Open veins of Brazil: Tension, perplexity and the (re)emergence of popular protests

Brazil has posed one of the most puzzling dilemmas for politicians and academics alike: how is it possible that in a country where growth has been sustained for the last decade, where inflation levels have been kept under control, where purchasing power of the average wage has grown in real terms, where unemployment remains at a minimum and where 50 million Brazilians were lifted out of poverty to join the ranks of the ‘new middle class’, a massive popular protest has taken to the streets in twelve cities for the last months? Where does this protest come from? Why has neither the government nor the opposition recognised the latent discontent? How can such discontent occur in a country that has consistently expressed high levels of support to and satisfaction with the government of Dilma Rousseff? Brazil is in tension and it is puzzling

The Return of the State in Argentina

Argentina’s economic collapse in December 2001 is seen as perhaps the most emblematic evidence of the failure of neoliberalism in the developing world to provide sustainable and equitable economic growth. A new policy frame has gradually emerged since the crisis which relies on a more active state in the promotion of growth. This article examines the prospects for state-led growth in Argentina in the context of open markets. It explores the policies implemented since 2002 and asks to what extent they constitute a possible route to stable post-crisis governance.

Argentina’s legalisation of abortion is only the beginning of the battle for reproductive rights in Latin America

Legalisation of abortion in Argentina is a huge breakthrough in the struggle for the human rights of women in Latin America. But much work is still to be done if women are to achieve equal citizenship in all aspects of social, economic, cultural, political, and family life instead of being defined by reproduction and motherhood, write Pia Riggirozzi (University of Southampton) and Jean Grugel (University of York)

Derechos humanos a la salud: enfoques regionales en favor de los pobres

Desde 1950, el 10 de diciembre ha servido para fomentar la causa de los Derechos Humanos, en particular, el derecho humano a la salud. Sin embargo, para millones de personas en todo el mundo, el goce total del derecho a la salud sigue siendo un objetivo distante. A pesar de algunos avances en la reducción de la pobreza, esta sigue siendo una de las razones principales de mala salud, falta de acceso a atención médica y medicamentos y de subdesarrollo.i Al mismo tiempo, la relación entre los erechos humanos, el desarrollo social y los determinantes sociales de la salud aparecen cada vez más enfáticamente en las agendas de política global sobre pobreza, igualdad y salud. ¿Qué lugar tienen las organizaciones regionales en estas agendas y cómo pueden los organismos regionales apoyar el avance de estas agendas en favor del derecho humano a la salud

Regional integration and poverty: how do southern regionalisms embed norms and practices of social development through health governance and diplomacy?

Regional organisations are moving away from traditional market-based goals to embrace issues of welfare and social development, yet little is known what role, if any, regional organisations can play in policy formation that is conducive to embed alternative approaches to development into national and international strategies and normative frameworks. This paper explores how Southern regional organisations and regionalisms as advanced by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are framing and advancing pro-poor norms and goals. While not coherent citizenship-centred projects of regionalism, SADC and UNASUR have manifested new ambitions regarding poverty reduction and the promotion of welfare and are developing modalities conducive to embed these goals in national and global policy-making. The analysis focuses on the specific area of health, a proxy to poverty reduction in both regional organisations, to argue that Southern regional organisations, while neglected partners in global governance of development, are can promote and prescribe standards for social development and poverty reduction; and act as forum for the advocacy of equity and rights. In this context, there are three key messages from this paper: (i) poverty needs to be brought in to the study of regional integration and regional governance; (ii) the efforts of regional organisations to reduce poverty need to be taken more seriously in the literature and in practice; and (iii) regional organisations can be seen as engines of norms, spaces for advocacy and effective normative corridors affecting policy at national and international levels of governance

Comparing SADC and UNASUR regional health governance and policy

For many years regional organisations were regarded as entities driven mainly by the goals of trade liberalisation, market creation, and in certain instances security communities. After the 1990s many regional organisations widened their mandates to also incorporate elements of social policies including health. This is particularly significant as coordinated approaches are often needed within a given geographic space to address health challenges. This paper looks at these changes within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). It is argued that these regional organisations, although distinctive in term of governance and practice, are examples of regional formations increasingly embedding new health mandates and pro-poor commitments in their normative frameworks, projects, forms of cooperation, and governance. The paper sheds light on regional health governance and policy as embraced by both UNASUR and SADC and on the different relationships, networks practices, and institutional and legal foundations by which regional arrangements hold competence in each region. In this respect, the analyses advanced here proposes at least the value of devoting more attention to the linkages between regionalism and poverty reduction through effective, context-specific, policy interventions, as well as for further analysis of the role regional organisations play as actors in global health politics

Fortaleciendo Derechos y Equidad en Salud a través de Diplomacia Regional: el papel de UNASUR

Durante muchos años las organizaciones regionales se consideraron como entidades principalmente orientadas a reforzar políticas de ampliación y liberalización del comercio y en ciertos casos, en crear medidas de confianza mutua para robustecer la seguridad. A partir de la década de 1990 muchas organizaciones regionales ampliaron sus mandatos para incorporar enfoques coordinados dentro de un espacio geográfico determinado para hacer frente a los retos trasfronterizos como la salud, la infraestructura, la energía, el medio ambiente y la educación; ejercicios que se vieron restringidos en contextos de austeridad económica. Desde hace más de una década, las circunstancias político económicas de América latina abren nuevas oportunidades que se refuerzan con desafíos actuales en el campo de la salud internacional. De hecho, podría sugerirse que el virus Ébola en África occidental podría haber sido diferente si hubiera herramientas de colaboración sólidas y más eficientes, tales como los sistemas de alerta temprana compartidos entre los estados miembros de esa región. Así este informe llega en un momento oportuno para mirar de cerca el papel que entidades regionales como la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (UNASUR) pueden desempeñar en la promoción de la equidad en salud para los ciudadanos que viven en los estados miembros

UNASUR: construcción de una diplomacia regional en materia de salud a través de políticas sociales

La lucha contra la pobreza y el acceso a mejores condiciones de vida, incluido el reconocimiento de derechos, son desafíos persistentes que afectan de manera desproporcionada a los países en desarrollo y sus poblaciones más vulnerables. Al mismo tiempo, la integración regional en América Latina hoy representa un conglomerado de proyectos que no solo aborda temas comerciales, sino también políticos y sociales, articu-lados alrededor de nuevos objetivos y prácticas, basados en solidaridad y autonomía. Esto se ha manifestado particularmente en el área de salud, donde –bajo la coordinación de UNASUR–, una innovadora estructura institucional lidera programas, recursos y políticas para mejorar el acceso a la salud en la región y, mediante una nueva “diplomacia regional”, la posición frente a actores internacionales en materia de acceso a medi-camentos y derecho a la salud. Este artículo explora UNASUR Salud en la región y frente a actores externos, y argumenta que la región debe ser considerada como “espacio para la práctica política” tanto como “actor internacional”, redefiniendo a la vez qué es región y para qué sirve, así como las sinergias entre regionalismo y desarrollo social