Let k be a perfect field of characteristic p and let W(k) be its ring of Witt vectors. We construct an equivalence of categories between the full subcategory of the derived category of quasi-coherent sheaves on the syntomification of W(k) spanned by objects whose Hodge–Tate weights are between $[0,p-2]$ and an appropriate derived category of Fontaine–Laffaille modules.

Ameliorative approaches to gender propose ways of defining gender terms which are intended to be trans-inclusive. In this article, I discuss two such proposals and find them wanting. I suggest a new ameliorative definition which aims to improve on those already in the literature.

Despite their significant influence on the development trajectories of recipient nations, we know little about the lending strategies of international financial institutions (IFIs) dominated by authoritarian regimes. In this paper, we provide new evidence that autocratic IFIs are not merely neutral economic actors. Our findings suggest that these institutions provide financial support to authoritarian governments facing acute threats to their survival. We introduce an original data set tracking the lending behavior of eighteen autocratic IFIs across 143 recipient countries from 1967 to 2021. Our findings uncover that aid flows from autocratic IFIs increase precisely when authoritarian regimes are most vulnerable. By situating these insights within the broader aid allocation literature, we provide a fresh perspective on the political calculus of international development lending, with profound implications for understanding global power dynamics.

Cyborgs challenge traditional definitions of life by integrating biological and technological components. Drawing from Gaia theory, post-humanism and Actor-Network Theory, this article argues that life should be redefined as adaptive and relational rather than strictly biological. Cyborgs exhibit autonomy, evolution and self-organization, resembling living systems within Gaia’s self-regulatory processes. By blurring the artificial–natural divide, they compel us to rethink identity, agency and evolution, ultimately expanding our understanding of what it means to be alive in a post-human era.

This article explores the impact of mobile phones on entertainment practices and electoral communication among pastoral communities following constitutional reform in Kenya in 2010. It examines the digital dissemination of music files among Samburu mobile herders, emphasizing the role of communication technology in shaping political identities and ideologies. Specifically, this analysis considers how the two main contenders for the governorship of Samburu County in the 2022 elections engaged with the content-exchange networks generated by the digital circulation of raid songs among pastoralists. The recording and dissemination of these repertoires via mobile phones fostered new patterns of interaction and entertainment, which in turn provided channels through which election songs could circulate in rural areas. By mobilizing these songs, candidates sought to project a more authentically pastoral identity, thereby appealing to rural voters. The analysis presented here unveils a consolidating form of rural populism grounded in pastoral political categories, institutional decentralization and the use of digital technologies. It situates mobile herding societies within larger global trends of digitally mediated politics and new forms of consensus building, shedding light on the changing foundations of Kenyan democracy.

This article argues for the importance of public understanding of the nature of science, and considers what might be taught in schools to promote this.

The study of legal change at local levels in this forum opens new windows onto the legal landscape, especially because they explore ground-level legal change that reveals far more innovative and incremental shifts in law and legal understanding than is visible at higher altitudes.

Judith Jarvis Thomson, in ‘A Defense of Abortion’, uses ingenious analogies and thought experiments to defend her conclusion that there are cases in which abortion is morally permissible: (1) the foetus is a threat to the mother’s life, (2) the foetus is a product of rape, and (3) where efforts have been made to prevent pregnancy via contraception. Whilst Thomson is right that abortion should be morally permissible in some cases, she is unsuccessful in defending such a conclusion. In this article, I argue that abortion should be morally permissible in cases (1) and (2) as external circumstances (medical conditions or wrongdoers) have intervened and overruled the rational will of the woman. However, abortion should not be morally permissible in case (3) as there is no such factor in the case of failed birth control (assuming that all goes normally and according to plan).