Neoliberal expulsions,crisis, and graphic reportage in Spanish comics

ABSTRACT

In this article, after analyzing the comics industry in Spain in the context of the 2008 crisis, which reveals how small and medium publishers have adapted to new trends in consumption, I focus on the graphic novel Barcelona. Los vagabundos de la chatarra (2015) by Jorge Carrión and Sagar. This comic depicts the underworld of scrap metal collection in Barcelona, where mainly immigrant workers wander the streets, barely eking a living out of the detritus of consumerist society. It is an example of graphic journalism in comics, one of the most interesting developments in the genre in the past few years. It is also a novelty in Spanish comics because certain topics were far from common in the existing repertoire, which had been dominated by adventures, fantasy, and science fiction. Drawing on Verónica Gago's La razón neoliberal (2014) and Saskia Sassen's Expulsions (2015), I challenge conventional approaches to neoliberalism by focusing on neoliberalism from below, which is seen by Gago to point toward the emergence of a new historical consciousness of living in perpetual crisis.     

Obtaining Black Carbon—A Simple Method for the Safe Removal of Mineral Components from Soils and Archaeological Layers

In this study, we present a novel, safe method for how to remove inorganic components from soil samples studied for archaeological purposes, in order to improve studies of the distribution of black carbon in the sedimentary record. As the depositional history of this material depends on the interaction between humans and the natural environment, this method can be widely used in archaeology, landscape archaeology, palaeoecology, environmental geology and sedimentology. Our method does not require the use of dangerous hydrofluoric acid, which is commonly used for the removal of silicon oxide from such samples; therefore, this procedure allows even less chemically trained scientists to analyse soil samples with an increased level of work safety.     

Feasting and Building an Urban Society at Cerro Jazmín,Oaxaca, Mexico

Here we present new excavation data from the urban site of Cerro Jazmín, Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on a comparative analysis of ceramic, faunal, botanical, and architectural evidence collected from a prominent city sector and a contemporary residence, we argue that feasting took place in the Sunken Patio Sector in the Late and Terminal Formative periods. Feasting strategies in an earlier occupation of the city sector employed a largely exclusionary strategy, giving way to a more corporate strategy in a later occupation. We take the findings from the Sunken Patio feasting complex as evidence of the formalization of Cerro Jazmin’s urban, regional role as a site of civic-ceremonial activity. Participation in this meaningful act of food consumption may have served to cement communal ties in a nascent urban society.     

Lime Powder Production in the Maya Puuc Region (A.D. 600–950): An Experimental Pit-Kiln

Powdered lime was one of the most significant materials in the daily lives of the Prehispanic Maya, yet archaeologists have uncovered relatively little evidence of production methods or locales prior to the Spanish conquest. The recent identification of a series of pit-kilns dating to the Late and Terminal Classic periods (ca. a.d. 650–950) in and around the site of Kiuic in the Puuc region of the northern lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula provides the opportunity to investigate a sub-regional Prehispanic lime production technology. Here we present the preliminary excavation results of nine pit-kilns and then describe the experimental reconstruction and firing of a lime pit-kiln. The results indicate that the pit-kilns are more fuel-efficient than the aboveground pyres used during the post-conquest period. This in turn suggests that Prehispanic inhabitants of the Puuc managed their consumption of natural resources for producing lime during a period of sociopolitical, demographic, and environmental stresses.     

Sustainability of the tourist supply chain and governance in an insular biosphere reserve destination: the perspective of tourist accommodation

ABSTRACT

Small islands in peripheral regions are currently perceived as attractive tourist destinations. Governance plays an important role as a strategy for the revival of such destinations to achieve a more productive, environmental, social and sustainable management structure. ‘Good’ governance of a destination depends on all the actors involved in the tourism network. Such governance requires a redefinition of relations between government and society and minimal boundaries between public and private sectors. This paper has analysed the level of implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a tourist destination that is a biosphere reserve (BR), the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain), from a comprehensive approach involving a tourism supply chain (TSC) with private and public agents. The focal firms analysed within the TSC have been tourist accommodation establishments in Fuerteventura. The paper shows that the level of involvement of tourist accommodation in CSR is positive. However, this involvement is not sufficiently high to meet the requirements of a destination designated as a BR. Therefore, coordination policies should be developed that promote governance systems and further enhance sustainability in the destination.     

Rubble Stone Masonry Walls Strengthened by Three-Dimensional Steel Ties and Textile-Reinforced Mortar Render,Under Compression and Shear Loads

This article addresses the results of a structural strengthening solution for rubble stone masonry walls. The strengthening includes inserting three-dimensional steel ties across the thickness of the walls and a 30-mm layer of air-lime and cement mortar render reinforced with glass fiber mesh (textile-reinforced mortar), on both sides of the wall. The strengthening solution was found to be efficient for rehabilitating ancient rubble stone masonry walls due to the “three-dimensional” confinement, provided by the steel wires, by offsetting the low cohesive capacity of the mortar used in the walls and thus improving the mechanical resistance and delaying the collapse mechanisms. This study is part of an experimental research program carried out in Universidade Nova de Lisboa, to evaluate structural strengthening solutions for ancient rubble stone masonry buildings. To this end, three specimens of rubble stone masonry walls without strengthening (unreinforced masonry) and other three, with the mentioned strengthening solution, were subjected to compression and shear load tests. Building materials were also tested in order to characterize physical, chemical and mechanical properties.