Germany’s Drang nach Südosten and the Marketing of Southeastern European Agricultural Products in the Interwar Period.

The strengthening of economic and cultural ties between Germany and a number of southeastern European countries in the interwar period has been referred to as Drang nach Südosten (thrust towards the southeast). Driven by a German aim to boost its international standing after its defeat in World War I, and shaped by the constraints of the Great Depression (falling demand, clearing agreements, foreign exchange controls...), the Drang nach Südosten resulted in increased economic and diplomatic influence over the region. However, as Gross has shown in Export Empire: German Soft Power in Southeastern Europe, 1890–1945 (2015), this was far from a unidirectional process of power projection. Actors from southeastern Europe, both state and private, actively shaped these interactions and pursued their own goals. The purpose of this paper is to describe, and account for, the efforts that German, Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish actors made for the promotion of southeastern European agricultural products in Germany in the interwar period. More concretely, the paper focuses on the participation of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey in the Leipzig Fair, and a number of initiatives undertaken for the marketing of one of the region’s main exports to Germany: Oriental-type tobacco. Such initiatives included the establishment of cooperative companies and industrial facilities, as well as new forms of state intervention in the market. The picture that emerges from this analysis is one of path dependence (different countries took different approaches to the same problem), and of an understanding of the legitimate scope of foreign economic policy that was in flux, at a time of great economic and social upheaval in southeastern Europe

Agricultural productivism, cosmopolitan plant-breeding, and the severed roots of agroecological thought.

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://beta.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/24927This article provides a historical account of the emergence of crop ecology, a precursor of modern agroecology, in the twentieth century. It focuses on the transnational career of agronomist Ioannis Papadakis, a founding figure in this scientific discipline, while contextualizing his work as part of broader state-led projects of agricultural modernization in Europe and Latin America. This study has two implications concerning the history of agroecology. First, that agricultural productivism and a cosmopolitan outlook on plant breeding, often considered to be at odds with agroecology's principles, were in fact necessary elements for the emergence of crop ecology, and therefore of agroecological thought more generally. Second, we argue that the excesses of the Green Revolution, against which agroecology reacted in the last decades of the twentieth century, did not just stem from a disregard for the agricultural knowledge of indigenous peasants. They also resulted from the marginalization of intellectual dispositions that had taken shape in peripheral areas within the global geography of scientific production. A third implication, specific to the history of Greek agriculture, is that the claim that interwar Greece’s rural economy failed to substantially develop needs to be nuanced when the priorities of Greek agronomists are taken into consideration

The First Peasant and His Fellow Travelers: State Control over Greek Agricultural Institutions under Metaxas.

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/open-access-policies/open-access-journals/green-open-access-policy-for-journalsState control over Greece’s agricultural institutions increased during Metaxas’ authoritarian regime (1936-1941). Analyzing such state control allows us to address, in the Greek context, two questions with regard to fascist agrarian regimes. First, considering the trajectory of agricultural policy before the emergence of these regimes, how much of what they did was new, and how much was not? Second, how did the cadres of agricultural specialists participate in, or at least accommodate, the new regimes? Our research shows that Metaxas received support from the agronomists that had been active in Greece under previous liberal administrations. Such support did not take the form of laudatory statements or ideologydriven activism. It was rather a discreet acceptance of the new circumstances, combined with defection from one’s previous political camp. Metaxas’ dictatorship inherited most traits that made it a fascist agricultural regime from previous liberal administrations

A Poor but Efficient Crop: Supply-Side Responses in the Greek Tobacco Sector, 1953-64.

We analyzed the price elasticities of the Greek tobacco supply at three different levels of analysis (cross-varietal, cross-regional, and two-dimensional) using secondary-level data published by the Greek National Tobacco Board for the years 1953 to 1964. Our panel suggest that the development of postwar Greece’s tobacco sector was largely determined by market forces rather than by state-led purchasing programs. However, market pressures impacted production and sales volume to varying degrees, depending on the tobacco varieties grown in different parts of the country. Given that tobacco was postwar Greece’s most important export crop, and that it was the object of considerable state support, the often-made claim that state interventionism has disincentivized the adaptation of the Greek agricultural sector to evolving markets needs to be revised. Our findings support Shultz’s poor-but-efficient hypothesis regarding farmers.Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovatio

German economic power in Southeastern Europe: the case of Reemtsma and the Greek tobacco merchants (1923-1939).

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/5024This article explains how the firms involved in tobacco trade between the largest producer and consumer of Oriental-type tobacco (Greece and Germany) adapted their strategies in response to the economic environment of the interwar period, which was characterized by increased economic étatism, high barriers to trade, and generalized economic depression. The leading firm of Germany's cigarette industry Reemtsma adopted innovative strategies for sourcing its raw material, while Greek leaf merchants turned to collective action and political advocacy in response to international competition and labor activism. The history of these strategies exemplifies the interplay between politics and business decisions. It also provides a concrete example of how German economic power over southeastern Europe in the interwar period manifested itself in a specific industry

Underfunded Modernization: Tobacco Producers and Agricultural Policy in Interwar Greece.

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://beta.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/8591In this article, I analyze the state-led project of optimizing tobacco production in interwar Greece, as well as its effects on the peasant population. I look at one specific stage within the productive chain, known as primary processing. The history of primary processing allows us to appreciate the interplay of four factors that, I argue, most decisively determined the trajectory of Greece's agricultural policy in the interwar period. Such factors are a) the undercapitalization of the Greek rural economy, b) the ever increasing dependence of the Greek tobacco sector on the German sales market; c) the nonexistence of strong, autonomous agrarian organizations, and d) the pro-merchant stance of successive Greek governments. The scale of analysis proposed in this article can enrich the existing historiography on Greek agriculture by overcoming some of the limitations of the approaches that emphasize quantitative data on productivity, output and land use

Cooperativism in a Dirigiste State: SEKE and the Reconstruction of Greece’s Tobacco Sector (1947–1967)

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://beta.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/8591#journalPolicyThe Co-operative Union of Tobacco Producers of Greece (SEKE) made a series of key contributions to the reconstruction, and development, of Greek tobacco production and exports in the postwar period. Its strategies allowed tobacco growers to retain a larger part of the value that they produced. A historical analysis of SEKE’s emergence and early trajectory allows for a more complex narrative of the postwar economic reconstruction to emerge, in which we can appreciate the role of sub-state actors more clearly appreciated than has been the case thus far. By influencing the institutional framework regulating the tobacco sector, opening up new export markets and investing in human capital, SEKE partially actualized the agrarian political program of the interwar period. As a large trading firm owned by agricultural cooperatives, SEKE’s history forces us to revise the limited, often cynical view of Greek agrarian cooperativism as a mere mechanism for the enforcement of redistributive state policy, and the management of credit from the Agricultural Bank

Colchicine blocks tubulin heterodimer recycling by tubulin cofactors TBCA, TBCB and TBCE

Research Areas: Cell Biology ; Developmental BiologyColchicine has been used to treat gout and, more recently, to effectively prevent autoinflammatory diseases and both primary and recurrent episodes of pericarditis. The anti-inflammatory action of colchicine seems to result from irreversible inhibition of tubulin polymerization and microtubule (MT) assembly by binding to the tubulin heterodimer, avoiding the signal transduction required to the activation of the entire NLRP3 inflammasome. Emerging results show that the MT network is a potential regulator of cardiac mechanics. Here, we investigated how colchicine impacts in tubulin folding cofactors TBCA, TBCB, and TBCE activities. We show that TBCA is abundant in mouse heart insoluble protein extracts. Also, a decrease of the TBCA/β-tubulin complex followed by an increase of free TBCA is observed in human cells treated with colchicine. The presence of free TBCA is not observed in cells treated with other antimitotic agents such as nocodazole or cold shock, neither after translation inhibition by cycloheximide. In vitro assays show that colchicine inhibits tubulin heterodimer dissociation by TBCE/TBCB, probably by interfering with interactions of TBCE with tubulin dimers, leading to free TBCA. Manipulation of TBCA levels, either by RNAi or overexpression results in decreased levels of tubulin heterodimers. Together, these data strongly suggest that TBCA is mainly receiving β-tubulin from the dissociation of preexisting heterodimers instead of newly synthesized tubulins. The TBCE/TBCB+TBCA system is crucial for controlling the critical concentration of free tubulin heterodimers and MT dynamics in the cells by recycling the tubulin heterodimers. It is conceivable that colchicine affects tubulin heterodimer recycling through the TBCE/TBCB+TBCA system producing the known benefits in the treatment of pericardium inflammation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Experiencias psicosociales en la transición hacia la paz profunda en Colombia

El presente trabajo se propone articular una reflexión sobre algunos retos que enfrenta la investigación psicosociológica de cara al acompañamiento, soporte e inclusive orientación de los procesos y dinámicas psicosociales de construcción de paz. Se inspira en el conjunto de trabajos aquí incluidos, pero no se basa en ellos de manera exclusiva ni prioritaria; busca, más bien, ofrecer un conjunto de criterios para la reflexión crítica en un momento histórico único por las oportunidades de incidencia que se le abren, para el mejoramiento de la investigación psicosociológica. Se espera animar a su vez nuevas prácticas reflexivas que contribuyan a incrementar la relevancia y la pertinencia de este tipo de investigación, a elegir caminos fecundos tanto para la definición de programas de investigación como de decisiones curriculares cruciales para la formación avanzada de nuevas generaciones de profesionales que contribuyan en los próximos años a este fundamental reto de construcción de la paz profunda en Colombia. El libro es una contribución a las reflexiones epistemológicas, metodológicas y éticas en un momento histórico y político crucial para el país, en el que desafortunadamente no vemos aún materializarse el deseo de paz en la Colombia profunda. Pero, aún en medio de las vicisitudes y las promesas por cumplir de una paz estable y duradera, cobra sentido y mayor relevancia el saber psicosociológico.PRÓLOGO. UN LEGADO CERCANO Y COLABORATIVO. INTRODUCCIÓN. INVESTIGAR LA TRANSICIÓN DESDE LA PERSPECTIVA PSICOSOCIAL. RETOS PARA EL DISEÑO DE INVESTIGACIÓN. CAPÍTULO 1. TRANSFORMACIONES SOCIALES Y LAS LUCHAS PRESENTES DE UN TERRITORIO SOBREVIVIENTE DEL CONFLICTO ARMADO. CAPÍTULO 2. NUEVOS ESCENARIOS DE PARTICIPACIÓN POLÍTICA JUVENIL: CONSTRUYENDO PAZ A TRAVÉS DEL ARTE. CAPÍTULO 3. IDENTIDAD NARRATIVA EN PERSONAS EN PROCESO DE REINTEGRACIÓN (PPR) CAMBIOS Y PERMANENCIAS DESDE LA EXPERIENCIA DE SÍ DE DOS LIDERESAS COMUNITARIAS. CAPÍTULO 4. REPERTORIOS INTERPRETATIVOS SOBRE LA RECONCILIACIÓN DESAFÍOS EN LA IMPLEMENTACIÓN DEL ACUERDO DE PAZ. CAPÍTULO 5. POTENCIANDO LA SUBJETIVIDAD POLÍTICA DESDE UNA EXPERIENCIA DE EDUCACIÓN PARA LA PAZ.1ª ed