To the barracks: the President,the military and democratic consolidation in Portugal (1976–1980)

After two turbulent years in which different pathways for the future of the political and institutional framework of Portugal clashed, the country began a process of consolidation of the democratic institutions delineated between 1975/6. However, the role played by the military in the fall of the previous dictatorial regime and the fragility of the new democratic institutions did not allow their immediate withdrawal from political life. The President of the Republic was a military man and the political parties had agreed to maintain an unelected sovereign body, the Council of the Revolution, which only dissolved in 1982. Based on primary sources that only recently became available, this article presents some elements that help to understand the success of democratic consolidation in Portugal. This long process should not be interpreted as a confrontation between civilians, desirous to put an end to military tutelage, and the military, who at all costs sought to keep their privileges. The dividing line should be placed between those who defended the maintenance of the status quo, and the supporters of military subordination to the civil power.     

A Multiobjective Approach to Locate Emergency Shelters and Identify Evacuation Routes in Urban Areas

Evacuation planning is an important component of emergency preparedness in urban areas. The number and location of rescue facilities is an important aspect of this planning, as is the identification of primary and secondary evacuation routes for residents to take. This article introduces a multiobjective approach to identify these aspects of evacuation planning. The approach incorporates a multiobjective model into a geographical information systems–based decision support system that planners can access via the Internet. The proposed approach is demonstrated with a case study for the City of Coimbra, Portugal, for evacuation during major fires. Although presented in this context, this approach is applicable to other emergency situations such as earthquakes, floods, and acts of terrorism.     

The Arade 1 Shipwreck: Preliminary Results of the 2004 and 2005 Field Seasons

Lost after partial destruction by dredging in 1970, Arade 1 was a priority for the Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática (CNANS). The upper part of the hull, lying over a 7-m-long area of the bed of the Arade river, was fully observed and recorded during the first two seasons (2001 and 2002) and dismantled in a third phase (2003). The 2004 and 2005 seasons aimed at the excavation, full recording and dismantling of the lower hull, briefly observed at the end of 2002. This second, detached, portion of the hull, was buried in the sediment and corresponds to midships.
© 2008 The Authors     

Vidas secas or Canine Melancholia: Reflections on Living Capital

The article examines Vidas secas (1938) by Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos as bridging biopolitical reflections on animality and new materialist reflections on animal studies. By tracing the bond between canine and human in Vidas secas as a canine melancholia, from Lacanian extimité into Donna Haraway’s species companionship, I expose the implicit theory of animality of the novel as an interspecies politics of survival. In doing this, I present a new frame of interpretation for the novel that places its particular kind of melancholia as untimely contemporary.     

Economic development,marine protected areas and gendered access to fishing resources in a Polynesian lagoon

This study examines the potential socio-spatial impacts of a new series of marine protected areas (MPAs) on fishers in Moorea, French Polynesia. The establishment of the MPAs is contextualized within recent and historical processes of economic development and theories of women in development and gender, culture and development. Seventy adults from three neighborhoods in Moorea were interviewed. Analysis of the data provides new information about the characteristics of fishing in Moorea. Unlike most fishing cultures and communities throughout the Pacific Islands, men and women in Moorea have similar, as opposed to segregated, spatial patterns of fishing activities and fishing methods. The study also points out the potential negative impacts of the MPAs on both men and women, particularly younger and lower-income fishers.