Latin American Studies Commons^™

Waves Of Change: Political Violence And Displacement During The Internal War In Peru (1980-2000), Sarah Benewith

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

This investigation responds to the problem of the approximate 600,000 people that were internally displaced from 1980 to 2000 due to the political violence that took place between the Peruvian State and insurgent groups like Sendero Luminoso. Specifically, I investigate the relationship between political violence and internal displacement, as well as the nature of the personal experiences of the displaced. Developing the investigation in Cusco and Lima, I utilize a combination of archival revision, direct observation, and interviews. The interviews, from indigenous people displaced from Apurímac during the Internal War, serve as testimonies which I compare with other testimonies collected …

Empresa Social E Innovación Sustentable: Soluciones Para El Desarrollo, Marco Tavanti

Public and Nonprofit Administration

Keynote presentation to define the lessons and fields and Latin American context of social enterprise. The slides introduce and clarify the notion of social enterprise from global lessons in poverty reduction and sustainable development and in relation to social economy.

Separated From Saints And Sacred Spaces: Religion, Identity And Belonging For Peruvian Andean Migrants In The Us, Alison Wuensch

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Religious practices impact how people construct their sense of identity and belonging, and Peruvian Andean religious practices are based in the sacred landscape and local saint fiestas. When Peruvian Andeans migrate away from their communities in the Andes, their religious practices are altered because they are based in the sacred landscape and local saint fiestas. The deterritorialization of these religious practices influences how Peruvian Andean migrants then construct their sense of identity and belonging in the spaces where they have moved. This research examines how religious practices venerating local saints as well as sacred landscapes can be reterritorialized and how …

Are Indigenous Peoples Better Off Under Evo Morales? Towards Understanding The Effects Of Decolonization Policy On Social Inclusion In Bolivia, Cailin Campbell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis examines how to measure the influence of the Evo Morales administration’s decolonization policies on the social inclusion of indigenous peoples in Bolivia. Given the ongoing colonial legacy of exclusion of indigenous peoples in Bolivia, the Morales administration has created a national agenda to decolonize the state and improve conditions for the marginalized, oppressed, and excluded indigenous peoples. In examining the nacionalización de los hidrocarburos, the ley de la reconducción comunitaria y reforma agraria, the plan nacional de desarrollo, the ley de la educación, the ley de deslinde, the ley de marco de …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Micro-Level Poverty Interventions In The Highlands Of Guatemala, Jacqueline A. Castro

Master's Theses

Despite immense efforts of poverty alleviation in the Western highlands of Guatemala, poverty is intense and widespread. Amidst an abundant array of poverty interventions, existing evidence on those interventions are not sufficient. Highlighting basic knowledge regarding impact evaluations, this paper aims to determine the most effective poverty intervention for the Western highland areas of Guatemala. Focusing on impact evaluations, this paper reviews 17 Latin American interventions, paying close attention to what may be applicable to this region. Using only the highest quality data from Latin America, it is clear that cash transfers and graduation programs are the most impactful interventions …

Emigration, Repatriation And The Reality Of Returned Youth In El Salvador, Isabel C. Duarte Vasquez

Master's Theses

According to US Customs and Border Protection, over 59 thousand unaccompanied minors from the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) have been detained at the US border, of those 59 thousand, 17 thousand are from El Salvador. El Salvador is home to some of the most dangerous and ruthless gangs of the twenty-first century. Their ruthlessness comes from 1980s guerrilla warfare experience. In addition, El Salvador serves as a transshipment point for illicit substances from South America into Mexico. These dynamics fuel the homicide rate of the region as local gang members must protect their territory by any means …

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Evolution Of A Nation After A Dictatorship: How Law, Politics And Society Of The 1973 Dictatorship In Uruguay And Of The Subsequent Return Of Democracy In 1985, Potentially Helped Evolve The Nation Of Today., Jonathan A. Fein Proaño

Master's Theses

In 1973, Uruguay’s president authored a coup d’état with the military and changed the history and fabric of Uruguay. Once democracy returned to Uruguay in 1985, it was a chance to see if an evolution of the law, politics and society would occur. This thesis aims to analyze and understand the patterns of change and de-evolution or evolution that happened during the dictatorship and then over the last 30 years. I break down the process of changes that happened legally and politically, how the dictatorship and its leaders used law to destroy rule of law, and how society changed.

This …

Beyond The Economic: The Freedoms, Capabilities, And Social Capital Of Latin American Women Entrepreneurs In San Francisco, Melia M. Vilain

Master's Theses

In light of the scholarly debate surrounding the goals and mixed effects of development programs, particularly in recent years in relation to microfinance, this study investigates the effects of economic development programs on Latin American women entrepreneurs in San Francisco’s Mission District. It demonstrates that microfinance, when combined with education, can provide important non-economic benefits that contribute to increased freedoms and capabilities for immigrant women entrepreneurs. Drawing on qualitative interviews with ten business owners, as well as a review of the existing literature surrounding development, immigration, and gender, this research argues that owning a business in the US can produce …

Hip-Hop, Medellín And Social Change, Veronica Henao Posada

Master's Theses

This study explores the ways in which the Hip-hop movement is producing social change in Medellín, Colombia. Looking specifically at a Hip-hop school called Cuatro Elementos Skuela, which exists autonomously and with very little state support in the Medellín neighborhood of Aranjuez, I argue that young people are contributing to the reconstruction of the city’s social, cultural and economic fabric. I start by explaining the historical context of Medellín, describing the different sets of conflicts that unleashed high levels of violence and caused the fragmentation of the social, cultural and economic fabric. Moreover, I review the role of the …

Building Women’S Solidarity To Advance Women’S Rights In Bolivia, Luzdary Hammad

Master's Theses

This paper takes a historical look at the deep-seated ethnic and class divisions between women in Bolivia. It also examines the cultural challenges that help explain the status of women in Bolivia and the obstacles women face to become politically active. It provides the theories of decolonization and depatriachalization as practical ways Bolivia can move past their colonial and patriarchal history. It also looks into what feminism means overall in Latin America and what strategies Latin American women have used to make change for women. It then provides a political history of Bolivia from 1994 to the present giving the …

The Fii Model As An Investment In Patience: Exploring Time Preferences In Medellin, Colombia, Jennifer Graham

Master's Theses

The motivation for this research is to explore the success behind the Oakland based Family Independence Initiative (FII) as a model for poverty alleviation. During the period of June-December 2012, nearly 200 small business owners in Medellin, Colombia participated in a field experiment intended to replicate the FII model by randomizing the treatments of setting goals, receiving conditional payments, and participating in self-help groups, as well as the combinations thereof. The data shows that the subjects in the full FII treatment group achieve more goals and have significantly higher monthly sales than those subjects in any other treatment or control …

Women's Mobilization In Latin America: A Case Study Of Venezuela, Brianna Russell

Master's Theses

Abstract

I examine the following elements in regards to women’s mobilization in Latin America and Venezuela from the late 1950s to the present: (a) the influence of the state and economy on times when women mobilized (b) class division within the movement (c) women’s demands during different time periods (d) the ways in which women were successful in working towards gender equality. This thesis reviews the literature on women’s mobilization in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. I find that women mobilized across class lines with the masses to end dictatorships. Women demobilized during transitions to …

Arizona’S Senate Bill 1070: A Case Study On State-Sponsored Immigration Policy, Ryan Murphy

Master's Theses

This study assesses the origins of Arizona’s state-sponsored immigration policy. It attempts to identify the social dynamics within Arizona that contributed to the overwhelming public support for SB 1070. Since it has been two years after the law was passed, this analysis determines what impact the law has had thus far within the state. Finally, it postulates the future of Arizona’s immigration policy.

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 …

Oil, Power, And Discourse: How Chevron Evaded Its Dues To The Indigenous Communities Of The Ecuadorian Amazon, Kine Norland

Master's Theses

Abstract

The principal objectives of this thesis were to shed lights on the backside of oil and to question the great power of big corporations. I researched why Chevron refused to acknowledge its legal obligation to remedy the complex problems it has caused in the Ecuadorian Rainforest. The catastrophes the indigenous communities have been facing are about to change as a result of grass root mobilization against Chevron. By the use of observations, discourse analysis of the media, and the use of theories from Michel Foucault, I was able to explain how Chevron has managed to escape from the terrible …

Imagining Integration, Bethany Keisner

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Nonprofit Continuum: Brazilian-Centered Organizations In The Bay Area Of San Francisco, Caroline Rehill

Master's Theses

Brazil has always been a country of immigration. Since the mid 1980s, Brazil has also become a country of emigration. Brazilians have migrated to the United States in large numbers throughout the past decades. In the host country, Brazilians experience the same issues inherent in any immigrant community, such as immigration status, education, health, and socio-economic issues. To address these issues and ease immigrants’ stay in the host country, nonprofit organizations and community groups are created. This thesis project examines, identifies, categorizes, and contextualizes the Brazilian-centered nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area of San Francisco. Contrary to existing research on …

Agency, Structures And Peru: Action And In-Action During 1980-2000, Kimberly A. Protzel

Master's Theses

The Shining Path along with Alberto Fujimori's presidency in Peru (encompassing the years 1980-2000) created a terrifying chaos that was wound up in both state and insurgent terrorism, corruption, and massacres. While this chaos is inextricably linked to Peru's history, I fear is being all too quickly forgotten. My main motivation behind this research has been to take a step towards increasing awareness of these events and the many reasons behind them: the agenic nature of some versus the lack of it in others, structures developed by colonialism, and most terrifyingly of all - willful ignorance. By understanding these reasons, …

Latino/A Lgbtq Migrations, Sarah V. Rodriguez

Master's Theses

Despite Latin America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) movement’s recent ground-breaking political achievements, wide spread social acceptance of LGBTQ individuals is not evident in every institution, nor in every part of the region. For some, migration to the U.S. is the solution for escaping the strict social constructs of the region. Of the many studies focusing on the LGBTQ individuals, limited research examines the Latino/a segment of the LGBTQ population. The study explores the motivations behind migration as well as the resettlement process of those immigrating to the San Francisco Bay Area from Latin America, focusing on the …

En-Gendering The Police: Women's Police Stations And Feminism In São Paulo, Cecília Santos

Sociology

This article contributes to feminist state theory and studies of women's police stations in Latin America by examining the processes shaping the multiple and changing positions of explicit alliance, opposition, and ambiguous alliance assumed by policewomen regarding feminists since the creation of the world's first women's police station in 1985 in São Paulo. While studies of women's police stations tend to overlook the political conjuncture, much of the literature on the state and gender explains the relationship between the state and women's movements as a function of the political regime. I argue for a more grounded feminist state theory, taking …

Longing For Running Water: Ecofeminism And Liberation, Ivone Gebara

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Third Transition In Latin American Democratization: Representational Regimes And Civil Society In Argentina And Brazil, Elisabeth Jay Friedman, Kathryn Hochstetler

Politics

Recent political and economic transitions in Latin America have shaped a third transition in the nature of civil society and democratic representation. The conceptual territory of democratic representational regimes can be mapped out in four theoretical patterns of state-society relations: adversarial, delegative, deliberative, and cooptive. A comparison of representational regimes in state-society relations in Argentina and Brazil shows a shift in civil society towards organization in nongovernmental organizations, in addition to social movements. Despite this common characteristic, the different emerging representational regimes in these two countries carry different implications for the quality of democracy.

Sovereign Limits And Regional Opportunities For Global Civil Society In Latin America, Elisabeth Jay Friedman, Kathryn Hochstetler, Ann Marie Clark

Politics

In this article, we evaluate whether Latin American participation in international arenas reinforces traditional divides between state and society in global politics or transforms state-society relations in ways compatible with the concept of global civil society. We examine the participation and interaction of Latin American nongovernmental organizations and states at three recent United Nations conferences: the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. We conclude that Latin Americans are full participants in any emerging global civil society. Their experiences at the 1990s issue conferences closely …

Paradoxes Of Gendered Political Opportunity In The Venezuelan Transition To Democracy, Elisabeth Jay Friedman

Politics

No abstract provided.