Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of U.S. Remittances On Non-Transnational Families In Mexico, During Amlo’S Presidency, Sebastián Barreto

Senior Projects Spring 2024

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Zapatista Maya Literacies And Decolonial Civic Pedagogies, Juan Moisés García-Rentería

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Zapatista Maya Literacies and Decolonial Civic Pedagogies evaluates an educational outreach project led by an Indigenous grass roots mobilization in the high plateau of central México, the Zapatista movement. Using retrospective narrative inquiry and theoretically informed perspectives, this dissertation shows that the program of the Zapatista escuelita, Spanish for “little school,” is rooted in the Maya educational paradigm of nojptesel-p’ijubtasel, a cultural and political process of socialization at the heart of contemporary Maya peasant families. The research focus of this study offers rhetoric, composition, and literacy studies two interrelated points of insight tied to the overall Maya conception of the …

The Socio-Environmental Politics Surrounding The Commodification Of Guayusa In The Ecuadorian Amazon, Molly Silk

Master's Theses

Guayusa, a tree used for its leaves, that when dried, boiled, and consumed in tea form, acts as a natural stimulant due to its high levels of caffeine. Initially used among Kichwa people, the plant is thought to be a panacea with abilities to heal health complications such as infertility, headaches, and nausea. In addition, the Kichwa community holds an incredibly strong ritualistic and cultural connection to the tea. Guayusa is said to connect the person and community to the dream world through the process of gathering in the early hours of the morning to drink the tea, and decipher …

The Mapuche And Chilean State: An Analysis Of The State Reaction To Mapuche Protests, Mckenna Gossrau

Honors Theses

The history between the Mapuche and Chilean state is long and complex. Since 2000, the conflict between the state and Mapuche has periodically drawn wider public attention as well as public demands for change. In this thesis, I look to examine how the Chilean state has reacted to the demands of the Mapuche since 2000. Mapuche activists have protested violently and peacefully against state policy that has left many rural Mapuche impoverished and landless. This project assesses the impact of protests on state-Mapuche policy. The project also examines how deeply entrenched neoliberal fiscal policies of the state play a central …

A View From Above: Alternative Perspectives On Smallholder Livelihoods And Agrobiodiversity Conservation In Northern Ecuador, Chris Hair

Dissertations

Food security and deintensification of agriculture are serious concerns in Latin America. Agriculture, especially at small-scale subsistence levels, is hard work, and comes with some economic and physical risk. Transitions from traditional multi-cropping to mono-cropping systems introduce two particular risks that are new to most smallholders: (1) the loss of agricultural diversity and (2) the potential for widespread failure when focusing on the cultivation of a single crop. This research explores how Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), or drones, can be used for rapid inventories of crop diversity and to enhance crop management techniques on small-scale farms. In the community …

At The Mercy Of The Mexican Supreme Court: The Implications Of Party Capability On Indigenous People's Cases, Alan Cardenas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Indigenous Peoples in Mexico have long struggled in securing their rights in colonizing states. Applying party capability theory, this paper seeks to empirically understand the Mexican Supreme Court's behavior in cases pertaining to Indigenous Peoples. This paper thus evaluates the degree to which the Mexican Supreme Court is indeed an impartial actor that produces "equal protection under the law" for everyone (Galanter, 1974). Specifically, this paper examines the questions: To what extent does the Mexican Supreme Court protect Indigenous Peoples' rights? Are Indigenous Peoples legally affected by the power disparity perpetuated by the inequality in the country? This paper thus …

Political Representation For Indigenous Peoples In The Andes, Jessica Yepez

Dissertations and Theses

For years, there has been a lack of representation for indigenous peoples in communities, and most importantly in parliament. This is a very common trait in the South American Andes, which houses the largest number of indigenous groups in the continent. This thesis focuses on Ecuador and Bolivia due to their indigenous population and their history, or lack thereof, with indigenous people in parliament. For my hypothesis, I argue that parliamentary representation of indigenous peoples, can help ensure that their rights are protected, and their unique interests are heard and translated into relevant policies, while at the same time preventing …

La Educación Como Camino Hacia La Revitalización De Lenguas Indígenas: Problemas Y Prospectivas, Isabella Hendry

Scripps Senior Theses

Many indigenous languages have suffered irreparable damage or even extinction due to the violence of colonization and the violences that continue to be perpetrated by its successor institutions of neo-liberalism and global “development” projects. This thesis focuses on the attempts of two groups of indigenous people, the Imazighen (or Berbers) of Algeria and Morocco and the Runa (or Quechua) of Peru and Bolivia, to break these cycles of repression and revitalize their languages. A close comparison of these two groups’ struggles reveals the difficulty of transcending this assimilationist, imperialist framework, but it also highlights several successes that bode well for …

Que Se Vayan Todos!: An Analysis Of Antineoliberal Social Movements In South America, Jeffrey Sybertz

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Economic Autonomy Of The Miskitu Women Of The North Atlantic Autonomous Region, Nicaragua: Do Current Development Polices Apply To Matrifocal Societies?, Ariana M. Toth

Masters Theses

This thesis provides an ethnographic investigation into the economic autonomy of Miskitu women in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. The purpose of this study is to determine whether dominant development models created by patriarchal Western powers are suited to alleviating gendered poverty disparity among the matrifocal Miskitu Indians. Surveys of Miskitu women obtained during field research, with support from relevant literature, comprise the main source of information considered. It is concluded that while dominant development models are not best suited to alleviating gendered poverty in this region, it is the overarching indigenous nature of Miskitu culture and not …

Between Facebook And Boas: Kichwa Indigenous Identity In Alto Napo And Challenges To Multiculturalism In Ecuador, Anna Maria Fernandez-Marti

Master's Theses

This qualitative study examines contemporary Kichwa indigenous identity formation in the Alto Napo region of Ecuador through Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital. Following an extended-case method, I analyze the articulation of indigenousness (as an idealized expression of tradition) vis-à-vis the power relationships of the actors involved in such process. A combination between participant observation, daily field notes and twelve tape-recorded interviews during a two-month research allowed me to deconstruct essentialist portrayals and stereotypes of Kichwa indigenous peoples in Alto Napo, and confirm that their identity is hybrid, multiple and shifting. A comparative analysis between urban and rural social dynamics in …

Mas And The Indigenous People Of Bolivia, Maral Shoaei

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the past several decades, social movements have spread all across Latin America, sparking hope for change. This thesis analyzes the well-organized mobilizations of the indigenous people of Bolivia and how they have been able to incorporate themselves in state apparatuses, including the election of its first indigenous president, Evo Morales of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) party. The case studied her provides insight into the processes if how political representation was achieved by Bolivia's indigenous people who were for centuries excluded from the political, social and economic arena. It also analyzes the outcomes of Morales' policy changes from 2006 …

Climate Change And Indigenous Peoples In Latin America, Amy C. Rademacher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on the detrimental effects of climate change on indigenous peoples in Latin America. Indigenous peoples throughout the region tend to live subsistence livelihoods, which tie them closely to their land and the surrounding environment. This close relationship often means that indigenous peoples acutely experience the effects of climate change and are more susceptible to its negative outcomes than other populations. Further, indigenous peoples in the region lack the mitigation and adaptation capacities to deal with damaging climatic effects.

This research was designed to view the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples through a human rights framework, …