Showing papers in "Latin American Perspectives in 2010"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the role of the fiesta in strengthening migrants' ties to the networks they draw on to migrate and adapt to their new settings in the United States.
Abstract: Exploration of the migration history of the community of Cabanaconde, in Peru’s southern highlands, and the impact of transnational migration on the fiesta system calls attention to the role of the fiesta in strengthening migrants’ ties to the networks they draw on to migrate and adapt to their new settings in the United States. It also suggests that the transnationalization of the fiesta contributes to an emerging division of villagers into those who have access to migrant networks and those who do not. By serving as a public showcase for Cabanenos’ positions in migrant networks, the fiesta not only intensifies economic and social divisions within the community but also underpins the exclusiveness of those networks and reminds them and their fellow villagers of their new social status as both transnational villagers and global cosmopolitans.
148 citations
TL;DR: The Bolivian state has attempted to exercise greater control over its numbness by moving from a neoliberal ideological testing ground to part of the purported new wave of Latin American socialism.
Abstract: Moving from a neoliberal ideological testing ground to part of the purported new wave of Latin American socialism, the current Bolivian state has attempted to exercise greater control over its numb...
108 citations
TL;DR: A comparison of the strategies of Morales and Garcia Linera illuminates the productive tensions of different approaches to dealing with the violent counter-revolution from the eastern lowlands as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: At his 2006 inauguration, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales claimed a lineage that included Andean indigenous insurrectional struggles, Simon Bolivar’s nationalism, and Che Guevara’s socialism. He and his MAS party have been attempting to articulate three very different lines of struggle, focusing on indigenous rights, economic justice, and popular democracy. They mediate these contradictions by adopting a core agenda that might be called “indigenous nationalism.” Comparison of the strategies of Morales and Vice President Garcia Linera illuminates the productive tensions of different approaches to dealing with the violent counterrevolution from the eastern lowlands. Despite having to confront serious obstacles and multiple critiques, this “unstable confederation” appears to be holding, allowing the government to continue on its path to long-term change refounding the nation and decolonizing society.
103 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a comparison of responses to the post-1999 coffee crisis of three smallholder cooperatives participating in Fair Trade and conventional commodity networks suggests that agrarian-reform histories, gender relations, and bottom-up organizing practices influenced members' sense of empowerment.
Abstract: Comparison of responses to the post-1999 coffee crisis of three smallholder cooperatives participating in Fair Trade and conventional commodity networks suggests that agrarian-reform histories, gender relations, and bottom-up organizing practices influenced members’ sense of empowerment. Although most small-scale farmers suffered a decline in their sense of empowerment, the Fair Trade cooperatives found opportunity in the midst of the crisis. In addition to documenting North-South inequalities, this research reveals the uneven gender relationships within producer cooperatives, finds the lowest empowerment levels in a cooperative connected only with conventional coffee trade networks, and chronicles the achievements of a women’s Fair Trade cooperative.
90 citations
TL;DR: When the indigenous coca grower Evo Morales was elected president in Bolivia in 2005, he promised to fundamentally change 25 years of the U.S.-funded and dictated “drug war.” The new policy values...
Abstract: When the indigenous coca grower Evo Morales was elected president in Bolivia in 2005, he promised to fundamentally change 25 years of the U.S.-funded and dictated “drug war.” The new policy values ...
77 citations
TL;DR: Examination of the way migrants manage their responsibilities to dependent kin in Peru reveals that child fostering makes it possible for adults to migrate in search of better work opportunities by ensuring care for their children and company for their older relatives.
Abstract: Migration from Peru has increased dramatically over the past decade, but the social and relational repercussions of these transnational movements have not yet been fully explored Examination of the way migrants manage their responsibilities to dependent kin in Peru reveals that child fostering makes it possible for adults to migrate in search of better work opportunities by ensuring care for their children and company for their older relatives For Peruvians engaging in labor migration, child fostering tempers some of the challenges of continuing to participate in established social networks from a distance
68 citations
TL;DR: A focus on transformations in social property relations and engagement with historical sociological debates on modern state formation can contribute to an understanding of the social origins of the transition to capitalism in Mexico as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A focus on transformations in social property relations and engagement with historical sociological debates on modern state formation can contribute to an understanding of the social origins of the transition to capitalism in Mexico. The basis for capitalist production there was created by primitive accumulation under the conditions of uneven and combined development. This situation can be understood as a “passive revolution” based on state intervention and mass mobilization from below that shaped capital accumulation and political modernization, resulting in a form of capitalism consistent with authoritarian and hegemonic influence.
66 citations
TL;DR: Ovo Morales assumed office in January 2006 with a resounding mandate from marginalized indigenous peoples to reinitiate Bolivia as discussed by the authors, after five hundred years of colonial and republican rule, combined with 20 y...
Abstract: Evo Morales assumed office in January 2006 with a resounding mandate from marginalized indigenous peoples to reinvent Bolivia. Five hundred years of colonial and republican rule, combined with 20 y...
65 citations
TL;DR: The MAS, rather than responding to these concerns, is attempting to balance indigenous demands with those of the dominant and still powerful landowning class in a new configuration of the state as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The indigenous social movements that propelled Evo Morales and the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement Toward Socialism—MAS) into power in Bolivia questioned the legitimacy of the nation-state, its territorial configuration, and its system of political representation The MAS, rather than responding to these concerns, is attempting to balance indigenous demands with those of the dominant and still powerful landowning class in a new configuration of the state As part of this process indigenous leaders have been co-opted into municipal administration, which has subordinated their organizations to the state and the established system of party politics The constituent assembly that created the constitution adopted in 2009 failed to democratize property and control over natural resources as indigenous peoples have been demanding since 2000
62 citations
TL;DR: The Bolivian constitution ratified in January 2009 has been hailed as a watershed in the effort to empower the indigenous majority as discussed by the authors, however, in addition to an entrenched political opposition in the lowland half of the country, some observers have pointed to the constitution's "Aymara-centric" character, suggesting that it has left some people unrecognized and unrepresented.
Abstract: The Bolivian constitution ratified in January 2009 has been hailed as a watershed in the effort to empower the indigenous majority. However, in addition to an entrenched political opposition in the lowland half of the country, some observers have pointed to the constitution’s “Aymara-centric” character, suggesting that it has left some people unrecognized and unrepresented. Examination of associational life in the urban provincial capital of Quillacollo, where what it means to be indigenous is quite different from that which the constitution valorizes and confirms, helps of clarify the challenges of multicultural or plurinational legal reforms based upon cultural citizenship. A central challenge is that of transcending a conception of legal rights and claims inhering in citizenship as mutually exclusively either individual or collective.
58 citations
TL;DR: A balance sheet of the 10 years of Chavismo in power refutes both the opposition's demonization of it and the rosy depiction of it in the official media as discussed by the authors, showing that while the Chavez government incorporated massive numbers of the formerly marginalized into the decision-making process, diversified technological and commercial ties, and asserted greater national control in the economic sphere, it has failed to substantially boost production in spite of a windfall in oil revenue and has moved very slowly toward institutionalization.
Abstract: A balance sheet of the 10 years of Chavismo in power refutes both the opposition’s demonization of it and the rosy depiction of it in the official media. Viewed objectively, the Venezuelan experience coincides with the historical tendency for socialist nations to score high on the social front and show weakness with regard to the stimulation of production of consumer goods. While the Chavez government has incorporated massive numbers of the formerly marginalized into the decision-making process, diversified technological and commercial ties, and asserted greater national control in the economic sphere, it has failed to substantially boost production in spite of a windfall in oil revenue and has moved very slowly toward institutionalization. Judged by liberal standards, Venezuelan democracy is deficient on a number of counts, but in terms of the standards associated with radical democracy (emphasizing majority rule and the participation of the popular sectors of the population) it fares much better.
TL;DR: The challenges and risks inherent in what at heart may be a struggle between cultural and political factions and ideologies among the government's public health authorities and planners are emblematic of many paradoxes in the effort to decolonize the Bolivian state as a whole.
Abstract: In one of the most traditionally hierarchical and “colonial” of the Bolivian state apparatuses, the official health sector, attempts since 2006 by Evo Morales and the MAS government at radical restructuring have proved innovative but inconclusive and divisive. Reflecting a series of conflicts and contradictions, a number of often fundamentally competing scenarios are at work: the institutionalization of traditional medicine, the reinterpretation of previous primary health care and community participation models, social and “socialized” medicine, and the durability of a deeply ingrained vertical health system. The challenges and risks inherent in what at heart may be a struggle between cultural and political factions and ideologies among the government’s public health authorities and planners are emblematic of many paradoxes in the effort to decolonize the Bolivian state as a whole.
TL;DR: The spread of the term "decolonization" in Bolivian political discourse since the coming to power of Evo Morales is an example of the ways in which shifts in the use of language may constitute the processes of change of which they are part as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The spread of the term “decolonization” in Bolivian political discourse since the coming to power of Evo Morales is an example of the ways in which shifts in the use of language may constitute the processes of change of which they are part. Opposing ideologies are being expressed through various channels (language, dress, symbolism, and ritual) in the struggle for dominance in the public sphere. The mass media play a dual role, both providing illustrations of the discursive processes at work and discursively countering decolonization. Despite media opposition, Morales and the Movimiento al Socialismo are developing the structural conditions necessary for previously marginalized voices to be heard.
TL;DR: In the 1990s, there were two new ideas to make the Ixil Mayas of Nebaj, Guatemala, self-sufficient as mentioned in this paper, and the first idea, conceived by microcredit consultants, was to make it easier for Ixils to borro...
Abstract: In the 1990s there were two new ideas to make the Ixil Mayas of Nebaj, Guatemala, self-sufficient. The first idea, conceived by microcredit consultants, was to make it easier for the Ixils to borro...
TL;DR: Bolivia's National Development Plan is the most detailed official document on the objectives of Evo Morales's administration and therefore an important reference point for the evaluation of the intentions, difficulties, and approaches of his political project as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Bolivia’s National Development Plan is the most detailed official document on the objectives of Evo Morales’s administration and therefore an important reference point for the evaluation of the intentions, difficulties, and approaches of his political project. Analysis of the plan reveals bold objectives such as transforming the nation’s structure of development and making the country the energy center of the continent and more modest goals of reducing poverty and social inequality. The greatest advance in the first four years of the Morales administration is regaining state control of the economy; Bolivia has effectively changed its economic model from a predominantly free-market one to a mixed model in which state management of the basic sectors of the economy predominates. Changing the structure of development has taken second place to these changes, but the government has acted to promote the needed diversification by encouraging environmental protection, guaranteeing workers’ rights, and providing improved access to credit. The implementation of some of the plan’s main features has been delayed by political opposition from the eastern part of the country, but with a congressional majority for Morales’s party in his second term further advances can be predicted. Given the plan’s limitations and moderation and the problems in its implementation, it is significant that Bolivia has witnessed an impressive increase in the gross domestic product and a decrease in income inequality.
TL;DR: In the short-lived government of Carlos Mesa (October 17, 2003-June 6, 2005), Bolivian society was intensely divided along the lines of class, race, and region as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: During the short-lived government of Carlos Mesa (October 17, 2003—June 6, 2005), Bolivian society was intensely divided along the lines of class, race, and region. Out of this context, two social ...
TL;DR: In 2008, the Department of Tarija became the epicenter of national political struggles over political autonomy for lowland regions at odds with the Morales administration as mentioned in this paper, following a series of regional referenda on autonomy and a national recall election.
Abstract: In 2008, the Department of Tarija became the epicenter of national political struggles over political autonomy for lowland regions at odds with the Morales administration. In September, following a series of regional referenda on autonomy and a national recall election, citizen committees in Tarija mobilized urban-based sectors and organized a general strike against the central government. It is unhelpful to understand the strike as simply an act of political sabotage orchestrated by racist regional elites. The factors driving protest and interest in autonomy are varied and deeply related to patterns of hydrocarbons extraction in the department that have allowed for the mobilization of grievances and the cultivation of resource regionalism at departmental and intradepartmental scales. Alongside class and ethnicity, identities of place and region can be equally important in processes of mobilization, and the resonance of these spatialized identities is particularly important in resource-extraction peripheries.
TL;DR: In this paper, the economic challenges of transforming an extractive economy are intertwined with the lack of government capacity that is the legacy of exclusionary social and political processes since the Spanish conquest.
Abstract: Evo Morales assumed office in January 2006 with a resounding mandate from marginalized indigenous peoples to reinvent Bolivia. Five hundred years of colonial and republican rule, combined with 20 years of neoliberal economic policy in this poorly consolidated democracy, constrained his ability to reshape the country during his first term in office. Morales still faces the fundamental challenges of (1) national oligarchies, (2) limited administrative capacity, (3) rent seeking and institutionalized corruption, (4) social movements, and (5) transnational actors. Rather than being distinct, these challenges are overdetermined: the economic challenges of transforming an extractive economy are intertwined with the lack of government capacity that is the legacy of exclusionary social and political processes since the Spanish conquest. Armed with the firm political will embodied in the new constitution, he has consolidated his support, and this has allowed his government to begin its second administration in a b...
TL;DR: After the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement, armed conflict intensified in the Colombian coffee region as mentioned in this paper, and the decline of international coffee prices after the agreement was abandoned in 1992 was observed.
Abstract: After the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement, armed conflict intensified in the Colombian coffee region. The decline of international coffee prices after the agreement was abandoned in...
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The emergence of indigenous movements can be attributed to a change in the structure of political opportunities in response to globalization, which has created a situation in which policy making is no longer controlled by governments but increasingly the result of the interaction of a wide variety of actors as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The past two decades have seen the emergence of various political actors in Latin America for whom indigenousness is their basic social identity. The appearance of indigenous movements at this time can be attributed to a change in the structure of political opportunities in response to globalization, which has created a situation in which policy making is no longer controlled by governments but increasingly the result of the interaction of a wide variety of actors. Indigenous peoples have been empowered by alliances with actors that have provided them greater capacity for applying pressure through relationships, including churches, anthropologists, and international advocacy networks. The emergence of indigenous movements has created an international regime on the rights of indigenous peoples, the adoption of a new jurisprudence with regard to indigenous peoples, and the creation of autonomous territories, though there is still no agreement on the best way to articulate these territories. Some of these mo...
TL;DR: Venezuela is experiencing a transitional political process in which the government and the majority of Venezuelans want to move from a capitalist representative democracy to a more socialist partic... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Venezuela is experiencing a transitional political process in which the government and the majority of Venezuelans want to move from a capitalist representative democracy to a more socialist partic...
TL;DR: In 2006, Morales announced that his administration would end land inequality in Bolivia as mentioned in this paper, which was the first step towards achieving land redistribution in the country, and agrarian elites in the lowlands department of Santa Cruz, known as the economic engine of Bolivian...
Abstract: In 2006, President Morales announced that his administration would end land inequality in Bolivia. Agrarian elites in the lowlands department of Santa Cruz, known as the economic engine of Bolivian...
TL;DR: The Mexican coffee crisis that began with the liberalization of international coffee market in 1989 led to the reorganization of the coffee sector under the control of transnational companies after state regulation has been replaced by policies aimed at allowing the survival of the small producers but not reactivating the sector as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Mexican coffee crisis that began with the liberalization of the international coffee market in 1989 led to the reorganization of the coffee sector under the control of transnational companies after state regulation has been replaced by policies aimed at allowing the survival of the small producers but not reactivating the sector. The resistance of the powerful roaster industry, dominated by the giant Nestle, has made it impossible to improve the quality of the coffee sold on the domestic market, and its importation of cheap robusta coffee for use in instant preparations has further reduced prices. The survival of the producer cooperatives depends on their capacity to enter the market through niches such as the organic and Fair Trade, where they receive a better price for their products. For the others, the only solution is to migrate to the North.
TL;DR: Landless Peasant Movement organizers in Bolivia recognize the ayllu as a historical memory rather than a lived reality, and it provides momentum for local-level efforts to reclaim land and producti...
Abstract: Landless Peasant Movement organizers in Bolivia recognize the ayllu as a historical memory rather than a lived reality, and it provides momentum for local-level efforts to reclaim land and producti...
TL;DR: The current political and economic situation in Latin America is characterized by a marked difference between South American countries, on one side, and Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, on the other as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The current political and economic situation in Latin America is characterized by a marked difference between South American countries, on one side, and Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, on the other. While the former have seen the resuscitation of pseudo-import-substitution-industrialization policies by neopopulist governments, the latter are increasingly attached to the neoliberal project. This difference was apparent at the Fourth Summit of the Americas in 2005 with regard to the declaration of support for the Free Trade Area of the Americas pushed forward by Mexico. It is an expression of the distinct forms of integration of the two regions into the new international division of labor and therefore of the different specific forms of development of their national processes of capital accumulation. In South America, capital still accumulates through the appropriation/recovery of a portion of its abundant ground rent. In Mexico and most of the Caribbean Basin, capital accumulates through the pr...
TL;DR: Two agricultural cooperatives in Paraguay illustrate different models of smallholders' collective livelihood struggles to enter international markets and achieve autonomy as discussed by the authors, and they operate in a context of deep structural inequalities in which elements of a 35-year dictatorship mix with more recent regional and global integration.
Abstract: Two agricultural cooperatives in Paraguay illustrate different models of smallholders’ collective livelihood struggles to enter international markets and achieve autonomy. One cooperative exports organic sugar and follows a strategy based on Fair Trade, independence from state bureaucracies, and alliances with international buyers and nongovernmental organizations. The other cooperative exports bananas to Argentina and follows a strategy based on free trade, regional market liberalization, and dependence on state bureaucracies. These cooperatives operate in a context of deep structural inequalities in which elements of a 35-year dictatorship mix with more recent regional and global integration and the consolidation of a democratic project. Examination of the structure in which they operate and the individual and collective agency of small producers reveals that, whether through free trade or Fair Trade, participation in global markets requires participation in debates on globalization and democracy and th...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on de facto or de facto practices and relations of rule constituted through culturally mediated violence, inscribing incorporation or exclusion ontology. But they do not consider the role of the state in these practices.
Abstract: Ethnographic approaches to sovereignty have focused on de jure or de facto practices and relations of rule constituted through culturally mediated violence inscribing incorporation or exclusion ont...
TL;DR: The past two decades have seen the emergence of various political actors in Latin America for whom indigenousness is their basic social identity as discussed by the authors, and the appearance of indigenous movements at this time...
Abstract: The past two decades have seen the emergence of various political actors in Latin America for whom indigenousness is their basic social identity. The appearance of indigenous movements at this time...
TL;DR: This case strongly supports arguments that cooperatives must be rooted in participation, democratic member control, and autonomy if they are to promote “fair globalization” or social transformation rather than institutionalize existing patterns of exploitation.
Abstract: Cooperatives and socially responsible corporations are being hailed as possible correctives to the socioeconomic and ecological exploitation of transnational capitalism. AmazonCoop—a cooperative linking indigenous Brazil nut harvesters and the multinational firm The Body Shop through trade and development projects—capitalized on indigenous symbolism to generate significant material benefits for both parties. At the same time, however, it made indigenous people more vulnerable and dependent, failed to promote participatory development, masked the effects of unfavorable state policies, and perpetuated discriminatory distinctions among indigenous people. Furthermore, the cooperative did not provide an organizational framework to ameliorate the vulnerabilities of indigenous identity politics or transform symbolic capital into enduring political-economic change. This case strongly supports arguments that cooperatives must be rooted in participation, democratic member control, and autonomy if they are to promote “fair globalization” or social transformation rather than institutionalize existing patterns of exploitation.
TL;DR: Analysis of the impact of international migration on the socioeconomic conditions of migrants and their families in Peru, using data from the Latin American Migration Project, suggests that international migration contributes to individuals’ socioeconomic well-being.
Abstract: Analysis of the impact of international migration on the socioeconomic conditions of migrants and their families in Peru, using data from the Latin American Migration Project, suggests that interna...