Caciquisme et structure du pouvoir dans le Mexique rural*

The author tries to demonstrate how the political phenomenon known to Mexican historians as caciquismo (absolute control over local political power by a holder of economic power) is not a part of the pre-revolutionary past in rural Mexico. By using data collected in Eastern Mexico she shows that caciquismo, under a modified form, is still the focus of political life. She stresses the links between this phenomenon and the much studied “factionalism”: far from being exclusive of each other as might seem at first sight, both are concurrent devices which aim at strengthening the control of the upper class - here, landowners and merchants -over the proletarians. Except in periods of transition (the power passing over from one cacique to another) the factions, in which the middle classes (here: teachers, shop-keepers) play an active part, remain subordinate to the cacique, merely fighting for his support. They therefore serve, in this context, both as an “adaptative mechanism” of the cacique to rapidly changing conditions and as a way of manipulating the middle classes whose alliance with the proletarians could constitute a threat to what is in fact an archaic form of capitalist domination. L'auteur cherche à démontrer comment le phénomène politique reconnu par les historiens mexicains sous le nom de caciquismo (contrôle absolu sur le pouvoir politique local par le titulaire du pouvoir économique) n'est pas une partie du passé pré-révolutionnaire dans le Mexique rural. En utilisant des données recueillies au Mexique oriental elle démontre que le caciquismo, sous une forme modifiée, demeure le foyer de la vie politique. Elle souligne les liens qui existent entre ce phénomène et le « factionalisme »étudiéà fond: loin d'etre exclusif l'un l'autre, comme il semblerait être au premier abord, tous deux sont des moyens concourants qui visent à renforcir le contrôle des gens du monde —i.e., propriétaires et commerçants - sur le proletariat. A l'exception des périodes de transition (le pouvoir passant d'un caciqueà l'autre), les factions, là où la bourgeoisie -i.e., instituteurs et commis - joue un role actif, demeurent subordonnées au cacique, qui ne fait que soutenir une lutte pour son appui. Dans ce contexte, ils servent done, à la fois de « méchanisme adaptif » du caciqueà des conditions très variables, et d'une façon de manipuler la bourgeoisie dont I'alliance avec le proletariat pourrait constituer une menace à ce qui est, en effet, une forme archaïque de la suprématie capitaliste.     

Not Such an 'Ordinary' Relationship: the role of women support staff in relation to men with learning disabilities who have difficult sexual behaviour

This paper brings together some preliminary data on the management of men with learning disabilities who have unacceptable/abusive sexual behaviour patterns with a small pilot study which specifically explores the roles of women support workers in relation to difficult sexual behaviour. A specific focus on the behaviour of men with learning disabilities is justified because of consistent evidence that it is men, rather than women, service users who challenge services in this way. The studies explore with staff the boundaries of what is considered acceptable sexual behaviour and how breaches of these are responded to within services. One issue which we have chosen to highlight is the frequent exposure of women staff to the men's sexual behaviour, sometimes precipitated by the unusual relationship that exists between the two parties, and exacerbated by the lack of clear management guidance within the gendered hierarchies found in service agencies.     

AN ESTIMATE OF THE RENT GENERATED BY A PREMIUM COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER

The National Collegiate Athletic Association limits the payments athletes can receive for their services. Colleges are effectively monosony employers so players will not be paid their marginal revenue product. Therefore, colleges capture an economic rent from players. This paper measures these rents by estimating the marginal revenue product of a top college football player. The empirical results suggest that a premium college player generates over $500,000 in annual revenues for his team.     

Central Scotland's joint police and social work initiative in child abuse: an evaluation

SUMMARY. The previous article in this issue described the joint police and social work initiative in Central Region for the investigation of child abuse allegations from the point of view of a social work manager. This paper sets out the main findings of an independent evaluative study of the same scheme, focusing on its impact on the way investigations were handled, the aspiration to make procedures more child-centred, and the development in practice of the concept of co-ordination. The study, described more fully in Brown and Fuller (1991), was carried out by the Social Work Research Centre, University of Stirling, and funded by the Social Work Services Group of the Scottish Office.     

I Was Born (In a Hospital Bed) - when I was 31 years old

'I Was Born (In a Hospital Bed) - when I was 31 years old', is on one level an analysis of a personal experience and reaction to growing up with a disability. It is also a look at a process of integrating one person's awakening to the positive role a disability might play in someone's life with a common history of other individuals with disabilities and with the evolution of the disability rights movement in the US from the 1970s to the twenty-first century. The article is based on a speech delivered to a five-state disability rights conference in the early 1990s.