Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Strategic Insights: The Strategic Relevance Of Latin America For The United States, R. Evan Ellis

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Violence As An Obstacle To Livelihood Resilience In The Context Of Climate Change, Beth Tellman, Ryan Alaniz, Andrea Rivera, Diana Contreras

Ryan C. Alaniz

Central America continues to be a violent region and is prone to increasing climatic shocks and environmental degradation. This paper explores the non-linear feedback loop between violence and climate shocks on livelihood resilience in El Salvador and Honduras, two countries experiencing high rates of violence. The nature of this complex feedback loop is examined by analysing case studies on the community scale, which include challenges in reconstructing community social capital post-Hurricane Mitch (1998) in Honduras and the importance of social capital in community resilience to Hurricane Ida (2009) in El Salvador. We conclude that social capital is central in communities …

Output Fluctuations And Economic Growth In Latin America In The Aftermath Of The Great Recession, Gonzalo Hernandez Jimenez

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the short and long run effects of the Great Recession on Latin America. For the short run, this study evaluates (i) the existence of a business cycle co-movement between the US and Latin America, (ii) the role of the Latin American export structure as an aspect that may amplify the growth spillover effects of the output fluctuations in the US, and (iii) the terms of trade as a determinant of the short run output fluctuations in Colombia, a primary commodity exporter that resembles the assumptions of open small dependent economies. Consistent with the historical evidence, the US …

Un Zapoteco Frente Al Reto: La Globalización Y La Desmitificación Del Indigenismo En Pancho Culebro Y Los Naguales De Tierra Azul De Mario Molina Cruz, Ida Day

Modern Languages Faculty Research

El surgimiento de la nueva generaci6n de escritores indigenas es uno de los fe­ n6menos actuales mas importantes dentro del ambito cultural latinoamericano. La misi6n de estos autores es la recuperaci6n de sus tradiciones nativas como un sistema etico altemativo para nuestra civilizaci6n: un gran desafio al para­ digma moderno de la expansion econ6mica. El prop6sito de este ensayo es ex­ plorar la contribuci6n de Mario Molina Cruz, uno de los escritores contempo­raneos sobresalientes en los idiomas nativos de Mexico (Premio Nezahualc6- yotl 2006), al debate actual sobre los beneficios y las amenazas de la globaliza­ ci6n. Se examina su …

Liberal Discourse And The Hegemons Dilemma: A Realist-Constructivist Approach To The Study Of U.S.-Latin American Relations, Justin Delacour

Political Science ETDs

This dissertations approach starts from four basic premises. The first is that a Western power's interests in a liberal foreign policy course will exist alongside other interests of the state that casually conflict with its professed liberalism. The second premise is that, in order for the Western state to periodically pursue objectives that partially conflict with its professed principles, the state will present such objectives as liberal by understating the illiberal characteristics of foreign allies and overstating the undemocratic characteristics of rivals. The third premise is that, given the cultural authority of the state, its positions and narratives will have …

Movimientos Obreros Y Por Los Derechos Humanos En América Latina: Convergencia, Divergencia Y Consecuencias Para La Promoción De Los Derechos Económicos, Sociales Y Culturales [Labor Movements And Human Rights In Latin America: Convergence, Divergence, And The Implications For The Promotion Of Economic, Social And Cultural Rights], Maria Lorena Cook

Maria Lorena Cook

[Excerpt] Los derechos propios del trabajo forman parte de los derechos humanos hace mucho tiempo y gozan del reconocimiento de pactos internacionales. La Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos, adoptada por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, en 1948, enumera los derechos a condiciones de trabajo justas y favorables; a igual remuneración por trabajo de igual valor; a una remuneración equitativa y favorable, y a formar sindicatos y afiliarse a ellos. El Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos (PIDCP) incluye los derechos a la libertad de asociación y a formar sindicatos y afiliarse a ellos. El Pacto Internacional de Derechos …

The Standard Of Civilization In Regional Perspective: A South-South Comparison, Lukas Danner, Nicolás Terradas

Lukas K. Danner

No abstract provided.

Adoption Of External Voting In Latin America And The Caribbean, Hafthor Brynjar Erlingsson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The number of countries worldwide that have allowed citizens abroad the opportunity to vote in elections taking place in their country-of-origin has risen sharply in the last thirty years. Many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have followed this global trend of granting voting rights to their migrant communities. However, the source of this trend in Latin America and the Caribbean has not been well addressed in the political science literature. This study seeks to minimize that gap by analyzing the determinants of external voting rights for 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, using data from 1980-2012. …

Promoting Firearms Marking In Latin America And The Caribbean, Lourdes Rincon

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Marking firearms is an important step in combating illicit weapons trafficking. To promote marking and tracing among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Organization of American States has strengthened national capacities to mark firearms by providing equipment and related training since 2009.

Global Cultures Local Interpretations: A Comparison Of Wearing Tattoos In Ecuador And In The United States, Marissa Peck

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the practice of tattooing and how it has been affected by the globalization of local practices. Tattooing is an ancient practice that virtually all societies have performed. Today, tattooing is practiced in an infinite number of ways and it is interesting to understand local influences as well as global themes portrayed in modern day tattooing. A study abroad trip from September 2012 to May 2013 in Ecuador gave me the opportunity to study tattooing in the Latin American country. A series of the same interviews in the United States from September 2013 to December 2013 allowed me …

Tourism And Globalization In Latin America And The Caribbean: The Ethics And Concerns Of Mass Tourism And Ecotourism, Dana Kamens

Anthropology

The ethics of ecotourism and mass tourism have different implications on the local populations and environment in developing regions, such as in Latin America and the Caribbean. This paper explores the ethics related to these two types of tourism, what the advantages and disadvantages of combining them would be, how they affect the local populations and environment, and the necessary actions to successfully change and create a sustainable tourism industry. Information and examples from various authors and their scholarly research were used to formulate a discussion about the ethics of ecotourism and mass tourism. Overall, the importance of creating a …

The Security Dilemma In South Asia, East Asia, And Latin America's Southern Cone: A Cross-Regional Comparison, Bibek Chand, Lukas Danner, Nicolas Terradas

Lukas K. Danner

No abstract provided.

The Latin-American Laboratory For Assessment Of The Quality Of Education: Measuring And Comparing Educational Quality In Latin America (Superseded Version), Australian Council For Educational Research

Assessment GEMS

The Laboratorio Latinoamericano de Evaluación de la Calidad de la Educación (Latin-American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education or LLECE) is the network of national systems for the assessment of education quality in Latin America, created in 1994, and coordinated by UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC). LLECE’s purpose is to produce data and knowledge that inform educational policy in the region, contribute to capacity building, and serve as a forum for reflection, exchange and generation of new ideas and good practices in education evaluation. LLECE assessments aim to provide information about …

"A New Way Of Doing Politics": The Movement Against Cafta In Costa Rica, Jeremy Rayner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In October of 2007, Costa Ricans voted in a referendum to ratify a Free Trade Agreement with the United States (DR-CAFTA, or CAFTA). The first referendum in their nation's history--and the first referendum ever held on a Free Trade Agreement--marked the culmination of a cycle of contention over liberalization that transformed practices and expectations of politics in a country often considered an exemplar of representative democracy. In this dissertation I provide an account of the opposition to CAFTA (the NO), based on two years of ethnographic research with the Patriotic Committees (Comites Patrioticos), the decentralized, grassroots network at the heart …

Dialogues With The Informal City: Latin America And The Caribbean, Ariel C. Armony, Adib Cure, Carie Penabad

Center for Latin American Studies Publications

This publication, based on the symposium Dialogues with the Informal City: Latin America and the Caribbean, connects a range of fundamental themes affecting the current conditions and future of Latin America’s growing informal cities and, by extension, the rising global urban population. Informal cities can be described as settlements frequently characterized by organic physical patterns built incrementally over time as the needs and circumstances of a community change. While undeniably precarious in construction, informal cities exhibit underlying urban and architectural patterns of remarkable resilience; moreover, they reflect their inhabitants’ enduring cultural values. While seriously affected by poverty and violence, …

Warmikuna Juyayay! Ecuadorian And Latin American Indigenous Women Gaining Spaces In Ethnic Politics, Maria S. Moreno Parra

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This research utilizes an agency framework to examine the complexities of the participation of indigenous women in local, national, and global spaces of activism. By examining the connections between processes of globalization of indigenous and women’s rights, development agendas, local politics, and gender dynamics in indigenous organizations, this research highlights the connection of ethnicity, gender, and power in an indigenous organization of Cotacachi, Ecuador, and for Ecuadorian and Latin American indigenous leaders and professionals working in national and global arenas.

Four interconnected topics are explored: (1) the understanding of indigenous women’s participation in the history of their organization within a …

La Gobernabilidad Democrática En América Latina: Cuatro Ejes De Análisis, Fernando Barrientos Del Monte

Fernando Barrientos Del Monte

No abstract provided.

The International Human Rights Policies Of New Democracies: Brazil And Chile In Comparative Perspective, Claudia Fuentes Julio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the majority of Latin American states have attempted to incorporate in some way or another human rights concern into their respective foreign policies, highlighting a history of human rights abuses and the return of democratic political rule as a trigger for galvanizing a commitment to assist in preventing such violations in other countries. Yet, while human rights have come to play a non-trivial role in the contemporary foreign policy of many Latin American states, there is great diversity in the ways and the extent to which they go about incorporating human rights concerns into …

Crafting, Community, And Collaboration: Reflections On The Ethnographic Sala Project At The Pukara Lithic Museum, Peru, Elizabeth A. Klarich

Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The Museo Lítico Pukara (Pukara Lithic Museum) is an archaeological site museum in the small highland town of Pucará in the northwestern Lake Titicaca Basin of Peru. Recently, an ethnographic sala (exhibition space) was developed and installed within the museum that focuses on local craft production and its role within the agro-pasto- ral economy, regional exchange systems, and other house- hold-level and community activities. The sala is the culmination of a decade-long effort by national and foreign archaeologists, anthropologists from the regional univer- sity and their students, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, and the townspeople of Pucará. This article presents …

A Discussion Of The Impact Of Political And Economic Forces On Equitable Access To Potable Water In Ecuador And Recommendations For Improvement Through Better Watershed Management, Eliza States

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis will address the impact of political and economic forces on the equitable access to fresh water in Ecuador. Demographic factors such as the rural-to-urban migration and the political and economic forces have strongly influenced the debate over the privatization of the provision of potable water and sanitation services. Within the context of Ecuador, two different approaches by the largest cities, Quito and Guayaquil, are analyzed; in Guayaquil, the services were privatized, while in Quito, the public utility was corporatized, remaining under public control. It concludes arguing that in the face of political instability and a lack of regulatory …

Family Needs, Caregiver Burden, And Mental Health: Caregivers Of Individuals With Various Neurological Conditions From Colombia And Mexico, Megan Elizabeth Sutter

Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional study examined differences in family needs (informational, social, financial, health, and household support), caregiver mental health (depression, satisfaction with life, vitality, social functioning, and emotional role limitations), and caregiver burden (personal life, guilt, and psychological) among caregivers of individuals with traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and dementia from cities in Colombia and Mexico (N = 343). The study also examined the connections among family needs, caregiver mental health, and caregiver burden in the combined sample of caregivers of individuals with neurological conditions. Many significant differences were identified among groups, and implications are discussed. Family …

La Identidad De Los Carabineros De Chile: The Evolving Identity Of Chile's National Police Force And The 1973 Military Coup, Jeffrey O. Lamson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the evolution of Los Carabineros de Chile, Chile's national police force, from their origins under Carlos Ibáñez in 1927 until their involvement in the 1973 military coup against President Salvador Allende. Various presidencies primarily used this corps during this period as a weapon against popular mobilization and thus influenced the development of the Carabineros' institutional identity. To explore how this identity evolved, this thesis examines primary sources, mostly in the form of newspapers found in the National Archives in Santiago, Chile, that illuminate the Carabineros' relations with the public. The knowledge of the Carabineros' institutional identity contributes …

The Influence Of Dementia Caregiver Mental Health On Quality Of Care In Argentina, Alejandra Morlett Paredes

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the connections between cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia and caregiver burden, burden and mental health, mental health and quality of care. One hundred two dementia caregivers from San Lucas, Argentina completed questionnaires assessing these constructs. Caregiver burden, depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life explained 18.8% of the variance in quality of care – respect and 14.7% of the variance in quality of care – provide. An SEM with generally adequate fit indices uncovered that cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia was inversely associated with caregiver burden, caregiver burden was inversely associated with mental health, and mental …

Information And Communication Technologies (Icts) And Climate Change Adaptation In Latin America And The Caribbean: A Framework For Action, Hallie Eakin, Pedro Wightman, David Hsu, Vladimir Gil, Eduardo Fuentes-Contreras, Megan Cox, Tracy-Ann Hyman, Carlos Pacas, Fernando Borras, Diego Barrido, Daniel Kammen

David Hsu

Despite ongoing interest in deploying Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for sustainable development, their use in climate change adaptation remains under-studied. Based on the integration of adaptation theory and the existing literature on the use of ICTs in development, we present an analytical model for conceptualizing the contribution of existing ICTs to adaptation, and a framework for evaluating ICT success. We apply the framework to four case studies of ICTs in use for early warning systems and managing extreme events in LAC countries. We propose that existing ICTs can support adaptation through enabling access to critical information for decision-making, coordinating …