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This article analyzes how the working conditions for Mexican anthropologists have deteriorated throughout the last few decades. Until half a century ago, only a few dozen professional anthropologists practiced in Mexico, and most of them had access to stable, well-paid jobs in academia or government agencies. Today there are over 7000 of them working in a wide range of fields, mostly in temporary jobs with low salaries. Drawing from the data gathered in the Historical Catalogue of Theses on Social Anthropology in Mexico (RedMIFA 2018) and the Survey on Professional Practice and Working Conditions of Anthropologists in Mexico (CIEPA-CEAS 2016), this paper begins by outlining the decline of working conditions for Mexican anthropologists, focusing primarily on the younger generations. An analysis follows of the main factors that have contributed to the current situation, and the article closes with a brief commentary on the effects of precarious working conditions for the production of anthropological knowledge. The implications here are paradoxical: on the one hand, most professionals currently work in fields other than academia, thereby diversifying anthropological practice, and on the other there is a marked tendency towards the academization of professional anthropological education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since joining the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico has increased its meat production and exports and become more dependent on imported feedstuffs such as genetically engineered (GE) corn. Mexico recently banned the use of GE corn in corn‐based foods and called for a gradual substitution away from the use of GE corn for other uses (e.g., feed). This paper considers how a complete ban on GE corn might affect Mexican households using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate the impact over the medium run (5 years). Results indicate that Mexico decreases corn imports by 76.9% and increases corn production by 65.6%—an increase that would require 3.3 million hectares more land for corn. The policy leads to a 24.8% increase in Mexico's corn price and up to a 6% increase in the prices of other agricultural products. But Mexico might have difficulty shifting land to corn; as such, we consider an alternative scenario that restricts land movements. We find that impacts are further exacerbated in this scenario—for example, corn prices triple. Our final contribution is to pair these results with a compensating variation calculation based on the almost ideal demand system. We find that Mexican households would need to spend, on average, between 6.7 and 13.9% more on food, depending on the scenario, to compensate for the resulting price escalations. Ultimately, our results show that a move toward greater food sovereignty in Mexico is ultimately borne by consumers via higher food prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Impatiens mexicana is a native balsam restricted to the cloud forests of central and southwest Mexico, which is currently known to exist in four states (Zacatecas, Veracruz, Puebla, and Oaxaca), and is probably threatened by geographic restriction. Morphological and distributional information about this species is still scarce, with only a couple of investigations since its first description in 1910, which means the phylogenetic position of this species has yet to be placed. In order to contribute to knowledge of I. mexicana, morphological and molecular studies were carried out with material collected in the localities of Hidalgo, Veracruz, and Oaxaca, during expeditions from July to October 2021 and in 2022. The specimens selected were measured, photographed, and compared with morphological information from the six American balsams. At the same time, phylogenetic studies were carried out by using two regions of the cpDNA and one of the nrDNA. We report I. mexicana for the first time in Hidalgo state, and identify new registers in the Veracruz and Oaxaca localities, thus increasing the knowledge in its geographic distribution. We also redescribe the Mexican balsam by using new and complementary traits: we note that while the species is morphologically similar to I. capensis, it is distinguished by differences in flower color, the distribution of spot patterns on the upper petal, lower sepal, and lateral petals, and geographic information such as endemic geographic distribution in Mexico's Tropical Montane Cloud Forest (TMCF). We also carried out phylogenetic analyses by using ITS and ITS + atpb-rbcL, which showed the Mexican balsam was independent from its Asian-American congeners. Interestingly, our genetic distance analyses reveal differences of 0.01–0.16% between I. mexicana and the other North American congeners that use ITS, atpb-rbcL and trnL-F, both independently and as concatenated genes: this low divergence most likely occurred because of the recent diversification of the group. However, both future redescriptions and phylogenetic studies in American species are imperative, as this will enable better discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]