Liberation social psychology: learning from Latin America

Liberation Social Psychology (la psicología social de la liberación, LSP) has developed amongst a body of psychologists in Latin America over the last decade. There has been no survey of the field in English, although some of the ideas are of relevance for those working with oppressed groups elsewhere in the world. This article explores the context in which LSP grew from the work of Ignacio Martín-Baró and was developed by Maritza Montero, amongst others. Within LSP, key concepts emerge, including conscientization, realismo-crítico, de-ideologization, a social orientation, the preferential option for the oppressed majorities and methodological eclecticism. The application of LSP is explored with reference to three domains. First, it is suggested that community social psychology as practised in some parts of Latin America reflects LSP in its emphasis on social transformation and participatory methods. Second, psycho-social work with victims of state oppression, which adopts a highly social and societal orientation embodies LSP. Third, social analyses which explicitly adopt socio-psychological-political analyses of the social realities confronting countries in Latin America embrace, in different ways, principles and concepts of LSP. Some of the challenges facing LSP are discussed and open dialogue is encouraged between LSP and critical, community and applied social psychologists. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Informe independiente de sociedad civil sobre la implementación de la Convención Interamericana contra la Corrupción en El Salvador, mayo del 2007

El presente informe resume de manera puntualizada algunos mecanismos de tipo jurídico-legales relacionados con la transparencia y la lucha contra la corrupción, en los ámbitos de las Contrataciones de funcionarios, Adquisición de bienes y servicios del Estado, la Protección de funcionarios y ciudadanos particulares que denuncien de buena fe y la incorporación de actos de corrupción en la legislación nacional. Todos estos ámbitos temáticos corresponden a los indicados por el Comité de Expertos de la OEA para el seguimiento a la implementación de la Convención Interamericana contra la Corrupción, en el marco de la Segunda Ronda

Slum wars of the 21st century: gangs, mano dura and the new urban geography of conflict in Central America

The political economy of violence in Central America is widely perceived as having undergone a critical shift during the past two decades, often pithily summarized as a movement from 'political' to 'social' violence. Although such an analysis is plausible, it also offers a depoliticized vision of the contemporary Central American panorama of violence. Basing itself principally on the example of Nicaragua, the country in the region that is historically perhaps most paradigmatically associated with violence, this article offers an alternative interpretation of the changes that the regional landscape of violence has undergone. It suggests that these are better understood as a movement from 'peasant wars of the twentieth century' (Wolf, 1969) to 'urban wars of the twenty-first century' (Beall, 2006), thereby highlighting how present-day urban violence can in many ways be seen as representing a structural continuation of past political conflicts, albeit in new spatial contexts. At the same time, however, there are certain key differences between past and present violence, as a result of which contemporary conflict has intensified. This is most visible in relation to the changing forms of urban spatial organization in Central American cities, the heavy-handed mano dura response to gangs by governments, and the dystopian evolutionary trajectory of gangs. Taken together, these processes point to a critical shift in the balance of power between rich and poor in the region, as the new 'urban wars of the twenty-first century' are increasingly giving way to more circumscribed 'slum wars' that effectively signal the defeat of the poor