Mexico's National Research Articles

P1-S2.71 Sexually transmitted infections in Mexico-City's penitentiary centers: the Ponte a Prueba: put yourself to the test “study”

BackgroundSocial and behavioural risk factors, as well as the conditions within penitentiary centers, place incarcerated people at high risk for infectious diseases. Few data exist for penitentiary health in Latin...

International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami XXV July 7-August 1, 2010

International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami XXV July 7-August 1, 2010 Timothy G. Compton This 25th annual festival carried as a subtitle "A Tribute to Mexico," but the activities were truly international. The performance of sixteen different plays constituted the strong suit of the festival, only seven of which came from Mexico. But of those seven, a transplant from Argentina wrote one, two were staged readings, theatre groups from the United States performed three of them, and one was set in Colombia. Groups from Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Chile, Argentina, and the United States all performed plays, although not all brought plays written by their fellow citizens — a group from Spain performed a play by an Argentine/Ecuadorian playwright, and a group from Uruguay performed a Lope de Vega classic from Spain. Groups performed their plays up to five times each, but most provided just two or three performances. And beyond the plato fuerte, the festival featured a vibrant "Educational Program," the presentation of several significant awards, an exhibit featuring photos taken by Asela Torres of Mexican plays performed at prior iterations of this festival, and a pair of theatre workshops held on International Children's Day. As if all of the foregoing did not illustrate the enormous international dimensions of this festival, I would add that I have never seen a more extensive and varied listing of sponsors for a like event, which included 45 sponsors from four countries, ranging from governments to foundations to radio stations to banks to restaurants to airlines. The festival vividly reflected the vitality and internationalism of Miami itself. Before moving to some of the festival's theatrical highlights, I will dwell for a moment on the "Educational Program" organized and directed by Beatriz Rizk on the Wolfson campus of Miami Dade College, and sponsored by the College's Prometeo Theatre, Mexico's National Center for Theatre Research (CITRU), and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. This [End Page 167] was a two-day scholarly conference on Hispanic theatre with presenters from all over the Spanish-speaking world. Many of the presentations focused on Mexican theatre, given the theme of the festival in general, but Jorge Dubatti of the Universidad de Buenos Aires delivered the keynote address on the study and philosophy of theatre as an "acontecimiento," arguing that researchers need to be close to and study actual performances, an argument which participants immediately put into practice at the festival. Other highlights included the presentation by Rodolfo Obregón, director of CITRU, of a video montage of numerous Mexican plays, and the presentation of the International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami 2010 Life Achievement Award to Mexican director José Solé. Solé then spoke of his experience in Mexican theatre, which started at a very young age with small puppets, after which he formed a theatre group when he was 12 or 13, and has now included directing, in abundance, avant-guard as well as commercial theatre, including a stint directing Mexico's Compañía Nacional de Teatro. Many scholars and researchers also presented ponencias and entered into a dialogue on a variety of Hispanic theatre subjects, and undoubtedly many of these ponencias will appear in an even more polished format in the pages of scholarly journals and books in the months and years ahead. Another fruitful session introduced recent publications in the world of Hispanic theatre, including traditional journals such as Tramoya, Gestos, Latin American Theatre Review, and Artez, as well as the cyber-journal Karpa, books ranging from the latest publications of CITRU and AINCRIT, and books celebrating festivals such this one. In fact, Beatriz Rizk presented the first of a two-volume set of books paying homage to the 25 years of the International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami. As if it had not been enough for Rizk to organize the scholarly portion of this festival and prepare the aforementioned book, she directed not one but two staged readings of plays by Emilio Carballido, Orinoco and Rosa de dos aromas. Here follows a list of the other plays performed at the festival during the month of July: Amarillo, a creación colectiva from Mexico directed by...

Imagining la Chica Moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917–1936 – By Joanne Hershfield

Imagining la Chica Moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917–1936 – By Joanne Hershfield

Redescubriendo la Gran Chichimeca: Revalorización regional y antropología social en la recuperación de una pluralidad étnica mexicana

For centuries Mexicans have used the term “Chichimeca” as a synonym for “Barbarian” or “Savage.” However, in the past decades a deeper understanding of the Chichimeca peoples —largely affected by a political assertiveness of the regions in Mexico— has resulted in a fresh reconstruction of the memory of the Spanish conquest and, thereby, of the view of these peoples. To a unexpected extent, social anthropology —particularly, the “Seminario Permanente de Estudios de la Gran Chichimeca” (SPECH), promoting regular discussions and publications on the subject from different academic disciplines— has contributed to this rehabilitation as well. A convergence is thus emerging between new scholarly interest in the indigenous nations of Mexico’s northern frontier —taking the Chichimeca out of the ostracism to which official history in the country had confined them— and a newly found reason for pride among the rest of the population in belonging to the same area.

Imagining la Chica Moderna. Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917-1936. JOHANNE HERSHFIELD: Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008

Imagining la Chica Moderna. Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917-1936 is a study of the popular images that were addressed to female middle-class consumers during the years following the Mexican Revolution. The study questions one-sided historical approaches on state formation and official nationalism by dealing with "popular" forms of female representation in the public domain; hence, "popular culture" and "gender" are key methodological tools for this study. By highlighting the importance of consumer culture addressed to women, the author attempts to expose the interaction between heterogeneous identities and official nationalism, between state formation and market forces, between discourses on mexicanidad and transnational gendered commercial ones.

Crustal thickness at the Tuxtla Volcanic Field (Veracruz, Mexico) from receiver functions

The Tuxtla Volcanic Field (TVF) is a structure of basaltic rocks on the western margin of the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican State of Veracruz. Located some 150 km from the easternmost tip of the Mexican Volcanic Belt, its tectonic relationship is still unclear. The volcanism, mostly alkaline, is younger than 7 Ma and has given origin to hundreds of cinder and scoria cones, maars and four large composite volcanoes, one of which, San Martín Tuxtla, erupted explosively in 1793. Due to its volcanological importance, it has been the subject of several geological studies, none of which focused on its crustal structure. Moreover, because the seismicity level in the area is relatively low, no broadband seismometers of Mexico's National Seismological Service are currently installed in the area. In this paper we present the results of the analyses of 24 teleseismic events occurring between 2004 and 2008 recorded in two broadband stations deployed around San Martín volcano. The aim of this study was to determine the depth to the Moho, any major intracrustal interface in the area, and a velocity model by means of receiver function analysis. The results show that the crustal thickness in the area varies between roughly 28 and 34 km. The receiver functions at one station suggest a second interface at a depth between 10 and 14 km. This interface is probably the contact between an upper sedimentary layer and the transitional crust found elsewhere in the margins of the Gulf of Mexico. The determination of the crustal thickness in the TVF is of importance to characterize the area and as a framework to pursue further studies of this volcanic field.

Imagining La Chica Moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917-1936 - by Hershfield, J.

Imagining La Chica Moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917-1936 - by Hershfield, J.

Los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje del lenguaje de la química en estudiantes universitarios

This article presents the results of an investigation of the understanding and application of the language of chemistry by a sample of undergraduate chemistry students at Mexico's National Autonomous University. In this study, opinions were sought from students from different generations regarding the problems they faced in advancing towards their degrees. Based on their responses to open-ended questions, a survey was generated on chemistry teaching methods, topics covered in General Chemistry, and students' thoughts and suggestions for eliminating roadblocks in obtaining a degree in this field. The conceptual framework and design of the survey is described and the results are analyzed and discussed.

The Importance of Policy Frames in Contentious Politics: Mexico's National Antihomophobia Campaign

Despite the fact that the election of Vicente Fox to the presidency of Mexico in 2000 saw the arrival of the most socially conservative administration in contemporary Mexican politics, his government launched the country's first nationwide antihomophobia campaign in early 2005. This article attempts to solve this seeming policy puzzle by presenting empirical research evidence that suggests that the formulation and implementation of this policy was largely a result of the ability of several advocates of sexual minority rights to pursue this policy initiative from within government. Because Fox's election also saw a significant opening of the policy process, several "policy entrepreneurs" gained access to the policy-making process. However, given the controversial nature of the policy they pursued, policy entrepreneurs relied on the deployment of two policy frames to implement their policy in the face of fierce opposition: a scientific frame and a legal frame. The research presented here reveals that the successful launch of the campaign was the result of the strategic use of these two frames by an alliance of policy entrepreneurs working from within the state across federal bureaucratic agencies. Given the advantage the two frames afforded their case when confronting arguments based on morality, they ultimately managed to overcome fierce opposition from state and nonstate actors to implement their policy.

Unpacking the School: Textbooks, Teachers, and the Construction of Nationhood in Mexico, Argentina, and Peru

This article examines trajectories of nationalism in twentieth-century Argentina, Mexico, and Peru through the analytical lens of schooling. I argue that textbooks reveal state-sponsored conceptions of nationhood. In turn, the outlooks and practices of teachers provide a window for understanding how state ideologies were received, translated, and reworked within society. During the late nineteenth century, textbooks in Mexico, Argentina, and Peru conceived of the nation as a political community, emphasized civilization for having achieved national unity, and viewed elites as driving national history. During the twentieth century, textbooks eventually advanced a cultural understanding of the nation, envisioned national unity to be achieved through assimilation into a homogeneous national identity, and assigned historical agency to the masses. Yet teacher responses to the textbooks varied. In Mexico, under Lazaro Cardenas (1934–1940), teachers predominantly embraced textbooks that promoted a popular national culture. Teachers in Argentina under Juan Peron (1946–1955) and in Peru under Juan Velasco (1968–1975) largely opposed the texts.

H1N1: A Mexican Perspective

In April this year, a new influenza virus of swine origin emerged in Mexico and spread rapidly around the world. As the Northern hemisphere winter flu season kicks off, Laura Vargas-Parada reports on the measures that Mexico is taking to combat the H1N1 pandemic.

Statistics, Maps, and Legibility: Negotiating Nationalism in Post-Revolutionary Mexico

“These days, we want to know everything and forget nothing. Life needs to confess to itself and take a test of conscience. Let's grab life by the neck so that it makes that confession in the elegantly eloquent form of numbers, tables, formulas, and diagrams. This is statistics: the confession that we make life make. One must never forget what Goethe said: my works are merely part of a great confession. We make of statistics the schematic, numerical confession of life. Life should confess to itself.”

Statistics, Maps, and Legibility: Negotiating Nationalism in Post-Revolutionary Mexico

“These days, we want to know everything and forget nothing. Life needs to confess to itself and take a test of conscience. Let's grab life by the neck so that it makes that confession in the elegantly eloquent form of numbers, tables, formulas, and diagrams. This is statistics: the confession that we make life make. One must never forget what Goethe said: my works are merely part of a great confession. We make of statistics the schematic, numerical confession of life. Life should confess to itself.”

Migration and the Sending Economy: A Disaggregated Rural Economy-Wide Analysis

Most economic research on migration impacts focuses on the households that send the migrants and get the remittances, ignoring linkages with others in the sending economies. This paper offers an alternative, disaggregated economy-wide perspective on migration and its impacts. Data from the 2003 Mexico National Rural Household Survey are used to calibrate a series of interacting rural household models nested within a general equilibrium model of the whole rural economy. Simulations reveal that the impacts of international migration and remittances on sending areas depend critically on the ways in which local markets transmit influences among households.

Books Received for Review

BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW Books currently available for review, The Latin Americanist as of 27 May 2009 Bruce Dean Willis Book Review Editor, TLA University of Tulsa bruce-dean-willis@utulsa.edu Ameringer, Charles D. 2009. The Socialist Impulse: Latin America in the Twentieth Century. UP of Florida. Arnold, Denise Y. and Christine A. Hastorf. 2008. Heads of State: Icons, Power, and Politics in the Ancient and Modern Andes. Left Coast Press. Baker, Geoffrey. 2008. Imposing Harmony: Music and Society in Colonial Cuzco. Duke UP. Bain, Mervyn J. 2008. Russian-Cuban Relations since 1992: Continuing Camaraderie in a Post-Soviet World. Lexington Books. Barmeyer, Niels. 2009. Developing Zapatista Autonomy: Conflict and NGO Involvement in Rebel Chiapas. U New Mexico P. Breton, Andre. 2008. Martinique: Snake Charmer. Trans David W. Seaman. U Texas P. Buchenau, Jurgen and William H. Beezley, eds. 2009. State Governors in the Mexican Revolution, 1910–1952: Portraits in Conflict, Courage, and Corruption. Rowman & Littlefield. Buck-Morss, Susan. 2009. Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History. U Pittsburgh P. Carter, Thomas F. 2008. The Quality of Home Runs: The Passion, Politics, and Language of Cuban Baseball. Duke UP. Clancy, Flora Simmons. 2009. The Monuments of Piedras Negras, An Ancient Mayan City. U New Mexico P. Cohen, Daria. 2008. Demystifying the Female Body in Hispanic Male Authors, 1880–1920. Edwin Mellen. Crabtree, John, and Laurence Whitehead, eds. 2008. Unresolved Tensions: Bolivia Past and Present. U Pittsburgh P. del Rı́o, Vicente and William Siembieda, eds. 2009. Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond Brası́lia. UP of Florida. Dı́az del Castillo, Bernal. The History of the Conquest of New Spain. Trans. David Carrasco. U New Mexico P. Dodson, Jualynne E. 2008. Sacred Spaces and Religious Traditions in Oriente Cuba. U New Mexico P. Domı́nguez, Jorge I., and Michael Shifter, eds. 2008. Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America. 3rd . ed. Johns Hopkins UP. C 2009 Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 107 The Latin Americanist, June 2009 Donahue-Wallace, Kelly. 2008. Art and Architecture of Viceregal Latin America , 1521–1821. U New Mexico P. Duke, Dawn. 2008. Literary Passion, Ideological Commitment: Toward a Legacy of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian Women Writers. Bucknell UP. Dwyer, John J. 2008. The Agrarian Dispute: The Expropriation of AmericanOwned Rural Land in Postrevolutionary Mexico. Duke UP. Edmonds-Poli, Emily and David A. Shirk. 2009. Contemporary Mexican Politics. Rowman & Littlefield. Escobar, Arturo. 2008. Territories of Difference: place, movements, life, redes. Duke UP. Faingold, Eduardo. 2008. Emigrar después del exilio: De Argentina a Israel. Ediciones Al Margen. Fischer, Brodwyn. 2008. A Poverty of Rights: Citizenship and Inequality in Twentieth-Century Rio de Janeiro. Stanford UP. Fisher, Andrew B. and Matthew D. O’Hara, eds. 2009. Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America. Duke UP. Fuente, Alejandro de la. 2008. Havana and the Atlantic in the Sixteenth Century . U North Carolina P. Funes Monzote, Reinaldo. 2008. From Rainforest to Cane Field in Cuba: An Environmental History since 1492. Trans. Alex Martin. U North Carolina P. Garcés, Elena. 2008. Colombian Women: The Struggle out of Silence. Lexington Books. Goodale, Mark. 2009. Dilemmas of Modernity: Bolivian Encounter with Law and Liberalism. Stanford UP. Gootenberg, Paul. 2008. Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug. U North Carolina P. Gotkowitz, Laura. 2008. A Revolution for Our Rights: Indigenous Struggles for Land and Justice in Bolivia, 1880–1952. Duke UP. Gould, Jeffrey L. and Aldo Lauria-Santiago. 2008. To Rise in Darkness : Revolution, Repression, and Memory in El Salvador: 1920–1932. Duke UP. Gray, Alexander, and Antoni Kapcia. 2008. The Changing Dynamic of Cuban Civil Society. UP Florida. Guy, Donna J. 2009. Women Build the Welfare State: Performing Charity and Creating Rights in Argentina, 1880–1955. Duke UP. Hagedorn, Dan. 2008. Conquistadors of the Sky: A History of Aviation in Latin America. UP of Florida. Harris, Richard L. and Jorge Nef. 2008. Capital, Power, and Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean. New Edition. Rowman & Littlefield. Hearn, Adrian H. 2008. Cuba: Religion, Social Capital, and Development. Duke UP. Herschfield, Joanne. 2008. Imagining la Chica Moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917–1936. Duke UP. Joseph, Gilbert M. and Daniela Spenser, eds. 2008. In...

:Imagining la Chica Moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917–1936

:Imagining la Chica Moderna: Women, Nation, and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917–1936

Contraceptive Use, Birth Spacing, and Autonomy: An Analysis of the Oportunidades Program in Rural Mexico

Oportunidades, a conditional cash-transfer program instituted in Mexico in 1997, provides cash incentives to mothers to invest in the health and education of family members. Drawing from data gathered by Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, this study assesses the effect of the program on contraceptive use and birth spacing among titulares (female household heads) living in rural areas during the experimental period, 1998-2000, and during 2000-03, after incorporation of the control group. In 2000, titulares were more likely to use modern contraceptives than were women in the control group, although by 2003 all beneficiaries had the same probability of use. Change in autonomy was not a mediator, although baseline autonomy modified the program's influence on contraceptive use. Cox proportional hazard models produced estimates that birth spacing was similar between the beneficiaries and controls. Inconsistent findings may be the result of the way contraceptive use was defined in this study. Findings from this study may be useful for helping program planners better understand the role of conditional cash transfers in modifying family planning and fertility among poor rural women in Latin America.

Is off‐farm income reforming the farm? Evidence from Mexico

AbstractDoes access to off‐farm income complement or compete with agricultural production? This article explores the effect of off‐farm income on agricultural production activities, using data from the 2003 Mexico National Rural Household Survey. We first discuss the theoretical conditions under which access to off‐farm income may influence production in an agricultural household model. Instrumental‐variable (IV) estimation methods are then used to test whether agricultural production activities, technologies, and input use differ between households with and without access to off‐farm income. We find that off‐farm income has a negative effect on agricultural output and the use of family labor on the farm, but a positive impact on the demand for purchased inputs. There is also a slight efficiency gain in households with access to off‐farm income. Findings offer insights into how household production evolves as rural households increasingly engage in off‐farm income activities.

Utilización de la investigación por gestores de salud en México: diagnóstico de la capacidad y propuestas de fortalecimiento

The perceived capacity of health management teams to utilize research for decision making is assessed, as well as proposals for strengthening such capacity. A total of 103 management teams (84.4% response rate) from a wide range of institutions in six contrasting and representative states in Mexico were asked to assess their perceived capacity for utilizing research and to propose strategies to strengthen that capacity. Qualitative and statistical techniques were used from April to November 2007, after approval by the Mexico National Institute of Public Health (INSP) Ethics Commission. Significant differences across states were found. Only the acquisition of knowledge is significantly correlated with the human development index. The acquisition of research is identified as the priority for strengthening capacity, through increasing the qualifications of personnel in public health research. States with a lower human development index have more immediate needs for strengthening capacity. Proposals for strengthening capacity also depend on whether decision makers are aware of the importance of research. The use of self-assessment should be encouraged at the state and institutional levels. Different strategies should be used to address differences among states.

Business, as usual

Business, as usual