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Political Undesirables: Citizenship, Denaturalization, and Reclamation in Iraq
No full textPolitical Undesirables considers the legal making and unmaking of citizenship in Iraq, focusing on the mass denaturalization and deportation of Iraqi Jews in 1950–51 and Iraqis of Iranian origin in the early 1980s. Since the formation of the modern state of Iraq under British rule in 1921, practices of denaturalization and expulsion of citizens have been mobilized by ruling elites to curb political opposition. Iraqi politicians, under both monarchical and republican rule, routinely employed the rhetoric of threats to national security, treason, and foreignness to uproot citizens they deemed politically undesirable.
Using archival documents, ethnographic research, and literary and autobiographical works, Zainab Saleh shows how citizenship laws can serve as a mechanism to discipline the population. As she argues, these laws enforce commitment to the state\u27s political order and normative values, and eliminate dissenting citizens through charges of betrayal of the homeland. Citizenship in Iraq, thus, has functioned as a privilege closely linked to loyalty to the state, rather than as a right enjoyed unconditionally. With the rise of nativism, right-wing nationalism, and authoritarianism all over the world, this book offers a timely examination of how citizenship can become a tool to silence opposition and produce precarity through denaturalization
Developing predictive models of riparian buffer efficacy with meta-analysis
No full textRiparian ecosystems have been extensively studied worldwide to determine the influence of buffer width on riparian-stream interactions, including water quality and biodiversity. Many recommendations have emerged from literature synthesis regarding the buffer widths necessary to conserve riparian functions. This study conducts a meta-analysis of buffer width efficacy, aiming to develop recommendations for protecting and restoring riparian areas. Existing studies reporting the effect of varying riparian buffer widths on water quality (i.e., pollutant retention) and biodiversity outcomes (i.e., relative species richness) were compiled. Results indicate a strong, significant positive correlation between buffer width and pollutant retention and by their constituents (n = 30 studies, p \u3c 0.0001), with tree vegetation types and lower slopes increasing retention effectiveness. Biodiversity measures showed a moderate positive correlation with buffer width (n = 41, p \u3c 0.0001). Based on logarithmic models of buffer efficacy, a 15 m corridor width retains 67 % of pollutant inputs from upland sources and supports about 79 % of the species richness compared to larger reference buffers. Most studies on water quality improvement focused on reducing nutrients and sediment loads, suggesting emergent pollutants (e.g., microplastics) as potential future research. Similarly, most biodiversity studies focused on invertebrate taxa, suggesting the need for diverse taxonomic studies. Overall, the meta-analysis concludes a strong positive correlation between buffer widths and improvements in water quality and biodiversity, underscoring the importance of functional riparian buffers. Through meta-regression, simple models are provided as a first-order tool for scientists and decision-makers to estimate effective riparian buffer widths
Drying suppresses fine root production to 1 m depths and alters root traits in four distinct tropical forests
No full textDrying and drought in tropical forests, which have some of the highest net primary productivity on Earth, are likely to alter root dynamics, ecosystem function, and carbon (C) storage. We used a chronic drying experiment in four lowland Panamanian forests to investigate whether soil drying shifts tropical forest root production from surface to deeper soils, where moisture remains more abundant. Furthermore, we explored whether soil drying promotes resource acquisition strategies in roots, such as outsourcing to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) symbionts or increased specific root length (SRL). We found that chronic drying significantly reduced surface root biomass stocks, production, and turnover rates (0–20 cm soil depth), and increased AMF colonization without changes in SRL. Meanwhile, deep fine root productivity (\u3e 60 cm depth) increased in the dry vs wet season, and in the drying experiment, except in the wettest, most infertile forest. Changes in root characteristics in these tropical forests with drying would likely alter forest–climate feedbacks and long-term soil C storage. At the same time, these results suggest that tropical forests may have an ability to adapt resource acquisition strategies under drying climates
New and updated timing models for seven young energetic X-ray pulsars, including the Big Glitcher PSR J0537−6910
No full textWe present new timing models and update our previous ones for the rotational evolution of seven young energetic pulsars, including four of the top five in spin-down luminosity among all known pulsars. For each of the six pulsars that were monitored on a regular basis by NICER, their rotation phase-connected timing model covers the entire period of NICER observations, in many cases from 2017–2025. For PSR J0058−7218, which was only identified in 2021, we extend the baseline of its timing model by 3 years and report detections of its first three glitches. The timing model for PSR J0537−6910 over the entire 8 years of NICER monitoring is presented, including a total of 23 glitches; we also report its spin frequency and pulsed spectrum from a 2016 NuSTAR observation. For PSR B0540−69, its complete timing model from 2015–2025 is provided, including a braking index evolution from near 0 to 1.6 during this period. The 8-year timing model for PSR J1412+7922 (also known as Calvera) is reported, which includes a position that is consistent with that measured from imaging. For PSR J1811−1925, we present its 3.5-year timing model. For PSR J1813−1749, its incoherent timing model is extended through early 2025 using new Chandra observations. For PSR J1849−0001, its 7-year timing model is provided, including a position that is consistent with and more accurate than its imaging position and its first glitch that is one of the largest ever measured. Our timing models of these seven X-ray pulsars enable their study at other energies and in gravitational wave data
The Greeks in Egypt and the Rest of Africa
No full textThe Greek diaspora in Africa was created in the early nineteenth century with the settlement of merchants in Egypt, a country in which the Greeks became one of the most important foreign communities. Greeks from Egypt and others coming directly from Greece filtered southward to Sudan and formed small communities in most countries in the rest of the continent. Wherever they settled the Greeks formed community organizations, churches, mutual benefit societies, and other associations through which they maintained their identity, their religion, and their ties with Greece. The Greeks played an important role as a middleman minority active in the export and import trade and later began investing in the manufacturing sector. The Greeks benefited from the colonial status of those countries and the privileges accorded to the foreigners. In their position in-between colonizer and colonized they tried to adapt to the rise of nationalism but ultimately found there was little room for them after the countries that hosted them gained independence in the second half of the twentieth century. The last refuge for many was South Africa, where they formed the second most important Greek diaspora community in Africa; and they remain so to this day even though their presence was drastically reduced after the end of apartheid in the 1990s
The Age of Revolutions and the Generations Who Made It [book review]
No full textThe Age of Revolutions: And the Generations Who Made It
Nathan Perl-Rosenthal
Basic Books, 202
Formalising work, redistributing power: Lessons from Mexico’s outsourcing ban
No full textEvidence from Mexico suggests that carefully designed outsourcing regulation can significantly improve wages without reducing employment in developing countries
Free as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory
No full textFree as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory presents contemporary art inspired by historical memory. The exhibition considers in comparative perspectives the historic and contemporary role photography and film have played in remembering legacies of slavery and its aftermath. It also examines the social lives of a diverse group of Americans within various places—on the land, at home, in photographic albums, at historic sites, and in public memory. Including nineteenth-century photographs made by Cincinnati studio photographer James Presley Ball and other photographs of Black Americans taken during the ongoing struggle for freedom, Free as they want to be offers a view of a people who expressed their desire to be free in early photographic portraits. This exhibition acknowledges artists’ ongoing efforts to explore the possibilities of freedom and their relationship to it. Their subject matter depicts the persistent quest to be “as free as they want to be” as well as their persistent drive to innovate aesthetic practices in photographic media. Free as they want to be addresses the making and uses of photographic archives, the narratives they tell and the parameters that define them as objects of study. Social and economic histories as well as experiences of race, class, gender and sexuality affect the construction, acquisition and maintenance of archives and their ability to influence knowledge production. This exhibition includes artists working in photography, video, projection, sculpture and mixed media installation. Their strength and determination are documented in their wide-ranging themes and aesthetic practices supported by a fierce engagement with archival research. The exhibition creates a framework in which to reimagine and reflect on historical events, as well as public and personal memory. This exhibition engages numerous educational themes including the legacy of racism, segregation and slavery in American culture, and the ability to understand and overcome injustice. It will inspire conversations about contemporary racial and ethnic diversity, migration and identity, the slave trade and the African diaspora
