bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
To close or not to close? Treatment of abdominal compartment syndrome by neuromuscular blockade without laparostomy
Authors: Davies J , Aghahoseini A , Crawford J , Alexander DJ
Published: September 2010

Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is a recognised postoperative complication seen frequently in the intensive care unit (ICU). Surgical decompression and laparostomy remain the gold standard treatment for established ACS, combined with supportive non-surgical therapy, such as nasogastric decompression. In the following case report, we describe our successful management of a patient with established postoperative ACS by re-laparotomy to exclude a reversible cause, immediate re-closure of the abdomen and prolonged neuromuscular blockade, avoiding a laparostomy.
Psychiatric Symptoms, Health Services, and HIV Risk Factors Among Homeless Women
Authors: Kilbourne Amy M. , Herndon Brooke , Andersen Ronald M. , Wenzel Suzanne L. , Gelberg Lillian
Published: September 2010

The authors determined whether psychiatric symptoms and lack of health and/or social services contacts were associated with HIV risk behaviors among a probability sample of homeless women. Women were interviewed regarding socioeconomic indicators, psychiatric symptoms, health and/or social services contacts, and past-year HIV risk behaviors. Overall, 8 percent of the women injected drugs, 64 percent engaged in unprotected sex, and 22 percent traded sex. Multiple logistic regression results revealed that substance abuse was positively associated with injection drug use and trading sex. Homeless women with case managers were less likely to inject drugs. Although barriers to obtaining drug treatment were associated with trading sex, women attending self-help meetings for substance abuse were also more likely to trade sex. Homeless women who are substance abusers are vulnerable to HIV risk behaviors. Risk reduction interventions for homeless women should be implemented through substance abuse and intensive case management programs.
Income, Race, and Preventable Hospitalizations: A Small Area Analysis in New Jersey
Authors: Cable Greg
Published: September 2010

This research examines the effect of income, race, and cultural factors on preventable hospitalizations, using age and sex-adjusted preventable admissions from 53 contiguous zip codes in New Jersey from 1993 to 1995. Low income was strongly associated with high rates of preventable hospitalization in the study zip codes. Income is likely a proxy for education level, barriers to accessing primary care, and health insurance. A floor effect of income levels was present that may reflect a natural level of preventable hospitalization not affected by income, education, or health insurance status. An independent relationship found between nonwhite race and high preventable hospitalization may be in part the result of delays in seeking care affected by antecedent cultural factors. Removing financial barriers is critical but may be insufficient for reducing preventable hospitalizations if other barriers are not also addressed.
New Jersey Medical School's Unique Relationship to Its Community
Authors: Marin Matthew G.
Published: September 2010

The Newark, New Jersey, riot of 1967, sparked in part by tensions created by the conflicting emphasis of President Lyndon Johnson's Model Cities Program, community action programs, and the New Jersey state medical school's move to Newark's Central Ward, has profoundly affected the medical school and its delivery of medical care in Newark. This paper delineates how these Johnson-era programs contributed to the riot and details the continuing legacy of these events on the medical school and the delivery of health care in Newark. The paper concludes that New Jersey Medical School is expected by its community to have a higher standard of local involvement than comparable institutions. Furthermore, it suggests that New Jersey Medical School's relationship and commitment to its community serve as a model for community interactions for medical schools throughout the United States.
Race and Sex Differences in the Use of Cardiac Procedures for Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease in Maryland
Authors: Brown Samuel L.
Published: September 2010

This study analyzes administrative data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission to compare differences by race and sex in the use of cardiac procedures performed in hospitals in Maryland. African Americans discharged from Maryland hospitals were less likely than whites to have received cardiac procedures after controlling for age, insurance status, and the number of comorbidities (e.g., hypertension and diabetes). Overall, the general pattern of care suggests that African American women may receive high-technology cardiac treatment significantly less often than all other race and sex categories.
Enhancing Rural Economic Development: Crafting a Health Care Revolving Loan Fund
Authors: Stewart M. Kathryn , Wojcik Jan , Felix Holly , Slayton Deborah
Published: September 2010

Community development efforts in economically depressed rural areas are often hampered by poor access to health care. One barrier to rural provider availability is the difficulty of obtaining capital for rural health care infrastructure development. Commercial lending institutions are limited in their ability to respond to these needs due to traditional lending criteria—creditworthiness, equity, experience, management ability, and profits or cash flow. This paper describes a rural health care revolving loan fund crafted to address these needs for capital while addressing the goal of improving health care access in rural Arkansas. The Arkansas Rural Health Revolving Loan Fund is a model for other states interested in two processes that work synergistically: (1) increasing access to capital to strengthen the rural primary health care infrastructure and (2) making health care more economically viable by integrating the fund's efforts with those of other community development initiatives.
Breast Cancer Detection and Outcomes in a Disability Beneficiary Population
Authors: Roetzheim Richard G. , Chirikos Thomas N.
Published: September 2010

Women with disabilities may be at higher risk of late-stage breast cancer. Using the 1991-93 Medicare-Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-linked data set, the authors compared stage at diagnosis and mortality, for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)-qualifying women and similarly aged non-SSDI qualifying women. Disabled patients were diagnosed at a later American Joint Committee on Cancer stage. Disabled patients had higher all-cause mortality rates but had similar breast cancer-specific mortality. Disabled women belonging to Medicare HMOs tended to have earlier stage diagnosis and better survival compared to Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) insurance. In conclusion, disabled patients tended to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a later stage and to have higher mortality. These findings were more pronounced in Medicare FFS than in Medicare HMOs.
Socioeconomic, Cultural, and Behavioral Factors Affecting Hispanic Health Outcomes
Authors: Morales Leo S. , Lara Marielena , Kington Raynard S. , Valdez Robert O. , Escarce José J.
Published: September 2010

Evidence suggests that social and economic factors are important determinants of health. Yet, despite higher poverty rates, less education, and worse access to health care, health outcomes of many Hispanics living in the United States today are equal to, or better than, those of non-Hispanic whites. This paradox is described in the literature as the epidemiological paradox or Hispanic health paradox. In this paper, the authors selectively review data and research supporting the existence of the epidemiological paradox. They find substantial support for the existence of the epidemiological paradox, particularly among Mexican Americans. Census undercounts of Hispanics, misclassification of Hispanic deaths, and emigration of Hispanics do not fully account for the epidemiological paradox. Identifying protective factors underlying the epidemiological paradox, while improving access to care and the economic conditions among Hispanics, are important research and policy implications of this review.
Profiles of Nursing Home Residents with HIV
Authors: Buchanan Robert J. , Wang Suojin , Huang Chunfeng
Published: September 2010

Nursing homes are part of the long-term care continuum available to people with advanced HIV disease. The objective of this paper is to profile nursing home residents with HIV at fa time of admission, using the Minimum Data Set (MDS). These resident profiles contain sociodemographic characteristics, health status measures, and special treatments and procedures. There are 5,115 admission assessments in the MDS for residents with HIV between June 22, 1998, and January 17, 2000, analyzed for this study. Newly admitted nursing residents with HIV are predominantly male (69.4 percent) and minority (75.4 percent black and Hispanic), relatively young (44.45 years), and heavily Medicaid dependent (70.5 percent). These residents are typically clinically complex and receive a range of special treatments, procedures, and programs. Nursing home residents with HIV are a distinct subset of nursing home residents, largely dependent on the state Medicaid programs to pay for their care.
Feasibility of Mobile Cancer Screening and Prevention
Authors: O'Malley Ann S. , Lawrence William , Liang Wenchi , Yabroff Robin , Lynn Jean , Kerner Jon , Mandelblatt Jeanne
Published: September 2010

Many areas have high cancer mortality rates and medically underserved populations. This study describes the feasibility (acceptability and costs) of an urban multiphasic (multiple cancers) screening van. Feasibility was evaluated by literature review and informant interviews. Costs were estimated by resource use from urban mobile screening units; decision analysis estimated the costs per cancer detected for breast, cervix, colorectal, and prostate cancer screening. Acceptability of a multiphasic van varied by the informant's perspective. Feasibility and costs were most sensitive to four parameters: age, prior screening history, risk factors, and volume of simultaneous examinations. Subsidized mobile screening facilities may have the potential to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality if they target hard-to-reach underscreened groups, maintain high volume, coordinate with primary care providers, and build on an infrastructure that provides diagnostic and treatment services regardless of ability to pay. It is unclear whether the investment required will translate into a reasonable cost per year of life saved.
Characteristics of Veterans Using Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinics
Authors: Borowsky Steven J. , Nelson David B. , Nugent Sean M. , Bradley Jenni L. , Hamann Paul R. , Stolee Claire J. , Rubins Hanna B.
Published: September 2010

In the late 1990s, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) initiated a system of community-based outpatient clinics to enhance access to care. The purpose of this study was to explore factors that may be related to veterans' desire to transfer care from VA-based to community clinics. Among 1,452 veterans who were currently receiving VA clinic care and were eligible for care in two community-based clinics in rural Minnesota, 85 percent responded to a survey. Fifty-four percent of respondents requested community-based outpatient clinic care. Multivariate analysis revealed that veterans less satisfied with VA care were more likely to request a transfer to a community clinic, whereas Veterans SF-36 scale scores were not strongly associated with request for community-based outpatient clinic care. Veterans who had more VA clinic visits were less likely to request community-based outpatient clinic care. The likelihood of requesting also varied across the VA facilities and by VA eligibility level.
Community Care for People Who Are Homeless and Mentally Ill
Authors: Drury Lin J.
Published: September 2010

This qualitative longitudinal study documents the experiences of 60 people who are homeless and mentally ill from their state mental hospital discharge through their first two years in community housing. The study explores the personal, cultural, and environmental contexts of life for adults who are homeless and mentally ill and examines the interaction between an individual's needs and community resources. The research identifies forces that perpetuate homelessness and traces the struggles that people who are homeless and mentally ill encounter during the transition from the streets to stable housing. The findings describe a culturally based pattern of mutual avoidance between homeless mentally ill clients and caregivers, which limits delivery of services to the population. Recommendations include development of alternative systems of care delivery, expansion of educational experiences with underserved populations, and increased funding for service or research with people who are homeless and mentally ill.
SSI Enrollees' Health Care in TennCare
Authors: Hill Steven C. , Wooldridge Judith
Published: September 2010

How well does TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid managed care program, meet the needs of blind/disabled Supplemental Security Income (SSI) enrollees? People with disabilities have extensive health care needs and greater barriers to accessing care, so efforts to reduce service use may decrease their health and independence. On the other hand, managed care plans may better coordinate care. Computer-assisted telephone surveys of urban SSI and other urban TennCare enrollees were conducted to assess these issues. SSI enrollees in TennCare had mixed experiences, and they faced problems in areas particularly important to people with disabilities. Relative to other TennCare enrollees, SSI enrollees had similar or slightly worse access to care and satisfaction. A significant minority of SSI enrollees reported unmet needs for care, such as not getting referrals to specialists, prescription drugs, and special medical equipment. Lack of care coordination was a problem for some SSI enrollees.
Varieties of Health Services Utilization by Underserved Mexican American Women
Authors: Iniguez Esmeralda , Palinkas Lawrence A.
Published: September 2010

Varieties of health services utilization by medically underserved patients were examined in 250 Mexican American women attending a primary care clinic in San Diego, California. Less than half (48.4 percent) of these medically underserved women had obtained clinical preventive services conforming to recommended guidelines, 34.4 percent reported having obtained an annual physical examination in the past year, and 66.0 percent reported visiting a doctor only when they were sick. Lack of any form of health insurance, including Medi-Cal, was associated with underutilization of primary care services to a greater degree than the other variables examined. However, other factors such as full-time employment, low education, dissatisfaction with primary care delivery, and cultural preference for traditional ethnomedical alternative forms of health care, constitute important barriers to utilization of primary care services. Efforts to provide health care to the medically underserved must take these barriers into consideration if they are to be successful.
Factors Associated with Health-Compromising Behavior Among the Homeless
Authors: Fitzpatrick Kevin M. , La Gory Mark E. , Ritchey Ferris J.
Published: September 2010

This exploratory study examined a set of sociodemographic, risk, and protective factors associated with health-compromising behavior among the homeless. One hundred and sixty-one homeless adults living in a midsize, southern metropolitan area were surveyed. Information was collected using structured in-depth interviews that assessed residential and event histories, life circumstances, mental and physical health symptoms, and health-related risk behaviors (drug and alcohol use, risky sexual practices, sleeping outdoors, aggressive behavior, and weapon possession). Descriptive results showed differences in health-compromising behavior for ascribed characteristics such as age, race, and gender. Younger people, nonwhites, and men took more risks. Multivariate results indicated that while sociodemographic risk factors were important predictors of health-compromising behavior for people who are homeless, other variables, including childhood memories, victimization, and local nativism, were also significant. The implications of these findings are explored in the larger context of a social policy framework.
Broadening Perspectives on Mobile Medical Outreach to Homeless People
Authors: Nuttbrock Larry , Rosenblum Andrew , Magura Stephen , McQuistion Hunter
Published: September 2010

Using data collected by Project Renewal's mobile medical services to homeless people in New York City, this paper discusses a tension between an emergency medicine model of outreach and that of primary care. In the former model, clinicians evaluate clients on the basis of presenting complaints and refer them, as necessary, for specialized treatment. The latter is a broader model of comprehensive outreach and/or treatment, where clinicians screen clients and assess them for various conditions offering ongoing evaluation and treatment on site. The model of outreach is applicable for some homeless clients, but the prevalence and overlap of physical complaints, infectious diseases, substance abuse, and psychiatric symptoms among homeless people in New York City has resulted in an evolution toward broader approaches to outreach in this population. Improvements in diagnostic testing and increasingly portable medical technology may make the mobile delivery of medical care to homeless persons increasingly feasible.
An introduction to the molecular basics of aryl hydrocarbon receptor biology
Authors: Abel Josef , Haarmann-Stemmann Thomas
Published: September 2010

Depending on their chemical structure and properties, environmental chemicals and other xenobiotics that enter the cell can affect cellular function by either nonselective binding to cellular macromolecules or by interference with cellular receptors, which would initiate a more defined cell biological response. One of these intracellular chemosensor molecules is the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a transcription factor of the bHLH/PAS family that is known to mediate the biochemical and toxic effects of dioxins, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and related compounds. Numerous investigations have revealed that the AhR is not only a master regulator of drug metabolism activated by anthropogenic chemicals, but is also triggered by natural and endogenous ligands and can influence cell biological endpoints such as growth and differentiation. Cutting-edge research has identified new intriguing functions of the AhR, such as during proteasomal degradation of steroid hormone receptors, the cellular UVB stress response and the differentiation of certain T-cell subsets. In this review we provide both a survey of the fundamental basics of AhR biology and an insight into new functional aspects of AhR signaling to further stimulate research on this intriguing transcription factor at the interface between toxicology, cell biology and immunology.
Loss of gap junctional intercellular communication in rat lung epithelial cells exposed to carbon or silica-based nanoparticles
Authors: Ale-Agha Niloofar , Albrecht Catrin , Klotz Lars-Oliver
Published: September 2010

The aim of this study was to investigate whether fine and ultrafine carbon black (fC and ufC), and fine and ultrafine silica (fS, ufS) particles affect gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in rat lung epithelial cells. Exposure of cells to subcytotoxic doses of ufC, fS and ufS resulted in a 63%, 59% and 77% reduction of GJIC, respectively, as determined in a dye transfer assay. In contrast to ufC, fC did not significantly alter GJIC. Changes in subcellular localization of the major gap junction protein in RLE cells, connexin-43 (Cx43), and of β-catenin were observed in cells exposed to ufC, fS or ufS. The loss of GJIC was counteracted by N-acetyl cysteine and was largely prevented by specific inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent signaling, pointing to the crucial role of two known major mediators of nanoparticle action, namely reactive oxygen species and membrane-receptor signaling, in particle-induced modulation of GJIC.
Breakdown products of neoglucobrassicin inhibit activation of Nrf2 target genes mediated by myrosinase-derived glucoraphanin hydrolysis products
Authors: Haack Michael , Löwinger Maria , Lippmann Doris , Kipp Anna , Pagnotta Eleonora , Iori Renato , Monien Bernhard H. , Glatt Hansruedi , Brauer Martin N. , Wessjohann Ludger A. , Brigelius-Flohé Regina
Published: September 2010

Glucosinolates (GLSs) present in Brassica vegetables serve as precursors for biologically active metabolites, which are released by myrosinase and induce phase 2 enzymes via the activation of Nrf2. Thus, GLSs are generally considered beneficial. The pattern of GLSs in plants is various, and contents of individual GLSs change with growth phase and culture conditions. Whereas some GLSs, for example, glucoraphanin (GRA), the precursor of sulforaphane (SFN), are intensively studied, functions of others such as the indole GLS neoglucobrassicin (nGBS) are rather unknown as are functions of combinations thereof. We therefore investigated myrosinase-treated GRA, nGBS and synthetic SFN for their ability to induce NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) as typical phase 2 enzyme, and glutathione peroxidase 2 (GPx2) as novel Nrf2 target in HepG2 cells. Breakdown products of nGBS potently inhibit both GRA-mediated stimulation of NQO1 enzyme and Gpx2 promoter activity. Inhibition of promoter activity depends on the presence of an intact xenobiotic responsive element (XRE) and is also observed with benzo[a]pyrene, a typical ligand of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), suggesting that suppressive effects of nGBS are mediated via AhR/XRE pathway. Thus, the AhR/XRE pathway can negatively interfere with the Nrf2/ARE pathway which has consequences for dietary recommendations and, therefore, needs further investigation.
Superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide-induced signaling and damage in angiotensin II and aldosterone action
Authors: Queisser Nina , Fazeli Gholamreza , Schupp Nicole
Published: September 2010

The formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be induced by xenobiotic substances, such as redox cycling molecules, but also by endogenous substances such as hormones and cytokines. Recent research shows the importance of ROS in cellular signaling. Here, the signaling pathways of the two blood pressure-regulating hormones angiotensin II and aldosterone are presented, focusing on both their physiological effects and the change of signaling owing to the action of increased concentrations or prolonged exposure. When present in high concentrations, both angiotensin II and aldosterone, as various other endogenous substances, activate NADPH oxidase, which produces superoxide. In this review the generation of superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide in cells stimulated with angiotensin II or aldosterone, as well as the subsequently induced signaling processes and DNA damage is discussed.
Twin arginine translocation (Tat)-dependent protein transport: the passenger protein participates in the initial membrane binding step
Authors: Schlesier René , Bernd Klösgen Ralf
Published: September 2010

The initial step in twin arginine translocation (Tat)-dependent thylakoid transport of the 16/23 chimera is the interaction of the protein with the lipid bilayer. It results in the formation of the early translocation intermediate Ti-1, which is represented by a protease-protected fragment of 14 kDa. Cys-scanning mutagenesis in combination with in thylakoido and liposome insertion assays was used to precisely map this membrane-interacting and protease-protected fragment within the 16/23 chimera. The fragment comprises 124 residues, which are provided both by the transit peptide (31 residues) and the mature protein (93 residues), demonstrating that the passenger protein directly participates in membrane binding. The implications of this finding on the mechanism of Tat-dependent protein transport are discussed.
Linguistics and Indigenous American Languages: Mayan Examples
Authors: England Nora C.
Published: September 2010

Most recent linguistic work on indigenous American languages has been done by foreign scholars. Speakers of all American languages who have been politically and economically marginalized since European contact are now, however, gaining some greater access to higher education and political power. Mayas have become increasingly interested in learning linguistics in order to take control of language decisions that affect them. They have both benefited from training from foreign scholars and criticized the foreign linguistic effort. An examination of this relationship provides a case study of the emergence of new patterns of cooperation between outside linguists and speakers.
Transnational Labor Process and Gender Relations: Women in Fruit and Vegetable Production in Chile, Brazil and Mexico
Authors: Collins Jane L.
Published: September 2010

This paper examines labor dynamics in the export agro‐industry, a workforce structured by gender, ethnicity and migratory status. Focusing on efforts to secure cheap and highly controllable labor in Chile, Brazil and Mexico, the author finds more diversity in assignments the notation of “cheap labor” suggest, She argues that theories of labor must attend to existing structures of inequality at the local level when analyzing expansion of the labor pool, reduction of returns to skilled labor, and emergence of a differentiated workforce.
una modernización que atrasa: las contradicciones socioculturales en américa latina
Authors: Canclini Néstor García
Published: September 2010

This paper analyzes how the four processes identified as characteristic of modernity–emancipation, renovation, democratization and expansion– have developed in Latin America. The accomplishments and frustrations associated with each process are challenged, the author argues, by the modernity imposed by neoliberalism. The significance of this reformulation of the modernizing project is analyzed in terms of the constitutive, multi temporal heterogeneity of Latin American societies, and its implications. Finally, this article suggests how anthropology and cultural studies could be redefined as a way of offering a new sociocultural approach which reformulates Ihe public sphere as a global and multicultural collective.
Ritual, Rumor and Corruption in the Constitution of Polity in Modern Mexico
Authors: Lomnitz Claudio
Published: September 2010

This paper provides a novel perspective by emphasizing the significance of ritual in the national public sphere, and the relationship between ritual, rumor and the dialectics of state expansion in Mexico. It considers the historical development of political regions in Mexico; outlines the development of local public and national public spheres; then discusses the role of ritual in Mexican political geography. The author provides theoretical and methodological innovations, clarifying the connection between political ritual and the constitution of political communities in the national space.
Anthropology and Human Rights in Latin America
Authors: Messer Ellen
Published: September 2010

Human rights issues in Latin America have been actively pursed in anthropology during the past seven years. A summary of recent changes in anthropology and human rights precedes a discussion structured by categories used by human rights scholars and advocates: civil‐political; ecoromic‐soclal‐cultural; development; and Indigenous rights. Interpretatlons suggest that anthropologists have been very active In documenting human rights abuses, but less Involved In building cross‐cultural understandings of rights, Due in part, to the continuing challenges of cultural relativism, the author raises Important questions about the expanding anthropological discourse on human rights.
Introduction
Authors: Dover Robert V.H. , Rappaport Joanne
Published: September 2010

The problem of diversity for modern nation states is examined in analyses of legislative and indigenous efforts to reframe indigenous rights in Colombia. Crucial questions are raised about the shift in the terms of debate from territory to “ethnic difference”and the problems negotiating between local, pan‐indigenous groups and the state. The difficulties of implementing legal changes that are ambiguously phrased are discussed, and/or the potential for complicating existing constitutional guarantees for indigenous rights and authority. This paper, and the concluding comparative commentary, develop the broader significance of these problems for future discussions of citizenship, human rights and the complexity of power in modern nations.
La Ley y Los Pueblos Indigenas En Colombia
Authors: Padilla Guillermo
Published: September 2010

This essay highlights some of the effects of Colombia's constitutional incorporation of the rights of indigenous peoples. The author holds that while the State creates new spaces for indigenous participation, it will also legitimate and expand the scope of its influence over these peoples. Indigenous efforts to preserve their own institutions and their cohesion may be put at risk along with the ethnic and cultural diversity that the State should protect and preserve. These risks are compounded by individualizing indigenous representation entailed through the process of extending modernization and state ideologies through these and other means.
Mestizaje, Hybridity, and the Cultural Politics of Difference in Post‐Revolutionary Central America
Authors: Hale Charles R.
Published: September 2010

This paper explores the relationship between “post‐revolutionary politics” in Central America and the broader theoretical claims made in the name of the “new cultural politics of difference.” At issue are the critiques of political visions that downplay cultural difference in the name of unity, and correspondingly, the widespread politicization of identities that previously would have been subsumed under broader political categories. Two settings are examined: the Miskitu Indians in post‐Sandinista Nicaragua where “hybridity” is presently associated with powerlessness and fragmentation, as well as with the potential for creative renewal. And Guatemala, where discourses of hybridity and mestizaje are used by relatively owerful ladinos to advance their own agendas and delegitimate Maya activism. The varying material consequences of the “new politics” and the “new theory,” are raised in the conclusion of this paper.
Power lines: the political context of nongovernmental organization (ngo) activity in el alto, bolivia
Authors: Gill Lesley
Published: September 2010

This article examines the changing relationships between the state, NGOs and impoverished residents in El Alto, an impoverished city on the periphery of La Paz. NGOs are understood as nominally private, non‐profit agencies that act as intermediaries between financial donors and local residents and whose function is to implement projects favoring the so‐called popular sectors. In practice, these distinctions are not so clear cut. NGOs are increasingly accommodating state policies, and groups that emerge from grassroots initiatives may take on NGO‐like characteristics, as they seek financial support from international aid agencies. How, the article asks, has the shifting and blurring of organizational forms effected the ability of local people to represent themselves?
The zapatista opening: the movement for indigenous autonomy and state discourses on indigenous rights in mexico, 1970 −1996
Authors: Stephen Lynn
Published: September 2010

This article examines indigenous autonomy movements that emerged in the wake of the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico. A historical analysis explores how these movements emerged and have interacted with government attempts to formulate national indigenous policy, counter‐agrarian reform policy and to define Mexico as a “multi‐cultural” nation. The competing, yet interacting discourses of the government and movements for indigenious autonomy in Chiapas and elsewhere have redefined the meaning of nationalism in Mexico. The process of building an alternative vision of ethnicity and nationalism involves both challenges to and incorporation of historically hegemonic structures and categories.
Nuevos espacios organizativos y nuevos discursos culturales en el sureste mexicano: el catolocismo agroecológico entre los mames de Chiapas
Authors: Castillo Rosalva Aída Hernández
Published: September 2010

Este artículo aborda parte de la historia reciente de los campesinos mames, analizando el surgimiento de un movimiento agroecológico vinculado a la Teología de la Liberación. A partir de historia oral y de investigación de archivo la autora documenta la manera en que los agricultores orgánicos mames han reinventado sus identidades colectivas en el marco de acelerados procesos de cambio y en diálogo continuo con la Iglesia Católica, el Estado Mexicano y el movimiento agroecológico internacional. Los cambios organizativos y los nuevos discursos culturales son analizados como parte de una nueva manera de “Ser Indio” en Chiapas.
Reconfiguring Ethnicity, Identity and Citizenship in the Wake of the Zapatista Rebellion
Authors: Stephen Lynn , Collier George A.
Published: September 2010

Four years after the Zapatista uprising, this group of articles examines the gains and losses which have emerged out of that political opening. Focused on three arenas: 1) the indigenous autonomy movement in Chiapas, Oaxaca and nationally, 2) movements for indigenous women's rights and 3) retrenchment, factional divisions and infighting in communities, these articles underscore how the larger political and economic context both helped and hindered the political opening and initiatives boosted by the Zapatista rebellion.
Redefined Nationalism in Building a Movement for Indigenous Autonomy in Southern Mexico
Authors: Stephen Lynn
Published: September 2010

This paper discusses the differential historical meanings of indigenous autonomy in eastern Chiapas and in central and eastern Oaxaca. In the Lacandon jungle region, historical circumstances have given way to a model of indigenous autonomy focused on the creation of pluri‐ethnic autonomous regions. In Oaxaca, a tradition of autonomous indigenous municipios and animosity between indigenous communities has resulted in a model of mono‐ethnic autonomy realized variously in different settings. The paper also analyzes the way that pueblos indios with different historically‐based understandings of “autonomy” come together. The critical factor is a shared sense of reconstructed nationalism as created through local and regional histories generated from below which claim a place in Mexican national culture.
History, Culture, and Place– Making: 'Native' Status and Maya Identity In Belize
Authors: Medina Laurie Kroshus
Published: September 2010

Often, the identity of people with territory is reinforced through constructions of history which produce people and place simultaneously. However, place–making may involve the cultural territorialization of space, through attention to the details of "dwelling" in, and through, particular landscapes. When people and 'place' are not isomorphic, constructions which link history, culture, people, and place may be contested. In Belize, officially a multiethnic nation, the question of who may legitimately claim 'native' status is much contested. Although Creoles, Garifuna, and mestizos acknowledge roots in other continents, people who belong to each of these categories have also claimed 'native' status in Belize. At the same time, Mopan and Kekchi Maya are portrayed as descendants of 19th century immigrants to Belize from Guatemala. This paper explores these competing claims to 'native' status and their implications for the construction of a pan–Maya identity among Mopan– and Kekchispeakers.
Los Desafios De La Etnicidad: Las Luchas Del Movimiento Indígena En La Modernidad
Authors: Cervone Emma
Published: September 2010

This article contributes to the literature on ethnicity in Latin America, by analyzing the challenges faced by contemporary indigenous movements that aim to maintain their legitimacy. The case explores the political practices of an indigenous organization in the Ecuadorian Andes. The organization plays key role in the ethnogenesis process by using ethnic identity as a weapon for political struggle. In constituting itself as an institution that produces discourse and exercises power on behalf of its grassroots membership, the organization also aims to reproduce itself and its own power. However, this increasing social control ultimately undermines the very foundations of its struggle and legitimacy.
Perpetual Creation and Decomposition: Bodies, Gender, and Desire in The Assumptions Of A Guatemalan Discourse of Mestizaje
Authors: Nelson Diane M.
Published: September 2010

Assumptions about bodies, gender, and desire are explored in an examination of Marta Casaus Arzú's book Guatemala: Linaje y Racismo. Widely discussed in a historic moment marked by the Columbus Quincentennial, the Christian millenium, and the U.N. timetable for implementing peace accords signed in 1996, the book looks critically at the way racism and kinship work together to maintain unequal class relations. She argues against racist discourses which view the "Indian" as physically different from the ladino in favor of embodied sameness ‐ the mestizo body. Acknowledging this as an intervention for the common good the author asks, what is erased in mestizaje discourse? And what effects do these erasures have in ladino and Maya assumptions of identity?
Two Sides of the Same Coin: Modern Gaúcho Identity in Brazil
Authors: Oliven Ruben George
Published: September 2010

This article discusses the process of social construction of modern Gaúcho identity in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. I argue that the "Gaúcho" should be conceptualized through a past that existed in the pastoral region of the Campanha, in the southwest of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as with reference to the real figure of the Gaúcho. I explore how and why the 1980s were marked by a growing revival of activities linked to Gaúcho traditions and how Gaúcho identity became an element of dispute. I argue that "traditionalists" and "nativists" tried to position themselves in opposite camps, yet they both argued within the same thematic field, one that was marked by the figure of the Gaúcho, the means of constructing it, the criteria for defining its authenticity, as well as the instances of its legitimacy and consecration.
Anthropologist as Political Actor
Authors: Ramos Alícida Rita
Published: September 2010

To do anthropology is a political act anywhere in the world, regardless of the anthropologist's degree of awareness and recognition of this fact. Taking the plight of the Yanomami Indians in Brazil and the involvement of Brazilian anthropologists in the defense of indigenous rights, the article discusses the expectations and constrictions involved in anthropological work, particularly in the role of anthropologists as expert witnesses, in the politicized context of interethnic relations. When anthropologists are caught between the demands for "expertise" and their actual capacity to 'represent the Other," their predicament as political actors comes to the fore. However, the author argues, we are agents in a complex political arena, in the field of interethnic relations or anywhere else anthropologists work, whether we like it or not. This article begins the exploration of an important and challenging issue for the next decade of our work.
Entering and Leaving the "Melting Pot": A History of Brazilian Indians in The National Censuses
Authors: De Oliveira João Pacheco
Published: September 2010

This article is an analysis of national censuses and of how they can contribute to the historical study of the indigenous population in Brazil. I compare and criticize the existing data, explaining them in the context of the demographic evolution of the ethnic groups in Brazilian society. I relate statistical data, social representations, and historical interpretations about the Brazilian Indians.
The Catholic Church and Culture in a Postnational Era
Authors: Montero Paula
Published: September 2010

The notion of culture has a strategic position in the policy of Pope John Paul II. Stimulating local cultures and valuing ethnic identities have been the way this pontificate has chosen to reposition the Catholic Church at the heart of the international system. This article focuses on the way culture has been conceptualized by, and "Institutionally worked," at one of the highest levels of the Church government: the Ponitifical Council for Culture. This council, created in 1982, and its subsequent work can only be understood within the historical context of the debate over national identities that arose during the process of the unification of Europe.
Political Correctness, Political Cultures, and The Civilizing Process
Authors: Soares Luiz E.
Published: September 2010

The theme of this essay is twofold: the emotional, radical, even violent Brazilian reaction against the very idea of Apolitical correctness"—which is typical and telling about Brazilian culture—and the possible meanings and effects "political correctness" language games could express and achieve, if they are interpreted from the standpoint of the "civilizing process." The main thesis stated could be synthesized as follows: From a historical perspective, civilization could be understood as an ongoing movement of denaturalization of both social order and the other, which means and implies a complex and contradictory dynamic of self‐fashioning. More and more realms of the other become unknown before explicit self‐presentation, for more and more spheres of the self become open to creative intervention and definition. Nevertheless, this openness brings a dark side: the social, institutional cultivation. Therefore, the history of liberty is presented as a paradoxical process of domestication and control: process though open to renovation through interventions on the political and micropolitical levels, where denaturalization can be experienced and staged, once again.
The Weight of the Cross: Tricks, Sorrows, and Triumphs af a Brazilian Pilgrim
Authors: Fernandes Rubem César
Published: September 2010

A brave Catholic believer dragged a long and heavy cross from his hometown to the shrine of Good Jesus of Pirapora, in São Paulo. The cross linked his body to his world. Photographs and written words inscribed in the cross spoke of his family, neighbors, and city. For 11 years his was the largest and heaviest cross to arrive in Pirapora on Good Friday. He is a nobody, but thanks to television, in pilgrimmage he became a hero. The essay describes his journey, step by step, following the structure of a Passion ritual. The pilgrim falls three times, exposing the fragile and painful condition of a Brazilian male, husband, and father. Yet he recovers the lost terrain and does arrive in triumph in Pirapora in good time. Internally divided between his mundane and sacred roles, crossing the distance between his hometown and the shrine, the pilgrim dramatizes in space the paradox of priesthood.
"The People's Joy" Vanishes: Considerations on the Death of a Soccer Player
Authors: Lopes José Sérgio Leite
Published: September 2010

"The people's joy" is the phrase that, from the early 1960s, was attached to the person of Garrincha, who, with Pele, was the most notable player in the best phase of Brazilian soccer history. Unlike Pele, Garrincha never managed to adapt to professional sport, and after his retirement he sank into alcoholism. His unpredictable, disconcerting, and effective style seems to be related to the mysteries of the little–known social group from which he originated. The spectacular but short–lived intrusion of his amateur–like style into toprank competition illustrates the subordinate creativity developed by workers who lived in the closed world of company towns. The death in 1983 of this ex–factory worker and soccer player seems to have been accompanied by the disappearance of the popular euphoria generated by the economic and social boom in the democratic context of the 1950s.
Gender and Ethnicity in Bolivian Politics: Transformation or Paternalism?
Authors: Paulson Susan , Calla Pamela
Published: September 2010

Throughout Latin America public discourse and political programs dealing with gender and ethnicity have focused mainly on women and indigenous people, often in paternalistic efforts to help these "marginal groups." Bolivian constitutional reforms implemented between 1993 and 1997 challenge this traditional stance by promoting balanced participation in a nation constituted by multiple identities, yet ongoing processes triggered by these reforms testify to the tradition's stubborn endurance. In this article we ask what prevents institutions working in Bolivia from applying anthropological notions of gender and ethnicity as dynamic and interlocking cultural systems, and we question the distancing and antagonism that exists between those working with ethnicity‐ and those working with gender. Efforts to clarify these phenomena focus on the lack of articulation between ethnographic observations, political philosophies and development policies.
Gender Equity and Interculturalidad: The Dilemma in Bolivian Education
Authors: Luykx Aurolyn
Published: September 2010

Bolivia's educational reform faces a conflict between two goals—interculturalism and gender equity—which tend to be polarked in educational debates by advocates on both sides. The latter, as narrowy conceived throu h the application of Western strategies in an attempt to remedy overt sexist discrimination, is absent from the worldview of many indigenous groups, but is a priority for external funding agencies. In this context, preoccupation with gender is often perceived as an imposition of foreign values, while the concept of interculturalism tends to be limited to a non critical respect for indigenous cultural values. The question educators face is: Can we critically analyze indigenous gender relations and identities, in a context of mutual respect, without undermining local values and practices? Analysis of the philosophical and political underpinnings of both interculturalism and gender equity in Bolivian educational policy and practice shows that, far from being incompatible, the two are tightly interdependent and cannot be satisfactorily pursued in isolation from each other.
Commentary: Social Science Intellectuals, Sustainable Development and the Political Economies of Bolivia
Authors: Zimmerer Karl
Published: September 2010

Sustainable development has become used as a master framework for development policies in Bolivia. It also has become a major source of employment for many social science intellectuals. Their activities are set amid the coupling of repressive neo‐liberal policies with the progressive pluri‐cultural and multi‐ethnic reforms (the pluri‐multi reforms). Their work is based also on the coupling of academic‐applied livelihoods and identities. Shifts in both academic and applied employment are marked by the increase of short‐term work contracts, spatial fragmentation, and ideological pressure to produce efficiently managed citizens and environments. These shifts threaten the cultural logics that have been used to justify the role of many social science intellectuals in sustainable development.