Número 34, sep-dic 2014 Imprimir
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Editorial

Foundations and Debate

  • Thomas Pogge
    Critique to the cosmetic progress of poverty and hunger from the World Bank

    Abstract: From a perspective that recognizes that mathematical rationality and measurement methods of economics are based on criteria of value, ie, that in economics the measurement variables are never neutral, this essay questions the image of a cosmetic progress both of poverty as hunger that project not only the World Bank, but the Millennium Goals. This paper shows that the realization of the goal of reducing hunger by 50% by the year 2015 constitute an apparent realization that arises from the effect of three factors: 1) because the absolute magnitude of the target population decreases if the base year is changed; 2) because the absolute magnitude of the target population decreases if the geohistorical base is reduced exclusively to Least Developed Countries; and 3) because, in real history, not decreased but increased both hunger and poverty in the world.

  • Birgit Mahnkopf
    Fighting social inequality with a turn towards a “green economy”: an appropriate response to the epochal crisis of capitalism?

    Abstract: In this article it is argued that the multidimensional und intertwined character of the recent global crisis is founded in the tension between a social system based on infinite economic expansion and a biosphere with finite boundaries, a tension which is inherent in the capitalist formation. In a first step of argumentation limits of capitalist accumulation are discussed with regard to a development paradigm which depends on an increasing extraction of fossil fuels and other natural resources. In a second step it is debated whether a “greening of the economy” might contribute to solve the epochal crisis of capitalism. Finally, some policy areas are identified where public investment at least could help to further a socially just and environmentally sustainable future. However, progressive ´green policies´ in areas such as solid waste management or agriculture will not be sufficient to address the epochal crisis of capitalism. In a concluding section it is argued that a more profound socio-ecological transition is required –towards an economy that does not require growth that much as capitalism does while at the same time react on the class war from the top–.

  • Gordon Welty
    Food as Means of Production: Critique to the theory of social reproduction of Gerald A. Cohen

    Abstract: In this article, we will assess Gerald A. Cohen’s argument that foodstuffs are means of production rather than – as Marx holds – that foodstuffs are means of subsistence. We first show that Marx is correct, that foodstuffs are means of subsistence rather than means of production. Next, we will indicate how Cohen has misunderstood Marx in a very fundamental sense. Third we will show that Cohen›s arguments about “means” are wrong. Then we will sketch out the specifications of the sphere of production and the sphere of reproduction. Finally, we will indicate how Cohen’s arguments would have disastrous political consequences were they to be taken seriously. Above all, we will suggest that such an argument, and its political consequences, follow from the “analytical” mode that Cohen employs, insofar as it is opposed to dialectics.

  • Emiliano López/Paula Belloni
    The dynamics of transnational capital in South America and the “new” dependence patterns: tendencies of export re-primarization in the 21st century

    Abstract: This article investigates the articulation between global tendencies of capital that have favoured a new economic dependence process in the South American countries and the different development models at national scale. Through the quantitative analysis of variables that show the initial phases of the cycle of capital in the region’s countries, the work pretends to identify the differential characteristics among countries in the 21st Century. In this way, the problem of the new dependence as a global tendency is studied which is, however, mediated by the emergence of new development projects at national scale.

Articles and Miscellany

  • María del Pilar Longar Blanco/Edson Ríos Martínez
    Science-metric Analysis on the state of art of Hydroponics. Case Mexico

    Abstract: The purpose of this research was to reveal information that can be useful on the socialeconomic progress for the case of Mexico; a science-metric analysis of articles from two data basis was carried out: Web of Knowledge of Thomson Reuters and Scopus of Elsevier; the scientific environment related to research and efforts regarding implementation and promotion of productive hydroponics was determined as a mechanism that contributes to mitigate the global warming effects in the sustainable use of water resources.

  • Erika López López/Alicia A. Ortiz Gress/Karen Zamora Cerritos
    Multicultural mechanisms of residents indigenous of the city of Pachuca Hidalgo

    Abstract: The objective of this study is to identify multicultural mechanisms of indigenous women living in Pachuca Hidalgo for their health care in illness. A qualitative study was developed and ten women were interviewed during september to november 2012. The issues investigated were causes of disease, availability of resources and access. The interviews were recorded and the information is processed according to content. The results indicate that they are illiterate principally and the rest have basic studies; the average age was 49.8 years. On explanatory models of illness are cultural, behavioral, environmental, nutritional and biological elements. Therapeutic itinerary reflected complementing biomedical and traditional knowledge: the wife or mother is the first therapeutic resource. With regard to cultural competence, they perceived lack of recognition of multicultural health needs.

  • Gabriela Munguía Vázquez/Sara Quiroz Cuenca/Rubi Carranza Contreras
  • The competitiveness in the textile and clothing industry in Mexico 1980-2008

    Abstract: The textile industry is one of the most important sectors in the Mexican economy in terms of employment, economic units and generated gross added value. In this context, the promotion of the sector takes special importance as a mean to achieve its revival, which will affect not only the sector itself but the country’s trade balance, among other benefits. The aim of this article is to denote the export competitiveness of the textile sector in Mexico, facing Chinese competition in the global context. For which two methodologies will be used: the first is the balance-flow index (Vij), which assumes that the trade pattern of the products reflects the relative costs and differences in quality and service factors, the second will be the Analysis of Market Constant Share Method (MCS), which allows to decompose the growth of exports and to study their behavior in order to assess the extent to which structural and competitiveness factors explain their performance over a determined period of time. An index interpretation can have an overview of the situation in the textile competitiveness. In this context, we conclude that China’s presence in markets represents a major shock on the capacity to attract FDI from the Mexican textile industry.