The World Bank's ‘Assault on Poverty’ as a Political Question (1968–81)

This article analyses the actions of the World Bank between 1968 and 1981, under the presidency of Robert McNamara, in the context of the Cold War and the directions of US foreign aid policy. It discusses the reasons for, and the means by which the World Bank led, the ‘assault on poverty’, with an emphasis on rural poverty. It problematizes the theory which supported this initiative, analysing its operationalization in the countryside; it discusses the principal format that it assumed, the reasons which propelled it, the political calculation which guided it, the interests at play, and the results that were reached. Finally, the article argues that the ‘assault on poverty’ slogan expresses the disposition and the willingness of the World Bank to intervene in domestic questions, aiming to alter, in a selective and focused manner, the condition of particular social groups in client countries, rather than improving the general conditions of economies. This in turn demanded the strengthening of its advisory, technical assistance and economic research functions. If McNamara's policy of fighting poverty can be considered a failure in economic and social terms (a diagnosis widely accepted in the literature), this article argues that, politically, it was successful by constructing the foundations for the neoliberal-type focused social policies that were in vogue in the following decades.     

Monitoring façade soiling as a maintenance strategy for the sensitive built heritage

The color patterns generally found on the façades of architecturally sensitive buildings have an adverse impact on their aesthetics, to the detriment of their identity and potential economic value. A quantitative and qualitative study was conducted of the perception of aesthetic decay in the limestone on a heritage building. The study assessed building aesthetics between two façade cleaning operations, conducted in 1984–1986 and 2006–2008. Based on the calculation of the final or total soiling index, by means of in situ lightness measurement and three architectural design variables, the color distribution of the façades was quantified in 2006 and a model was developed to monitor façade soiling over time. The proposed model, a tool for planning preventive façade maintenance on architecturally sensitive buildings, advocates for sustainable cleaning operations. Its premise that periodic cleaning should only be conducted in areas where the limestone is affected by aesthetic decay redounds to minimised intervention and lower building management costs.     

Beyond Adornment: Cowry Use as Potter's Tool in the First Impressed Wares of the Southwestern Mediterranean Coast (Northern Morocco)

The use of seashells for the decoration of pottery from the sixth millennium cal BC is well known in the western Mediterranean, with the emergence of so-called Cardial Pottery. Actually, the most discussed issue up until now has been the use of bivalves for impressed decoration. However, the experimental approach followed in the present study provides for the first time clear evidence for the utilization of a very specific group of shells as tools for the decoration of some of the early pottery productions in northwest Africa. In particular, we propose the use of cowry, a gastropod family with a well-known ideological and symbolic role in many human cultures around the world. Also, it is suggested that cowry was used for making impressed wares on the opposite European shore. The implications for reconstruction of Neolithic diffusion along both the European and African coasts of the Mediterranean are of great significance.     

Cropsey on Plato and the Unity of Philosophy

Abstract

Cropsey's book, Plato's World, contains his longest and most sustained reflections on a set of Platonic dialogues, but it is not the first work he published on Plato or the last he intended to write. His last collection of essays, On Humanity's Intensive Introspection, shows that in his writings on Plato Cropsey was attempting to answer a broader question: What is philosophy?     

Educating geographers in Spain: geography teaching renewal by implementing the European Higher Education Area

This article discusses the current state of the geography discipline in Spanish Universities after putting into action the European Higher Education Area. After decades of geography teaching, following theoretical and expository discourse models, the so-called Bologna Process has been a great opportunity to reflect what geography should be taught, how geography should be taught and why geography should be taught. Aspects such as competences, employability, learning methodologies, assessment, Geographical Information Systems domain have been incorporated into the renewal of geography teaching in Spanish higher education, which has contributed to the strengthening of geography in a context of geospatial technologies revolution and public awareness of spatial challenges.     

A Constructive Genetic Algorithm for Discrete Dispersion on Point Feature Cartographic Label Placement Problems

This article concerns the point feature cartographic label placement (PFCLP) problem, which is a NP‐hard (Non‐deterministic Polynomial‐time hard) combinatorial problem. It is considered that when all points must be labeled and overlaps are inevitable, the map can be more readable if overlapping labels are placed in a dispersive way, that is, overlapping labels are distant from each other. This work presents a constructive genetic algorithm (CGA) for the discrete dispersion PFCLP that utilizes the notion of masking to preserve optimal subsequences in chromosomes. We also define the discrete dispersion PFCLP as a mixed integer linear programming model, considering the problem of the minimum number of labels in conflict as well. The computational results validate our CGA approach using instances up to 5,046 points.     

Emergent Complexity,Changing Landscapes,and Spheres of Interaction in Southeastern South America During the Middle and Late Holocene

Newly created academic programs at Brazilian universities have provided the impetus for new archaeological projects in southeastern South America during the last two decades. The new data are changing our views on emergent social complexity, natural and human-induced transformation of the landscape, and transcontinental expansions and cultural interactions across the Río de la Plata basin during the Middle and Late Holocene. We concentrate on six major archaeological traditions/regions: the Sambaquis, the Pantanal, the Constructores de Cerritos, the Tupiguarani, the Southern Proto-Jê, and the middle and lower Paraná River. Diverse and autonomous complex developments exhibit distinct built landscapes in a region previously thought of as marginal compared with cultural developments in the Andes or Mesoamerica. The trajectories toward increased sociopolitical complexity flourished in very different and changing environmental conditions. While some groups were pushed to wetland areas during a drier mid-Holocene, others took advantage of the more humid Late Holocene climate to intensively manage Araucaria forests. The start of the second millennium AD was a critical period marked by an increased number of archaeological sites, the construction of ceremonial architecture, and the intensification of landscape transformation; it also was marked by the rapid expansion of influences from outside the La Plata basin. The Amazonian Tupiguarani and Arawak newcomers brought with them significant changes in technologies and social and political structures, as well as novel landscape management practices.