Towards a new dialectics of dependency theory

Dependency theory is arguably the most important theoretical tradition to emerge from Latin America. Functioning as a vital source of counter-representation and contestation, it challenged the prevailing developmental orthodoxies of the time. During its heyday in the 1960s and early 1970s it served simultaneously to critique prevailing power relations within the global political economy and as a political programme for domestic and regional transformation, defined in terms of self-determination and political autonomy. However, with the broader crisis of developmentalism in the 1970s, a counter movement to the radicalism of dependency analysis was provided by authoritarian populism. The victory of authoritarian populism helped contribute to the death of Third Worldism as a political project and with it, dependency theory fell into decline. In the current conjuncture, this paper calls for a new dialectics of dependency theory. A reinvigorated dependency critique is needed to address the prevailing developmentalism of the left in Latin America that has remained in thrall to extractivism and thus continues the region’s peripheral role as a commodity exporter to the Global North, built on the foundations of cheap nature and cheap labour. Furthermore, a dependency-informed analysis is required to challenge contemporary modes of authoritarian populism and statism that are being celebrated geopolitically in the form of the BRICS grouping. To do so, I make the case for considering dependency theory as a radical contribution to the literature on the production of space.</p

Feminist speculative activism: futurity, affect and narrative in The handmaid’s tale UK fan activism

The Handmaid’s Tale television adaptation (Miller, 2017-2025) initiated a cultural and media phenomenon inspiring feminist and human rights activists in dozens of different contexts to dress as handmaids in protest, from the election of Donald Trump in the US to the Repeal the 8th protests in Ireland. This thesis considers shifting handmaid symbolism from the novel (Atwood, 1985) to the television show, from protest spaces to merchandise, as well as the experiences and performances of participants dressing as – and observing – handmaids in UK protests. My research builds upon the fields of social movement studies, television studies, gender studies, critical race studies, utopian studies, fan studies and audience studies. Although research has been conducted on fandoms and media practices of activists, qualitative interview methods and research on popular culture are rarely brought together to analyse what uses might be made of fictional texts in activist communities. The mobilising function of fiction, and its effects, is therefore a greatly under-researched area of study.Drawing on interviews with those who dressed as handmaids in protest and with other feminist activists who are fans and/or critics of the novel and television adaptation, this thesis investigates how handmaid and non-handmaid activists have approached mobilisation, costuming, tactics, performance, and visioning of the handmaid in protest. It argues that The Handmaid’s Tale has polysemic – including contradictory and/or nefarious – meanings, uses and purposes for audiences, which produce an array of handmaid appropriations, transmutations, and texts. This project develops a concept of Feminist Speculative Activism as activism that draws from the genre of feminist speculative fiction. It uses a grounded theory approach, shaped by activist voices, producing a theoretical intersection of concepts on Futurity, Affect and Narrative (FAN) in its proposal of a new framework to understand the possibilities and limitations of fan activism in the UK.</p

How delayed cord clamping saves newborn lives

Interest in the subject of umbilical cord clamping is long-standing. New evidence reveals that placental transfusion, facilitated by delayed cord clamping (DCC), reduces death and need for blood transfusions for preterm infants without evidence of harm. Even a brief delay in clamping the cord shows improved survival and well-being, but waiting at least two minutes is even better. We propose that three major benefits from DCC contribute to reduced mortality of preterm infants: (1) benefits from the components of blood; (2) assistance from the continued circulation of blood; and (3) the essential mechanical interactions that result from the enhanced volume of blood. The enhanced blood volume generates mechanical forces within the microcirculation that support the newborn’s metabolic and cardiovascular stability and secure short- and long-term organ health. Several unique processes prime preterm and term newborns to receive the full placental transfusion, not to be misinterpreted as extra blood or over-transfusion. Disrupting cord circulation before the newborn’s lung capillary bed has been fully recruited and the lungs can replace the placenta as a respiratory, gas-exchanging organ may be harmful. Early cord clamping also denies the newborn a full quota of iron-rich red blood cells as well as valuable stem cells for regeneration, repair, and seeding of a strong immune system. We propose that delayed cord clamping and intact-cord stabilization have the potential to save lives by protecting many neonates from hypovolemia, inflammation, and ischemia.</p

Shakespeare’s impersonations: Ariosto and the game of 'sorti' in Much Ado About Nothing

'Much Ado About Nothing', first published in 1600, is a play of dissimulation. Complex disguises, literal and emotional, persuade individuals into both declarations and disavowals of feelings. Claudio, in particular, is duped into humiliating his betrothed Hero by an elaborate trick in which she is made to seem unfaithful through a proxy performance of erotic arousal. It has long been assumed that a direct or indirect source for this major element in Shakespeare’s plot derives from Canto V of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, in which the servant Dalinda impersonates Ginevra on the balcony, to the most painful chagrin of Ginevra’s lover Ariodante. However, Shakespeare’s interest in dissimulation goes much further than this. Dissimulatio is the Latin rhetorical term in which the whole point is that the distinction between real and simulated feeling is often impossible to decipher, as Cicero and Quintilian discussed on several occasions. Moreover, the idea of impersonation merges with the developing discourse of personation on the stage: the ability of an actor to simulate the feelings of a different person, even without disguise. By ‘traveling through a textual labyrinth’, as Umberto Eco puts it, this essay investigates the presence of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso among the complex sources of this Shakespearean play, whose comedic plot apropos of an unjustly accused character may reveal elements of tribute to Giordano Bruno’s ‘heroic’ pursuit of truth. In doing so, we aim to discern how Ariosto’s allegoric effects are diffused in Shakespeare’s play of betrayed emotions and epistemic quest.</p

Regulatory intermediaries in content moderation

The modern digital public sphere requires effective content moderation systems that balance the interests of states, technology companies, and the public. This article examines how two pieces of legislation establish regulatory intermediaries in an attempt to strike this balance: the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) with its out-of-court dispute settlement (ODS) bodies, and the proposed Brazilian Bill 2630/2020, which assigns supervisory responsibilities to CGI.br, a multi-stakeholder body. The analysis reveals that the design of regulatory intermediaries, including pre-existing structures like CGI.br, significantly impacts platform governance and user experiences. While the DSA’s ODS model offers a framework for independent and user-friendly dispute resolution, the non-binding nature of its decisions limits its effectiveness. Similarly, concerns remain regarding CGI.br’s limited financial and human resources, and its legal fragility, which could undermine its ability to fulfil the responsibilities the Bill assigns to it. By examining these models, the article offers insights for creating more effective participative online governance systems. It provides recommendations for the implementation of the DSA and informs ongoing legislative discussions in Brazil.</p

Place-based reproductive justice and resistance: Human rights and abortion mobilities in the Post-Dobbs era

This article integrates human rights and abortion mobilities frameworks to demonstrate the ramifications of abortion restrictions and highlights historic and emergent forms reproductive justice and resistance. It engages with and critiques narrow conceptualizations of reproductive rights and biopolitics and considers the complex ways that abortion legislation becomes embodied in the post-Dobbs era. Mobility is explored across three frames—repression, privilege, and resistance—to highlight the interconnections between reproductive (in)justice and place-based resistance. Situating the analysis within human rights scholarship and reproductive justice and mobilities scholarship, the article outlines the continuities and current configurations of place-based reproductive (in)justice across three interconnected axes. The first axis traces the embodied ramifications of anti-abortion laws for marginalized individuals and communities; the second axis explores the complex personal, political, and economic costs of travelling to access abortion care; and the third axis reflects on historic and current forms of community-based resistance and care. Read together, these axes challenge binary assumptions of agency or subjugation and instead reveal how embodied experiences of abortion restrictions for marginalized individuals and groups also run alongside radical forms of community care to resist these restrictions and address broader forms of lived intersectional inequalities.</p

A journey through quantum technology

Technology aims to utilise physics to invent things that improve our lives. Our current information technology era is the result of quantum mechanics and the concept of wave-particle duality. Many revolutionary technologies, such as the laser, MRI and integrated circuits were developed from this first quantum revolution. This paper provides a brief summary of these key quantum technologies and investigates some of the ongoing research that may spark a second quantum revolution.</p

Resonant Fully Dielectric Metasurfaces for Ultrafast Terahertz Pulse Generation

In the framework of optical frequency conversion, metasurfaces have elevated the potential for effective interfacial nonlinear coefficients through various modes of field localization. For the generation of pulsed ultrafast terahertz (THz) signals, metasurfaces present a viable alternative in the domain of surface-scalable sources driven by low-power oscillators (using nJ pulses). However, recent innovations have predominantly relied on surface plasmons (metals) and, more broadly, on excitations within non-transparency windows-conditions that typically impose limitations on applications and the choice of platforms. Here, we demonstrate the utilization of a fully-dielectric, fully transparent semiconductor that exploits surface-nano-structure-mediated resonances alongside its inherent quadratic nonlinear response. Our system exhibits a remarkable 40-fold efficiency enhancement in comparison to the non-decorated substrate.</p

The crime-terror nexus and the illicit trade in drugs

Drawing on an original dataset of 408 incidents of interaction this article examines the nature and scale of links between terrorism and the illicit trade in drugs. To achieve this, it develops a new crime-terror-drug interaction model mapping 30 components of interaction and influencing variables. It identifies 47 terrorist groups connected to the drug economy and reveals new findings on indicators significant for predicting terrorist group engagement in the drug trade and types of interaction. Cautioning against meta-theoretical models, it advocates the adoption of discrete evidence-based criminal typology models to better inform legal and policy responses to the crime-terror nexus.</p

Why Much of the Liberal Left Can Now be Termed 'Regressive': Discourses on Trump, Immigration, and Islam

We find much of the discourse from the soi disant progressive politicians, media and academy to be misinformed, hypocritical, and even regressive. This applies to discussions about politicians such as President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and especially concerns the issues of Islam and immigration. We argue that much of the contemporary liberal left appears to be more intolerant, more Orwellian, than its traditional rivals on the right [while recognising that there are differences between those who describe themselves as 'liberals' or 'leftists', including moderate left, centre left, far left etc., we have decided to use the portmanteau 'liberal left' as this equates to the more generally agreed upon signifier 'progressive'].</p