucidate how identity may be converted into economic and cultural capital, as well as examining the role that the festival event plays in this process.