Narcos in Jesús María: Dystopian empowerment in the amateur exploitation film Corazón cubano/Cuban Heart (2014)

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walfrido Dorta

This article analyses the film Corazón cubano/Cuban Heart (Liyuen Valdés 2014), a story about drug traffickers in the Jesús María neighbourhood of Havana, circulated only through the Paquete Semanal (Weekly Package). Examining the creators’ symbolic identification with the figure of the narco, this article explores Corazón as an example of amateur, alternative and informal media within the Paquete and its relationship with exploitation, cult and trash cinema. It argues that Corazón’s appropriation of narconarratives through reparteros (the inhabitants of Havana’s peripheric and poorest neighbourhoods) is linked to the relationship between reparteros, rap and reggaeton and points to the filmmakers’ will to combine social criticism and entertainment. Corazón also reproduces controversial practices and discourses like ‘necroempowerment’ (Valencia) or ‘fascinating violence’ (Valencia and Sepúlveda), developing dystopian empowerment by appropriating the narco as a ‘cultural persona’ (Edberg).

1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry H. Brownstein ◽  
Hari R. Shiledar Baxi ◽  
Paul J. Goldstein ◽  
Patrick J. Ryan

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Kalunta-Crumpton

The relationship between the prosecution and black 1 people has nowhere received a specific or full notice as far as analysis is concerned. On the basis of detailed observations of drug trafficking trials at a London Crown Court, this paper reveals the prosecution of cases concerning black defendants. In doing so, it demonstrates how drug trafficking cases were socially constructed through the process of claimsmaking, a rhetorical activity that entails the use of language to present and fathom claims effectively in order to persuade. The prosecution described the defendants alleged involvement in drug trafficking as a profit making venture and within the process of claims-making constructed a relationship between drug trafficking and socio-economic deprivation. Subtly, racial imageries of crime and deprivation appeared to be represented in the prosecution discourse as evidence of drug trafficking. It is concluded that the defendants faced a higher likelihood of being officially classed as drug traffickers.


Subject The impact of organised crime on the mining sector. Significance Canada-based McEwen Mining said on May 11 that it was on track to meet annual production targets despite last month's theft of 900 kilos of gold concentrate from its El Gallo mine in Mexico. On April 6, eight heavily armed robbers burst into the mine in Sinaloa state and walked away with concentrate containing gold worth 8.5 million dollars -- equivalent to two-fifths of the mine's quarterly production. Suspicion inevitably fell on the local Sinaloa cartel. Company CEO Rob McEwen seemed to acknowledge that up to that point the mining company had cooperated with the cartel, putting the question of the relationship between mining companies and drug traffickers back on the table. Impacts Greater fragmentation of Mexican cartels will lead to increasing criminal targeting of mining businesses. Following the general pattern of insecurity, companies operating in Michoacan and Guerrero are most at risk. The April heist at the El Gallo mine suggests that more independent gangs are also now operating in Sinaloa. Mining company experiments with supporting self-defence organisations seem to have failed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 019145372091993
Author(s):  
J.F Dorahy

In recent years, a series of key social, political and economic events has placed the critique of capitalism very much on the theoretical agenda. Responding to these developments, many have begun to express the need for a rapprochement between social criticism and the critique of political economy. The present essay represents a contribution to the recovery of the project that was once synonymous with critical theory itself via a critical engagement with the early writings of Jürgen Habermas. Not only is Habermas’ explicit engagement with the critique of political economy among the most substantial to be found within the mainstream tradition of critical theory, his early social-theoretical insights into the emergent ‘primacy of the political’ in late capitalism can be taken as representative of a number of broader trends in late-20th-century thought which sought to go beyond the premises and categories of Marx’s economic works. Simply put, no reappraisal of the relationship between critical theory and the critique of political economy can succeed, I submit, without taking seriously Habermas’s path-breaking and wide-ranging innovations.


1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Otto Hondrich

AbstractThe terms of „need“ and „interest“ occupy a prominent place in contemporary social criticism and planning. As representatives of „person“ against „society“ their position is problematic since they are chronically influenced by changing social systems. Empirical research concerning the dynamics of differentiating need-orientations ought to go on within a theoretical concept of the relationship between personal needs and social structures. Structural functionalism, historical materialism, socialization theory, behavioral sociology, relative deprivation and symbolic interactionism are examined in this respect: A paradigm of systems analysis is proposed which interpretes exchange between material, social and personal systems by the medium of need-orientations. Need-orientations are seen as conflicts. Consequently, evolution of material and social systems is going on within personal systems by means of intrapersonal and social strategies of conflict resolution. Diagrams of the research project are intended to show how conflicts (need-orientations) and conflict solving strategies may be located empirically as differentiated variables and how those variables may be interconnected to form a body of hypotheses.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-122
Author(s):  
Mădălina Tvardochlib

Abstract This article focuses on the relationship that the famous 20th century Viennese satirist Karl Kraus had with the major newspapers, particularly Die Neue Freie Presse. The aim is to argue that the language was the main means by which Karl Kraus unmasked the hypocrisy and ideology of Bourgeois Viennese society. In language he found both the problem and the solution to his social criticism, the central points of which represent the foreshadowing of his monumental World War I-drama, The Last Days of Mankind. The analysis of two characters in the play, Alice Schalek and Moritz Benedikt, shows us how Kraus used language to expose them as archetypes of their Zeitgeist.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 212
Author(s):  
Leska Latansa Dina ◽  
Yayan Suherlan ◽  
Dona Prawita

<p><strong>ABSTRAK</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Jurnal ini menginterpretasikan gagasan imajinasi penulis dalam judul kritik sosial sebuah cinta sebagai tema utama. Terdapat beberapa permasalahan yang dibahas dalam hal ini, yaitu; 1) hubungan antara cinta dengan kondisi sosial masyarakat yang digambarkan dalam seni lukis, 2) membahas tema kritik sosial sebuah cinta dalam seni lukis?, 3) memvisualisasikan kritik tentang cinta dalam sudut pandang sosial melalui karya seni lukis. Cinta merupakan hasrat naluriah manusia yang diberikan oleh Tuhan, cinta melibatkan perasan emosi yang dalam, dan berefek keindahan bagi penikmatnya. Aktifitas bercinta sebagai pengungkapan hasrat rasa saling cinta antar sesama manusia, menjadi aktifitas yang terlarang ketika melanggar norma sosial kesusilaan, dan dapat menjerumuskan seseorang ke arah degradasi moral serta memberikan dampak negatif secara</p><p>psikologis, seperti penyimpangan orientasi seksual, depresi, hingga terjadi kasus bunuh diri. Sehingga pada kasus tertentu dapat mengakibatkan tindakan diluar akal sehat dan tidak berperikemanusiaan seperti aborsi dan kasus pembunuhan. Penulis tertarik mengambil tema tersebut, dikarenakan penulis terketuk hati nuraninya ingin memaparkan sudut pandangnya tentang kritik sosial dari degradasi moral yang berkembang di masyarakat yang di atas namakan cinta. Tujuan dari penulis ialah menjadikan karya lukis sebagai media kritik atas penyimpangan sosial yang terjadi di masyarakat serta Mendiskripsikan degradasi moral manusia akibat pemahaman yang dangkal tentang cinta. Metode Penciptaan melaui penggalian ide dari pengamatan dan sebuah perenungan, dan hasil pengamatan dikonsep melalui rancangan sketsa yang ditata berdasarkan asas</p><p>keseni rupaan, tahapan terakhir ialah, memindahkan ide yang terkonsep ke dalam kanvas dengan cat minyak, yang di padu dengan sapuan kuas teknik opaque. Hasil karya yang diolah melalui pendekatan simbolisme visual yang bersifat komunikatif dan umum, yang dikemas secara estetik, diharapan penikmat tertarik untuk melihat apa yang disampaikan oleh karya lukis serta pesan moral yang terkandung di dalamnya.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Kata kunci: </strong>kritik sosial, cinta, seni lukis.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>ABSTRACT</em></strong></p><p><em>This journal interprets the idea of the author’s imagination in the title “Kritik Sosial Sebuah Cinta” as the main theme. There are several problems discussed in this regard, namely: 1) the relationship between love and the social conditions of society described in painting arts, 2) discussing the theme of social criticism of love in painting, 3) visualizing criticism of love in a social perspective through love. Love is an instinctive desire of human given by God. Love involves deep emotional feelings, and has beautiful effect for the connoisseurs. The act of making love as an expression of mutual love between human beings is prohibited when it is violating social norms of decency and can plunge someone towards moral degradation, have a negative psychological impact, such as sexual orientation deviation, depression, and suicide. In certain cases, it can lead to the actions beyond common sense and inhumane such as abortion and murder cases. The author is interested in</em></p><p><em>taking the theme because of his consciousness to explain his point of view about social criticism on moral degradation in the name of love that develops in the community. The author aims to make painting as a mediaof criticism on social deviations that occur in society and to describe the degradation of human moral due to superficial understanding of love. The creation method is through extracting ideas from observations and contemplation, and the results are conceptualized through sketch designs arranged based on the principles of visual arts. The final stage is to move the conceptual ideas into canvas with oil paint, which are combined with opaque techniques. The work that is processed through the communicative and general visual symbolism approach, which is packed aesthetically, is expected to make the audience interested in seeing what is conveyed by the painting and the moral messages contained in it. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>Keywords: </em></strong><em>social criticism, love, painting arts.</em></p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 274 ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Kayla A. Lord ◽  
Nicholas C. Jacobson ◽  
Michael K. Suvak ◽  
Michelle G. Newman

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Schuberth

The Kenyan state is currently under pressure from two sides: First, numerous non-state armed groups have taken over the provision of security in areas where the state is practically absent. Second, drug-trafficking organizations are gaining ground as the country is increasingly being used as a major transit hub for narcotics. This article investigates the relationship between drug trafficking and informal security provision in Kenya and draws analogies from comparable experiences in Latin America and West Africa. Field research in Kenya has demonstrated that profit-oriented, informal security actors in Mombasa work for drug lords, while their counterparts in Nairobi are more likely to be hired by politicians. Moreover, faith-based vigilante groups in both cities appear to be less susceptible to external manipulation by drug traffickers. The article concludes by considering the potential consequences of an expansion of the drug trade in Kenya.


PMLA ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 476-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Von Walter Dietze

The 176 verses (44 epigrams) of the Walpurgis Night's Dream in Faust, Part I, are structurally divided into three themes and contain elements of aesthetics, cognition theory, and social criticism. In the relationship between Walpurgis Night and Walpurgis Night's Dream, overlapping tendencies toward concrete characterization and abstract figure-allegories pave the way for that interrelation of the “big” and “small” world which is the basic principle of the artistic link between Faust, Part I, and Faust, Part XI. With polemical intentions, Goethe draws a series of types and characters which, as a body, must be understood in the sense of Hegel as an “abolition” of irony in romanticist comedies. In regard to tradition, borrowings from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night'sDream and The Tempest are combined with adaptations of Domenico Cimarosa and the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is the inherent unity of seriousness and levity, of the tragic and the comic, of constructive profoundness and slapstick in all these elements which give Walpurgis Night's Dream an important but up to now functionally underestimated place in the complete work of Faust. (In German)


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