This essay argues that understanding Black philanthropic histories recasts Black people from being mere recipients to donors. This recasting demonstrates how and where Black people resisted racism, sought transformation of themselves and society, and took approaches that were not always liberatory and transformational in their giving. This essay fills a gap in the literature on the politics of philanthropy which, to date, has omitted a direct focus on Black philanthropists. By focusing on the philanthropic traditions of Black people, the myth of Black people being only recipients is dismantled. The argument proceeds in three steps. First, I provide a definition of Black philanthropy. This definition reveals that Black philanthropy historically has been viewed as expansive and shaped by the conditions Black people faced. Second, I examine select examples of Black philanthropy through the framework offered by the expansive definition. Third, I review current Black philanthropists and offer pathways for a future research agenda.

US control over the Panama Canal symbolised Washington’s dominance in Latin America. The Torrijos–Carter Treaties of 1977, concluding years of negotiations, marked a turning point by transferring control over the Canal to Panama. This work focuses on the crucial May 1977 round of negotiations, a pivotal yet underexplored period, whose outcome laid the foundation for the treaties, addressing key issues such as control over the Canal Zone and the neutrality of the Canal. This study addresses gaps in the existing literature through newly available archival sources, offering a more detailed understanding of the negotiations that shaped the future of the Panama Canal.

Statins are effective drugs for lowering hypercholesterolemia and preventing cardiovascular diseases. They can cause various side effects, in particular statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS) associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and micronutrient depletion. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the efficacy of a supplementation with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) against SAMS in statin-treated patients. A systematic literature search was performed in Medline and Cochrane Library in August 2024. Studies were selected for a meta-analysis according to the following criteria: randomised controlled trials (RCTs), adults taking statins (any type and dose), supplementation of CoQ10, a comparable control group, and muscle pain as outcome criterion. Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used for bias assessment. Seven RCTs with 389 patients in total were included in this meta-analysis. The selected studies included 35 to 76 patients and had a duration ranging from 30 to 90 days with CoQ10 dosages ranging from 100 to 600 mg per day. Results show a significant reduction of SAMS in four trials and no significant change in three trials. Overall, a significant reduction in SAMS, measured as pain intensity, after CoQ10 supplementation was found: weighted mean difference (WMD) −0.96 (95% Confidence Interval −1.88; −0.03), p < 0.05. Supplementation of CoQ10 can reduce muscle pain in patients with SAMS, which is relevant for their well-being and treatment continuation. More research is needed for evidence-based recommendations.

This article examines the politics of restitution within the Black Atlantic through the case of the Restitution Study Group’s legal challenge to the Smithsonian Institution’s return of Benin bronzes to Nigeria. While most scholarship frames restitution as a struggle between Western museums and postcolonial states, this article shifts the lens to intra-Black debates that complicate inherited frameworks of return, foregrounding the unresolved legacies of slavery and the claims of Black American and broader diasporic communities. At the same time, it situates these debates within the larger global landscape in which Western institutions and nation-states continue to define the terms and tempo of restitution. By challenging the assumption that restitution is solely a matter between source nations and former colonial powers, the Restitution Study Group brings attention to how African elites’ historical participation in the transatlantic slave trade and the ongoing marginalization of diaspora communities shape contemporary claims. The article also places these interventions alongside disputes within Nigeria over custodianship between the federal government, Edo State, and the Benin royal court. By tracing these overlapping histories, ethical claims, and political stakes, the article argues that returns of looted artifacts are not simply acts of restitution, but processes of decolonial repair that reconfigure authority, belonging, and historical responsibility across diasporic and national contexts.

This article argues that environmental justice extends beyond planning and decision-making to include enforcement as a critical, yet often overlooked, dimension. It advances the claim that incorporating environmental justice into enforcement law and policy is essential for addressing structural inequalities and promoting accountability in environmental governance. The primary objective of the article is to identify environmental justice guidelines embedded in enforcement frameworks, with the aim of strengthening the role of justice in regulatory practice and enhancing the equity and effectiveness of enforcement outcomes. The analysis focuses on three enforcement tools that reflect a flexible and responsive approach: (i) the United States’ Supplemental Environmental Projects, (ii) the United Kingdom’s Environmental Enforcement Undertakings, and (iii) Chile’s Compliance Programmes. The article draws on three sources of data: case studies, the environmental justice guidelines applicable to them, and the existing state of enforcement. It begins by examining the regulatory design of enforcement systems in the three jurisdictions; it then analyzes each tool to identify how environmental justice dimensions are integrated – or could be integrated – into their design and implementation. Finally, it assesses the practical application of these instruments, arguing that the deliberate incorporation of environmental justice considerations can improve the responsiveness, transparency, and legitimacy of enforcement mechanisms, which ultimately benefits both the environment and affected communities.

This article examines the food culture of the Iranian diaspora in the United States to emphasize how politics intruded on the lives of Iranians (rather than the ways in which Iranians engaged in political activism). The immigrant experience is defined by an effort to assimilate, dissimulate, and exert one's unique character onto the landscape of a host society. In the United States, Iranians struggled with competing impulses, which presented unique challenges in the food industry. In an effort to formulate and offer an “authentic” dining experience against the backdrop of an alternatively hostile and orientalizing Anglo-American clientele, Iranians nimbly accommodated both the political pressures from Iran and the transforming demographics of their restaurant patrons and cookbook readers.

A major challenge for contemporary legal constitutionalism is a crisis of public ethics that manifests in the lack of mutual toleration and institutional forbearance towards the judiciary. To showcase the importance of these norms in the relationship among co-equal branches of government, I focus on three cases, one where these norms have been present—South Africa—one where they have been absent—Mexico—and one case in between—United States. Until this crisis is addressed, the authority of apex courts will continue to be under threat. The Article suggests that a starting point to address the public ethics deficit may lie in shifting comparative constitutional law scholarly attention to the political sphere.

The Secretary of the US Department of Health & Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr is leading a political agenda against vaccination. This is undermining the delivery of life-saving vaccination programmes and provision of evidence-based information on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for the public and health professionals. Inconsistent and conflicting messaging between health practitioners and government health agencies erodes trust in public health programmes, creating a vacuum which is often filled with mis/disinformation that presents severe consequences for families. Due to the transnational spread of diseases, we consider the implications of events in the US for routine childhood vaccination programmes in the UK. Public health agencies across the world need to be ‘Kennedy ready’; pragmatic steps must be taken to mitigate threats posed to vaccine confidence and the control of vaccine preventable diseases.

While often described as a unified process imposed by external actors on weak, conflict-ridden countries, international state building increasingly comprises a variety of actors involved in different ways in (re)building a diverse set of institutions. Civilian preferences are often excluded from this fragmented environment. We identify and explicate three dimensions along which postconflict state building meaningfully varies: the actor involved, the type of institution targeted, and the form of involvement. We then examine how variation along each dimension impacts civilians’ state-building preferences with two rounds of original survey experiments fielded in Liberia. We find that Liberians largely prefer state-building processes overseen by a subset of international actors; that they prefer state building focused on security-oriented institutions over non-security-oriented institutions; and that different forms of involvement in the process meaningfully influence their preferences. We also find that these preferences depend on civilians’ characteristics. Ultimately, we provide an initial, conceptual mapping of the diversified landscape of international state building, as well as an empirical “unpacking” of the conditions that may shape civilians’ preferences toward the process.