In this chapter I return to the classics of bellicist theory to formalize their insights and derive concrete observational expectations for nineteenth-century Latin America. I first look at the work of Otto Hintze and Max Weber, who suggest a more holistic approach to the effects of war on the process of state formation which combines both pre-war and post-war phases in a single overarching theory. I then use the more modern concepts and logics of historical institutionalism to generate clearer predictions from their theories. I propose that, in a pre-war phase and when hostilities are taking place, mobilization will trigger taxation and repression—i.e., the extraction-coercion cycle. Yet, war outcomes will determine whether those contingent policies will become institutionalized after the critical juncture of war. While victory will consolidate a trajectory of state formation, defeat will render state institutions illegitimate and set losers into a path-dependent process of state weakening. Finally, I discuss actors and mechanisms specific to nineteenth-century Latin America and lay out the observational implications of my argument.

Why and how we age are deep and enduring questions. The quest for a theoretical framework explaining the evolutionary origins and proximate mechanisms of ageing has led to the elaboration of hundreds of theories of very diverse kinds. The aim of this chapter is twofold. First, it will provide an historical perspective of the numerous theories of ageing. Second, it will emphasize the need for a unified framework merging both evolutionary and mechanistic theories by demonstrating that such theoretical frameworks are required to promote innovative research projects involving the joint effort of multiple research disciplines.

The introductory chapter (Chapter 1) introduces the empirical and theoretical puzzles that motivate this project and presents a brief overview of the book as a whole. I present and motivate the empirical puzzle at the heart of the book and situate the reclassification reversal as a case of identity change and politicization. I then provide an overview of the central argument and mechanisms, and discuss alternative explanations tied to affirmative action and other prevailing explanations that do not adequately explain the puzzle. Next, I discuss the research design, methods, and positionality. I conclude the chapter with an outline of what is to come.

Chapter 3 details the argument to explain the reclassification reversal and elaborates the causal mechanisms. I begin by defining the concept of “political identity” as I use it throughout this work, distinguishing it from related concepts like social identity. I then argue that institutional change in national-level social policies brought about unprecedented access to education for lower-class citizens (who are likely candidates for reclassification) and show the evolution in educational access from the 1980s to the 2010s. At the individual level, greater education increased the exposure of individuals to racial hierarchies and inequalities, leading them to develop racialized political identities and choose blackness. I identify three main causal pathways: greater exposure to (1) information, (2) social contacts and networks, and (3) labor market experiences and discrimination. I conclude by summarizing the novelty of the hypothesis and the observable implications I test empirically in the chapters that follow.

Wars and genocides only bring desolation. Of course, we first think about the dramatic psychological consequences of those who survived extermination or those who have witnessed their families and friends being killed or mutilated. Psychological and neuroscience research have shown that surviving a psychological trauma leaves long-lasting imprints on individuals with notable life-long post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, which can also extend to the following generations. Importantly, the psychological disaster observed in the aftermath of a war or a genocide not only touches the victims, their relatives, or their descendants. It also has disastrous consequences on the mental health of the assailants. The chapter argues that in order to stop the cycle of conflicts, we must also understand how both victims and assailants are impacted at the psychological level by their respective experience, and how to help them overcome their demons and potential feelings of revenge. Taking care of their mental health is a step towards stopping cycles of conflict.

This chapter provides an overview of the antiviral drugs currently available, including maraviroc, aciclovir, penciclovir, ganciclovir, amantadine, zydovudine, adefovir, ribavirin, indinavir , oseltamivir, zanamivir, interferon alpha, rituximab , palivizumab, cidofovir, brincidofovir, foscarnet, remdesivir and paxlovid with an indication of their modes of action for treating virus infections, including HIV, herpes viruses, respiratory viruses, HBV, HCV, CMV, adenoviruses , BK, EBV (especially for PTLD), RSV, poxviruses and SARS-CoV-2.

The chapter describes the history, mechanisms and phases of drug treatment of antipsychotics including at-risk mental states (ARMS), first-episode psychosis (FEP), maintenance, treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) and ultra-resistant psychosis. Specific treatments of schizoaffective disorder, catatonia and affective comorbidities of psychosis target negative symptoms and cognition. Rapid tranquilisation is described: general principles, de-escalation, routes of administration and medication selection. Management of organic psychotic disorders is discussed: general principles and specific conditions, epilepsy, Huntington’s, stroke, drug-induced, autoimmune encephalitis, inflammatory, CNS infections, thyroid disorders and traumatic brain injury. Side effects are elaborated: somnolence and sedation; hyperprolactinaemia and sexual dysfunction; motor, cardiac, metabolic and anticholinergic side effects; and also diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance and clozapine-specific side effects. Finally, potential drug interactions are explored.

This book explores some implications of studying international relations from a systemic perspective. This chapter takes on the preliminary tasks of defining systems, identifying distinctive characteristics of systemic explanations, and situating systems approaches in a broader context of relational framings. A system is a bounded set of components of particular types, arranged in definite ways, operating in a specific fashion to produce characteristic outcomes, some of which are emergent. The arrangement and operation of the components produce “emergent” “systems effects;” properties and outcomes that cannot be fully understood through knowledge of the parts considered separately. I emphasize the relational character of systemic explanations and their reliance on mechanisms and processes, in order to foster developing a relational processual systemic perspective within a pluralistic IR.

Multilevel multicomponent complex adaptive systems are not reducible to the sum of the causal effects of independent variables. Causal inference, which has a privileged place in contemporary IR (and many other social sciences) cannot address systems effects, which arise from interdependent elements and operations (not the impact of independent variables on dependent variables). Systems effects explanations explain why by showing how. They identify mechanisms and processes of causation. They thus are able to establish causal efficacy; that is, show how processes produce – actually cause – outcomes (rather than merely identify some elements that are part of an unspecified causal process). Such an understanding leads us away from a “laws and theories” conception of science, which remains popular in Physics and Chemistry, towards a “models and mechanisms” understanding, which predominates in the life sciences (which, on their face, seem a much better model for the social sciences).

The Introduction recounts the main aspects of the recent revival of the mechanical philosophy and outlines the main theses of the book (i.e., Causal Mechanism and Methodological Mechanism). It presents briefly the case for understanding mechanism as a methodological concept, introduces the main concepts and distinctions that will be discussed in the book, provides an outline of the central arguments and presents a summary of the chapters.