Significant thicknesses, a large number of paleosols, and an impressive chronological framework place the loess–paleosol series of the Afghan-Tajik depression on a par with the famous sections of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Based on the results of field stratigraphy, description of the macro- and micromorphological structure, field magnetic susceptibility measurements, and study of the chemical and grain-size compositions, a comprehensive characterization of the structure, properties, and formation conditions of paleosol horizons and loess layers was carried out. Three loess units and two pedocomplexes are distinguished in the late and upper middle Pleistocene deposits of the Obi-Mazar section. These sediments are characterized by high silt and carbonate content and the presence of loess with pedogenic features. Pedocomplex PC1, consisting of three paleosols, according to the stratigraphic position and absolute dating, corresponds to MIS 5. Pedocomplex PC2, consisting of two developed paleosols separated by loess, is correlated with MIS 7. The properties of the studied paleosols together with modern soil distribution in the region allow for the reconstruction of the soil type of PC1 and PC2 of the Obi-Mazar section with the genesis of the Calcisols–Kastanozems groups.

Continental-scale patterns of morphological and biological change represent broad time- and spatially averaged interpretations. Conversely, regionally focused studies of morphological variability offer an opportunity to consider patterns of biological change at more refined spatial scales, where nuanced histories may be identified. That approach is particularly applicable for areas known to have dynamic biogeographic and glacial landscapes (e.g., western Canada). We studied proboscideans from Alberta, Canada, an area thought to represent a zone of sympatry between extinct forms of mammoth (i.e., Mammuthus columbi, Mammuthus primigenius) in order to test existing taxonomic hypotheses and chronologically contextualize the regional record of mammoths through the Late Pleistocene. Morphometric analysis of sixth molars of mammoths from Alberta (n = 17) support identification of three distinct morphologies that we assign to M. columbi, M. primigenius, and intermediates of those taxa. The presence of intermediate forms is perhaps unsurprising, given both the recognition of hybridization in M. columbi and M. primigenius and the previously documented occurrence of both taxa in Alberta. Some records of M. columbi may document a broader northern geographic incursion for that taxon than previously recognized, but could also represent a much deeper time component to the history of Mammuthus in Alberta (i.e., Mammuthus trogontherii).

As historic drought conditions become more common in western North America, Late Quaternary hydroclimate records become vital for putting present anthropogenic conditions into a longer-term context. Here, we establish a high-resolution record of drought for the eastern Sierra Nevada (California) using lacustrine carbonates from well-dated sediment cores. We used oxygen and carbon stable-isotope ratios, combined with high-resolution scanning X-ray fluorescence counts of calcium (Ca) and titanium (Ti), to reconstruct the drought record over the last 4600 years in June Lake. We found elevated δ18O and δ13C carbonate isotope values coinciding with peaks in both total inorganic carbon and Ca/Ti, suggesting enhanced carbonate precipitation in response to evaporative concentration of lake water. At least six intervals of prolonged (centennial-scale) carbonate deposition were identified, including three pulses during the Late Holocene Dry Period (LHDP; ~3500–2000 cal yr BP), the Medieval Climate Anomaly (~1200–800 cal yr BP), and the Current Warm Period, which began around 100 cal yr BP. This record highlights the complexities of the LHDP, an interval that was more variable at June Lake than has been previously described in regional records.

The cause of megafauna extinction in South America remains clouded in controversy, since it took place at a time of intense climate change and almost at the same time as the initial human influx into the continent. In this paper, we aimed to assess the effects of climate change on open vegetation habitats and, consequently, on megafauna extinction in South America by using a species distribution model, fossil records, and paleoclimatic projections. In addition, we evaluated the effects of climatic variables on the distribution of suitable habitats across South America. Our results demonstrated alternating intervals of expansion and contraction of suitable areas for megafauna persistence, mainly in response to lower and higher precipitation, in the last 21 ka in all regions of South America. However, the amplitude of this oscillation was more significant in the Brazilian Northeast. In the Andean and Chaco–Pampas regions, greater precipitation stability resulted in greater stability in habitat suitability; therefore, for these regions, other factors must have predominated for the extinction of the megafauna. We therefore concluded that in the Andean and Chaco–Pampas regions, climate change was not solely responsible for the disappearance of megafauna, but in the Brazilian Northeast, it may have been decisive.

Lake sediment provides a valuable record of past environmental change. However, the controls on sedimentation in proglacial lakes and their relation to glacier retreat remain poorly understood. In this study we analyze glaciolacustrine sediment production and deposition in Canal de los Témpanos, Lago Argentino, Argentine Patagonia. We associate temporal changes in the sedimentologic and geochemical characteristics analyzed from Lago Argentino cores with Late Holocene fluctuations of the Perito Moreno and Ameghino glaciers. We show that the dominant sediment source at our study site switched from Ameghino to Perito Moreno Glacier after the recession of Ameghino Glacier and the formation of the marginal ice-contact lake into which it currently calves. Spectacular ice-dam rupture events generated by Perito Moreno Glacier redistribute large volumes of water through the lake system but do not leave a significant sedimentary signature. Our results demonstrate that a detailed analysis of sedimentologic, petrophysical, and geochemical changes in lake cores can provide insight into regional glacial dynamics and sedimentary processes even in complex systems with multiple competing glacial sources and that changing glacier geometries during retreat can provide insights into the provenience of the sediments.

In this article, I argue that Sérgio Buarque de Holanda’s sociohistorical analyses of the formation of Brazilian society in Raízes do Brasil are based on a non-sociohistorical assumption. Holanda prioritizes the influence of the Portuguese colonizer on that formation based on a determinist-organicist standpoint. Although he also attributes deleterious traits to the Portuguese, he describes them as endowed with a consistent character able to adjust to adverse natural conditions and other ethnicities. As for African and Indigenous peoples, conversely, besides deprecating their temperament, Holanda reduces their influence to a peripheral and reinforcing function to the Portuguese temperament. Furthermore, he attributes the leading role in shaping Brazilian identity to the Portuguese. As I demonstrate, Holanda’s overvaluation of the Portuguese and his oversimplification of African and Indigenous peoples’ contribution to the sociohistorical development of Brazil reflect his view of peoples’ identities as naturally given, as organic-like features, and not as socially constructed.

En este artículo, estudiamos qué factores individuales y contextuales explican la confianza en los sindicatos latinoamericanos. Utilizando datos de Latinobarómetro (2018–2020), mostramos que la confianza en los sindicatos es mayor entre personas de clase trabajadora y clase media asalariada, así como entre quienes se identifican con la izquierda y confían más en las instituciones políticas. A nivel contextual, la confianza es mayor en países neo-desarrollistas (por ejemplo, Brasil y Uruguay) y menor en países capitalistas tercerizados (por ejemplo, México y países centroamericanos). Contrario a nuestra hipótesis, también encontramos que la confianza en los sindicatos es alta en Chile (un país liberal-rentista con sindicatos débiles) y baja en algunos países redistributivo-rentistas (Venezuela) y neo-desarrollistas (Argentina). Para explicar estos resultados, analizamos cómo la confianza en los sindicatos depende de aspectos contextuales como la informalidad laboral, el desempleo, la inflación, el poder de los partidos de izquierda y el nivel de movilización social.

Este artículo analiza la importancia de los movimientos sociales rurales en los procesos de transición de la agricultura convencional hacia prácticas agro-sostenibles. A la luz del concepto de decrecimiento, a través de un análisis comparativo entre cuatro unidades rurales (campamento/asentamientos) con y sin presencia del Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra (MST) en el Gran São Paulo, la investigación reflexiona sobre la presencia de elementos esenciales para los procesos de transición agroecológica en estas comunidades, explorando los datos históricos y constitutivos de las prácticas sociales agrícolas que allí se implementan. Identificando la importancia de los procesos de formación política y técnica, como base para las acciones emprendidas por el MST en el campo de la sostenibilidad, este trabajo analiza la experiencia de los campamentos del Movimiento como loci que forman los sujetos sin tierra, capaces de emprender acciones agro-sostenibles. El presente artículo concluye con reflexiones sobre la relevancia de las teorías del decrecimiento para analizar los procesos de transición agroecológica, así como sobre las medidas educativas ambientales como elementos fundamentales de las políticas públicas destinadas a la construcción de sociedades más igualitarias, autónomas, inclusivas y sostenibles.

The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) were one of the most important mass organizations in revolutionary Cuba. During the 1960s, the CDR developed a slew of actions among the Cuban masses, organizing cultural, political, and economic activities that shaped the revolutionary process from below. Through their work, the CDR gave meaning to their own idea of Cuban socialism. In the context of revolutionary upheaval, they were born as mass organizations to organize political surveillance against counterrevolutionary enemies. But the CDR also deployed productive power that sought to improve the lives of fellow Cubans. Organizing workers to solve local problems helped to reimagine the purpose of labor as a resource for public utility. For moments, the CDR even became the state. This article highlights the crucial role of the CDR members in the revolutionary process and their impact on the everyday lives of Cuban people.

This essay reviews the following works:

Los sistemas de pensiones en la encrucijada: Desafíos para la sostenibilidad en América Latina. By Alberto Arenas de Mesa. Santiago: CEPAL, 2019. Pp. 315. Open access.

Power, Alliances, and Redistribution: The Politics of Social Protection for Low-income Earners in Argentina, 1943–2015. By Carl Freidrich Bossert. Berlin: Budrich Academic Press, Opladen, 2021. Pp. 373. Open access.

El porvenir de la vejez: Demografía, empleo y ahorro. By María Amparo Cruz Saco, Bruno Seminario, Favio Leiva, Carla Moreno, and María Alejandra Zegarra. Lima: Universidad del Pacífico, 2021. Pp. 430. S/.52.00 paperback, S/.28.00 ebook.

La desestructuración del sistema peruano de pensiones. By María Amparo Cruz-Saco, Bruno Seminario, Favio Leiva, Carla Moreno, María Alejandra Zegarra. Lima: Universidad del Pacífico, 2020. Pp. 96.

Welfare and Social Protection in Contemporary Latin America. Edited By Gibrán Cruz-Martínez. New York: Routledge, 2019. Pp. 254. $47.65 e-book.

Pensiones de capitalización individual en América Latina: Efectos, reformas, impacto del COVID-19 y propuestas de política. By Carmelo Mesa-Lago. Santiago: CEPAL, 2022. Pp. 104. Open access.

The preponderance and influence of the public sector in the financial system have long been a defining characteristic of Brazilian capitalism. While exerting control over the national credit system through targeted lending policies and other regulatory tools, the federal government also wields significant weight through its state-owned institutions. This article delves into the role of Banco do Brasil (BB), a prominent financial institution and policymaking instrument of the Brazilian government, during the zenith of the developmental state between 1964 and 1982. In contrast to the prevailing focus on financing public spending, this study investigates the international engagements of BB and unveils its participation in managing the country’s external imbalances. BB’s financing proved crucial in bypassing the IMF and reinforcing the government’s commitment to industrialization and developmentalism. The article offers new insights into the forces of Brazil’s state-led finance and the political economy shaping its current banking and regulatory landscape.

An understanding of the growth and demise of ice sheets over North America is essential to inform future climate models. One poorly studied subject is the glacial dynamics during interstadial Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (57–29 ka). To better constrain the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during this time period, we re-examined a stratigraphic sequence in southeast Manitoba, Canada, and provide robust evidence for advance and retreat of ice. Around 46.6 ± 5.1 ka (1σ error), fluvial sands were deposited under similar precipitation and significantly cooler summer temperatures than present-day. Ice then advanced south over the area, before retreating once again and a return to boreal forest and grassland conditions. The area was then covered by proglacial Lake Vita, dammed by ice to the north. Geochronology constraints indicate Lake Vita existed from ca. 44.3 ± 3.6 to 30.4 ± 2.3 ka (1σ error), although gaps in the optical and finite radiocarbon ages suggest either a lack of data or plausible temporary ice-margin advances during this time period. Ice covering most of Manitoba during MIS 3 is in line with global δ18O records, and glacially influenced sediment deposition in the Mississippi River basin.