Suchergebnisse

International migration is a consequence of globalisation and part of a transnational trend which permanently influences communities, cultural interaction and socio-economic governance in developed and developing states (Harris 2009:4). According to Solomon (1996:1) one out of every hundred and fourteen people in the world can be regarded as displaced. Angenendt (2008:1) is of the opinion that the reasons for illegal immigration in particular can be universally linked to the attempt to fl ee from political violence and oppression or a lack of economic prospects in the country of origin. In the European Union (EU) the largest group of immigrants, for example, come from Turkey, Morocco, Albania and Serbia (A common immigration policy 2008:4). In the United States of America (USA) illegal immigrants and non-established minorities are mostly from Mexico, Cuba and other South American states. In South Africa the abovementioned groups mainly come from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland (Whitman 2000:19). Migration is a multidimensional and complex concept relating to a variety of interpretations and meanings. For the purposes of this article the research will be narrowed down to illegal immigration and insufficient integration and marginalisation of non-established minorities in South Africa and the European Union (with a brief reference to the Netherlands as a case study). The key concepts can be summarised as follows: a) Non-established minorities: Smit (2009:8) views non-established minorities as individuals or a group that enter a receiver state legally or illegally. These individuals or groups find it difficult to integrate on social, cultural and economic levels in the receiver state. Non- established minorities tend to live in groups, develop their own community structures and tend to retain their own language, culture and religion. This means that they are unable to integrate into the structure and culture of the society that they have entered. They therefore tend to function and live in isolation. In many respects their traditions and way of life are being viewed as strange and regarded with suspicion. The consequence is that non-established minorities are often subjected to socio-economic marginalisation and even discrimination; b) Illegal immigration: In brief terms an illegal or undocumented immigrant can be described as a person that enters a state without formal permission. An illegal immigrant therefore enters a state outside the legislative migration framework of that state. Illegal immigration usually takes place through people-trafficking organisations, overstaying on a tourist or study visa or forging a visa (Offe 2011:4). The South African government has recently launched initiatives to improve immigration control and limit illegal immigration from other African states. In broad terms these initiatives consist of the redeployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on the South African borders, as well as improved internal processing arrangements and deportation procedures. In the light of the foregoing actions, this article undertakes a holistic comparative analysis of the immigration and non-established minority challenges facing the EU and the way in which illegal immigration is managed in South Africa. The primary assumption is that there are managerial shortcomings and certain lessons to be learnt from the EU experience. It is the main objective of this article to highlight these lessons. Firstly, the article focuses on the impact of moral obligations as an important rationale for the extent of, and manner in which the South African authorities currently manage illegal immigration and the problem of non-established minority groups. Here an emphasis is placed on crime, unemployment and xenophobia as perceived consequences of illegal immigration. Secondly, as the main focus, the article is narrowed down to the perception of, and manner in which illegal immigration and non-established minorities are currently being dealt with within the EU. In this regard there is a specific emphasis on the perception of the national interest of individual states as rationale behind the management of illegal immigration and non-established minorities in the EU. This comparison serves as a guideline to identify the challenges that must be overcome by the South African authorities and provide recommendations for relevant policy formulation and the implementation thereof ; Internasionale migrasie is 'n uitvloeisel van globalisering en deel van 'n transnasionale tendens wat gemeenskappe, kulturele interaksie sowel as sosio-ekonomiese regeerprosesse in ontwikkelde en ontwikkelende state permanent beïnvloed (Harris 2009:4). Volgens Solomon (1996:1) is een uit elke honderd en veertien mense wêreldwyd 'n uitgewekene. Die redes vir veral onwettige immigrasie word volgens Angenendt (2008:1) universeel verbind met pogings van mense om aan politieke geweld en onderdrukking te ontkom. 'n Gebrek aan ekonomiese vooruitsigte in die land van herkoms is dikwels ook 'n rede vir vertrek uit die eie staat van herkoms. Binne die EU is die grootste groepe onwettige immigrante en niegevestigde minderhede byvoorbeeld afkomstig uit Turkye, Marokko, Albanië, Algerië en Serwië (A common immigration policy 2008:4). In die Verenigde State van Amerika (VSA) is onwettige immigrante en niegevestigde minderhede afkomstig uit Meksiko, Kuba en ander Suid-Amerikaanse state. In Suid-Afrika is hulle veral afkomstig uit Zimbabwe, Mosambiek en Swaziland (Whitman 2000:19). Migrasie is 'n multidimensionele en komplekse konsep wat verband hou met 'n verskeidenheid interpretasies en betekenisse. Vir die doeleindes van hierdie navorsing word die omvang en hantering van die immigrasieproblematiek binne Suid-Afrika en die Europese Unie (met 'n kort verwysing na Nederland as 'n gevallestudie) beperk tot 'n bespreking van die problematiek van onwettige immigrasie en die daarmee verbandhoudende gebrekkige integrasie van minderhede in die "doelstaat". Die Suid-Afrikaanse regering het onlangs inisiatiewe van stapel gestuur ten einde onwettige immigrasie, veral uit ander Afrikastate, beter te beheer en selfs te ontmoedig. In breë trekke behels hierdie inisiatiewe die ontplooiing van die Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Weermag (SANW) op die grense, die verskerping van binnelandse prosesseringsmaatreëls en deporteringsprosedures. In hierdie artikel word 'n vergelyking getref tussen die immigrasie- en die niegevestigde minderheidsproblematiek van die EU en die wyse waarop veral onwettige immigrasie tans in Suid-Afrika hanteer word. Die primêre aanname is dat daar steeds leemtes in die Suid-Afrikaanse hanteringswyse is, en dat daar lesse te leer is uit die EU-ondervinding. Dit is juis hierdie lesse wat in die artikel uitgelig word. Eerstens word kernagtig ingegaan op die impak van morele verpligtinge as belangrike rasionaal onderliggend aan die wyse waarop die onwettige immigrasie en die niegevestigede minderheidsproblematiek tans in Suid-Afrika hanteer word. Hier is die fokus spesifiek op misdaad, werkloosheid en vreemdelingehaat as uitvloeisels van onwettige immigrasie. Die fokus word tweedens ter vergelyking vernou tot die persepsie en wyse waarop die immigrasie en niegevestigde minderheidsproblematiek binne die EU hanteer en ervaar word. In hierdie verband word die klem spesifiek op die persepsie van nasionale eiebelang van individuele EU-lidstate as rasionaal vir die hantering van die niegevestigde minderheidsproblematiek binne die EU gelê. Hierdie vergelyking dien as riglyn vir die identifisering van uitdagings wat deur die Suid-Afrikaanse owerhede oorkom moet word. Dit is dan moontlik om aanbevelings te maak vir relevante beleidsformulering en die implementering daarvan in Suid-Afrika

This paper deals with the attribution of responsibility to States Parties for violations of selected multilateral human rights treaties outside their territory, and the jurisdiction of the treaty organs over such violations. Jurisdiction over human rights violations may result from territorial sovereignty, but also from quasi-territorial domination (occupation and similar situations, jurisdiction over marine spaces) or from the exercise of personal jurisdiction such as activities by consular, diplomatic, or intelligence agents in foreign countries, acts by or on vessels on the high seas, or on air or space craft. For each of the treaty systems examined (African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights, American Convention on Human Rights, United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention on Human Rights), this contribution describes the system's general features, its provisions on jurisdiction, and most importantly, the practices it generates. This allows for a number of conclusions: that all the mechanisms examined contain some compulsory elements, that all of them except the African system contain pertinent rules, and that all of these mechanisms apply the classical rules of international law on the exercise of quasi-territorial and personal jurisdiction. States are responsible for the breaches of human rights standards committed by their agents and organs in the exercise of such jurisdiction, and treaty organs are entitled to deal with such breaches. ; Este artículo se ocupa de la atribución de la responsabilidad a los Estados Parte por violaciones de ciertos tratados multilaterales de derechos humanos fuera de su territorio y la jurisdicción de los tribunales u órganos de tratado sobre dichas violaciones. La jurisdicción sobre la violación de los derechos humanos es resultado de la soberanía territorial pero también, incluso, de la dominación cuasi territorial (ocupación territorial y situaciones similares, la jurisdicción sobre territorio marítimo) o del ejercicio de jurisdicción personal por parte de las autoridades competentes, tales como actividades consulares, diplomáticas o de inteligencia en países extranjeros, actos en o por embarcaciones marítimas en altamar o en naves de aire o espaciales. Para cada uno de los sistemas de tratados revisados, (Carta Africana sobre los Derechos Humanos y de los Pueblos, Convención Americana de Derechos Humanos, Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos, Convención Europea sobre Derechos Humanos) este documento describe las características generales del sistema, sus disposiciones sobre jurisdicción y, lo más importante, la prácticas derivada de su aplicación. Este documento propone las siguientes conclusiones: todos los mecanismos revisados contienen algún elemento preceptivo/obligatorio; todos ellos, excepto el sistema Africano, contienen reglas pertinentes y asimismo todos aplican las reglas clásicas del derecho internacional en el ejercicio de la competencia cuasi territorial y personal. Estos Estados son responsables por las violaciones de derechos humanos cometidas por sus agentes y órganos en el ejercicio de su soberanía y los órganos del tratado pueden conocer de estos abusos. ; Este artigo ocupa-se da atribuição da responsabilidade de Estados membro por violações de tratados multilaterais de direitos humanos fora de seu território e a jurisdição dos organismos de controle sobre ditas violações. A jurisdição sobre a violação dos direitos humanos é resultado da soberania territorial, mas também, inclusive, da dominação quase territorial (ocupação territorial e situações similares, a jurisdição sobre território marítimo) ou do exercício das autoridades competentes, tais como atividades consulares, diplomáticas ou de inteligência em países estrangeiros, atos em ou por embarcações marítimas em alto-mar ou em navios de ar ou espaciais. Para cada um dos sistemas de tratados revisados (Carta Africana sobre os Direitos Humanos e dos Povos, Convenção Americana de Direitos Humanos, Pacto Internacional de Direitos Civis e Políticos, Convenção Europeia sobre Direitos Humanos) este documento descreve as características do sistema geral, suas disposições sobre a jurisdição e, o mais importante, as práticas que tem gerado. Este documento propõe as seguintes conclusões: todos os mecanismos revisados contém algum elemento preceptivo/obrigatório; todos eles, exceto o sistema Africano, contém regras pertinentes e assim mesmo todos aplicam as regras clássicas do direito internacional no exercício pelas violações de direitos humanos cometidas por seus agentes e organismos no exercício da sua soberaniae os organismos de controle tem direito a tratar qualquer deste abusos.

Este artículo se ocupa de la atribución de la responsabilidad a los Estados Parte por violaciones de ciertos tratados multilaterales de derechos humanos fuera de su territorio y la jurisdicción de los tribunales u órganos de tratado sobre dichas violaciones. La jurisdicción sobre la violación de los derechos humanos es resultado de la soberanía territorial pero también, incluso, de la dominación cuasi territorial (ocupación territorial y situaciones similares, la jurisdicción sobre territorio marítimo) o del ejercicio de jurisdicción personal por parte de las autoridades competentes, tales como actividades consulares, diplomáticas o de inteligencia en países extranjeros, actos en o por embarcaciones marítimas en altamar o en naves de aire o espaciales. Para cada uno de los sistemas de tratados revisados, (Carta Africana sobre los Derechos Humanos y de los Pueblos, Convención Americana de Derechos Humanos, Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos, Convención Europea sobre Derechos Humanos) este documento describe las características generales del sistema, sus disposiciones sobre jurisdicción y, lo más importante, la prácticas derivada de su aplicación. Este documento propone las siguientes conclusiones: todos los mecanismos revisados contienen algún elemento preceptivo/obligatorio; todos ellos, excepto el sistema Africano, contienen reglas pertinentes y asimismo todos aplican las reglas clásicas del derecho internacional en el ejercicio de la competencia cuasi territorial y personal. Estos Estados son responsables por las violaciones de derechos humanos cometidas por sus agentes y órganos en el ejercicio de su soberanía y los órganos del tratado pueden conocer de estos abusos. ; This paper deals with the attribution of responsibility to States Parties for violations of selected multilateral human rights treaties outside their territory, and the jurisdiction of the treaty organs over such violations. Jurisdiction over human rights violations may result from territorial sovereignty, but also from quasi-territorial domination (occupation and similar situations, jurisdiction over marine spaces) or from the exercise of personal jurisdiction such as activities by consular, diplomatic, or intelligence agents in foreign countries, acts by or on vessels on the high seas, or on air or space craft. For each of the treaty systems examined (African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights, American Convention on Human Rights, United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention on Human Rights), this contribution describes the system's general features, its provisions on jurisdiction, and most importantly, the practices it generates. This allows for a number of conclusions: that all the mechanisms examined contain some compulsory elements, that all of them except the African system contain pertinent rules, and that all of these mechanisms apply the classical rules of international law on the exercise of quasi-territorial and personal jurisdiction. States are responsible for the breaches of human rights standards committed by their agents and organs in the exercise of such jurisdiction, and treaty organs are entitled to deal with such breaches. ; Este artigo ocupa-se da atribuição da responsabilidade de Estados membro por violações de tratados multilaterais de direitos humanos fora de seu território e a jurisdição dos organismos de controle sobre ditas violações. A jurisdição sobre a violação dos direitos humanos é resultado da soberania territorial, mas também, inclusive, da dominação quase territorial (ocupação territorial e situações similares, a jurisdição sobre território marítimo) ou do exercício das autoridades competentes, tais como atividades consulares, diplomáticas ou de inteligência em países estrangeiros, atos em ou por embarcações marítimas em alto-mar ou em navios de ar ou espaciais. Para cada um dos sistemas de tratados revisados (Carta Africana sobre os Direitos Humanos e dos Povos, Convenção Americana de Direitos Humanos, Pacto Internacional de Direitos Civis e Políticos, Convenção Europeia sobre Direitos Humanos) este documento descreve as características do sistema geral, suas disposições sobre a jurisdição e, o mais importante, as práticas que tem gerado. Este documento propõe as seguintes conclusões: todos os mecanismos revisados contém algum elemento preceptivo/obrigatório; todos eles, exceto o sistema Africano, contém regras pertinentes e assim mesmo todos aplicam as regras clássicas do direito internacional no exercício pelas violações de direitos humanos cometidas por seus agentes e organismos no exercício da sua soberaniae os organismos de controle tem direito a tratar qualquer deste abusos.

Abstract: Unrelenting consumption and excessive exploitation of natural resources and their interconnection with the intensification of global inequalities seem to be leading contemporary civilization to an imminent collapse. How does constitutionalism address these ecology related issues? The purpose of this paper is two-fold: Firstly, it aims at uncovering the semantics of "constitution and nature" within constitutional law. The authors argue that mainstream dialogue-based approach (trans-national judicial dialogue) to global constitutionalism is actually based on a eurocentric and anthropocentric logos that excludes nature and reduces her to a simple object. Secondly, it discusses two original alternative proposals emerged from the global South: the constitutionalism for biodiversity of the Andean Latin American countries and the African Union's project to establish an International Constitutional Court. While the Andean constitutions prioritize the discussion on the "ecological deficit" and place nature as their "Grundnorm", the African proposal suggests the creation of a universal judicial mechanism for the protection of the "right to democracy". Given the centrality of nature within the innovative Andean constitutional design and the universalistic potential of democratic forms of public deliberation, these two propositions advance a novel approach to constitutionalism with a truly global scope, capable of both facing up impending ecological threats as well as pursuing dignity, justice and equality at global level.Keywords: Judicial Dialogue, Global Constitutionalism, Rights of Nature, Right to Democracy. Resumen: El incesante consumo y la explotación excesiva de los recursos naturales y su interconexión con la intensificación de la desigualdades a nivel mundial parecen estar llevando a nuestra civilización contemporánea hacia su colopaso inminente. Cómo enfrenta el constitucionalismo actual estos problemas ecológicos? Este trabajo tiene una doble finalidad. Primero, pretende descubrir cuáles semtánicas de "constitución y naturaleza" se encuentran en el derecho constitucional actual. Los autores argumentan que la visión dominante del constitutionalismo global, en su perspectiva dialógica (diálogo transnacional entre Cortes), está basada en un logos eurocéntrico y antropocéntrico que excluye a la naturaleza y la convierte en un simple objeto. Segundo, busca discutir dos originales propuestas alternativas surgidas en el Sur global: por un lado, del constitucionalismo de la biodiversidad de los países andinos latinoamericanos, y por otro, la propuesta de la Uníón Africana de crear de una Corte Constitutional Internacional. Mientras que las constituciones andinas priorizan la discusión sobre del "déficit ecológico" y colocan a la naturaleza como su "Grundnorm", la propuesta africana considera la creación de un mecanismo judicial universal de protección del "derecho a la democracia". Dada la centralidad que el innovador diseño constitucional andino da a la naturaleza y el potencial universalista de las formas democráticas de deliberación pública, estas propuestas promueven una nueva perspectiva para el constitucionalismo con alcance realmente globa y capaz de enfrentar las amenzas ecológicas inminentes, así como perseguir la dignidad, la justicia y la igualdad a nivel global. Palabras Llave: constitucionalismo global, diálogo Judicial, derechos de la naturaleza, derecho a la democracia.

Social/Cultural Anthropology: A Reader's Guide to the Great Religions. Charles J. Adam: The Study of the Middle East: Research and Scholarship in the Humanities and the Social Sciences. Leonard Binder: Samurai Religion: I, Some Aspects of Warrior Manners and Custom in Feudal Japan; II, the Akō Affair—A Practical Example of Bushidō. Catherina Blomberg: Contributions to Canadian Ethnology, 1975. David Brez Carlisle: The Social System and Culture of Modern India: A Racarch Bibliography. Danesh A. Chekki: The Zunis of Cibola C. Gregory Crampton: Conflictos por tierras en el Valle de Oaxaca. Philip A. Dennis: Systematic Research Collections in Antropology:An Irreplaceable National Resource. Richard I. Ford.: Explorations Into Humanness: The Common Strivings of People: A Cross Cultural Study. Raymond F. Gale.: Popular Culture and High Culture: An Analysis and Evaluation of Taste. Herbert J. Gans: Kallapura: A South Indian Village. K. G. Gurumurthy. Foreword by K. Ishwaran: African Folk Medicine: Practices and Beliefs of the Bambara and Other Peoples. Pascal James Imperato Baltimore: Ein Pfeilschuss für die Braut: Mythen und Erzählungen aus Kweiftim und Abrau, Nordostneuguinea. Antje and Heinz Kelm: The Dukkawa of Northwest Nigeria. Ceslaus Prazan. D. J. M. Muffet: Prestigio y Afiliación en una Comunidad Urbana: Juchitán, Oaxaca. Anya Peterson Royce.: Human Territories: How We Behave in Space‐Time. E. Albert Scheflen: Pop1 Vuh: Das Heilige Buch der Quiché Guatemalas. Eduard Seler: Authority and Influence in Two Sikh Villages. Harjznder Singh.Preface by William Foote Whyte.: The Native Americans: Ethnology and Backgrounds of the North American Indians. Robert F. Spencer, Jesse D. Jennings: Estructura de los groupos domésticos de una comunidad de habla nahuat de Pueblo. James Mounsey Taggart: The Character and Influence of the Indian Trade in Wisconsin: A Study of the Trading Post as an Institution. Frederick Jackson Turner: The Expedition of Capt. J. W. Davidson from Fort Tejon to the Owens Valley in 1859. Philip J. Wilke and Harry W. Lawton: Hispanic Crafts of the Southwest: An Exhibition Catalogue. Willakm WrothApplied Anthropology: The Geological Imperative: Anthropology and Development in the Amazon Basin of South America. Shelton H. Davis and Robert O. Mathews: Transmigration in Indonesia. J. M. Hardjono: Afro‐Americam and Africa: Black Nationalism at the Crossroads. Williom B. Helmreich: A Bibliographical Guide to the History of Indian‐White Relations in the United States. Francis Paul Prucha.: Ethnicity and Mobilization in Sami Politics. Tom G. Svenson.: Street Ethnology: Selected Studies of Crime and Drug Use in Natural Setting. Robert S. WeppnerLinguistics: Meaning, Reference, and Necessity: New Studies in Semantics. Simon Blackburn: English Quantifiers: Logical Structures and Linguistic Variation. Guy Garden Taishukan Studies in Modem Linguistics. Susumu Kuno and Kinsuke Hasegawa: Aspects of Proto‐Polynasian Syntax. Ross Clark.: The Mots Loups of Father Mathevet. Gordon M. Day: Language Study: The School and the Community. Peter Doughty, Geoffrey Thornton, and Anne Doughty.: Dictionary of Puget Salish. Thom Hess. Seattle: Topics in Phonological Theory. Michael Kenstowicz and Charles Kisseberth.: An Anatomy of Speech Notions. R. E. Longacre.: Palauan‐English Dictionary. Edwin G. McManus.: Le Conte Populaire Français. Tome Troisiéme. Marie‐Louise Tenèze.Physical Anthropology: Organismic Evolution. Verne Grant. Foreword by George Gaylord Simpson: Statistical and Comparative Studies of the Australian Aboriginal Dentition. Kazuro Hanihara

Ludwig M. Lachmann was born in Berlin in 1906 and died in Johannesburg in 1990. For more than forty years, until his retirement in 1972, Lachmann established himself as a prominent South African economist and for a time served as head of the economics department at the University of Witwatersrand. From 1974 to 1987, he worked with Professor Israel Kirzner in New York City to give new shape and life to the older Austrian school of economics. Lachmann influenced a small army of modern Austrians to discard the elaborate formalisms of orthodox economics for a "radical subjectivism" that had its roots in the teachings of the founder of the Austrian school, Carl Menger. Here a small platoon of scholars offer their thoughts about Lachmann, his contributions to economic reasoning, and his eccentric but engaging character. First hand reports explain what their mentor taught and what his students took away. Lavoie makes the case that Lachmann's "radical subjectivism" took a rhetorical turn toward the end of Lachmann's career in New York City. In addition, Kirzner reports on his long and most productive relationship with Lachmann and provides additional insights about the seminal role of the Austrian Economics Seminar at New York University from 1985 to 1987 in giving shape to the modern Austrian revival. This article is the written version of a "Remembrance and Appreciation Session" held on June 28, 1999 at the History of Economics Society meeting at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. It is one of an ongoing series that appears in the July issues of this journal.

One year after a national election in which the Democrats won not only the presidency but 18 congressional seats and 9 new senators, the party lost two major gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, but won an unexpected congressional seat in upstate New York. Clearly, Obama's coattails did not prove strong enough to bring out the two groups that helped him go over the top in last year's election, namely, the youth vote and the African American votes. There are many lessons to be learned by both parties from this past week' s elections, but there is also the risk of over interpreting results as a prequel of next year's mid-term elections. First, in an "off-off" year, most of the electorate was indifferent to the elections, worried as they are about more pressing issues such as higher taxes, the ever-expanding deficit and more than anything else, about unemployment, which has just surpassed the 10% mark in spite of reported GDP growth of 3.5% this quarter. Second, the state gubernatorial races were played out at the local level and had more to do with the candidates themselves than with the voters 'discontent with the President. Indeed, in a Virginia exit poll, 60% of the voters said that they had based their vote on state issues, while only 24% of those polled said they had used their vote to express their dissatisfaction with the President and 20% to express their support for him. On the other hand, Congressional elections reflect more of the national mood, and here the Democrats were winners: due to an inner brawl among Republicans, they unexpectedly won a seat the Republicans had held since the 1870s in the twenty-third district of New York. still, just as it would be a mistake to give national significance to the state races, it would also be silly to miss the obvious: the preponderant mood in the country is anti-incumbency, and this affects both parties. But clearly, independents who voted for Obama are re-directing their votes toward the Republicans and becoming savvier, more issue specific voters. In addition, both parties have base problems: the Democrats need to figure out how to get their base to the polls during off-year elections, and the Republicans must find ways to control their base so that it does not destroy the party. Turnout was the definitive factor in both gubernatorial races: it fell from 3.7 million to under 2 million in Virginia, and from almost 4 million to 2.3 million in New Jersey. The Republicans and Independents were more energized than the Democratic base, so they voted in larger numbers. Young voters between 18 and 29 years of age represented only 10% in Virginia and 9% in New Jersey. In contrast, in the 2008 presidential race they represented 21% and 17% respectively, and are credited for delivering the states to Obama in both cases. In New Jersey, an unpopular Democratic incumbent, albeit an Obama ally, lost to a new Republican face that ran on a fiscally conservative platform. Obama's appeal was apparently weaker than the voters' aversion for Jon Corzine, so U.S district attorney Chris Christie won, becoming the first Republican to win that position in 12 years. In Virginia, Bob McDonnell underplayed his extreme socially conservative views and his connection to Christian Right leader Pat Robertson. Instead, he ran a positive campaign based on job creation, quality of life for Virginians and fiscal responsibility. His opponent, Creigh Deeds, ran a negative TV ad campaign based on his opponent's social conservatism and his ideology as reflected in a misogynist twenty-year old thesis. In a calculation that backfired, Deeds distanced himself from President Obama for most of his campaign, only to turn to him towards the end. It proved to be too late. On that sunny autumnal day, Democratic voters, especially African Americans and young voters, the two groups than gave Obama his victory in Virginia, were absent from the polls. After eight years of two outstanding Democratic governors, the Executive Mansion in Richmond reverted to Republicans. Unlike Governor Warner who in 2005 prepared the way for his successor, Tim Kaine had spent most of 2009 out of the state, in his new national role as chairman the Democratic National Committee, and did very little to help Deeds. Kaine's national ambition seems to have gotten in the way of his local role as Deeds' promoter and cheerleader, and he became, in the words of Professor Larry Sabato, more of a "partisan rather than a unifying figure" at home. However, the apathy of Democratic voters has deeper roots than just civic irresponsibility or lack of engagement. It is also a reflection of disillusion and even rage with the failure of the Obama administration to create jobs and to deal with Wall Street in stricter terms, for example by breaking up the "too-big-to-fail" banks, introducing stricter regulation of derivatives trading and by reducing of CEO's compensation. Again, in spite of all the rhetoric, Obama seems to have bailed out Wall Street at the expense of middle-class tax payers and small businesses. In sum, Obama's young followers and liberals stayed home because Obama is moving too slowly in crucial issues; independents switched parties because of their own fears of losing their jobs and facing higher taxes, as well as to punish the Democrats for too much government spending with little results for higher employment; and McDonnell benefited as much from a weak, erratic opponent who ran a terrible campaign as he did from his own smart strategy and pragmatic style.While the main problem then for Democrats is how to energize the base so that they can fulfill their civic duty and vote, the Republicans have the opposite problem: how to control their base so that it does not get in the way of allowing the party to field moderate candidates that can get the Independent vote. In this sense, what happened in New York 23rd district may be a blessing in disguise for the Republicans, as it will teach them a lesson in time for next year mid-term election. In this previously little known congressional district near the Canadian border, the Republican Party nominated moderate Assemblywoman DeDe Scozzafava in a special election called to fill the seat of Representative JohnMcHugh (R-NY) who had been appointed Secretary of the Army by President Obama. This was regarded as a safe Republican seat given that the party had held it for over 100 years. However, in a twist of events that took both parties by surprise, Conservatives rebelled against the party nominee, whose social values were deemed too liberal, and fielded their own candidate, Doug Hoffman, with the support of talk show celebrities Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and Sarah Palin. The Club for Growth, main supporter of Tea Partiers and Birthers, poured a lot of money in support of Hoffman, and consequently Scozzafava, the official Republican Party nominee, started training in the polls. On the weekend before the election, Scozzafava abandoned the race and endorsed the Democratic candidate! The Right was jubilant, confident of a victory in this rural district, which has very few immigrants and is 93% white. Indeed, Fox news insisted on predicting a "tidal wave" in favor of the Conservative candidate all throughout Election Day, only to be forced to concede at past midnight that instead, the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, had won. The election in the 23rd district, then, served as a warning to Republicans of whatnot to do in 2010. While the two Republicans that won the gubernatorial races did so by moving to center, thus appealing to Independents and moderates, the main losers in New York state were the Tea Partiers and Birthers who have taken advantage of the vacuum of leadership at the top, have hijacked the Republican Party and made the country at times seem ungovernable. Let it be noted here that both conservative candidates then- to- be governors elect, Chris Christie in New Jersey and Bob McDonnell in Virginia, had rejected Palin's offer to campaign for them. Recognizing the relevance of this kind of wisdom, as well as his good looks and ability to persuade, McDonnell is already being touted as a possible candidate for the 2012 national ticket.2009 will be remembered as the year of anti-incumbency, but this anti-incumbent mood is not so much about Obama, who still enjoys close to 60% of popularity, as it is about government in general. Indeed, every special Congressional election since Obama assumed the presidency has been won by Democrats even in seats previously held by Republicans. In politics, one year is an eternity, so it is difficult to extrapolate the November 3rd results to next year's mid-term election. It all depends on whether the economic stimulus starts to work more consistently and is translated into jobs. The passage of health care reform by the House is undoubtedly a victory for Democrats, but it was a narrow one, with 39 Democrats voting against it, in spite of serious compromises by House Speaker Pelosi, including one amendment that prohibits the use of federal money for abortion and that is already under fire by the party's liberals. If the so-called Stupak amendment is not taken out in House-Senate conference, then the Party may see a huge backlash by women and other groups. Still, health care reform will be a reality by year's end, and once it passes it will become sacred: voters will embrace it (as they did with Medicaid and Medicare, as well as Social Security) and, together with job recovery, it may become the basis of a better mid-term election for Democrats than most pundits are predicting now.Finally, while the two gubernatorial races were won by the Republicans, and can be read as a warning to incumbent governors everywhere in next year's elections, it is clear that the largest group that went to the polls were mainly McCain voters, as well as disgruntled independent voters who shifted to the right. And while this trend is good news for the Republicans, the inexorable weight of demographics is against them: these races were won by an overwhelmingly white and older, more male than female, electorate who constitute at the same time an increasingly smaller percentage of the population as a whole. The fastest-rising voting groups do not vote for the Republican Party, which they consider the party "without ideas". To win next year, the GOP needs to regroup fast, get rid of the Palin-Limbaugh baggage and find new leadership. A year has gone by since their huge electoral loss and they have yet to find it. Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Geography Director, ODU Model United Nations Program Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

This article attempts to identify and define a specific tendency which has emerged over the past few years within the field of migrant cinema production in Italy, that is, the emergence of what we might call popular migrant cinema or, to use the expression mentioned in the article's title, African-Italian popular cinema. As the article discusses, the definition of «popular cinema» is controversial and, when we try to apply this concept within the field of migrant cinema, its use becomes even more problematic. In fact, while by using the term «popular cinema» scholars have generally referred to high budget films, produced on an industrial scale, and able to achieve wide circulation and outstanding box-office results, the films analyzed here are usually the result of informal production strategies and limited economic resources, and in most of the cases they manage to achieve very restricted commercial circulation. However, and this is the major point this article intends to make, they are «popular» in their intentions. They are, in fact, films that mimic the global popular cinema style of Hollywood blockbuster films and approach the issue of migration through the lens of mainstream film genres such as gangster movies, thrillers, comedies, melodramas, and even musicals. Making reference to the work on mimicry and membership by the American anthropologist James Ferguson (2006) and to the recent scholarship on African popular culture (Barber 1987; 1997) and on the Nigerian video phenomenon (cf. Haynes 2000; Bisschoff e Overbergh 2012), this article suggests that the films analyzed here adopt this mimetic narrative strategy in order to claim the right to be part of an international and transnational cinematic arena defined by a shared film language, the language of mainstream film genres, thus attempting to open up the conceptual, narrative and stylistic barriers that have often isolated migrant cinema within a niche (or even, as numerous directors have underlined, a «ghetto») defined by the filmmaker's biography or by the political significance of the film's message. In order to support this argument, the article identifies a sample of analysis by briefly describing four films, Manetti Bros' Torino Boys (1997), IGB's Kiki Marriage (2003), Guido Lombardi's Là-Bas (2011) and Hedy Krissane's Aspromonte (2012). These films symbolize the four ideal vertexes of the imaginary space within which we can identify the emergent African-Italian popular cinema. In fact, even by being profoundly different, they present a number of aspects which, even though combined in different ways, recur in numerous other films produced in Italy over the past few years. Torino Boys, for instance, represents the first example of an Italian film about migration which makes an attempt to deal with popular cinema's film style and which tries to represent migrants' life through the prism of their everyday (at times even «banal») experience. Interestingly enough, this attempt is made by using as filmic reference the narrative and aesthetic style that characterizes Nigerian Nollywood melodramas (cf. Jedlowski forthcoming). Kiki Marriage, the first Nigerian video film shot and produced in Italy by a Nigerian film company based in the Peninsula, gives us an insight into the emergence of range of Nigerian video production companies in Italy (cf. Jedlowski 2012a). These companies, by trying to transpose the Nollywood model within a diasporic context, apply a set of narrative and aesthetic patterns which are profoundly different from those applied by Italian films about migration and which signal the emergence of locally-produced migrant and diasporic popular cultures in Italy. If compared to the first two mentioned films, Là-Bas presents a stronger political and social concern for the situation migrants are often forced to experience in Italy (harsh labor conditions, violence, racism, police harassment, etc.), but tries to conciliate it with an entertainment-oriented film language that might allow the film to reach an audience beyond the limits of the networks along which migrant cinema normally circulates. In this sense, this film signals a specific tendency within the emerging African-Italian popular cinema that tries to make the tradition of socially engaged Italian documentary filmmaking meet with a lighter, rather commercially-oriented film style. As for Là-bas, Aspromonte is a limit-case within this context. Its inclusion within this discussion is important because it underlines the emerging tendency among a number of directors who dealt with migration in previous films, to move from the underground, interstitial modes of production that characterized their previous works, toward an inclusion into industrial cinema dynamics. This film is, in fact, a commercially-oriented comedy which has little to do with migration, directed by Hedy Krissane, a Tunisian filmmaker based in Italy whose previous works were entirely dedicated to migration issues. In many ways, this films represents Krissane's attempt to penetrate the Italian cinema industry in order to gain the contacts, the skills and the financial support that, in the future, might allow him to make films that could cross the boundaries of the cinematic «ghetto» within which migrant film production in Italy has been confined until today. ; Peer reviewed

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A rich civic infrastructure of community-based organizations (CBOs) can help generate, diffuse and maintain a culture of engagement and health that benefits marginalized populations most at risk for illness, disability, and poor health. Attention to CBOs advances "meso-level" frameworks for understanding health cultures and outcomes by going beyond attention to social networks and social identities. We focus on three mechanisms: CBOs can (1) empower individuals by developing civic capacity and personal efficacy; (2) foster solidarity by building networks, social identities and a shared commitment to collective well-being; and (3) mobilize people to have a voice in health-related policies and programming, thereby affecting community well-being. We draw on theory and research in sociology, political science and psychology, and we illustrate the utility of a CBO approach by examining survey and semi-structured interview data from participants in youth civic groups in 13 low-income, predominantly immigrant communities in California. Interview data illustrate the ways in which CBOs enhance members' civic capacities, provide a sense of empowerment and efficacy to engage in healthy behaviors, develop solidarity among diverse participants, and elaborate networks among those committed to community well-being. We also discuss CBO-led campaigns in which youth mobilized for change in policies and practices of local institutions to illustrate possible community-wide health consequences of CBO engagement. CBOs can thus generate individual-level well-being effects, and reduce structural barriers to good health through changes in the broader environment.