Suchergebnisse

About 30 million persons in the world are gravely undernourished & about 434 million are malnourished. Statistics on malnutrition as the basic cause of death in 17 Latin American countries for 1973-1976 from the World Health Organization are presented & discussed. Malnutrition is 'normal' for the lower classes in these countries. Official statistics underrepresent the problem, particularly for children, & intervention is sometimes difficult. About 20% of infant deaths in the second year of life may be due to malnutrition. Health services in many countries are inadequate to cover the majority of the lower classes. In Mexico, 29 surveys undertaken in 15 regions by the National institute of Nutrition between 1957 & 1966 show that the rural diet tends to be inferior to the urban diet & that in many areas an 8% to 10% caloric deficiency exists. Argentina in 1970 registered 2,439 deaths due to malnutrition; 1,655 were 1-year-old children. The final estimate is that in Latin America about 17% of deaths are caused by malnutrition. This quantification does not include mortality & morbidity based on nutritional deficiency during disasters, which tend to take an additional toll, as in Guatemala in 1976. 24 Tables. S. Whittle.

The study of the values & mores of the Mc family is of particular interest because it most closely reflects the social ideal from which the Uc & Lc have deviated, or to which they have been unable to conform. The following dimensions are discussed: marriage; emotional ties; loyalty; intimidation & shame; birth & death; interfamilial communication; sex; the role of the woman; youth; domestic help; large family; out-of-wedlock children; widowhood; divorce; ideology; interaction between the family & other institutions; the professional family; family as a therapeutic group; the evolution of the family; family facing social change; & the survival of the family. S. Karganovic.

The social & cultural conditions tied to the birth of cinema in Mexico, its evolution as a means of popular entertainment & culture, & the aspects which distinguish it from cinematic development in other countries are explored. It is suggested that the public's adoption of movies as popular entertainment was based on Mexico's tradition of religious festivals. The early, silent Mexican cinema appealed to the emotions, with dramatic themes, eg, obsession, sacrifice, passion, innocence, death, fate, & glory. Many films were based on Mexican literature, revolution, & nationalism. With the advent of sound, themes became less theatrical. Some saw this as the end of artistic cinema. Cinema became dominated by Hollywood, which did not speak the language of Mexico's culture. Because of widespread illiteracy, subtitles for English-language movies did not work, so eventually Mexico began to produce its own talking cinema. Although still dominated by United States capital & technology, it recovered some of its melodrama & ideological themes. S. Whittle.

Presented as an essay is part of a larger study of the class alliances which gave rise to the present Mexican state. The Popular Front period (1935-1938) was a particularly important phase of that consolidation process. Focused on are the historical conditions & the interrelations of the various forces comprising those alliances & their posture toward the trade unions & other left-wing movements. The purpose of a united front was to strengthen democratic regimes threatened by fascism by forming an alliance between the Left & progressive middle class parties. The principal causes of the unification of the Mexican working class movement were the death of General Obregon in 1928, the effects of the 1929 economic crisis, & the consequent sharpening of the class struggle between 1933 & 1937, ie, immediately preceding & during the first part of the Cardenas regime. Two major groups came into being: the Committee for Proletarian Defense, later to evolve into the Mexican Workers' Confederation, & factions close to the Revolutionary National party (PNR), the Mexican Communist party (PCM), & the Cardenist group which was then in power. The first steps toward the formation of the National Front (FN) were taken by the PCM in Aug 1935. The goals of the front were rather vague, as was the type of audience it sought to attract; it was specific only in its opposition to Mexican fascist groups such as the Camisas Doradas (Golden Shirts). By 1937, President Cardenas was ready to implement his political reforms; the ruling PNR was broadened to represent a variety of social sectors, including workers, peasants, army personnel, bureaucrats, etc. An assimilation process commenced in which the FN was absorbed & lost its identity. S. Karganovic.