Suchergebnisse

I've been reading Gospodinov's Time Shelter (highly recommended), and though I have not finished it yet, it has already made salient a question that I've asked myself before, as I suppose others have too: which was the best year to be born? I think my answer, at least for the UK and for the last […]

"This is the first in a continuing series of reminders that the past informs the present as it infuses the future. As Benj DeMott notes, the aim of First of the Year is to define "the democratic imperatives and demotic tones that make our ongoing politics of culture matter." This annual publication is grounded in the needs of "dissed" people: disenfranchised, disadvantaged, disinherited, discomfited, and dismissed. But the concept has been sharpened to acknowledge that though the underdog is owed sympathy, the mad dog is owed a bullet. In short, First of the Year is very much an effort of the twenty-first century. The publication aims to be more than a launching pad for writers. It attempts to bridge the gap between radical perspectives without losing focus on the centrality of African-American culture to the national conversation. The coming together of figures like Armond White, Kate Millett, Lorenzo Thomas, Russell Jacoby, Adolph Reed, and Amiri Baraka is quite unlike what can be found in standard literary and social publications. They treat the African-American condition as a policy issue or an executive summary report--not as a touchstone for the state of the nation as a whole. The initial volume also deals extensively and seriously with the issue of humanism and terror, the nature of social movements, electoral and urban politics, and the musical trends of our time. It does so with a sense of urgency often denied in mainstream literary reviews. Issues of "standards" are addressed from the angle of African-American cultural traditions, and the mind-body problem as a matter of race not just of metaphysics. In a nutshell, this volume intends to open a new chapter in the Harlem Renaissance; or better, an American renaissance with a Harlem lilt. First of the Year is an attempt to make political arguments breathe through cultural voices. Contributors include Sheldon Wolin, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Kurt Vonnegut, Paul Berman, Cha"--Provided by publisher.

Development planning in Venezuela began in 1959 as a result of the changes in the economic conditions and in the political situation that occurred in 1958. In that year, on January 23, Pérez Jiménez government was deposed after 10 years of military rule. A provisional government was established and elections were held December 7, 1958 with Rómulo Betancourt (Democratic Action Party) winning a near majority (49%) of votes for Presidency. A coalition government of the Democratic Action party (AD), Democratic Republic Union party (URD), and the Christian social party (COPEI) was established according to a pre-election agreement among these parties.The economic conditions also changed in 1958. Until that year Venezuela was able to achieve a high rate of economic growth (see Table I) and to accumulate considerable foreign exchange that prevented balance of payments crises such as those which interrupted economic development in other countries.