Du Bois and Brazil

In this article, I discuss Black transnational solidarity and liberation in the Americas by analyzing the historical relationship between W. E. B. Du Bois and Brazil from 1900 to 1940. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Du Bois was studying, writing, and publishing about Brazil. He was interested in creating international solidarity and cooperation among Black people. However, Du Bois (as well as other African Americans) promoted the idea that Brazil was a place without racism, a racial paradise. This idea served as a basis for a theory that oppressed Afro-Brazilians—the myth of racial democracy. In this article, I explore Du Bois’s relationship with Brazil, highlighting possible reasons why Du Bois engaged with the myth of racial democracy. In addition, I argue that this historical event teaches us that an Afro-diasporic liberation project must seriously consider global and material inequalities among Black people.

Sobre la relación entre investigación e intervención en Trabajo Social

Los procesos de creciente producción de desigualdades a escala global nos permiten reafirmar que Trabajo Social puede contribuir con la transformación de las mismas, en tanto produzca intervenciones profesionales que no escindan la dimensión teórica de la práctica, ni el saber del hacer. En este marco, proponemos una revisión bibliográfica actualizada sobre el histórico y conflictivo vínculo entre intervención social e investigación científica en Trabajo Social. Tomando las propuestas de un conjunto de diversxs autorxs, presentamos un Estado de la Cuestión donde toda la producción recabada sobre el tema, es presentada de manera agrupada en función de tres ejes: el primero de ellos refiere a las producciones que se centran principalmente en la elaboración diagnóstica sobre la relación histórica entre investigación e intervención disciplinar; el segundo, retoma aquellas producciones que proponen definiciones sobre las relaciones actuales entre ambas dimensiones; el tercer eje aborda producciones que ponen su acento en la investigación, poniendo de relieve la singularidad de la investigación científica desde Trabajo Social, elaborando propuestas alternativas para su consolidación. Finalmente, el presente artículo concluye recuperando los aspectos principales que emergieron durante el estudio de la literatura mencionada, y se propone una serie de reflexiones que nos permitan imaginar un quehacer-saber disciplinar otro. The processes of increasing production of inequalities on a global scale allow us to reaffirm that Social Work can contribute to their transformation, as long as it produces professional interventions that do not separate the theoretical dimension from practice, nor knowledge from doing. Within this framework, we propose an updated bibliographical review of the historical and conflictive link between social intervention and scientific research in Social Work. Taking the proposals of a set of diverse authors, we present a State of the Question where all the production collected on the subject is presented grouped according to three axes: the first refers to the productions that focus mainly on the diagnostic elaboration on the historical relationship between research and disciplinary intervention; the second, takes up those productions that propose definitions on the current relationship between both dimensions; the third axis addresses productions that emphasize research, highlighting the uniqueness of scientific research from Social Work, elaborating alternative proposals for its consolidation. Finally, this article concludes by recovering the main aspects that emerged during the study of the aforementioned literature, and proposes a series of reflections that allow us to imagine a different disciplinary task-knowledge.

A Tale of Two Cities?: The Literary and Historical Relationship of Argos and Mycenae

<p>This thesis is a case study of the relationship between Mycenae and Argos. It has been a longstanding tendency in scholarship to assume that Argos developed primarily in comparison to and in competition with Sparta. This has been primarily due to Herodotus’ presentation of the history between the two poleis. It is suggested here that this view should be reconsidered, and the probability of other influences taken into account. This thesis presents the view that instead of Sparta, a consideration of the possibility that Mycenae was the rival Argos was consistently reacting against. Mycenae, in the weakened state of the Geometric and Archaic period, is admittedly not the first candidate that comes to mind when reviewing the options of poleis which challenged Argos’ identity, but there is strong evidence to suggest that this was a rivalry of Argos’ own making. The manufacturing of Argive ethnic identity was therefore both an appropriation of, and reaction against, Mycenaean history and mythology. The study begins with a consideration of how Argos expressed the insecurity felt towards Mycenae by claiming hegemony over Mycenaean religion and an important sanctuary, which became inextricably linked with Argos in historic times. The second chapter is an examination of the textual transmission of the Iliad. It is argued that Argos strongly influenced this transmission at different points in the development of the text. The period of development of the text is followed chronologically; beginning with the earliest identifiable evidence of the tradition. Following the evolutionary path of the text through to the Alexandrian period, important stages in each period and their relation to the text are considered. Chapter Three is a recounting and comparison of different genealogical histories which revolve around the Argolid. The primary focus is the myth of the Return of the Heracleidae. As with the rivalry between Sparta and Argos, the Heracleidae story was taken as a historical event by scholars in the past. Within this chapter, the event itself is proven to have been a myth. This point in and of itself is no longer news to academia; however, the evidence is then reviewed in order to pinpoint the likely reason for this myth’s creation. It is argued that it was created as a reaction against Mycenaean history and claims within the Argolid. Furthermore, there is a study which recounts the way in which Argive mythology appropriated and subsumed Mycenaean identity. All of these points work towards the overall conclusion that Argos deliberately appropriated Mycenaean legend in order to express its own identity and ownership of the Argolid. This was used as propaganda within the Argolid and the rest of Greece. The final chapter considers the historical relationship between the Argives and Mycenaeans. The continuous attempt to quell the Mycenaeans through a long deconstruction of their own identity did not entirely work. The conclusion of this thesis is that a significant part of the reason for the destruction of Mycenae is the Mycenaeans’ own reaction against and challenge to the Argive manufactured identity.</p>

A Tale of Two Cities?: The Literary and Historical Relationship of Argos and Mycenae

<p>This thesis is a case study of the relationship between Mycenae and Argos. It has been a longstanding tendency in scholarship to assume that Argos developed primarily in comparison to and in competition with Sparta. This has been primarily due to Herodotus’ presentation of the history between the two poleis. It is suggested here that this view should be reconsidered, and the probability of other influences taken into account. This thesis presents the view that instead of Sparta, a consideration of the possibility that Mycenae was the rival Argos was consistently reacting against. Mycenae, in the weakened state of the Geometric and Archaic period, is admittedly not the first candidate that comes to mind when reviewing the options of poleis which challenged Argos’ identity, but there is strong evidence to suggest that this was a rivalry of Argos’ own making. The manufacturing of Argive ethnic identity was therefore both an appropriation of, and reaction against, Mycenaean history and mythology. The study begins with a consideration of how Argos expressed the insecurity felt towards Mycenae by claiming hegemony over Mycenaean religion and an important sanctuary, which became inextricably linked with Argos in historic times. The second chapter is an examination of the textual transmission of the Iliad. It is argued that Argos strongly influenced this transmission at different points in the development of the text. The period of development of the text is followed chronologically; beginning with the earliest identifiable evidence of the tradition. Following the evolutionary path of the text through to the Alexandrian period, important stages in each period and their relation to the text are considered. Chapter Three is a recounting and comparison of different genealogical histories which revolve around the Argolid. The primary focus is the myth of the Return of the Heracleidae. As with the rivalry between Sparta and Argos, the Heracleidae story was taken as a historical event by scholars in the past. Within this chapter, the event itself is proven to have been a myth. This point in and of itself is no longer news to academia; however, the evidence is then reviewed in order to pinpoint the likely reason for this myth’s creation. It is argued that it was created as a reaction against Mycenaean history and claims within the Argolid. Furthermore, there is a study which recounts the way in which Argive mythology appropriated and subsumed Mycenaean identity. All of these points work towards the overall conclusion that Argos deliberately appropriated Mycenaean legend in order to express its own identity and ownership of the Argolid. This was used as propaganda within the Argolid and the rest of Greece. The final chapter considers the historical relationship between the Argives and Mycenaeans. The continuous attempt to quell the Mycenaeans through a long deconstruction of their own identity did not entirely work. The conclusion of this thesis is that a significant part of the reason for the destruction of Mycenae is the Mycenaeans’ own reaction against and challenge to the Argive manufactured identity.</p>

Learning through Art in Medical Education

Medical Humanities approach is becoming an important action in the health curriculum. Art can play a central role in the training of care staff for the development of skills and for the humanization of the therapeutic path. The application of art as a tool for learning and its historical relationship with medicine can be a valid support for the development of skills such as observation, active listening, problem solving and empathy, useful for improving the profession and the relationship with the patient. It is possible to rediscover the link between art, medicine, and care to help health professionals to improve their activities and resilience. Particular methods such as that of the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) can help health students and professionals to become better actors in the care context.

A City of Betrayals: Irvine Welsh’s Minor Literature of Leith

This article examines the representation of the city and communities of Edinburgh in Irvine Welsh’s works, more specifically his Trainspotting saga: Trainspotting (1993), Porno (2002), Skagboys (2012) and Dead Men’s Trousers (2018). While Welsh is an integral part of a broader literary tradition of the contemporary urban Scottish novel, which blends together the crime novel genre with the localised concerns of post-industrialism, gripping poverty, Thatcherite austerity, substance abuse and nagging questions of Scottish identity (gender, sexuality, class, nationhood, etc.), his depictions of the former port-town of Leith and its forgotten histories exposes Edinburgh as two distinctly separate and striated communities and geographies: one of opportunity and one of betrayal. Specifically, this essay reads Welsh through the literary, spatial and political theories of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari with regard to Leith’s contentious historical relationship with Edinburgh. In this analysis of Welsh’s Leith as a vernacular, rhizomatic and anti-institutional force, this essay hopes to illustrate how Welsh’s work redirects the popular notions of Scottish national identity and statehood toward a minor literature, a linguistic, political and historical divergence from the dominant Scottish literary experience

ON(LINE) TRANSPARENCY AND THE BLACK PUBLIC SPHERE

In the past several decades, Black publics have increasingly employed digital technologies to advance Black liberation movements, culture, and joy. This proliferation of Black publics online has prompted many scholars to ask whether the internet as a tool ultimately works to the benefit or detriment of marginal publics. Proponents of internet technology cite the aforementioned growth of these discursive communities online as well as their success in organizing demonstrations and producing independent media. Critics of the internet argue that its construction by powerful institutions forecloses the possibility of it being used to truly challenge those institutions. This essay seeks to contribute to this discussion not by advocating for one side or another but exploring the ways in which these two literatures may be inclusive. It does so by putting the theoretical construct of the Black public in conversation with an oft-discussed digital affordance: transparency. It first outlines the historical relationship between the two, noting both the threats and opportunities that transparency has created for Black publics. It moves on to discuss the forces of the state and the market that built transparency into the infrastructure of the internet. It then synthesizes the histories of Black publics and the internet by discussing how the historical threats and opportunities of transparency are impacting Black publics online. Finally, this paper concludes with some thoughts on the idea that digital technology might simultaneously aid and harm marginal publics, particularly with regard to its implications for digital strategy.

How Resilient Is Mortgage Credit Supply? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic

We study the evolution of USmortgage credit supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the mortgage market experienced a historic boom in 2020, we show there was also a large and sustained increase in intermediation markups that limited the pass-through of lowrates to borrowers. Markups typically rise during periods of peak demand, but this historical relationship explains only part of the large increase during the pandemic. We present evidence that pandemic-related labor market frictions and operational bottlenecks contributed to unusually inelastic credit supply, and that technology-based lenders, likely less constrained by these frictions, gained market share. Rising forbearance and default risk did not significantly affect rates on “plainvanilla” conforming mortgages, but it did lead to higher spreads on mortgages without government guarantees and loans to the riskiest borrowers. Mortgage-backed securities purchases by the Federal Reserve also supported the flow of credit in the conforming segment.

Why Has Durable Goods Spending Been So Strong during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Consumers increased their purchases of durable goods notably during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic may have lifted the demand for durable goods directly, by shifting consumer preferences away from services toward a variety of durable goods. It may also have stimulated spending on durable goods indirectly, by prompting a strong fiscal policy response that raised disposable income. We estimate the historical relationship between durable goods spending and income and find that income gains in 2020 accounted for about half of the increase in durable goods spending, indicating that the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic on durable goods spending were about equally important.