Unions, Markets, and Democracy in Latin America

[Excerpt] In the 1990s scholars of Latin America moved from a concern with democratization to a focus on the implementation of market economic reforms. With this shift, the appreciation of labor unions\u27 value to society was lost. Whereas earlier analyses of democratic transitions recognized organized labor\u27s important role in bringing an end to dictatorships, later studies of market reform viewed labor organizations as either obstacles to be overcome, losers to be compensated, or simply irrelevant. Perhaps more important than scholarship\u27s neglect of labor unions is the neglect that is reflected in policies toward labor in the region. Economic and labor market policies as well as labor law reforms have left workers and labor organizations more vulnerable without creating adequate protections, bolstering labor rights, or democratizing industrial relations systems. I argue that these policies have had significant costs that in turn affect two important contemporary debates: (1) how to strengthen labor rights in the global economy; and (2) how to consolidate and deepen democracy in Latin 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

“The weight we carry in our backpack is not the weight of our books, it’s the weight of our community!”: Latinas negotiating identity and multiple roles

In the United States, out of 100 Latina/o elementary students, only 0.3 will complete a doctorate degree. Latinas/os/x as a fast-growing minority population in the United States continue to be underrepresented in higher education. The underrepresentation and limited empirical research on Latinas with advanced degrees calls for immediate attention to the inequities that exist within the Latina/o/x educational pipeline. Drawing from a Latina/o Critical Theory analysis and Chicana Feminist Epistemology standpoint these interviews explore the nuanced experiences of twelve Latinas in an Educational Leadership Doctoral Program.  Life history interviews were used to reveal how the women 1) balance and negotiate their multiple racial, social class, and gender identities and roles, 2) their first-generation college student identity and guilt and 3) their identity and roles as motivatio

Europe cosmopolitical or populist: justice and soft power in perspective

Europa afronta hoy un dilema: ser cosmopolita o dejar de serlo. El peligro de desintegración de la Unión Europea anunciado por los resultados del reciente brexit y por el auge de los populismos de derecha en toda Europa reclama un ejercicio de soft power por parte de la Unión Europea en materias relacionadas con la negociación y la resolución de conflictos en su espacio interno. Esta capacidad, sin embargo, parece estar ausente. Este artículo defiende que, para recuperar una capacidad consistente de soft power, la Unión Europea tiene que diseñar una estrategia hegemónica destinada a construir una identidad europea líquida, a partir de una posición de sujeto democrático que puede definirse como fuertemente cosmopolita.Today Europe faces a dilemma: to be cosmopolitical or not to be. The peril of disintegration of the European Union announced by the recent Brexit results and the rise of right-wing populism through Europe calls for an exercise in soft power by the European Union in matters regarding political negotiation and conflict mediation within its space. This capacity seems, however, to be missing. This paper defends that, in order to regain a consistent soft power, the European Union must devise a hegemonic strategy aimed at constructing a European liquid identity from a democratic subject position that might be defined as strongly cosmopolitan

Is Incorporation of Unauthorized Immigrants Possible? Inclusion and Contingency for Nonstatus Migrants and Legal Immigrants

[Excerpt] What does inclusion for nonstatus migrants look like? How do we recognize and measure inclusion for this population? How might we model inclusion for nonstatus migrants? This essay addresses these questions, drawing primarily on empirical examples from the United States and Spain. Although Spain has become a country of immigration relatively recently, both countries have received large numbers of unauthorized immigrants, especially in the early part of the 2000s. These two countries also illustrate different means of inclusion for unauthorized migrants. During most of the 2000s opportunities for the “regularization” of unauthorized migrants have arguably been greater in Spain than in the United States. Yet in Spain the process has also been highly contingent, with a greater likelihood that regularized immigrants will fall out of status (Calavita 2005). The model of inclusion I develop here aims to capture such varied circumstances across national contexts

A contemporary history of circus arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina: the post-dictatorial resurgence and revaluation of circus as a popular art

The purpose of this paper is to study the process of resurgence and redefinition of popular practices promoted in the city ofBuenos Aires,Argentina, in post- dictatorial years, through the case of circus arts. Therefore, I will first present some historical data that will enable understanding of the transitional legitimacy given to circus in the late nineteenth century and synthetically introduce the social processes that led circus into a process of retraction. Then I will focus on the social actors who recovered these artistic languages in the post- dictatorship, contextualizing their practices with the socio-political changes of the time. The analyses will center on the way in which young artists recovered certain elements of the past to give sense to the present activity and innovated in the artistic practice, legitimizing their practices and challenging their recognition.Fil: Infantino, Julieta Lorena. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Unauthorized Migration and Border “Control”: Three Regional Views

This is a revised transcript of a talk given at the Latin American and Iberian Institute at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, on February 29, 2008

Wrong kind of victim? One year on: an analysis of UK measures to protect trafficked persons

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.ASI_2010_HT_UK_Wrong_kind.pdf: 104 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020.0-ASI_2010_HT_UK_Wrong kind Summary.pdf: 23 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

The historical dimension as a guide-tool identification and reading wine landscape character of Mendoza, Argentina

The wine landscape of the province of Mendoza is characterized by an integrating heterogeneity and active, own agricultural production activity dynamism. This is considered as a cultural heritage and a provincial collective redress. This has elements that clarify its nature, understood as the formal manifestation of identity, but others contribute to the trivialization of it. In this context, the research carried out, raised the reflection on how the historical dimension to identify and take a reading of the character of the landscape wine. The historical dimension allows detecting the elements of the character of the landscape and those which are trivializing in a dynamic landscape framework and heterogeneity. In response, resulting from the framework of cultural conservation, it was proposed that the historical dimension of landscape can be used as a guide - tool for analysis.Fil: Manzini Marchesi, Lorena Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentin

Knowledge Dynamics and Economy Growth

The success of national economies is more dependent on the capacity to produce and use knowledge. This paper represents a study on the innovation and knowledge, which become more central to economic performance.Knowledge Dynamics, Knowledge Economy, New Technologies, Knowledge Management, Economy Growth