10 research outputs found
Whose Needs Does Service Serve? Complicating the Citizen Soldier Narrative
Get PDFThe growth of conscript militaries was integral to the creation of civil rights in European nation-states, which established militaries as a key site of claims-making. However, the United States military has diverged from these models, and most cases of inclusion or integration of social groups are not directly connected with claims-making. What has influenced the U.S. militaryâs responsiveness to pressures, both internal and external, and how has this changed over time? I employ a comparative historical approach to three casesâAfrican-Americans, women, and non-heterosexualsâto unpack the U.S. military as a state institution and a site of claims-making. By incorporating elements unique to American institutions into existing models of militaries, I find that the U.S. military has become increasingly vulnerable to domestic political, international political, internal economic, and internal and external cultural pressures since the World War period. Despite its enormous economic and physical strength, the U.S. military is more responsive now than ever before to internal and external demands
Distribution area of the two floral morphs of <i>Nigella damascena</i> L. (Ranunculaceae): a diachronic study using herbarium specimens collected in France
No full text<p>Perianth dimorphism in <i>Nigella damascena</i> (Ranunculaceae) has been documented for four centuries, and its genetic basis started to be studied almost a century ago. Based on herbarium collections, we reconstructed the evolution of the distribution area of the wild-type (perianth composed of a calyx and nectariferous petals) and mutant (apetalous) floral morphs in mainland France over the last two centuries. We showed that the collection localities of the wild-type morph are mostly concentrated in the southern coastal areas of France, whereas the collection localities of the mutant morph were less numerous but more scattered in France. The collection effort of both morphs peaked in the second half of the nineteenth century and continuously decreased afterwards. Results are interpreted taking into account the biases in the constitution of a herbarium collection. Knowledge about the spatial distribution and the frequency of occurrence of wild-type and mutant populations through time will help botanists and evolutionary biologists investigate the origin and ecological grounds for the maintenance and propagation of the apetalous morph in the wild.</p
