Le Malentendu International: remembering international relations with Jean-Marie Teno

The discipline of International Relations and cognate fields of Comparative Politics and Development Studies have more or less successfully contained the study of Africa’s condition within the limits of the dominant Western imagination, with grave consequences. Africa is seen and analyzed as a site of weak states and neopatrimonial rule. The continued dominance and ubiquity of such analytical vocabularies and their underlying methods rests on many forces, one of which is the reluctance to acknowledge that Africans can and do articulate their own analyses of their condition and to respect such analyses. This article seeks to remember some of the routinely forgotten international relations which structure Africa’s contemporary condition, by turning to the work of Cameroonian film director Jean-Marie Teno. Teno’s work, in particular Afrique Je Te Plumerai and Le Malentendu Colonial, is profoundly important for students of international relations. This article examines the content, form, and effect of the critique Teno elaborates in Afrique Je Te Plumerai

Definitions and categories: epistemologies of race and critique

One of the striking and important features of The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics is the breadth and depth of literature over two and a half centuries which is examined. Hobson reveals irrefutably the centrality of racialised thought to the foundations of the disciplinary field of International Relations. Such an exercise necessarily encounters difficult methodological questions. This contribution to the forum reflects on the methodological and epistemological challenges of the critique of racial thought. How should we define racialised or racist thought, and how should we distinguish the various strands of racial and eurocentric thought? Does it matter if a critique of racial thought employs modes of categorisation and typology which seem to mirror the epistemological or methodological features of some strands of racial thought itself

Changes in initial COPD treatment choice over time and factors influencing prescribing decisions in UK primary care : a real-world study

Acknowledgements Samantha Holmes (CircleScience, an Ashfield Company, part of UDG Healthcare plc) and Paul Hutchin (contracted to CircleScience, an Ashfield Company, part of UDG Healthcare plc) provided medical writing assistance. Funding The study was funded by Novartis Pharma AG (Basel, Switzerland).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Owner-reported lower urinary tract signs in a cohort of young cats

Objectives The most common cause of lower urinary tract signs (LUTS) in cats under the age of 10 years is feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC). The prevalence of LUTS in the UK pet cat population is difficult to assess. This study used data collected prospectively to investigate the prevalence of, and risk factors for, owner-reported LUTS in a cohort of young pet cats. Methods Cat owners were recruited into a long-term longitudinal study and asked to complete questionnaires at specified age points for their cats. All cats were at least 18 months of age at the time of analysis. The prevalence of owner-reported LUTS at 18, 30 and 48 months of age was calculated, based on whether the owner had seen the cat urinating, and whether the cat had displayed one or more of the following clinical signs: dysuria, haematuria or vocalising during urination. A case-control study to investigate the risk factors for owner-reported LUTS in study cats at age 18 months was also conducted, using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results The prevalence of owner-reported LUTS in cats seen urinating by the owner was 4.3%, 3.8% and 6.0%, with 95% confidence intervals of 3.2-5.7%, 2.5-5.7% and 3.4-10.5% at ages 18, 30 and 48 months, respectively. An indoor-only lifestyle at the age of 18 months and a change in diet between the ages of 12 and 18 months were identified as risk factors for owner-reported LUTS at the age of 18 months from the multivariable model. No clear type of change in diet was identified in our sample of cats with LUTS. Conclusions and relevance The prevalence of owner-reported LUTS in a cohort of young pet cats was higher than the previously reported prevalence of LUTS in cats presenting to veterinary hospitals for LUTS or other reasons. A novel risk factor of change in diet between 12 and 18 months of age warrants further investigation

Management of COPD in the UK primary-care setting : an analysis of real-life prescribing patterns

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The inevitable drift to triple therapy in COPD : an analysis of prescribing pathways in the UK

Acknowledgments The analyses reported in this study were funded by Novartis Pharma AG (Basel, Switzerland) and were conducted by Research in Real-Life Ltd (Cambridge, UK), an independent company. The authors also thank David Bergin, Danielle Corbett, and Vivek Khanna (professional medical writers; Novartis) for assistance in the preparation of this paper. Writing support was funded by Novartis Pharma AG.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Appearances and Realities of Post-War Reconstruction in Mozambique

Abstract: Mozambique is widely promoted on the world stage as a success story. The international community celebrates Mozambique’s success in achieving lasting peace after decades of war; in implementing economic and political reforms; attaining impressive and steady economic growth; and promoting peace, democracy and reform in the region of southern Africa. But what is the reality underlying this shining image of success and post-war reconstruction? This article seeks to expose the stark contrast between the discursive portrayal and celebration of Mozambique’s post-war path towards democracy, growth and development, and the concrete reality of ever-increasing inequality and the rise of systematic corruption and organized crime. The article first presents the dominant portrayal of Mozambique, giving examples from various discursive sites (official reports of international organizations, governmental documents, the media, etc.). The article then turns to explore the reality of Mozambique in the current period, focusing on two definitive aspects of Mozambique’s post-war condition. First, it describes the growing inequality that characterizes Mozambican society today, the ever-growing wealth alongside widespread poverty and social exclusion in both urban and rural areas. It then considers the entrenched culture of corruption and violence that has arisen in the context of neo-liberal reform, exemplified most tragically in the assassination of journalist Carlos Cardoso in 2000. The analysis draws on various sources, including interviews conducted by the author in 1999, official reports and documents, and the media

Permeable and Impermeable Linguistic Boundaries : From Mass Media to Social Media in Policy and Practice in Minoritised Language Contexts

This article examines the ways in which the language policies and practices of traditional mass media in minoritised language communities are changing in the face of new models of communication attributed to media convergence and to social media. It introduces the concept of permeable and impermeable linguistic boundaries as a framework for understanding the relationship between two languages in the media of bilingual communities. Using Wales as a case study, it argues that there is stronger linguistic gatekeeping in English-language than in Welsh-language media, and explores key developments in language arrangements as Welsh public service broadcasters become multi-platform content producers.; Este artículo analiza las formas en que las políticas y la praxis lingüísticas de los medios de comunicación tradicionales en las comunidades lingüísticas minorizadas están cambiando a raíz de los nuevos modelos de comunicación atribuidos a la convergencia de medios y a las redes sociales. Introduce el concepto de fronteras lingüísticas permeables e impermeables, como marco para la comprensión de la relación entre dos lenguas en los medios de comunicación de las comunidades bilingües. Tomando a Gales como estudio de caso, argumenta que el gatekeeping lingüístico del inglés es más severo que el de los medios de comunicación en lengua galesa, y explora las principales novedades en el régimen lingüístico a medida en que la radiotelevisión pública en galés se convierte en productora de contenidos multiplataforma.; Masa komunikabide tradizionalen hizkuntza politika eta praktikak medioen konbergentziari eta sare sozialetako komnunikabideei lotutako komunikazio eredu berrien aurrean nola aldatzen ari diren aztertzen du artikulu honek. Hizkuntza muga iragazkor eta iragazgaitzen kontzeptua proposatzen du, komunitate elebidunetako komunikabideetako bi hizkuntzen artean suertatzen den harremana ulertzeko oinarri gisa. Gales ikerketako gaitzat harturik, ingeles hizkuntzako ate zaintza (gatekeeping) galesezko komunikabideetakoa baino trinkoagoa dela defendatzen du. Halaber galeserazko telebista eta irrati publikoak multiplataformarako edukien ekoizle bilakatu direnez gero hizkuntza kudeaketan gertatu diren funtsezko aldaketak aztertzen ditu

Permeable and Impermeable Linguistic Boundaries: From Mass Media to Social Media in Policy and Practice in Minoritised Language Contexts

This article examines the ways in which the language policies and practices of traditional mass media in minoritised language communities are changing in the face of new models of communication attributed to media convergence and to social media. It introduces the concept of permeable and impermeable linguistic boundaries as a framework for understanding the relationship between two languages in the media of bilingual communities. Using Wales as a case study, it argues that there is stronger linguistic gatekeeping in English-language than in Welsh-language media, and explores key developments in language arrangements as Welsh public service broadcasters become multi-platform content producers.; Este artículo analiza las formas en que las políticas y la praxis lingüísticas de los medios de comunicación tradicionales en las comunidades lingüísticas minorizadas están cambiando a raíz de los nuevos modelos de comunicación atribuidos a la convergencia de medios y a las redes sociales. Introduce el concepto de fronteras lingüísticas permeables e impermeables, como marco para la comprensión de la relación entre dos lenguas en los medios de comunicación de las comunidades bilingües. Tomando a Gales como estudio de caso, argumenta que el gatekeeping lingüístico del inglés es más severo que el de los medios de comunicación en lengua galesa, y explora las principales novedades en el régimen lingüístico a medida en que la radiotelevisión pública en galés se convierte en productora de contenidos multiplataforma.; Masa komunikabide tradizionalen hizkuntza politika eta praktikak medioen konbergentziari eta sare sozialetako komnunikabideei lotutako komunikazio eredu berrien aurrean nola aldatzen ari diren aztertzen du artikulu honek. Hizkuntza muga iragazkor eta iragazgaitzen kontzeptua proposatzen du, komunitate elebidunetako komunikabideetako bi hizkuntzen artean suertatzen den harremana ulertzeko oinarri gisa. Gales ikerketako gaitzat harturik, ingeles hizkuntzako ate zaintza (gatekeeping) galesezko komunikabideetakoa baino trinkoagoa dela defendatzen du. Halaber galeserazko telebista eta irrati publikoak multiplataformarako edukien ekoizle bilakatu direnez gero hizkuntza kudeaketan gertatu diren funtsezko aldaketak aztertzen ditu