Letter from the vatican: 26 April 2015

This narrative deals with the author's experiences while attending a human trafficking panel at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) in the Casina Pio IV, Vatican City, 7–21 April 2015.     

James X: A reflection on rape,race, and redemption

In this narrative, the author reflects on the circumstances surrounding a rape attempt on her during the civil rights struggle in 1968.     

Music, Print and Presentation in Saxony During the Seventeenth Century

At the start of the seventeenth century composers such as MichaelPraetorius, Johann Hermann Schein and Heinrich Schütz sawmuch of their music into print; at the end of the century, however,musicians such as Johann Kuhnau or Nikolaus Adam Strungk enteredprint comparatively little, if at all. This article uses thedecline in music printing as a way to understand the changingrole of music and musicians in society. At the start of thecentury, the intensity of music printing testified to the Lutheranmarket for music, but also to the efforts of composers to promoteand present themselves in print. After the Thirty Years' War,however, the market for printed music collapsed, as many courtsand cities began to expect virtuoso performances and a constantsupply of new compositions.     

Family dynamics in cross‐disciplinary perspective

Medick, Hans, and David Warren Sabean, eds. Interest and Emotion: Essays on the Study of Family and Kinship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. xi + 417 pp. including index. $59.50 cloth.     

Rhetoric versus reality in the rise of policing in UN peace operations: ‘More blue,less green’?

ABSTRACT

United Nations police (UNPOL) have become increasingly important to operational effectiveness of peace operations. For some time, their contribution to re-establishing the rule of law in conflict-affected states has been seen as a cornerstone for building sustainable peace and enabling mission exit strategies. In a departure from traditional peacekeeping and post-conflict assistance, recent years have seen UN peace operations directed to stabilise countries and protect civilians in the context of on-going violent conflict. As a result, UNPOL have had to undertake a range of expanded tasks, exacerbating long-standing challenges and producing new impediments to their operational effectiveness. At the same time, a ‘pragmatic turn’ is generating increased interest in more police-centric concepts of peacekeeping as a possible alternative to today’s expensive and military-focused peace operations. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in multiple peace operations and at UN headquarters, this article examines the changing roles of UNPOL in a new breed of UN peace operations, identifies the major associated challenges and proposes a series of recommendations for overcoming them. It argues that if police are to respond to unfolding challenges while becoming more central to peacekeeping outcomes, then significant reforms and further research into their impacts will be required.