bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Acquisition of a hybrid E/M state is essential for tumorigenicity of basal breast cancer cells
Authors: Kröger Cornelia , Afeyan Alexander , Mraz Jasmin , Eaton Elinor Ng , Reinhardt Ferenc , Khodor Yevgenia L. , Thiru Prathapan , Bierie Brian , Ye Xin , Burge Christopher B. , Weinberg Robert A.
Published: March 2019

Carcinoma cells residing in an intermediate phenotypic state along the epithelial–mesenchymal (E–M) spectrum are associated with malignant phenotypes, such as invasiveness, tumor-initiating ability, and metastatic dissemination. Using the recently described CD104
+
/CD44
hi
antigen marker combination, we isolated highly tumorigenic breast cancer cells residing stably—both in vitro and in vivo—in an intermediate phenotypic state and coexpressing both epithelial (E) and mesenchymal (M) markers. We demonstrate that tumorigenicity depends on individual cells residing in this E/M hybrid state and cannot be phenocopied by mixing two cell populations that reside stably at the two ends of the spectrum, i.e., in the E and in the M state. Hence, residence in a specific intermediate state along the E–M spectrum rather than phenotypic plasticity appears critical to the expression of tumor-initiating capacity. Acquisition of this E/M hybrid state is facilitated by the differential expression of EMT-inducing transcription factors (EMT-TFs) and is accompanied by the expression of adult stem cell programs, notably, active canonical Wnt signaling. Furthermore, transition from the highly tumorigenic E/M state to a fully mesenchymal phenotype, achieved by constitutive ectopic expression of Zeb1, is sufficient to drive cells out of the E/M hybrid state into a highly mesenchymal state, which is accompanied by a substantial loss of tumorigenicity and a switch from canonical to noncanonical Wnt signaling. Identifying the gatekeepers of the various phenotypic states arrayed along the E–M spectrum is likely to prove useful in developing therapeutic approaches that operate by shifting cancer cells between distinct states along this spectrum.
Structural comparison of the vacuolar and Golgi V-ATPases from
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Vasanthakumar Thamiya , Bueler Stephanie A. , Wu Di , Beilsten-Edmands Victoria , Robinson Carol V. , Rubinstein John L.
Published: March 2019

Proton-translocating vacuolar-type ATPases (V-ATPases) are necessary for numerous processes in eukaryotic cells, including receptor-mediated endocytosis, protein maturation, and lysosomal acidification. In mammals, V-ATPase subunit isoforms are differentially targeted to various intracellular compartments or tissues, but how these subunit isoforms influence enzyme activity is not clear. In the yeast
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
, isoform diversity is limited to two different versions of the proton-translocating subunit a: Vph1p, which is targeted to the vacuole, and Stv1p, which is targeted to the Golgi apparatus and endosomes. We show that purified V-ATPase complexes containing Vph1p have higher ATPase activity than complexes containing Stv1p and that the relative difference in activity depends on the presence of lipids. We also show that V
O
complexes containing Stv1p could be readily purified without attached V
1
regions. We used this effect to determine structures of the membrane-embedded V
O
region with Stv1p at 3.1-Å resolution, which we compare with a structure of the V
O
region with Vph1p that we determine to 3.2-Å resolution. These maps reveal differences in the surface charge near the cytoplasmic proton half-channel. Both maps also show the presence of bound lipids, as well as regularly spaced densities that may correspond to ergosterol or bound detergent, around the c-ring.
Targeting pericyte–endothelial cell crosstalk by circular RNA-cPWWP2A inhibition aggravates diabetes-induced microvascular dysfunction
Authors: Liu Chang , Ge Hui-Min , Liu Bai-Hui , Dong Rui , Shan Kun , Chen Xue , Yao Mu-Di , Li Xiu-Miao , Yao Jin , Zhou Rong-Mei , Zhang Shu-Jie , Jiang Qin , Zhao Chen , Yan Biao
Published: March 2019

Significance

The crosstalk between vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes in the microvascular is critical for vascular homeostasis and remodeling. However, the crosstalk between these two cells is often disrupted by diabetes, resulting in severe and even lethal vascular defects. Here, we show that diabetes-related stress up-regulates cPWWP2A expression in pericytes but not in ECs. Pericyte-derived cPWWP2A affects pericyte coverage and vascular integrity through interacting with miR-579 and its target genes, including angiopoietin 1/occludin/SIRT1. Our study thus reveals a critical role of cPWWP2A-mediated signaling in retinal microvascular dysfunction and implies potential therapeutic benefit with high-level expression of cPWWP2A or reduced miR-579 expression.
Enzyme annotation for orphan and novel reactions using knowledge of substrate reactive sites
Authors: Hadadi Noushin , MohammadiPeyhani Homa , Miskovic Ljubisa , Seijo Marianne , Hatzimanikatis Vassily
Published: March 2019

Thousands of biochemical reactions with characterized activities are “orphan,” meaning they cannot be assigned to a specific enzyme, leaving gaps in metabolic pathways. Novel reactions predicted by pathway-generation tools also lack associated sequences, limiting protein engineering applications. Associating orphan and novel reactions with known biochemistry and suggesting enzymes to catalyze them is a daunting problem. We propose the method BridgIT to identify candidate genes and catalyzing proteins for these reactions. This method introduces information about the enzyme binding pocket into reaction-similarity comparisons. BridgIT assesses the similarity of two reactions, one orphan and one well-characterized nonorphan reaction, using their substrate reactive sites, their surrounding structures, and the structures of the generated products to suggest enzymes that catalyze the most-similar nonorphan reactions as candidates for also catalyzing the orphan ones. We performed two large-scale validation studies to test BridgIT predictions against experimental biochemical evidence. For the 234 orphan reactions from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) 2011 (a comprehensive enzymatic-reaction database) that became nonorphan in KEGG 2018, BridgIT predicted the exact or a highly related enzyme for 211 of them. Moreover, for 334 of 379 novel reactions in 2014 that were later cataloged in KEGG 2018, BridgIT predicted the exact or highly similar enzymes. BridgIT requires knowledge about only four connecting bonds around the atoms of the reactive sites to correctly annotate proteins for 93% of analyzed enzymatic reactions. Increasing to seven connecting bonds allowed for the accurate identification of a sequence for nearly all known enzymatic reactions.
General description of martensite transformation curves – a case for bainite
Authors: Guimarães J. R. C. , Rios P. R.
Published: March 2019

This work describes the results of validation trials of a formal model for the martensite transformation curve in steels. The model is based on microstructural evolution and accepted aspects of athermal, isothermal, mechanical-induced as well as magnetic-assisted martensite transformation modes. The model is operational for martensite and applicable to other intragrain transformations. The paper also explores the extension of the formalism to bainite.
Nitrous Oxide: What do we Know about its use Disorder Potential? Results of the French Monitoring Centre for Addiction Network Survey and Literature Review
Authors: Fidalgo Martin , Prud'homme Tony , Allio Adrien , Bronnec Marie , Bulteau Samuel , Jolliet Pascale , Victorri-Vigneau Caroline
Published: March 2019

Background: Nitrous oxide (N2O) is used worldwide for analgesia and anesthesia. It is also used for recreational purposes by some people. N2O can have major side effects (myeloneuropathy, delusions, emphysema) when used to excess. In France, N2O is available as an equimolar mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide (EMONO). Its substance use disorder potential is monitored by the French Monitoring Centre for Addiction (CEIP-A) network.

Our objective is to provide an overview of the substance use disorder potential of N2O in general, and of EMONO in particular. Methods: This paper is based on a systematic review of the literature for case reports involving N2O use disorder and on CEIP-A network cases involving EMONO use disorder. We characterized use disorder in accordance with DSM-5 ( Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition) criteria. Furthermore, we considered data relating to medical history, age, gender, and N2O consumption habits. Results: We identified 59 cases of N2O use disorder in the literature and 17 cases of EMONO use disorder from the CEIP-A network. More than 90% of the cases used N2O in larger quantities and for longer than intended. Conversely, more negative as opposed to positive cases have been documented regarding tolerance and failed attempts to reduce usage. Conclusions: A specific profile of substance use disorder starts to emerge from all the cases studied here. Furthermore, we identified another way N2O use disorder can appear: through exposure for medical purposes.
Incremental Validity of Patients’ Self-Reported Anger Beyond Structured Professional Judgment Tools in the Prediction of Inpatient Aggression
Authors: Jalil Rahul , Huber Jorg , Sixsmith Judith , Dickens Geoffrey
Published: March 2019

Mental health inpatients’ self-reported violence risk predicts actual aggressive outcomes. Anger, for which there are well-evidenced interventions, commonly precedes inpatient aggression. We aimed to determine whether patients’ self-reported anger added incremental validity to violence prediction beyond routinely completed violence risk assessments. A correlational, pseudo-prospective study design was employed. N = 76 inpatients in secure hospitals completed self-report validated anger measures; routinely collected clinicians' ratings on structured professional judgment tools, and aggressive incident data for a 3-month follow-up period were extracted from clinical records. Thirty four (45%) participants were violent; self-reported anger and clinician-risk ratings were significantly positively correlated. Self-reported anger predicted aggressive outcomes but not incrementally beyond relevant risk assessment subscale and item scores. It may not be beneficial for all patients to self-report anger as part of continuous violence risk assessments, but those who score highly on anger-relevant items of risk assessment tools could be considered for further assessment to support risk-management interventions.
Effect of exclosure on woody species diversity and population structure in comparison with adjacent open grazing land: the case of Jabi Tehnan district north western Ethiopia
Authors: Asmare Melkamu Terefe , Gure Abdella
Published: March 2019

Land rehabilitation by area exclosure was the fastest and moderate approach of recovering degraded sites. However, the effect of exclosure on woody species parameters in Jabitehnan district, north-western Ethiopia has not been investigated. Therefore, the current study was conducted (i) to assess and compare diversity, composition and density of woody species in exclosure and adjacent open lands, and (ii) to analyze population structure as well as regeneration status of woody species. A random sampling method was employed to select a total of 40 sample plots (50m*50m). A total of 8 parallel transect lines were used inside and outside the exclosure land in each site for consecutive (50m interval) plot establishment.  Species diversity was 1.7 and 3.03 for WG, 1.1 and 2.94 for GW open and exclosures, respectively. Population structure of woody species in exclosures of both sites exhibited an inverted J shape which indicates good regeneration status, while in adjacent open grazing land it exhibited partial bell shape. Generally, exclosure provides various biophysical benefits better than adjacent open grazing lands. It is recommended to protect degraded lands by exclosure via integrating appropriate species and convert their diversity into use so as to develop their potential benefits on land restoration.
Homeostatic scaling of active zone scaffolds maintains global synaptic strength
Authors: Goel Pragya , Dufour Bergeron Dominique , Böhme Mathias A. , Nunnelly Luke , Lehmann Martin , Buser Christopher , Walter Alexander M. , Sigrist Stephan J. , Dickman Dion
Published: March 2019

Synaptic terminals grow and retract throughout life, yet synaptic strength is maintained within stable physiological ranges. To study this process, we investigated Drosophila endophilin (endo) mutants. Although active zone (AZ) number is doubled in endo mutants, a compensatory reduction in their size homeostatically adjusts global neurotransmitter output to maintain synaptic strength. We find an inverse adaptation in rab3 mutants. Additional analyses using confocal, STED, and electron microscopy reveal a stoichiometric tuning of AZ scaffolds and nanoarchitecture. Axonal transport of synaptic cargo via the lysosomal kinesin adapter Arl8 regulates AZ abundance to modulate global synaptic output and sustain the homeostatic potentiation of neurotransmission. Finally, we find that this AZ scaling can interface with two independent homeostats, depression and potentiation, to remodel AZ structure and function, demonstrating a robust balancing of separate homeostatic adaptations. Thus, AZs are pliable substrates with elastic and modular nanostructures that can be dynamically sculpted to stabilize and tune both local and global synaptic strength.
Canon and Classic
Authors: Ross Trevor
Published: March 2019

The literary canon, theorists contend, is a selection of reputable works that abstracts their value for specific purposes: to safeguard them from neglect or censure, reproduce social and institutional values, maintain them as exemplary in the formation of personal or communal identities, or objectify and enshrine standards of judgment. The value of canonical works is not felt reducible to these uses or the interests that canon-making may serve, but canonization is nonetheless thought to be a recognition of their value, even confirmation that this value has been sufficiently established, by consensus or institutional edict, that it no longer requires demonstration. The discourse of canonicity thus relies on an economy of belief about the possibility and validity of agreement about literary value. Within this economy, the canon, in whichever composition, is both the evidence and the outcome of agreement, without which value would seemingly become entirely speculative. At the same time, canonicity is also a form of attention paid to valuable works, and it is not the only such form. Canonical works are treated differently than are other valuable works, and the value of the same work may be described in a different rhetoric of valuation depending on what kind of valuable work it is perceived to be. A work may be treated as a reference point, a familiar and influential text whose contribution to culture is measured relative to one context. It may be viewed as a classic, a singular and standard work whose value is perceived across a distance of time or culture. Or it may be esteemed as a canonical text, whose vital and indefinable contribution is not seen as relative to any particular time or place. The discourse of canonicity thus serves to generate belief in the possibility of suspending, however provisionally, speculation and contingency.
Filipino American Literature
Authors: Cabusao Jeffrey Arellano
Published: March 2019

The large body of Filipino American literature has helped to define and challenge the boundaries of the Asian American literary canon. Documenting various waves of Filipino migration to the United States as a result of US-Philippine colonial relations beginning at the turn of the 20th century, Filipino American literature includes genres such as autobiography, novels, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction (letter writing and essays), and graphic literature. While Filipino American literature shares common themes with other forms of Asian American literature (exile, displacement, racist exclusion), it is distinguished by its inability to adhere to an immigrant-assimilationist paradigm. Filipino American literature provides insight into the experiences of Filipino colonial and neocolonial subjects who have migrated from the periphery to the center. The unique historical and geopolitical framework of US-Philippine relations recasts themes such as the search for identity and “home,” the seduction of assimilation, and postcolonial resistance to US orientalist discourse. At the heart of the Filipino American writer’s discovery that she is a part of, yet apart from, Asian America is the task of confronting her unique location as informed by the Filipino collective experience of racial/national subordination. For Filipino Americans, racism and US colonial/neocolonial control of the Philippines are inextricably intertwined. Filipino Americans, the second largest Asian American group in the United States and the largest Asian American group in the state of California, constitute a major segment of the Filipino diaspora which is over twelve million—a majority of whom labor as Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). More than 5000 Filipinos depart the Philippines daily as a strategy for economic survival. US-Philippine neocolonial relations, together with the traumatic global dispersal of Filipinos, function as the political unconscious of contemporary forms of Filipino American literature. These works grapple with heterogeneity, difference, displacement, and diverse strategies of decolonization—from exploring the complexity of Filipino American identity (intersection of race, gender, sexuality, class) to articulating the yearning to belong. For contemporary writers, Filipino American identity and the concept of decolonization are contested terrains—both still in the process of becoming.
Accountability in Journalism
Authors: Fengler Susanne
Published: March 2019

In the past decade, academic and professional debates about media accountability have spread around the globe – but have done so in a fundamentally different framework. In many Western democracies, trust in media – along with trust in politics and trust in institutions – as eroded dramatically. Fundamental shifts regarding the patterns of media use and the structure of media and revenue markets have made media and journalism more exposed to criticism from various stakeholders, and more vulnerable to the strategic influence of national and international actors. While many “Western” media professionals have reacted to these challenges to its credibility by new initiatives to demonstrate accountability and transparency, policy makers in other countries even in the “Global North” have tightened their grip on independent media and gradually weakened the concept of self-control. At the same time, an ongoing democratization in many parts of the world, along with a de-regulation of media markets, has created a growing demand for self-regulation and media accountability in countries formerly characterized by rigid press control.

Claude-Jean Bertrand defined the development and current structures of accountability in journalism as “any non-State means of making media responsible towards the public.” Key aims of media accountability are “to improve the services of the media to the public; restore the prestige of media in the eyes of the population; diversely protect freedom of speech and press; obtain, for the profession, the autonomy that it needs to play its part in the expansion of democracy and the betterment of the fate of mankind.” Journalists and news outlets have a wide array of responses to professional, public, and political criticisms via press councils, ombudsmen, media criticism, and digital forms of media accountability, while online and offline media accountability instruments have distinct traditions in different media systems and journalism cultures.
Accuracy in Journalism
Authors: Porlezza Colin
Published: March 2019

Accuracy is a central norm in journalism and at the heart of the journalistic practice. As a norm, accuracy developed out of objectivity, and has therefore an Anglo-American origin. Nevertheless, the commitment to the rule of getting it right is shared among journalists across different journalistic cultures. The history of accuracy is closely related to other central concepts in journalism like truthfulness, factuality and credibility, because it raises epistemological questions of whether and how journalism is capable of depicting reality accurately, truthfully and based on fact. Accuracy plays a particularly important role with regard to the factuality of the journalistic discourse, as it forces journalists not only to ground their reporting on facts, but to check whether presented facts are true or not—which is reflected both in the description of the journalistic profession as the discipline of verification as well as the central relevance of accuracy for instruments of media self-regulation like press councils and codes of ethics.

Accuracy is an important standard to determine the quality of the news reporting. In fact, many studies, most of them carried out Western democracies, have investigated the accuracy of journalistic reporting based on the number of errors that sources mentioned in the articles perceived. As journalism moved online and the immediacy of the news cycle requested a faster pace of publication, news outlets often adopted the strategy to publish first and to verify second, although research has shown that the accuracy of journalistic reporting and trustfulness are related. Especially in the current debate on disinformation, many online fact-checking and verification services have thus seen a global rise of attention and importance.
Beat Journalism and Reporting
Authors: Magin Melanie , Maurer Peter
Published: March 2019

Beat reporting refers to thematic specialization and routines (places to go, people to see) in journalism. The term reflects the distinction between general assignment reporters and specialized (beat) reporters covering a specific area (beat) as well as the subject-matter or geographic divisions between areas of reporting by which media organizations seek to structure the social environment they cover. Beat reporting marks the beginning of modern journalism. It was invented at the end of the 19th century in the United States with the aim to increase the efficiency of journalistic work. Thus it relates to the professionalization and rationalization of newspaper journalism and the transformation of newspapers into a mass product. In everyday work, beat reporting has undeniable advantages. It saves resources since beat reporters are very experienced on their beat and know well where and how to get exactly the information they need. Due to their long-term relationship of trust with relevant sources, beat reporters obtain exclusive, trustworthy, and newsworthy information. Along with this specialization come, however, several challenges; for example, the diversity of views represented in a beat might be limited, which can also affect the diversity of news coverage. At the extreme, this can even lead to pack journalism as a form of groupthink. Concerning the reporter–source relationship, there are three risks of losing professional distance: (a) If beat reporters become too loyal toward their sources, they can be instrumentalized; (b) being too adversarial toward their sources might entail a loss of trust and an increasing cynicism of the audience; (c) if beat reporters start feeling like advocates of their own interests, they might behave as activists rather than detached observers. Most recently, online journalism has changed the understanding of beat journalism (e.g., data journalism, local online beat) compared to the traditional understanding. Research on beat journalism has so far focused on stable, high-income democracies and on the political beat as the most fundamental and prominent beat.
Statistical Downscaling for Climate Science
Authors: Maraun Douglas
Published: March 2019

Global climate models are our main tool to generate quantitative climate projections, but these models do not resolve the effects of complex topography, regional scale atmospheric processes and small-scale extreme events. To understand potential regional climatic changes, and to provide information for regional-scale impact modeling and adaptation planning, downscaling approaches have been developed. Regional climate change modeling, even though it is still a matter of basic research and questioned by many researchers, is urged to provide operational results. One major downscaling class is statistical downscaling, which exploits empirical relationships between larger-scale and local weather. The main statistical downscaling approaches are perfect prog (often referred to as empirical statistical downscaling), model output statistics (which is typically some sort of bias correction), and weather generators.

Statistical downscaling complements or adds to dynamical downscaling and is useful to generate user-tailored local-scale information, or to efficiently generate regional scale information about mean climatic changes from large global climate model ensembles. Further research is needed to assess to what extent the assumptions underlying statistical downscaling are met in typical applications, and to develop new methods for generating spatially coherent projections, and for including process-understanding in bias correction. The increasing resolution of global climate models will improve the representation of downscaling predictors and will, therefore, make downscaling an even more feasible approach that will still be required to tailor information for users.
Comitology: Controlling Everyday Rule-Making in the European Union
Authors: Blom-Hansen Jens
Published: March 2019

Rules issued by the European Commission, based on powers delegated by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, constitute the vast majority of all EU rules. They regulate the daily operation of common policies in all areas. Because the devil is often in the details, Commission rules are tightly controlled by the member states. This traditionally takes place in the so-called comitology system, which is a system of 200–300 member state committees set up to control and approve draft Commission rules. Comitology dates back to the early 1960s, when the Common Agricultural Policy was introduced. The institutional setup of the comitology system is a four-tiered structure composed of Treaty rules, framework rules, daily legislation, and the formal and informal working practices in the individual comitology committees. The Treaty of Lisbon gave the comitology system a major overhaul and introduced new types of Commission rules, delegated acts, and implementing acts. Research on comitology has focused on the purpose and design of the system and its daily workings. Relevant research questions for future studies include the legislative choice between delegated and implementing acts, the daily workings of the comitology committees, lobbying of comitology committees by interest groups, introduction of comitology through the back door in the delegated acts system, and the relationship between comitology and the new rule-making role of European agencies.
Climate Policy in European Union Politics
Authors: Delreux Tom , Ohler Frauke
Published: March 2019

The fight against climate change has become a major area of action for the European Union (EU), both at the European and the international level. EU climate policy has gained importance since the 1990s and is today the most politicized issue on the EU’s environmental agenda. The EU is often considered a frontrunner—even a leader—in the adoption of climate policies internally and the promotion of such policies externally. Internally, the EU has developed the world’s most advanced and comprehensive regulatory frameworks, encompassing both EU-wide policies and targets to be achieved by the member states. The actual EU policy instruments fall into two categories: whereas emissions in certain industrial sectors are reduced through a carbon market and a “cap-and-trade” system (the Emissions Trading Scheme), emissions from non-ETS sectors are addressed through domestic policies by member states. These measures have led to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, but they will not suffice to achieve the EU’s long-term goals, which requires a major overhaul of some of the basic premises of the EU’s policies in sectors such as energy production and consumption, transport, agriculture, and industry. Externally, the EU has been advocating ambitious and legally binding international climate agreements. Desiring to “lead by example”, the EU has been an influential global climate player at important international climate conferences such as those held in Kyoto (1997), Marrakesh (2001), and Paris (2015), but its diplomacy failed at the Copenhagen conference (2009).
Queer Activism in Africa
Authors: Gore Ellie
Published: March 2019

From Pride marches in Entebbe to legal battles in Lilongwe, the struggle for queer liberation in Africa has intensified over the past two decades. This has given rise to diverse formations of queer activism and organizing across the African continent and, in turn, to a burgeoning academic literature on the politics and practices of queer African activism. From a legal perspective, this period has seen progress in the status of queer or LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) rights in some parts of the continent. Elsewhere, this has paralleled a rise in forms of state-sponsored homophobia. The Ugandan government’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill is one prominent example, which garnered international notoriety in 2009. Focusing on waves of political homophobia in countries like Uganda, some Western media commentators have characterized Africa as homophobic, a continent where queer individuals face violence and persecution.

Yet heightened international concern over the plight of queer Africans has not always been accompanied by an understanding of the movements, alliances, organizations, and activists working on these issues on the ground, nor has it incorporated the voices and experiences of queer Africans themselves. Thus, narratives of “homophobic Africa” belie the multiple, far-reaching ways Africans are coming together to contest homophobia, unsettle heteronormativity, and assert their rights. Among this growing array of activist groups are the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, Freedom and Roam Uganda, the Association of LGBTI People in Zimbabwe (GALZ), and LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana), to name just a few.

In the academic literature, scholars have converged around a key set of issues and debates in an attempt to document and understand the character of contemporary queer politics and activism in Africa. This includes debates over language, naming practices, and terminology and discussions of political and religious homophobia, processes of globalization, the impact of HIV interventions and international aid funding, and the political economy of development. The complexity of these issues defies generalization and necessitates a concern for specificity: for an understanding of the shifting social, cultural, economic, and political contexts in which struggles over queer liberation and LGBTI rights are taking place in Africa; of the historical legacies of colonialism and uneven patterns of global development; and of the opportunities and constraints shaping queer activism in each setting. Against this background, scholars engaged in the study of queer activism must interrogate whose experiences, voices, and priorities are being heard (and whose are being excluded) and seek to center those activists at the grass roots who are leading the struggle for queer liberation and erotic justice on the continent.
Colonial Rule and Its Political Legacies in Africa
Authors: Robinson Amanda Lea
Published: March 2019

European colonialism in Africa was brief, lasting less than a century for most of the continent. Nevertheless, scholars have enumerated myriad long-term political effects of this brief period of colonial rule. First, Europeans determined the number, size, and shape of African states through their partition of the continent, with contemporary implications for state viability, strength, and legitimacy. Second, colonial rule influenced the nature of ethnic boundaries and their salience for politics through the use of indirect rule, language and labor policies, and the location of internal administrative boundaries. Third, colonial rule significantly shaped the nature of postcolonial state-society relations by divorcing the state from civil society during the colonial era and by engendering deep mistrust of the state as a benevolent actor. Fourth, many colonial institutions were preserved at independence, including the marriage of state institutions and customary rule, with deleterious effects. Fifth, differential colonial investments across communities and regions generated significant inequality, with continued political implications in the 21st century. The identification of these long-term effects has largely resulted from empirical comparisons across different forms of colonial rule, especially comparing territories administered by different colonial powers. Future research should move beyond this blunt approach, instead pursuing more disaggregated and nuanced measures of both colonial rule and its political legacies, as well as more scholarship on the long-term interaction between colonial and indigenous political institutions.
Democracy and the Question of Its Feasibility in Africa
Authors: Gazibo Mamoudou
Published: March 2019

Until the end of the 1980s, most observers believed that democratic prospects in Africa were limited, given the low level of economic development, the absence of strong nation-states, and the inexistence of a long history of social and political pluralism. However, beginning in 1989, a wave of popular protests demanding democratic reforms swept the continent. Within a couple of years, virtually all the countries liberalized their political systems. Since then, Africans have shown consistently that they strongly prefer and support democratic rule. At the same time, democratic institutions such as electoral commissions and constitutional courts have taken root on the continent. These developments suggest that the question of the feasibility of democracy in Africa is no longer relevant. Nonetheless, the existence of democratic demands, support, and institutions does not mean that democracy is easy to establish and consolidate. In many African countries, democratic gains are reversible and face several hindering factors, including state weakness, autocratic mindset, unstable and divided civic and political organizations, and widespread identity politics. This is why the level and quality of democracy on the African continent vary dramatically from country to country and from one region to another.
The African Union: Successes and Failures
Authors: Tieku Thomas Kwasi
Published: March 2019

The African Union (AU), an international organization comprising all 54 independent states in Africa and Western Sahara, was established in May 2001 to, among other things, promote regional integration, interstate solidarity, peace, good governance and to enhance the African voice in the global system. Pan-African organization is like the proverbial forest that has bad trees dotted around its many good trees. The AU has been very successful in addressing the needs of the African political class but it is yet to make a significant difference in the lives of many ordinary Africans. The importance of the pan-African organization to African political elite is such that they would have created it today if it did not already exist. The AU has socialized African leaders to accept liberal values as the foundation of international cooperation in Africa; enhanced the agency of African political class on the world stage; and established progressive and innovative rules and norms for the African continent. It has also created many useful decision-making structures that have contributed to the prevention, management, and resolution of conflicts in Africa.

The AU has, however, been less successful in connecting its activities and programs to many ordinary Africans; providing common public goods and services valued by commoners in Africa; giving voice to the majority of young people in Africa; promoting intra-Africa trade, good governance, and financial independence of the African continent as well as struggled to address the expressed material needs and quotidian concerns of ordinary Africans.
Political Competition Beyond Ethnic Politics in Africa
Authors: Koter Dominika
Published: March 2019

Ethnic cleavages are present in many elections across the continent, and scholars frequently view ethnic mobilization as the default way in which politicians appeal to African voters. Ethnic electoral patterns already emerged in many countries during the first mass elections around the time of independence and they continue to be visible to this day. The prevalence of ethnic politics has been commonly seen as a result of limited ideological and programmatic debates in African elections and the centrality of ethnic networks in voters’ access to scarce resources. Yet, early-21st-century scholarship increasingly reveals the varied degrees in which ethnicity plays a role in African political contests, raising the question of when do politicians engage in alternative forms of electoral mobilization? And when are voters inclined to vote for candidates outside their ethnic group? Emerging scholarship suggests that it is easier for politicians to pursue programmatic and populist campaigns that do not cater to specific ethnic groups in cities rather than in rural areas where politicians rarely avoid clientelist strategies. Other research also suggests that the nature of social organization and the composition of rural areas can determine whether clientelist strategies are organized along ethnic lines or not.
The Politics of Language Education in Africa
Authors: Kaschula Russell H. , Kretzer Michael M.
Published: March 2019

Language policies in sub-Saharan African nations emerge out of specific political, historical, socioeconomic, and linguistic conditions. Education plays a crucial role for all spheres of language policy. Policies either upgrade or downgrade indigenous languages through their application at various educational institutions. The most significant example is the selection of the language(s) used as languages of learning and teaching at higher-education institutions. The region’s colonial history also influences the language policies of the independent African states. Language policy in Senegal is an example of a francophone country focusing on a linguistic assimilation policy in which minor reforms in favor of indigenous languages have taken place. Rwanda’s language policy is unique as the former francophone nation now uses English as an exoglossic language in a type of hybrid language policy. Botswana is an example of an anglophone country that follows a language policy that is dominated by a very close connection to the notion of nation-building through its concentration on a single language, Setswana, alongside English. Tanzania is an anglophone African country whose policy focuses on Kiswahili, which is one of the very few indigenous and endoglossic languages. Kiswahili is broadly used in Tanzanian educational institutions until the tertiary level, but its use as medium of instruction focuses on the primary level. South Africa demonstrates the very close relationship between general political decisions and language policy and vice versa. Language policy decisions are never neutral and are influenced by the politics of a specific country. As a result, individual and societal language attitudes influence language policies. In addition to this, the overt and official language policy on a macro level may differ from the implementation of such policies on a micro level. At the micro level, practice can include covert language practices by various stakeholders.
The Impact and Conceptualization of Religious Identity Across Disciplinary Perspectives
Authors: Curtis K. Amber , Olson Laura R.
Published: March 2019

Religion is among the most powerful forces in the world and therefore one of the most prominent sources of both individual and group identification. Because of this, scholars have spent decades attempting to pinpoint its impact on numerous psychological, social, and political outcomes. A review of extant work shows religion in general (and religious identity in particular) affects mental and physical health; social relations, outgroup hostility, and conflict; and political attitudes and behavior.

Importantly, however, the social scientific study of religion has conceptualized and operationalized religious “identity” along different lines: sociologists and political scientists typically define it as religious affiliation (assessed demographically or by self-placement into nominal religious categories) or religiosity (based on one’s frequency of worship attendance and/or how personally “important” one feels religion is), while social psychologists show greater interest in how psychologically central religion is to one’s self-concept. These distinct approaches underscore that scholars have both meant disparate things by their usage of “identity” and “identification,” as well as measured each term in nonequivalent ways. Moving forward, greater interdisciplinary dialogue—and ideally the establishment of a common metric—would be beneficial in order to better isolate why religion is a more central social identity for some people than others; the extent to which identification with religion overlaps with religiosity; where religious identity fits in among the multitude of identity options with which citizens are confronted; and how the determinants of strong versus weak religious identification vary across person, context, and religious tradition.
Personality, Politics, and Religion
Authors: Friesen Amanda
Published: March 2019

Individual differences in personality, religiosity, and political dispositions often are explained in conjunction with one another. Though the religious and political may share common themes of meaning-making, group identity, and societal organization, personality also influences these orientations. Specifically, the Big Five traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability) and authoritarianism demonstrate consistent relationships with religious/ political beliefs and behaviors. Personality is often thought of as the first mover to develop with an individual before exposure to the other two domains, leading to a conceptual influence model of: personality → religiosity → politics. Using longitudinal studies and genetically informed samples, however, some scholars suggest that these dispositions influence one another and could develop concurrently within individuals. Examining the measured boundaries and relationships between the three domains suggests these dispositions comprise an individual’s personhood, and the varied expression of traits, beliefs, and behaviors are somewhat dependent on culture and context.
Strategic Violence Among Religious Parties in Pakistan
Authors: Siddiqui Niloufer
Published: March 2019

Islamist parties in Pakistan are theologically diverse but grouped as such because of their belief in the state enforcement of religious law (shariah). While they have only achieved modest levels of electoral success, the country’s Islamist parties are considered important due to their ability to mobilize street power, lobby the state and judiciary from outside of parliament, and serve as key electoral allies of mainstream parties. In addition, these Islamist electoral groups employ a range of violence strategies. Many of these parties maintain militant wings, possess linkages with extremist Islamist outfits, and/or engage in violent politics on university campuses through their affiliated student groups.

Existing literature suggests that violence by political parties has certain electoral benefits. First, it serves a coercive function, by intimidating voters to stay home on election day or compelling them to vote a certain way. Second, it can serve to polarize the populace along identity-based lines. However, given the limited success of Islamist parties in elections, it seems unlikely that their involvement in violence serves only an electoral purpose. In particular, much of the parties’ violent activity seems, at least at first glance, unrelated to electoral activity.

Why, then, do Islamist parties utilize violence? Violence wielded by Islamist parties in Pakistan serves three functions. First, Islamist electoral groups are able to leverage their unique position as a part of the system with close linkages to militant actors outside of it to effectively pressure the state on a range of policy matters. That is, violence works to advance the party’s strategic goal of lobbying the government from outside of the legislative system. Second, the use of violence serves an ideological function by, for example, targeting specific sects and minority groups, fighting Western influence, and supporting the liberation struggle in Kashmir. The use of violence also helps prove to ideologically aligned militant actors that the parties are on “their side.” Finally, the use of violence can also serve purely electoral purposes. Like other identity-based parties, making salient a particular schism at opportune times can work to increase one’s own vote bank at the expense of other secular parties.
Governing Africa’s Seas in the Neoliberal Era
Authors: Dahou Tarik , Chalfin Brenda
Published: March 2019

As blue growth (widely accepted as the sustainable development in the marine and maritime sectors as a whole) is gaining increasing traction, oceans and seas are seen as new frontiers for global capitalism. In African countries this trend has spurred a new wave of appropriation and control of maritime spaces for the blue economy. At a time of unprecedented expansion of global production and trade, the African continent is facing new challenges in maritime governance. The governance of the seas has profoundly changed in the 21st century with the explosion of maritime transport, the globalization of the exploitation of marine resources, and the growing concern for environmental issues. The idea of an integrated policy of seas and oceans management became a cornerstone of international and national instruments aiming to regulate maritime circulation and exploitation of marine resources. Integrated maritime management policies put emphasis on liberalization of the marine sectors and resources and the security agenda, taken in its broad sense to guarantee freedom of trade and environmental sustainability. These efforts, whose putative purpose is to combine economic, social, and environmental goals, has resulted in an unsteady balance between different sectors, scales, and actors and opened the door to controversies, dissent, and politics. Although the priorities of this global policy agenda continue to transform the maritime governance in Africa, the African states and societies are also actively reshaping it. While African states alter international maritime policies according to their own ends, these are also constantly molded through struggles over norms, resources, and spaces and conflicts arising from the dialectics of possession and dispossession. The text focuses on the four key areas of maritime governance: ports, offshore exploitation, security, and environment. Even though from the perspective of integrated maritime governance these fields are interwoven, they are subject to particular policies. Hence, while focusing on policies in each area separately, it also analyzes their relationships with each other in order to illuminate the complexity of power configurations.