La escritura de la Historia y el optimismo humanista

Desde el incautamente profetizado final de la historia en 1989, y aun desde dos décadas antes, la historiografía ha sufrido los embates de la ola de irracionalismo, del declive de las ideologías y del resurgimiento de los fundamentalismos religiosos que acompañan a la actual aceleración de la historia, a resultas de lo cual se ha cuestionado también la función social del historiador. Frente a esas incertidumbres, que no son nuevas, el autor propone, en la línea de otros historiadores del siglo pasado y del presente, alternativas basadas en una reforma audaz de la enseñanza de la historia en la Universidad y una mayor atención a la divulgación del saber histórico que en ella se produce, sin dejar de ser consciente de las rutinas institucionales y los comportamientos sociales que las obstaculizan. Con todo, y desde la convicción marxista de que las sociedades son capaces de cambiar, el autor coincide con quienes consideran que el conocimiento de la historia es un instrumento insustituible para comprender y pensar el mundo y para afrontar el futuro con el optimismo humanista que acompañó a otros historiadores y pensadores dentro y fuera del marxismo.Ever since the end of History was carelessly prophesied in 1989 -and even a couple of decades before that- historiography has been under attack as a result of the wave of irrationalism, the decline of ideologies and the rise of religious fundamentalisms which underpin the current feeling of historical acceleration. The outcome of it all has been the questioning of the social role played by historians. In the face of such (otherwise not quite new) uncertainties, and in line with similar proposals made by historians in the last and in the present centuries, the author of this paper suggests alternatives based on a radical reform of the way in which History is taught in universities and a greater emphasis on the dissemination of historical learning produced in such institutions: all of which while remaining aware of the significance of institutional routines and of social patterns of conduct which may stand in the way of changes. Even so, and sharing the Marxist belief in societies' potential for change, the author agrees with those who believe that historical knowledge is an indispensable instrument in order to understand and 'think' the world, as well as to face the future with such humanistic optimism as inspired in the past the work of other historians and thinkers, both Marxist and non-Marxist

La oligarquía municipal de Granada en los albores del dominio castellano

Granada's Town Council did not become fully established until almost nine years after the Castilian conquest of the city and shortly after the conversion forced by the monarchs immediately after their crushing of the Moorish revolt in 1499. Since the fall of 1500, the municipal institution became the crucible for the encounter between the "cristianoviejos" (old Christians) and the Moorish elites. The merger of these two sectors took place, nevertheless, in the context of interoligarchic rivalries which became particularly tense from 1508 onwards. This context was marked by a división into factions and the strong political patronage led by the second count of Tendilla and the Gran Capitán until 1515. The study of these clashes is addressed in the last three sections of this paper. The first two are devoted to the analysis of the social profiles of the early municipal leaders of Granada together with the material bases that enabled their access to power at the time.El Ayuntamiento de Granada no se constituyó de manera definitiva hasta casi nueve años después de que se produjera la conquista castellana de la ciudad y al poco de la conversión forzosa que fue dictada por los reyes tras sofocar la revuelta mudéjar de 1499. A partir del otoño de 1500, la institución municipal fue el crisol en el que se fundieron las élites morisca y cristianovieja. Pero esa fusión se produjo en un contexto de rivalidades intraoligár-quicas, que fueron especialmente tensas a partir de 1508, en un contexto dominado por la actuación de bandos y clientelas políticas que, hasta 1515, estuvieron capitaneadas por el segundo conde de Tendilla y el Gran Capitán. El estudio de esos enfrentamientos se aborda en el último de los tres apartados de este trabajo. Los dos primeros se dedican al conocimiento de los perfiles sociales, las bases materiales y las formas en que accedieron al poder los primeros dirigentes municipales granadinos

The 1987 Mexican Disinflation Program: An Exchange-rate-based Stabilization?

We examine whether Mexico’s disinflation experience during 1987-94 fits the widely accepted set of stylized facts of exchange-ratebased stabilization (ERBS) on inflation, the boom-recession business cycle, and the external sector. A cursory look at Mexican data shows that the experience fits quite closely the stylized facts of ERBS. However, the paper shows that there were some important differences and peculiarities of the Mexican case that deserve further study, especially regarding the role of the nominal anchor and the nature of the business cycle.stabilization, disinflation, business cycle, nominal anchor

Bienes urbanos de la Orden de Santiago en Andalucía: la Encomienda de las Casas de Córdoba (siglos XIII - XVI)

Sin resume

Spitzer/IRS Mapping of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies

We present results of our program Spitzer/IRS Mapping of local Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs). The maps cover the central 20"x20" or 30"x 30" regions of the galaxies, and use all four IRS modules to cover the full 5-38 microns spectral range. We have built spectral maps of the main mid-IR emission lines, continuum and PAH features, and extracted 1D spectra for regions of interest in each galaxy. The final goal is to fully characterize the mid-IR properties of local LIRGs as a first step to understanding their more distant counterparts.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. To appear in "Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics V", Proceedings of the VIII Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA) held in Santander, 7-11 July, 200