Las reformas de Solón y los límites de la coacción extraeconómica en la Atenas arcaica

El rasgo distintivo de las sociedades precapitaslistas está dado por el hecho de que en ellas las relaciones de explotación se vehiculizan a partir de mecanismos coactivos (extraeconómicos) que aseguran la transferencia de los excedentes desde las clases productoras hacia las dominantes. Tales mecanismos suelen sostenerse por escisiones jurídicas, políticas, religiosas, etc. que delimitan y oponen claramente a los productores de los apropiadores del plusproducto. Teniendo esto en mente, en el presente trabajo se analizan las diferentes formas que adquirieron las relaciones de dependencia rural en Atenas a principios del siglo VI a.C. (hectemorazgo, endeudamiento, esclavización por deudas, etc.) y su evolución a partir las reformas encaradas por Solón. Desde nuestra perspectiva, este abordaje resulta fundamental para entender un aspecto singular de la democracia ateniense del siglo V a.C.: la igualación que se dio -en virtud de la extensión de los derechos de ciudadanía- en el plano jurídico y político entre los productores agrícolas directos y la aristocracia terrateniente y los límites que ello impuso a la posibilidad de desarrollo de relaciones de explotación entre los miembros del cuerpo cívico

Las reformas de Solón y los límites de la coacción extraeconómica en la Atenas arcaica

El rasgo distintivo de las sociedades precapitaslistas está dado por el hecho de que en ellas las relaciones de explotación se vehiculizan a partir de mecanismos coactivos (extraeconómicos) que aseguran la transferencia de los excedentes desde las clases productoras hacia las dominantes. Tales mecanismos suelen sostenerse por escisiones jurídicas, políticas, religiosas, etc. que delimitan y oponen claramente a los productores de los apropiadores del plusproducto. Teniendo esto en mente, en el presente trabajo se analizan las diferentes formas que adquirieron las relaciones de dependencia rural en Atenas a principios del siglo VI a.C. (hectemorazgo, endeudamiento, esclavización por deudas, etc.) y su evolución a partir las reformas encaradas por Solón. Desde nuestra perspectiva, este abordaje resulta fundamental para entender un aspecto singular de la democracia ateniense del siglo V a.C.: la igualación que se dio -en virtud de la extensión de los derechos de ciudadanía- en el plano jurídico y político entre los productores agrícolas directos y la aristocracia terrateniente y los límites que ello impuso a la posibilidad de desarrollo de relaciones de explotación entre los miembros del cuerpo cívico

Las reformas de Solón y los límites de la coacción extraeconómica en la Atenas arcaica

El rasgo distintivo de las sociedades precapitaslistas está dado por el hecho de que en ellas las relaciones de explotación se vehiculizan a partir de mecanismos coactivos (extraeconómicos) que aseguran la transferencia de los excedentes desde las clases productoras hacia las dominantes. Tales mecanismos suelen sostenerse por escisiones jurídicas, políticas, religiosas, etc. que delimitan y oponen claramente a los productores de los apropiadores del plusproducto. Teniendo esto en mente, en el presente trabajo se analizan las diferentes formas que adquirieron las relaciones de dependencia rural en Atenas a principios del siglo VI a.C. (hectemorazgo, endeudamiento, esclavización por deudas, etc.) y su evolución a partir las reformas encaradas por Solón. Desde nuestra perspectiva, este abordaje resulta fundamental para entender un aspecto singular de la democracia ateniense del siglo V a.C.: la igualación que se dio -en virtud de la extensión de los derechos de ciudadanía- en el plano jurídico y político entre los productores agrícolas directos y la aristocracia terrateniente y los límites que ello impuso a la posibilidad de desarrollo de relaciones de explotación entre los miembros del cuerpo cívico

The influence of age and gender on food choice: a focus group exploration

With 25% of the UK population predicted to be obese by 2010, the costs to individuals and society are set to rise. Due to the extra economic and social pressures obesity causes, there is an increasing need to understand what motivates and prevents consumers from eating a healthy diet so as to be able to tailor policy interventions to specific groups in society. In so doing, it is important to explore potential variations in attitudes, motivation and behaviour as a function of age and gender. Both demographic factors are easily distinguished within society and a future intervention study which targets either, or both, of these would likely be both feasible and cost-effective for policy makers. As part of a preliminary study, six focus groups (total n = 43) were conducted at the University of Reading in November 2006, with groups segmented on the basis of age and gender. In order to gather more sensitive information, participants were also asked to fill out a short anonymous questionnaire before each focus group began, relating to healthy eating, alcohol consumption and body dissatisfaction. Making use of thematic content analysis, results suggested that most participants were aware of the type of foods that contribute to a healthy diet and the importance of achieving a healthy balance within a diet. However, they believed that healthy eating messages were often conflicting, and were uncertain about where to find information on the topic. Participants believed that the family has an important role in educating children about eating habits. Despite these similarities, there were a number of key differences among the groups in terms of their reasons for making food choices. Older participants (60+ years old) were more likely to make food choices based on health considerations. Participants between the ages of 18–30 were less concerned with this link, and instead focused on issues of food preparation and knowledge, prices and time. Younger female participants said they had more energy when they ate healthier diets; however, very often their food choices related to concern with their appearance. Older female participants also expressed this concern within the questionnaire, rather than in the group discussions. Overall, these results suggest that consumer motivations for healthy eating are diverse and that this must be considered by government, retailers and food producers.

Los espacios para el ocio de la oligarquía alicantina en el siglo XIX

El objetivo de este trabajo es el análisis de los espacios públicos donde la oligarquía alicantina interactúa en su tiempo libre. A este respecto, encontramos referencias donde se describen los paseos por las alamedas de la ciudad, las tertulias en los cafés y la asistencia tanto a los teatros como a los toros; junto a la concurrencia a los baños públicos y a las celebraciones religiosas y profanas. Por último, destaca una actividad: los desplazamientos fuera del domicilio habitual. Estos tienen una motivación extraeconómica que obedece a la búsqueda de unas condiciones climáticas favorables y de relación social en las diferentes villas de la huerta alicantina. Ello sugiere que la vida social de la capital se traslada a la mencionada huerta donde se organizarían tertulias, recepciones, fiestas así como algún espectáculo musical y teatral.

Perfectionism, Economic (dis)Incentives, and Political Coercion

May a government attempt to improve the lives of its citizens by promoting the activities it deems valuable and discouraging those it disvalues? May it engage in such a practice even when doing so is not a requirement of justice in some strict sense, and even when the judgments of value and disvalue in question are likely to be subject to controversy among its citizens? These questions have long stood at the center of debates between political perfectionists and political neutralists. In what follows I address a prominent cluster of arguments against political perfectionism—namely, arguments that focus on the coercive dimensions of state action. My main claim is simple: whatever concerns we might have about coercion, arguments from coercion fall short of supporting a thoroughgoing rejection of perfectionism, for the reason that perfectionist policies need not be coercive. Thlist challenges to this last claim.

Technological change, economic development and intra and extra regional relations in Latin America

Includes bibliography

The economic rationale for infection control in Australian hospitals

The objective of the present study was to predict the economic consequences of healthcare-acquired infections arising among admissions to Australian acute care hospitals. A quantitative algorithm informed by epidemiological and economic data was developed. All acute care hospitals in Australia were included in the study and the participants included all admissions to general medical and general surgical specialties. The main outcome measures were the numbers of cases of healthcare-acquired infection and bed days lost annually. It was estimated that there are 175 153 (95% credible interval 155 911 : 195 168) cases of healthcare-acquired infection among admissions to Australian hospitals annually, and the extra stay in hospital to treat symptoms accounts for 854 289 bed days (95% credible interval 645 091 : 1 096 244). If rates were reduced by 1%, then 150 158 bed days would be released for alternative uses. This would allow ~38 500 new admissions. Healthcare-acquired infections in patients cause bed blocks in Australian hospitals. The cost-effectiveness of hospital services might be improved by allocating more resources to infection control, releasing beds and allowing new admissions. There exists an opportunity to improve the efficiency of the Australian health care system.

The increased risks of death and extra lengths of hospital and ICU stay from hospital-acquired bloodstream infections : a case-control study

Objectives Hospital-acquired bloodstream infections are known to increase the risk of death and prolong hospital stay, but precise estimates of these two important outcomes from well-designed studies are rare, particularly for non-intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We aimed to calculate accurate estimates, which are vital for estimating the economic costs of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections.

An economic case for providing free access to antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive people in South Australia

Background As financial constraints can be a barrier to accessing HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART), we argue for the removal of copayment requirements from HIV medications in South Australia. Methods Using a simple mathematical model informed by available behavioural and biological data and reflecting the HIV epidemiology in South Australia, we calculated the expected number of new HIV transmissions caused by persons who are not currently on ART compared with transmissions for people on ART. The extra financial investment required to cover the copayments to prevent an HIV infection was compared with the treatment costs saved due to averting HIV infections. Results It was estimated that one HIV infection is prevented per year for every 31.4 persons (median, 24.0–42.7 interquartile range (IQR)) who receive treatment. By considering the incremental change in costs and outcomes of a change in program from the current status quo, it would cost the health sector $17 860 per infection averted (median, $13 651–24 287 IQR) if ART is provided as a three-dose, three-drug combination without requirements for user-pay copayments. Conclusions The costs of removing copayment fees for ART are less than the costs of treating extra HIV infections that would result under current conditions. Removing the copayment requirement for HIV medication would be cost-effective from a governmental perspective.

Growth medium selection and its economic impact on plasmid DNA production

Current developments in gene medicine and vaccination studies are utilizing plasmid DNA (pDNA) as the vector. For this reason, there has been an increasing trend towards larger and larger doses of pDNA utilized in human trials: from 100-1000 μg in 2002 to 500-5000 μg in 2005. The increasing demand of pDNA has created the need to revolutionalize current production levels under optimum economy. In this work, different standard media (LB, TB and SOC) for culturing recombinant Escherichia coli DH5α harbouring pUC19 were compared to a medium optimised for pDNA production. Lab scale fermentations using the standard media showed that the highest pDNA volumetric and specific yields were for TB (11.4 μg/ml and 6.3 μg/mg dry cell mass respectively) and the lowest was for LB (2.8 μg/ml and 3.3 μg/mg dry cell mass respectively). A fourth medium, PDMR, designed by modifying a stoichiometrically-formulated medium with an optimised carbon source concentration and carbon to nitrogen ratio displayed pDNA volumetric and specific yields of 23.8 μg/ml and 11.2 μg/mg dry cell mass respectively. However, it is the economic advantages of the optimised medium that makes it so attractive. Keeping all variables constant except medium and using LB as a base scenario (100 medium cost [MC] units/mg pDNA), the optimised PDMR medium yielded pDNA at a cost of only 27 MC units/mg pDNA. These results show that greater amounts of pDNA can be obtained more economically with minimal extra effort simply by using a medium optimised for pDNA production.

Economic analyses of options for weedy Sporobolus grass management

Weedy Sporobolus grasses have low palatability for livestock, with infestations reducing land condition and pastoral productivity. Control and containment options are available, but the cost of weed control is high relative to the extra return from livestock, thus, limiting private investment. This paper outlines a process for analysing the economic consequences of alternative management options for weedy Sporobolus grasses. This process is applicable to other weeds and other pastoral degradation or development issues. Using a case study property, three scenarios were developed. Each scenario compared two alternative management options and was analysed using discounted cash flow analysis. Two of the scenarios were based on infested properties and one scenario was based on a currently uninfested property but highly likely to become infested without active containment measures preventing weed seed transport and seedling establishment. The analysis highlighted why particular weedy Sporobolus grass management options may not be financially feasible for the landholder with the infestation. However, at the regional scale, the management options may be highly worthwhile due to a reduction in weed seed movement and new weed invasions. Therefore, to encourage investment by landholders in weedy Sporobolus grass management the investment of public money on behalf of landholders with non-infested properties should be considered.

Rice-fish and rice mono-crop production at Gouripur, Mymensingh: an economic analysis

This study examines the relative profitability of rice-fish culture and rice mono-crop production at Gouripur thana of Mymensingh district. The results of the study show that the rice-fish farming was economically more rewarding than the rice mono-crop farming, although both the farming activities were found profitable over cash as well as full costs. In addition to extra earnings from fish, the rice-fish farming produced significantly a higher yield of rice requiring very minimum extra cost for fish. Rice-fish farming also reduced variability in yield of and return from rice.

“Hegemony Protected by the Armour of Coercion”: Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest and the State

This article argues that Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel Red Harvest is best understood in the context of the consolidation and expansion of the US state following the First World War and the Russian Revolution. It also argues that Hammett's novel constitutes a highly significant articulation of theoretical debates about the nature of political authority and state power in the modern era and speaks about the transition of one state formation to another. Insofar as Red Harvest explores the way in which the state's coercive and ethical character are bound up together, this article argues that Hammett's novel draws upon an understanding of political authority and state power primarily derived from Gramsci, via Marx. Gramsci insists that control cannot be maintained through force alone (and his conception of hegemony, in turn, suggests a power bloc that can become fragmented and disunited in a war of position). In the same way, Red Harvest traces the transformation of the “economic-corporate” state into the expanded or “ethical” State but crucially any ethical dimension, as Gramsci notes, is always beholden to the needs of the capitalist economy. As such, the apparently arbitrary bloodshed in the novel is conceived as a relatively minor realignment in the ranks of the capitalist classes – certainly less serious than the miners' strike that prefigures the novel. What makes this realignment significant is that it calls attention to the state both as repressive and as a site of conflict and compromise. Here, the work performed by the Continental Op and by the crime novel in general – simultaneously buttressing and, to some extent, contesting the power of the state – needs to be understood as part of the process by which the state is consistently enacting hegemony (albeit protected by the armour of coercion). The article concludes by pointing out that while Gramsci is perhaps too willing to dwell upon the state's expanded reach, Red Harvest is more interested in examining possible “cracks and fissures” in the state formation, even if the critique it ultimately offers goes nowhere and yields nothing.