After Barth: The Mexican Calós’s lived identity

The reasons for adopting a problem in terms of the survival of a Roma anthropological and historical system are not factual, but theoretical. This text analyses some dimensions of this system in relation to cultural identity, an idea that is close but not identical to the concept of ethnic identity of Fredrik F. Barth. The ethnography with the Gitanos of Mexico City dialogues with previous ethnographies and inquiries about the lived identity. The memory of the life of the Calós are constructed subjectively and through sociability are objectified in a cultural identity, opposed to the legal-political identification. The discourse on modernity, the economic activities, the social rhythms and practices of the place, as well as the transnational and diasporic dimension are the object of reflection

Civil society in trade policy-making in Latin America: the case of the environmental movement

In recent years, and particularly perhaps since the ‘battle of Seattle’ in 1999, the issue of civil society participation in trade policy has attracted increasing policy and academic attention. Much of this attention has been drawn to the question of institutional access and channels of participation and representation within the WTO. The challenge is one that has faced other global institutions such as the World Bank and IMF for a number of years (O’Brien et al 2000). Improving the transparency of and access to decision-making in the context of up-scaling civil society participation is not exclusively a global challenge, however. There has been a great deal of activity at the regional level around trade negotiations and increasingly in Latin America with the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) following in the wake of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and Mercosur (Mercado Común del Sur). Few institutional reforms have been brought about without significant pressure from civil society, however. Some challenges are common to all movements attempting to participate and make their voice heard in the sensitive and traditionally closed arena of trade negotiations. But others are unique, and reflect distinct regional political histories, previous experiences of mobilisation and prevailing social and material realities. Given this, it becomes important to understand what can be learned from the experience of a globally significant region like Latin America about the possibilities and limitations of civil society participation in trade policy. By comparing the documented experiences of NAFTA with analysis of Mercosur and the evolving FTAA negotiations, in terms of the participation of the environmental movements, important insights may be gained about: who is participating in trade policy, how and with what effect and, equally importantly, who is not participating and what are the implications of this? The analysis will therefore attempt to identify key factors which shape these dynamics. These include; * key strategic issues within the movements and among groups themselves (diversity of strategies, politics of coalition-building, patterns of influence and engagement/non-engagement) * the organisation of institutional access (rights, representation, process, decision-making) * key economic and political regional dynamics which affect each of the above (differences between and within individual countries regarding key issues and attitudes towards participation) By comparing across different sets of trade negotiations and institutional arrangements it will be possible to identify what the key drivers and shapers of change appear to be. In other words, the extent to which these appear to derive from the nature of the institution or process itself, the strategies of the movement engaging with it, or more likely still, some combination of both these elements. The challenge is to account for diverse forms of engagement and non-engagement and, more importantly, to derive lessons from them about the possibility of constructing more effective, sustainable and transparent mechanisms of participation and representation in trade policy based on experiences to date in Latin America

NACCS 32nd Annual Conference

Visión: Articulating, Imagining, and Contextualizing Chicana/o SpacesApril 13-17Hyatt Regencyhttps://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/naccs_programs/1022/thumbnail.jp

A Framing Analysis of Latinos in the Facebook Pages of News Organizations

This study of the Facebook pages of six legacy media organizations extended framing theory to apply to social media. In the study of 557 articles, four new frames and 10 new subframes were identified. The immigration frame and its two subframes, deportation and undocumented, dominated the coverage of Latinos during the period of the study. The politics frame was the second most dominant frame. This study updated the old data and found that no progress has been made, with the exception of a lesser use of the criminal frame. This improvement could be because the study included six months of the presidential campaign. However, Latinos were still framed as Others and as an oppressed community. This study concluded that there was no significant difference between the way legacy TV networks and legacy newspapers covered Latinos

NAFTA’s Labour Side Agreement and International Labour Solidarity

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its supplemental labour pact, the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC), reflect the uneven advances of labour rights advocacy in connection with international trade. NAFTA provides extensive rights and protections for multinational firms and investors in such areas as intellectual property rights and investment guarantees. The NAALC only partially addresses labour rights and labour conditions. But within its limits, it has shown itself to be a viable tool for crossborder solidarity among key actors in the trade union, human rights and allied movements. The NAALC’s principles and complaint mechanisms create new space for advocates to build coalitions and take concrete action to articulate challenges to the status quo and advance workers’ interests. Cooperation, consultation, and collaboration among social actors have brought a qualitative change to transnational labour rights networks in North America

Regional Integration and Transnational Labor Strategies under NAFTA

[Excerpt] This paper argues that while the internationalization of the economy has tended to weaken national labor movements, the internationalization of domestic politics may expand the traditional arenas for strategic action for labor unions. In particular, the North American Free Trade Agreement has been portrayed by some of its many critics as representing the consolidation of a neoconservative or neoliberal project that will not only shape the future economic development of the region, but also constrain its social policies and limit its political options (Grinspun and Cameron 1993: Chapter 1). However, these same critics have also noted that the debate surrounding NAFTA in Mexico, Canada, and the United States has led to a broad range of contacts and cooperative efforts among labor, environmental, women\u27s, religious, and educators\u27 groups in the three countries. This process is not only itself an expression of the search for new strategies in the context of regional integration, it has also altered the traditional ways in which U.S.-Mexican relations have been carried out and shaped the political process within Mexico. While the constraints to transnational labor collaboration remain strong, these new dimensions of the international and political environments nonetheless potentially offer new opportunities to weakened labor movements in all three countries. This paper will begin with a discussion of the contours of this new international political environment—in particular, the internationalization of domestic politics—and how this environment differs from traditional, nationally bounded notions of domestic politics and state action. I then discuss how both the transnationalization of politics and regional economic integration change the arena for strategic action by labor groups, how this new environment affects the labor movement in Mexico, and the kinds of strategies Mexican and U.S. labor unions have begun to pursue in this context. Finally, I consider whether the side agreement on labor standards that was developed as a complement to the NAFTA represents an example of institutionalization of this political internationalization, thus potentially facilitating further transnational collaboration among unions, or whether, alternatively, the side accord buttresses national institutions and state autonomy in ways that could constrain labor\u27s strategic use of the international arena

Worker Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream

[Excerpt] Through their service provision, advocacy, and organizing work, worker centers are helping to set the political agenda and mobilize a growing constituency to make its voice heard on fundamental labor an immigration reform. This work, in and of itself instrumental to a brighter future for low-wage workers in the United States, is also indispensable to the revitalization of organized labor and progressive politics in America

Scaling up from the top down and the bottom up: The impacts and governance of inter-community forest associations in Durango, Mexico

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Public Policy, 2012Mexico's community forestry experiment has become famous as a global model for sustainable forest use and socioeconomic development. However, many Mexican forest communities are facing significant challenges such as weak organization and limited access to markets. Scholars and practitioners have argued that connections across different levels of governance between local communities, inter-community networks, and other governmental and non-governmental stakeholders may help deal with these situations. Yet there are still gaps in our understanding of why these cross-scale arrangements form, their internal governance, their benefits, and the factors that make them successful. This dissertation addresses these gaps by analyzing the economic, political and forest impacts that inter-community forest associations (FAs) -a type of cross-scale governance arrangement- have on forest communities; and the factors that influence FAs' effectiveness. Drawing on collective action and political economy theories applied to common-pool resources, I engaged in a year-long comparative case study of four FAs in the Mexican state of Durango -two organized by communities themselves (bottom-up) and two created by non-community actors (top-down). The results show that FAs often form from in response to community needs, but also as adaptation strategies and responses to national policies and the political-economic context. Throughout their histories, FAs have played a crucial role in helping communities solve regional problems such as improving road infrastructure, preventing and combating forest fires, and improving market access and political representation. The results also underscore FAs' capture by peasant leaders and foresters using the organizations for profit and for escalating into higher political positions. Finally, I show that leadership, financial autonomy, social capital and enforcement of institutions are crucial for the success of these associations

The Spanish Gitanos of Mexico City: Rhythmicity, Mimesis and Domestication of the Payos

This text addresses a tentative approach to groups in Mexico such as the Roma, who remain poorly known. The analysis focuses on problematizing the particular cultural and economic reproduction strategies of an urban group of Gitanos (Calós) in Mexico City. Greater attention is placed particularly onthe performance and the mimesis in economic exchange with the Payos (non-Gitanos). The idea is that the processes of cultural identification refer to the basic Caló social universe, which reveals epistemological beliefs and assumptions shared by the group in relation to the Payo universe. The idea is that the Calós construct idealized models of the real world during everyday experience in the ecological context within the community. Instead, it relates to the direct perceptual involvement of subjects in a relational context of shared patterns of daily activities in environments that are experienced. The effect is the domestication of the Payo’s world