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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health problem in the Americas (a region of the world comprising North, Central, and South America), although there is substantial variation in disease prevalence, morbidity, and mortality between and within nations. Across the Americas, COPD disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including minoritized populations and impoverished persons, who are more likely to be exposed to risk factors such as tobacco use, air pollution, infections such as tuberculosis, and biomass smoke, but less likely to have adequate healthcare access. Management of COPD can be challenging across the Americas, with some barriers being specific to certain countries and others shared across the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Because most cases of COPD are undiagnosed because of suboptimal access to health care and pulmonary function testing and, thus, cannot be treated, increased access to spirometry would have a substantial impact on disease management across the Americas. For individuals who are diagnosed, access to medications and other interventions is quite variable across and within nations, even in those with universal healthcare systems, such as Canada and Brazil. This emphasizes the importance of collaborative treatment guidelines, which should be adapted for the healthcare systems and policies of each nation or region, as appropriate. To have a positive impact on COPD management in the Americas, we propose actionable items, including the need for all our respiratory societies to engage key stakeholders (e.g., patient-led organizations, professional societies, and governmental and nongovernmental agencies) while advocating for campaigns and policies to ensure clean air for all; eliminate tobacco use and enhance coverage for treatment of nicotine dependence; and improve access to early case finding, diagnosis, and treatment for all patients, including underserved and vulnerable populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essays hosted in this dossier engage with the state of the art in their respective fields of interest, implementing a methodological exercise and promoting a historiographic and conceptual reflection regarding the processes of cultural definition of objectuality and its relationship with subjectivity in the creation of sociocultural meanings. This involves a dialectical analysis between subject and object (subjectivized objects and subjectivities that manifest through objects) from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. It explores how past materialities integrate into modernity, how and why human groups creatively appropriate objects from social contexts foreign to them or from cultural universes obscured by time, sometimes radically altering their functional aspects, and how these processes of interaction and (re)appropriation should be understood.

This article wants to expose some central contributions for a critical theory from the Americas, made first of all from the Ecuadorian-Mexican philosopher Bolívar Echeverría and also by the Spanish-Mexican philosopher Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez, bringing them to an imaginary discussion with Alfred Schmidt, Karl Marx, and some concepts of the original critical theory from the now one-hundred-year-old Frankfurt school. The relationship between use value and value, the critique of some Eurocentric "philosophical" ideas inside nonmainstream theories are some of the departing points. A critical theory from the Americas could be a first step toward the necessary philosophical contributions for a postcapitalist society that may exist without the Today's self-destructive impulse. It helps not only to understand the world outside the so-called First World in a more exact way, but it helps also to understand the centers of global power in a better way, as their self-consciousness is now probably on the lowest level ever. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the (North) American historiography on Spanish America with a particular focus on the fate of the Amerindians from the 1840s to the early 1960s. For over a century, (North) American historians routinely romanticized the Spanish conquest, while also routinely scorning the indigenous population (as well as mestizos and blacks), and embracing the rising pseudo-scientific Anglo-Saxon racism of the day. Down to the 1960s, (North) American historians by and large viewed Amerindians as savages and barbarians, while they interpreted the history of the Spanish conquistadores and their successors in ways that held Western civilization itself up as the main colonial heritage in the Americas (north and south). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While international asylum law includes race as the first protected category—followed by religion, nationality, particular group membership, and political opinion—Haitians' ongoing racialised persecution and denial of refuge across the Americas reveals the failures of this framework. Drawing on academic literature, documentary evidence, and primary sources, we analyse the racial and neocolonial logics constituting Haitians' experiences at home and as migrants through the Americas. Focusing on Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico as nodes of migration trajectories, we argue that Haitians confront a "hemispheric frontier regime". Unlike a single border that impedes passage, this multilayered frontier regime constantly uproots Haitians, even while states evade their responsibilities vis‐à‐vis asylum seekers. Over time, mutually reinforcing frontier logics of policing, dispossession, extraction, and empire at various scales—urban, domestic, transnational—structure Haitians' and other migrants' racialised exclusion from rights regimes across geographies from Haiti to South, Central, and North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociohistórica: Cuadernos del CISH is the property of Universidad Nacional de La Plata and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This essay reflects on the potential for scholarship that sensitively treats the histories of media and communication research across the Americas. Writing from the contexts of U.S. communication studies, we begin by reflexively considering some of the bases of U.S. hegemony within the history and historiography of the field. We suggest the importance of work that provincializes and decenters the U.S. and also traces transnational flows and cross-regional dynamics that have constituted communication studies in all its versions across the Americas. We then illustrate what a transnational history of U.S.-Latin American entanglements might resemble, offering a provisional periodization from the early twentieth century to the present.

Copyright of MATRIZes is the property of Universidade de Sao Paulo, Programa de Pos Graduacao em Ciencias da Comunicacao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

I have the privilege of leading an international team of researchers exploring Women’s Suffrage in the Americas. This essay outlines the history of our project, discussing some of the challenges we have encountered and they ways in which we have chosen to address them. It outlines the lists of commonalities and differences we have developed to contrast the different national cases, and it describes the categories into which we have placed the countries, based on shared characteristics. Finally, it charts a course for future work on women’s suffrage, outlining some of the many areas where we still lack adequate understanding.

Copyright of Revista de Indias is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite the fact that Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (Linnaeus, 1758) are African freshwater fish, they have been introduced into many countries inside and outside Africa. The journey of Nile tilapia started during the second half of the 20th Century, especially in Southeast Asia and the Americas, mainly for aquaculture and fisheries enhancement. Most of these introductions became well established in aquaculture. As a result, aquaculture of Nile tilapia has been steadily expanding in many countries. These fish play an important role in the livelihoods of local societies on different continents. This review summarizes the current knowledge on global Nile tilapia introductions and sheds light on their social and economic contributions to the countries into which they have been introduced, as well as their share in the global fish market. The ecological impacts of tilapia introductions have also been addressed. The success stories of the major Nile tilapia producers were highlighted so that the lessons learned from their experiences could be transferred to other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay aims to reflect on the difficulties in conceiving a history of communication studies that encompasses the Americas. The relevance of the history of communication studies carried out in the regional and local spaces is privileged. Any mapping that embraces the studies of and from Latin America should be conducted in research groups that seek possible connections between processes, chronologies and common phenomena, based on the theoretical approach of "connected histories" and considering the regions as the place to start from. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I explore a range of approaches to the colonial heritage (or colonial heritages) in the Americas in both their popular and academic iterations during the Cold War and the post-Cold War era. Overall, I argue that the most obvious elements of the Hispanic colonial heritage are cultural and linguistic, as well as various forms of economic dependence and high levels of socio-economic inequality. Economic dependence and social inequality remain a central, if now diffuse, Hispanic colonial heritage, as does the diverse cultural and linguistic post-colonial milieu that is the New World. Over three decades out from the end of the Cold War, the cultural complexity, shifting economic contours and geographical diffusion of the Hispanic colonial heritage is more apparent than ever at the same time as (contrary to several recent accounts) it hangs no heavier over the present than the Anglo-Protestant colonial heritage; nor should either be deployed to do too much heavy lifting as far as explaining contemporary developmental outcomes is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue was originally conceived as a conference organized at Duke University in January 2019, entitled "Neoliberalism in the Americas: Brutal Experiments, Distressful Realities, and Conspicuous Contestations. Re-thinking the South in the North and the North in the South." The premise that inspired this reunion was, since Milton Friedman used dictatorial Chile as a laboratory for his monetary theories, neoliberalism has always been a matter that concerned the Americas as a continent. It has bound together Chicago and Santiago in one single package of authoritarian rule and unfettered capitalism, blemished with Nobel prizes, wealth concentration, and always-renewed, never-fulfilled promises of freedom and economic growth. Most of the articles were originally presented at the aforementioned conference, including a piece shared by one of the keynote speakers, Brazilian philosopher Vladimir Safatle. Nonetheless, we have also incorporated other contributions, such as an interview with Australian scholar Melinda Cooper. These works address neoliberalism from literature to psychoanalysis, from politics to gender and sexual identities, from historical and present-day investigations. The result is a multinational, transdisciplinary volume centered on the experiments of neoliberalization which, since the 1970s, connect the entire continent—ultimately reaching the extent of a truly global experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection caused by species of the Sporothrix genus. Presently, the prevalence of sporotrichosis in the Americas is unknown, so this study aims to analyze the cases reported in the past 10 years. Methods: An advanced search was conducted from 2012 to 2022 in English and Spanish in PUBMED, SciELO, and Cochrane, with the terms: "sporotrichosis", "lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis", "fixed sporotrichosis", "mycosis", "Sporothrix spp.", "Sporothrix complex", "S. schenckii sensu stricto", "S. schenckii sensu lato", "S. globose", "S. brasiliensis", "S. luriei". Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection caused by species of the Sporothrix genus associated with "pathogenicity" or "epidemiology". Results: A total of 124 articles were found in the Americas, corresponding to 12,568 patients. Of these, 87.38% of cases were reported in South America, 11.62% in North America, and 1.00% in Central America and the Caribbean. Brazil, Peru, and Mexico had the highest number of cases. The most prevalent etiological agents were S. schenckii complex/Sporothrix spp. (52.91%), S. schenckii (42.38%), others (4.68%), and Not Determined (ND) (0.03%). The most frequent form of the disease was lymphocutaneous infection; however, the infection type was not determined in 5639 cases. Among the diagnostic methods, culture was the most used. Conclusions: There is a high occurrence of cases reported in the literature. South America is the region with the highest number of reports because of its environment (climate, inhalation of spores, etc.), zoonotic transmission (scratches and sneezes from contaminated animals), and possible traumatic inoculation due to outdoor activities (agriculture, gardening, and related occupations). Molecular diagnosis has not been sufficiently developed due to its high cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brucellosis produces losses in livestock raising in the Americas. This region reports prevalence variations associated with the implementation of control programs, thus requiring an analysis that permits the combination of results to reach conclusions, which may be conducted through meta-analysis. Aim. To estimate the combined prevalence of Brucellosis in Cattle and Buffaloes in Central America and the Caribbean, and South America in the 2010-2021 period, and to analyze the different time performances in all the regions and the species. Materials and methods: Several papers published in electronic databases, such as PubMed / PubMed Central, Science Direct, Scielo, Ebsco, and Google Scholar were selected. Original papers and postgraduate theses available were included, provided they offered information about cattle and buffaloes, using the serological techniques recommended by the World Animal Health Organization, and which provided the sample size and the number of positives. A meta-analysis was done to estimate the combined prevalence of the disease, and the effect on the subgroups was evaluated by meta-regression. Results: Overall, 65 that met the selection criteria were included, 56 related to cattle, and 11 to buffaloes. The combined prevalence was 3.0%; differences between cattle (2.7%) and buffaloes (5.2%) were observed. The differences between the periods studied accounted for 4.3% (2011-2016) and 2.0% (2017-2021), respectively. Conclusions: The combined prevalence of the disease was 3.0%, which was higher in buffaloes, which dropped in the last five years. No differences were observed between the two regions studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on resistant archival practices in the arts and media from a trans-American perspective. Topics include bringing together artists and scholars from the fields of Latin American and North American studies and African American studies; and Black American imagery and biased imaginations of Blackness as part of the cultural legacies of slavery and colonization.

Aim: Mammalian carnivores are among the best studied groups in terms of evolutionary history. However, the effects of species interactions in shaping community assemblages remain poorly understood. We hypothesize that indirect interactions via ecological trait filtering play a key role in structuring carnivoran assemblages, mediate coexistence and thus should show high functional diversity (FD) in space and time at continental scales. Location: The Americas. Taxon Mammalian carnivores (Mammalia: Carnivora). Methods: We followed a macroecological perspective via ecological network analyses for indirect interactions and assessed the underlying FD across space and from the last interglacial to the present in the Americas. We analysed the potential distributions and six ecological traits of 88 species to establish possible mechanisms that enables species to coexist and the underlying diversity patterns. We compared the empirical results with two null models and two sensitivity analyses. Results: Co‐occurring carnivore species presented ecological segregation driven mainly by a size ratio (SR) relationship, called here the body size spatial anti‐clustering effect. The underlying FD patterns showed low redundancy towards the tropics and the poles during the times evaluated. However, during the last glacial maximum, shifts occurred primarily at high latitudes in North America. This shift affected the SR relationship and therefore changed FD patterns. These local‐to‐continental interactions mediated by the SR are significant from an ecological and biogeographic perspective, suggesting a robust and consistent trend in which carnivore species of similar size have a lower probability of occupying the same area unless they differentiate in other ecological trait spaces. Main conclusions: The SR relationship is potentially a primary mechanism limiting carnivore coexistence, reflecting functional filtering. The SR tends to be conservative across different ecological trait groups and through time and space. We propose that the body‐size spatial anti‐clustering effect can directly measure species' coexistence and mediate FD patterns in the Americas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The controversy regarding the status of the Macroptilium gracile species complex has been elucidated by the authors of this paper; nevertheless, some nomenclatural issues regarding the naming of the newly established variety have been found. In the present contribution, we discuss some nomenclatural aspects concerning the valid publication of the name Macroptilium gracile var. subcoriaceum (Benth.) Berlingeri, M.B.Crespo & Calles. After considering different nomenclatural evidence, the latter varietal name is to be considered superfluous and therefore, we establish a new combination (i.e., Macroptilium gracile var. longepedunculatum). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Histoplasmosis is a fungal disease associated with substantial mortality rates among persons with advanced HIV disease. Our systematic review synthesized data on the global prevalence of Histoplasma--caused antigenuria in persons with HIV. We searched PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases on January 3, 2023, to identify cross-sectional and cohort studies evaluating Histoplasma antigenuria prevalence among adults with HIV infection. We calculated point estimates and 95% CIs to summarize prevalence. Of 1,294 studies screened, we included 15. We found Histoplasma antigenuria among 581/5,096 (11%; 95% CI 11%-12%) persons with HIV and 483/3,789 persons with advanced HIV disease (13%; 95% CI 12%-14%). Among persons with HIV and symptoms consistent with histoplasmosis, Histoplasma antigenuria prevalence was 14% (95% CI 13%-15%; 502/3,631 participants). We determined that persons with advanced HIV disease, inpatients, and symptomatic persons might benefit from a systematic approach to early detection of histoplasmosis using urine antigen testing.

This paper provides a close analysis of Upside Down (dir. Juan Solanas, 2012), a science fiction film that presents two radically different portraits of two neighboring planets to metaphorically explore and negotiate the economic divide between the US and Latin America. The film focuses on the role of borders, legal provisions, and contact between humans in structuring interactions and movement between Latin America and the US. Gómez Muñoz employs Mark Shiel's geographic approach to film and pays special attention to characters' movements in the spaces that the film depicts. The first part of the paper focuses on boundaries and discrimination practices in the Americas. The second part considers exceptions to the limitations that borders try to impose in the film and examines the potential of transnational love in bridging differences and advancing understanding. Upside Down suggests that people infuse their images of borders and other nations with their own personal and local perceptions. Their transnational/trans-American relationships allow them to draw from different sources and bring disparate practices together for their own and their societies' benefit.

Copyright of Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas is the property of Centro de Investigacao e Estudos de Sociologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the initial steps in the domestication process of the wolf. We discuss the human-initiated model in which wolf pups were brought to camp sites by male hunters and cared for by nursing women. A good relation between the more sociable and playful pups and the women and their children likely formed affiliative bonds and led to the survival of such pups into maturity. Some of these animals could have reproduced and delivered at least one litter. A selection on the behaviour of subsequent generations could ultimately have led to Palaeolithic dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the seven species of Entamoeba known to infect humans, E. histolytica is widely recognized as a pathogen. It is reported that Entamoeba infections are common in the developing world, but rare in developed countries. The best way to diagnose these protozoan parasites is to detect antigens or DNA in the stool. This study aimed to review the prevalence, distribution, and diagnosis methods of Entamoeba spp. infecting humans in the Americas between 1990 and 2022. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed, including 227 studies on Entamoeba infections from 30 out of 35 American countries. The pooled prevalence of each species of Entamoeba was calculated using the random-effects model. The assignment of Entamoeba species was mainly performed by microscopy. The most widely distributed and prevalent species was E. coli (21.0%). Of the studies, 49% could not differentiate the species of the Entamoeba complex. The pathogenic species E. histolytica was distributed among 22 out of 30 American countries studied, with a pooled prevalence of 9%. Molecular data on Entamoeba species are still scarce. This is the first study that reviewed and summarized data on the prevalence of this protozoan genera among American countries.

Under which conditions do regional organizations in the Americas impose sanctions on member states that violate democracy? To address this question, the article combines a qualitative comparative analysis applied to 55 presumed threats to democracy brought to the attention of regional organizations (ROs), and a process tracing analysis of two cases of the imposition of sanctions. The analysis reveals that ROs impose sanctions despite lack of support or even obstruction by the US, when the threats are committed against the incumbent in relatively weak member states. The unique case in which an RO suspended a relatively powerful state because of threats by the incumbent required the convergence of interests between ROs' most powerful member states, and the support of the US. The article demonstrates that under specific conditions, ROs in the Americas can become relatively autonomous enforcers of democracy-protection norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archaeological record of Jesuit sites in the Americas preserves an essential resource for the study of daily life among individuals in the Jesuit sphere of influence. The full potential of an archaeological synthesis of these sites has yet to be realized, since systematic excavations have occurred at only a relatively small number of Jesuit sites in the American continents and the Caribbean. This essay serves to introduce a collection of five archaeological case studies and a conclusion, which show how archaeology complements the written histories of Jesuits from Nasca to New France. These case studies address several major themes, including the definition of mission sites, scales of analysis, the nature of missionary "success," and overcoming historical silences. In particular, they articulate the influence of Jesuit missionaries on the material worlds of numerous cosmopolitan communities of colonists, enslaved Africans, and American Indians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that Zika virus (ZIKV) immunity may protect against dengue virus (DENV) infection, disease severity or human amplification, based on analysis of epidemiological data from our long‐term surveillance study (2009–2016) in the city of Salvador, Brazil, that indicated a substantial reduction in the frequency of laboratory‐confirmed dengue cases following the Zika outbreak. To assess whether similar patterns were observed across the Americas, we did a broader explorative investigation of historical series (2004 to 2019) of suspected cases of dengue fever, covering 20 DENV‐endemic South and Central American countries. Methods: We used segmented linear regressions of single group interrupted time series (ITS) analysis to evaluate whether the Zika epidemic had a statistical effect on the trends of annual dengue incidence. Results: We observed in our 16‐year historical series that in all countries, the incidence of dengue exhibited periodic oscillations over time, with a general trend of statistically significant increase during the pre‐Zika period overall and for 11 of the 20 countries. Following the peak of the first population exposure to ZIKV in the Americas, in 2016, the overall rate of reported dengue cases in 2017 and 2018 in the countries under study sharply dropped (P < 0.05) and was the lowest reported since 2005. Individually in each country, a statistically significant reduction in the annual dengue incidence beginning in 2016 or in 2017–2018 occurred in 13 of the 20 studied countries. However, in 2019, reports of suspected dengue cases increased across the Americas. In Brazil, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Honduras, dengue incidence was >5 times higher in 2019 than in 2017 and 2018, and, in 2019, they had the greater dengue incidence than in all previous years throughout the historical series. Conclusions: The widespread decline in suspected dengue cases recorded in 2017 and 2018 lends further support to our previous epidemiological hypothesis of ZIKV‐induced cross‐species immunity to DENV. However, the cross‐protection appears to be transient (around 2 years). Long‐term, prospective follow‐ups of dengue reports are needed to confirm (or refute) these findings, which could have significant public health implications, in particular regarding DENV vaccine development and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leishmaniasis is a major neglected tropical disease which contributes a huge economic burden on already meager economic resources. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated an annual incidence of 700,000--1,000,000 patients and about 20,000–30,000 deaths per year. Approximately 66,941 patients of cutaneous leishmaniasis are reported annually in the Americas. In recent years, Nicaragua has presented alarmingly high numbers of patients and elevated incidence rates. Unfortunately, there are no detailed spatial descriptions on the epidemiological situation of leishmaniasis in this country. The objective of this study is to present descriptive data about the epidemiology of leishmaniasis in Nicaragua in the context of the distribution of this neglected tropical disease (NTD) in the Americas. This paper also provides an epidemiological update on different forms of leishmaniasis found in the three administrative regions of Nicaragua and its municipalities. Health authorities from the Ministry of Health of Nicaragua (MINSA) provided the entomological and epidemiological information for the different forms of the disease from 2001 to 2018. Prevalence, incidence rates, clinical classification of disease, age groups, sex, and geographic distribution by municipality and department are described in this study. Approximately 90%–95% of the national patients corresponded to CL and 5–10% correspond to MCL. The disease is distributed in the three regions of the country, with a higher burden in the Departments of Jinotega, Matagalpa and Atlántico Norte. The municipalities with the highest proportion of patients were El Cuá (23.92%), Waslala (14.16), Santa Maria de Pantasma (9.62%), Rancho Grande (9.03%) and Siuna (7.67%). There is an expansion of spatial distribution of CL and MCL in the North Central and South Atlantic regions of the country. These results could inform interventional strategies to address the burden of leishmaniasis in Nicaragua, which would improve the likelihood of meeting the goals for the Leishmaniasis Plan of Action for the Americas.

Copyright of Bitacora: Revista de Arquitectura is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Arquitectura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article is a personal recount of living under the called neoliberal regime installed in the post‐Cold War in the region. Written from the perspective of a Latin American woman in the betweenness of the North and the South. Focusing on capitalism history shows how counterdevelopment has been the other face of globalization. The social protests in the whole continent request the respect of human dignity recovering an inclusive collective narrative and social justice caring of our common home, to build a more profound democracy and a more just world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Relaciones Internacionales (1699-3950) is the property of Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, International Relations Studies Group (GERI) Law Faculty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the first Asian Law and Society Conference (ALSA) was held at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2016, a number of special sessions have been organized to focus on the deconstruction of the Westphalian transnational order based on the concept of the "nation-state." This dominant hegemony was predicated on the congruence of the geo-territorial boundaries of both the state and the nation, as well as the "assumed integration" of state-defined "citizenship" and another distinctly layered "membership" based on culture, ethnic, religious, and indigenous affiliations. The "nation-state" ideology has thus masked a history of tensions and conflicts, often manifested in the form of oppression, persecution, and genocide directed at the nation and its peoples by the state and its predatory institutions. Our studies have shown that such conflicts between the nation and the state have been observed in multiple regions in Asia, including Kashmir in India; Moro and Islamic communities of Mindanao in the Philippines; Karen, Kachin, and other autonomous nations in Myanmar; West Papua, Aceh, Kalimantan, South Moluccas, Minahasa, and Riau in Indonesia; Kurds in multiple state systems of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran; and Palestine in Israel, among many other culturally autonomous nucleated communities in Asia and across the world. The phrase "the nation and the state" was specifically chosen to distinguish and highlight the unique conflictual histories of two geo-political entities and to provide a fundamentally differing interpretation of history, geography, the role of law, and global affairs from the perspectives of nation peoples, rather than from that of the state or international organizations, as traditional analyses do. The Westphalian "nation-state" hegemony led to the inviolability of the state's sovereign control over the nation and peoples within a state-delimited territory. The state then began to engage in another predatory project: to strengthen and extend its international influence over other states and, thus, the nations within these states, by adopting new constitutional provisions to offer cross-border "citizenship" to diasporic "ethnic-nationals" and descendants of "ex-migrants" who now inhabit foreign states. The nations have similarly capitalized on constitutional activism by erecting their own Constitutions to explore collaboration with other nations, as well as diasporic populations of their own, in order to carve out a path toward the nations' independence within, and even beyond, the respective state systems. The "constitutional" activism sought by the state and the nation has become an important political vehicle with which to engage in possible collaboration with diasporic "ethno-nationals" and ex-migrant communities, in order to further assert political influence and strengthen trans-border politics of the state and the nation. Three articles included in this issue investigate such constitutional activism of cross-border politics and transnational collaborations in Asia, the Americas, Europe, and other regions across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent past, decolonial proposals have become more and more important for feminisms of the Americas, that is, for Latin American and U.S. Latina/o theories and practices negotiating the significance of gender. Decolonial feminist thought proposes multiple ways of deconstructing coloniality (the ongoing effects of colonisation), and distances itself from postcolonial feminisms by emphasising not only its own unique, historically diverse geopolitical situatedness in the Americas, but also discordance with the assumption of the postcolonial “silenced subaltern female subject”. The article traces some of the conceptual travels of a decolonial feminist project as it is, today, under construction, and ponders on the options it presents for literary and cultural studies of the Americas on a transborder level. It then presents two decolonial feminist theoretical proposals: María Lugones’ Coloniality of Gender and her attempt to move, as she says, toward a decolonial feminism, as well as Gloria Anzaldúa’s concepts of Borderlands and Nepantla. Lugones analyses “gender” as an inherently colonial category which defines an ecological, economic, political, spiritual, and epistemological modernity for the Americas; Anzaldúa envisions a world of decolonial, feminist poetical interstices while employing creative practices. These notions reshape the tools available for future cultural and literary analysis and propose a holistic politics of healing.