Search

The field of plant science has grown dramatically in the past two decades, but global disparities and systemic inequalities persist. Here, we analyzed ~300,000 papers published over the past two decades to quantify disparities across nations, genders, and taxonomy in the plant science literature. Our analyses reveal striking geographical biases—affluent nations dominate the publishing landscape and vast areas of the globe having virtually no footprint in the literature. Authors in Northern America are cited nearly twice as many times as authors based in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, despite publishing in journals with similar impact factors. Gender imbalances are similarly stark and show remarkably little improvement over time. Some of the most affluent nations have extremely male biased publication records, despite supposed improvements in gender equality. In addition, we find that most studies focus on economically important crop and model species and a wealth of biodiversity is under-represented in the literature. Taken together, our analyses reveal a problematic system of publication, with persistent imbalances that poorly captures the global wealth of scientific knowledge and biological diversity. We conclude by highlighting disparities that can be addressed immediately and offer suggestions for long-term solutions to improve equity in the plant sciences.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWe analyzed ~300,000 papers published over the past two decades to quantify global, gender, and taxonomic disparities in plant science. Our analyses reveal striking geographical biases that are correlated with national affluence. Gender imbalances were also evident, with far more papers led by authors with masculine names than authors with feminine names. Lastly, we identified substantial taxonomic sampling gaps. The vast majority of surveyed studies focused on major crop and model species and the remaining biodiversity accounted for only a fraction of publications. Taken together, our analyses represent an important addition to the growing conversation about diversifying and decolonizing science.

Este artículo se centra en la vida y obra de las compositoras hispano-mexicanas del siglo XX María Teresa Prieto y Emiliana de Zubeldía, a partir de una metodología interdisciplinaria que reúne aspectos de musicología feminista, género y migración, así como de estudios culturales. El objetivo es analizar sus biografías en el contexto de la escasa visibilidad de las mujeres en la representación de la diáspora y el discurso musical. El texto muestra cómo el desplazamiento geográfico contribuyó a su desarrollo creativo y a su carrera, mediante el acceso a redes significantes, procesos enriquecedores de transferencia cultural, su involucramiento en afirmaciones rivales de identidad nacional/regional y su liberación de normas de género (musical) restrictivas. Sin embargo, las ventajas contextuales que tuvieron demostraron ser insuficientes frente a las grandes estructuras discriminatorias de género en la esfera musical que generalmente han truncado las trayectorias femeninas mediante el olvido.

This article aims to contribute to on-going cultural policy debates on artistic instrumentalism vs. autonomy, striving to undermine this apparent dichotomy by drawing from ethnomusicology and related fields. Ethnomusicology, although frequently ignored by cultural policy studies, has an established tradition of exploring the functionality of music. As such, it not only provides profound insight into social effects of music, but also helps reveal that the division between instrumental art and “art for art’s sake” is largely a historical and culture-specific invention of the Western (musical) world. Moreover, the article will show that Western music has always been functional, paradoxically partly due to its ideational separation from instrumental (especially economic) pressures. Hence, this article argues both in favour of a recognition of music’s powerful functionality and the need to keep the musical sphere at least partially separate from too straight-forward monetary and quantitative impact concerns.

This article analyses the complex and multi-layered portrayal of exile in the novels Saudades and Fuga en mi menor by the Argentinian-Mexican writer Sandra Lorenzano. Drawing on works on political philosophy, the psychology of exile and literary studies, as well as on biographical material by the author and her own theoretical writings on displacement, it will argue that both novels bemoan the loss and celebrate the enrichment which (forced) migration often entails. Not only do they contain a detailed depiction of the common sufferings of exile, they also present the reparative power of multiple artistic manifestations and explore some benefits of exile of great artistic and ethical importance. Finally, and in direct relation to the latter, the novels make use of the symbolical potential of the condition of exile. Narratives of displacement become part of the constant losses inherent in the human condition as well as instruments for embracing cultural diversity and breaking down oppressive opposit...

This article parts from the assumption that some common notions about migration are “narrative” in nature - both half-fictions and socially constructed “realities”. It looks at a trend frequently neglected by hegemonic narratives of human movement, namely North-South migration. More specifically, it focuses on some migrants to the state of Guanajuato, Mexico and their writings produced during two intercultural expressive and autobiographical writing workshops. The study draws from an interdisciplinary methodology, including migration studies with a sociological, anthropological, economic and psychological outlook, expressive writing studies, and narrative analysis of texts created. The workshop writings revealed both an emergent sense of a “common humanity” among participant movers, and the significant complexity of individual migrant experiences. Many of the tales told indeed questioned common “migration narratives” like neat nation-state to nation-state movement and North-South divisions, thus opening spaces for re-imagining migration in its full human universality, diversity and complexity.

El presente artículo parte de la suposición que algunas ideas comunes acerca de la migración son de índole “narrativa” - casi ficciones y “realidades” socialmente construidas. Se enfoca en una tendencia poco considerada por parte de narrativas hegemónicas sobre los movimientos humanos - la migración del Norte al Sur. Más específicamente, se centra en algunos migrantes al estado de Guanajuato y sus textos producidos durante dos talleres interculturales de escritura expresiva, autobiográfica. La investigación se basa en una metodología interdisciplinaria, combinando estudios de migración con enfoques sociológicos, antropológicos, económicos y psicológicos, estudios de escritura expresiva y el análisis narrativo de textos creados. Los escritos revelaron una noción emergente de “humanidad compartida” entre migrantes participantes, así como la complejidad significativa de experiencias individuales de migración. Muchos de las historias deconstruyeron narrativas comunes, tales como el movimiento de estado-nación a estado-nación y la división entre Norte y Sur, abriendo espacios para re-imaginar migraciones en su plena universalidad, diversidad y complejidad humana.

The dehumanisation of migrants is an urgent international concern. This article looks at the way intercultural education interventions based on expressive writing can help counteract this trend by increasing empathy towards migrants among host community members. It specifically discusses the innovative model of an expressive writing cycle carried out with Central American transit migrants and host community students in Guanajuato, Mexico. The cycle consisted of two autobiographical expressive writing workshops at a migrant hostel, a workshop with students from the Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores (ENES), UNAM where participants wrote about the migrants’ stories, and a collection of items for the hostel. This interdisciplinary research was based on expressive writing, intercultural education and migration studies. Initial, qualitative results were promising. Expressive writing was experienced as unburdening by all participants. For the students, expressive writing proved an effective way of producing rehumanising and empathic responses, as well as eliciting a wish to help. The subsequent collection, apart from delivering needed goods, further established a nascent connection between migrants and members of the host community. Expressive writing workshops are recommended as simple, cost-effective intercultural education interventions for increasing empathy, well-being and a sense of common humanity among migrants and members of host communities.