Suchergebnisse

Indigenous civil society in Latin America: continuity and change -- Collective action and Indigenous civil society: theoretical frameworks and background -- Ecuador: decline or strategic realignment? -- Bolivia: participation or controlled inclusion? -- Chile: continuing resistance, emerging renaissance -- Indigenous civil society in comparative perspective -- Indigenous civil society in the 21st century: looking forward.

"Bolstering findings that Indigenous activists in Latin America draw on both civic and uncivic, or disruptive, forms of collective action, Lupien's rich, descriptive work contributes to understanding Indigenous peoples' contemporary struggles. Drawing on four years of immersive fieldwork with more than ninety Indigenous organizations and groups within and across the three countries, and building on theories of resource mobilization, Lupien shows how Indigenous organizations today are newly pursuing, adapting, and sustaining local activism in a globalized world"--

The emergence of democratic institutional innovation in Latin America -- Theoretical origins of citizen participation -- Institutionalization of citizen participation in Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile : three models of participatory design -- Venezuela : radical participatory democracy -- Ecuador : radical discourse, dashed expectations -- Chile : pragmatic citizen participation -- Conclusions and prospects

AbstractParticipatory democrats argue that citizen engagement at the local level serves an important educational function. Through involvement in participatory mechanisms, citizens develop various skills, become better informed, and cultivate a greater sense of political efficacy. There has been considerable debate in the academic literature over the extent to which participation can produce these benefits, but deliberative and participatory theoretical approaches have been criticised for neglecting power dynamics within participatory mechanisms themselves, and for overlooking structural inequalities between women and men. Numerous critics have charged that participatory mechanisms tend to mask, but not eliminate, gender inequalities, particularly in societies where these remain firmly entrenched. While the theory on the educational function of participatory democracy is well developed, there remains a lack of empirical work on the impact of participation on women in Latin America, a region that has been at the forefront of democratic innovation. Based on extensive fieldwork in Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile, this article identifies the types of skills that women gain through participation, and questions the extent to which these reproduce traditional gender roles.

"Indigenous Politics and Resistance in Latin America: Continuity and Change" published on by Oxford University Press.

The media in Latin America are characterized by an extremely high level of market concentration, resulting in the representation of a narrow set of perspectives. Movements that would challenge the hegemony of the dominant social classes are portrayed as dangerous and reckless. The election of "bad left" governments with strong majorities through the very representative institutions that those in the media claim to defend has created a dilemma for those who oppose social change. Unable to discredit the results of the elections, the private media have sought to attack the legitimacy of these governments from below by framing their supporters as mindless followers or as dangerous, irrational mobs. All of this highlights the fact that the current structure of the media in Latin America denies individuals from the lower strata the right to be heard and, more generally, denies the public the right to the information pluralism that is required for democracy to function. Los medios de comunicación en América Latina se caracterizan por su alto nivel de concentración en el mercado, lo cual resulta en la representación de una estrecha gama de perspectivas. A los movimientos que desafían la hegemonía de las clases sociales dominantes se les pinta de peligrosos e imprudentes. La elección de gobiernos de "mala izquierda" con fuertes mayorías, por medio de las mismas instituciones representativas que los de los medios declaran defender, ha creado un dilema para los que se oponen al cambio social. Incapaces de desacreditar los resultados de las elecciones, los medios privados han intentado atacar la legitimidad de estos gobiernos tachando a sus partidarios de seguidores ciegos o turbas irracionales y peligrosas. Todo esto pone en relieve el hecho de que la estructura actual de los medios en América Latina niega a las personas de bajo estrato el derecho a ser escuchadas, y, más generalmente, se le niega al público el derecho al pluralismo informativo que se requiere para que funcione una democracia.