Pro-Women Legal Reform in Morocco: Is Religion an Obstacle?

The question of the role of modern law in triggering social change is of particular importance in societies where customs and norms support the marginalization of some social groups. The conventional view is that the success of the formal law is constrained by the system of informal rules and values which support the prevailing customs, and the law therefore appears as a 'dead letter'. Aldashev et al (2011) mitigate this pessimistic scenario by formally showing that the law has, under certain conditions, the effect of making the custom evolve in the direction of the law. One of the conditions to achieve this effect is the identification of agents with the new law. In this paper, we focus on the adherence of agents to a pro-women legal reform in Morocco, the reform of the Family Code which is religious-inspired legislation. We use a unique database created from a survey we conducted in Morocco in 2008 to provide some evidence about the factors which drive conservative positions with respect to a progressive legal reform. We observe that women who are benefiting from the reform are not unanimously in favour of it. Conversely, a non-negligible part of the male population strongly supports the new legislation. In order to explain these behaviours, we mainly focus on three specific factors: education, location and religion. Contrary to what naïve beliefs would suggest - rural men with a low level of education and intense religious practice express a lower support to the new Family Code -, we find that there is no straightforward relation between the three aforementioned factors (education, location and religion) and the support of the new legislation. Another precondition to the effect stressed by Aldashev et al. (2011) is that agents have sufficient information about the law. The data analysis leads to an unexpected finding: living in rural areas is, in some cases, positively and significantly associated with a higher probability of being properly informed than living in Casablanca city, the economic centre of the country. --

Pro-Women Legal Reform in Morocco: Is Religion an Obstacle?

The question of the role of modern law in triggering social change is of particular importance in societies where customs and norms support the marginalization of some social groups. The conventional view is that the success of the formal law is constrained by the system of informal rules and values which support the prevailing customs, and the law therefore appears as a 'dead letter'. Aldashev et al (2011) mitigate this pessimistic scenario by formally showing that the law has, under certain conditions, the effect of making the custom evolve in the direction of the law. One of the conditions to achieve this effect is the identification of agents with the new law. In this paper, we focus on the adherence of agents to a pro-women legal reform in Morocco, the reform of the Family Code which is religious-inspired legislation. We use a unique database created from a survey we conducted in Morocco in 2008 to provide some evidence about the factors which drive conservative positions with respect to a progressive legal reform. We observe that women who are benefiting from the reform are not unanimously in favour of it. Conversely, a non-negligible part of the male population strongly supports the new legislation. In order to explain these behaviours, we mainly focus on three specific factors: education, location and religion. Contrary to what naïve beliefs would suggest - rural men with a low level of education and intense religious practice express a lower support to the new Family Code -, we find that there is no straightforward relation between the three aforementioned factors (education, location and religion) and the support of the new legislation. Another precondition to the effect stressed by Aldashev et al. (2011) is that agents have sufficient information about the law. The data analysis leads to an unexpected finding: living in rural areas is, in some cases, positively and significantly associated with a higher probability of being properly informed than living in Casablanca city, the economic centre of the country

Using the Law to Change the Custom

We build a simple model of legal dualism in which a pro-poor legal reform, under certain conditions, causes the conflicting custom to go some way toward producing the change intended by the legislator. It then acts as an "outside anchor" that exerts a "magnet effect" on the custom. We illustrate this insight using examples on inheritance, marriage, and divorce issues in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. We also characterize the conditions under which a moderate pro-poor reform is more effective than a radical reform.Custom, Statutory Law, Inequality, Legal Reform

Scattering of Glueballs and Mesons in Compact QEDQED in 2+12+1 Dimensions

We study glueball and meson scattering in compact $QED_{2+1}$ gauge theory in a Hamiltonian formulation and on a momentum lattice. We compute ground state energy and mass, and introduce a compact lattice momentum operator for the computation of dispersion relations. Using a non-perturbative time-dependent method we compute scattering cross sections for glueballs and mesons. We compare our results with strong coupling perturbation theory.Comment: figures not included (hard copy only), LAVAL-PHY-94-05, PARKS-PHY-94-0

Incorporación de herbicidas en hidrotalcitas modificadas

III Encuentro sobre Nanociencia y Nanotecnología de Investigadores y Tecnólogos Andaluce

Evolutionary history of Leishmania killicki (synonymous Leishmania tropica) and taxonomic implications

Background: Leishmania (L.) killicki is responsible for the chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis. The taxonomic status of this parasite is still not well defined. It was suggested on one hand to include this taxon within L. tropica complex but also on the other hand to consider it as a distinct phylogenetic complex. The present work represents the more detailed study on the evolutionary history of L. killicki relative to L. tropica and the taxonomic implications. Methods: Thirty five L. killicki and 25 L. tropica strains isolated from humans and from several countries were characterized using the MultiLocus Enzyme Electrophoresis (MLEE) and the MultiLocus Sequence Typing (MLST) approaches. Results: The genetic and phylogenetic analyses strongly support that L. killicki belongs to L. tropica complex. The study suggests the emergence of L. killicki by a funder effect followed by an independent evolution from L. tropica, but does not validate the species status of this taxon. In this context, we suggest to call this taxon L. killicki (synonymous L. tropica) until further epidemiological and phylogenetic studies justify the L. killicki denomination. Conclusions: These findings provided taxonomic and phylogenetic informations on L. killicki and helped to better know the evolutionary history of this taxon

Comparison of Leishmania killicki (syn. L-tropica) and Leishmania tropica population structure in Maghreb by microsatellite typing

Leishmania (L.) killicki (syn. L. tropica), which causes cutaneous leishmaniasis in Maghreb, was recently described in this region and identified as a subpopulation of L. tropica. The present genetic analysis was conducted to explore the spatio-temporal distribution of L. killicki (syn. L. tropica) and its transmission dynamics. To better understand the evolution of this parasite, its population structure was then compared with that of L. tropica populations from Morocco. In total 198 samples including 85 L. killicki (syn. L. tropica) (from Tunisia, Algeria and Libya) and 113 L. tropica specimens (all from Morocco) were tested. Theses samples were composed of 168 Leishmania strains isolated from human skin lesions, 27 DNA samples from human skin lesion biopsies, two DNA samples from Ctenodactylus gundi bone marrow and one DNA sample from a Phlebotomus sergenti female. The sample was analyzed by using MultiLocus Enzyme Electrophoresis (MLEE) and MultiLocus Microsatellite Typing (MLMT) approaches. Analysis of the MLMT data support the hypothesis that L. killicki (syn. L. tropica) belongs to the L. tropica complex, despite its strong genetic differentiation, and that it emerged from this taxon by a founder effect. Moreover, it revealed a strong structuring in L. killicki (syn. L. tropica) between Tunisia and Algeria and within the different Tunisian regions, suggesting low dispersion of L. killicki (syn. L. tropica) in space and time. Comparison of the L. tropica (exclusively from Morocco) and L. killicki (syn. L. tropica) population structures revealed distinct genetic organizations, reflecting different epidemiological cycles

Nanopigmentos laminares: AO-10 en hidrotalcitas

III Encuentro sobre Nanociencia y Nanotecnología de Investigadores y Tecnólogos Andaluce

Hidroxidos dobles laminares como materiales adsorbentes de contaminantes en aguas

II Encuentro sobre nanociencia y nanotecnología de investigadores y tecnólogos de la Universidad de Córdoba. NANOUC