La conmemoración de las Independencias hispanoamericanas en José Martí : El intelectual moderno y la guerra

Bolívar, San Martín y Páez son las únicas figuras de la Independencia a quienes Martí dedica discursos y crónicas celebratorios. Esos textos son publicados a lo largo de una década (entre 1883 y 1894), precisamente cuando las dirigencias políticas y culturales latinoamericanas se consideran autorizadas -no sin disputa- a establecer aquellos 'lugares de memoria' (en el sentido de Nora, 2008) que monumentalizan un pasado heroico reciente. Los textos de Martí son interesantes en este sentido: ante la inminencia de la lucha por la independencia de Cuba, su evocación de las gestas del pasado adquiere un valor simbólico especial. Supone el retorno nostálgico a una etapa ya clausurada, pero de la que deben extraerse valores éticos, sociales y políticos claves para el presente. Martí alienta el culto a los héroes pero, al mismo tiempo, impone sentidos específicos y divergentes. Celebra la acción heroica, pero también subraya el lazo de los jefes con los sectores populares, señalando la autoridad de ambos grupos en la concreción de la independencia, y la exclusión de estos últimos de los procesos de modernización. E incluso, en sus balances, advierte errores de los líderes, vinculados a 'la ceguera del poder'

La filosofía marxista entre Francia y América Latina : Una lectura de la correspondencia entre Louis Althusser y Fernanda Navarro

En 1988, fue publicado por Siglo XXI México Filosofía y marxismo, un pequeño libro de entrevistas al filósofo marxista francés Louis Althusser realizadas por la profesora de filosofía mexicana Fernanda Navarro. En dicho volumen, Althusser retomaba varios de los aspectos fundamentales que habían caracterizado su intervención durante las décadas de 1960 y 1970 e introducía elementos absolutamente novedosos como las formulaciones alrededor del materialismo aleatorio y la filosofía del encuentro. La correspondencia mantenida entre Althusser y Navarro entre la entrevista de 1984 y la publicación de Filosofía y marxismo en 1988, habilita un horizonte interpretativo que permite integrar el vínculo establecido entre ambos filósofos en el marco más general del itinerario teórico-político de Althusser en Francia y de las proyecciones del althusserianismo hacia América Latina. Veremos de qué manera aquel encuentro entre Althusser y Navarro estuvo originado en un intercambio epistolar previo entre el filósofo francés y Mauricio Malamud, un comunista argentino difusor de la obra de Althusser en Argentina y por entonces exiliado en Morelia. Asimismo, la correspondencia entre Althusser y Navarro nos permite ver que el hecho de que el libro haya sido publicado únicamente en América Latina fue resultado de un interés específico de Althusser en los procesos políticos latinoamericanos. Finalmente, el intercambio permite captar el tenor filosófico del mencionado libro en el marco más general de la especificidad de la intervención althusseriana

La filosofía marxista entre Francia y América Latina : Una lectura de la correspondencia entre Louis Althusser y Fernanda Navarro

En 1988, fue publicado por Siglo XXI México Filosofía y marxismo, un pequeño libro de entrevistas al filósofo marxista francés Louis Althusser realizadas por la profesora de filosofía mexicana Fernanda Navarro. En dicho volumen, Althusser retomaba varios de los aspectos fundamentales que habían caracterizado su intervención durante las décadas de 1960 y 1970 e introducía elementos absolutamente novedosos como las formulaciones alrededor del materialismo aleatorio y la filosofía del encuentro. La correspondencia mantenida entre Althusser y Navarro entre la entrevista de 1984 y la publicación de Filosofía y marxismo en 1988, habilita un horizonte interpretativo que permite integrar el vínculo establecido entre ambos filósofos en el marco más general del itinerario teórico-político de Althusser en Francia y de las proyecciones del althusserianismo hacia América Latina. Veremos de qué manera aquel encuentro entre Althusser y Navarro estuvo originado en un intercambio epistolar previo entre el filósofo francés y Mauricio Malamud, un comunista argentino difusor de la obra de Althusser en Argentina y por entonces exiliado en Morelia. Asimismo, la correspondencia entre Althusser y Navarro nos permite ver que el hecho de que el libro haya sido publicado únicamente en América Latina fue resultado de un interés específico de Althusser en los procesos políticos latinoamericanos. Finalmente, el intercambio permite captar el tenor filosófico del mencionado libro en el marco más general de la especificidad de la intervención althusseriana

La filosofía marxista entre Francia y América Latina : Una lectura de la correspondencia entre Louis Althusser y Fernanda Navarro

En 1988, fue publicado por Siglo XXI México Filosofía y marxismo, un pequeño libro de entrevistas al filósofo marxista francés Louis Althusser realizadas por la profesora de filosofía mexicana Fernanda Navarro. En dicho volumen, Althusser retomaba varios de los aspectos fundamentales que habían caracterizado su intervención durante las décadas de 1960 y 1970 e introducía elementos absolutamente novedosos como las formulaciones alrededor del materialismo aleatorio y la filosofía del encuentro. La correspondencia mantenida entre Althusser y Navarro entre la entrevista de 1984 y la publicación de Filosofía y marxismo en 1988, habilita un horizonte interpretativo que permite integrar el vínculo establecido entre ambos filósofos en el marco más general del itinerario teórico-político de Althusser en Francia y de las proyecciones del althusserianismo hacia América Latina. Veremos de qué manera aquel encuentro entre Althusser y Navarro estuvo originado en un intercambio epistolar previo entre el filósofo francés y Mauricio Malamud, un comunista argentino difusor de la obra de Althusser en Argentina y por entonces exiliado en Morelia. Asimismo, la correspondencia entre Althusser y Navarro nos permite ver que el hecho de que el libro haya sido publicado únicamente en América Latina fue resultado de un interés específico de Althusser en los procesos políticos latinoamericanos. Finalmente, el intercambio permite captar el tenor filosófico del mencionado libro en el marco más general de la especificidad de la intervención althusseriana

Building democratic institutions in Mexico

The purpose of this study is to explore the process of building democratic institutions in Mexico, to examine how political parties shape the process of democratization, and how this process determines the degree of party system institutionalization.^ The appearance of competitive politics brought new challenges and opportunities to parties in Mexico. The aim was to identify how the broader political and economic environment has challenged Mexico's political party system, and specifically the transformation of Mexico's political party system.^ This research illustrates the logic of the deductive model, beginning with general, theoretical expectations about democratization and the economic reform. The empirical data were analyzed to determine whether the deductive expectations were supported by empirical reality. This study offers a comprehensive analysis that conciliates the 'political opening' that has produced favorable conditions for democratization and social integration, and the 'economic opening' that has counteracted since it generated social exclusionary processes. ^

Democratic purgatory: The failure of democracy in Venezuela

This research provides an understanding of the conditions that presage the failure of consolidated democratic political regimes through constitutional processes. In seeking to answer the question of how democracy might fail through democratic means, this study has revealed a gap in the literature on democratization. Venezuela was selected as a heuristic case study to explain this phenomenon. Heuristic case studies place less emphasis on the more configurative or descriptive elements of the case itself, and instead see the case as a point of departure for the formulations of theoretical propositions. While in-case hypotheses are possible, heuristic case studies make it an explicit research plan to tease out mechanisms that exist in a particular case study that might survive in other situations. ^ This study demonstrates that the elements in society that act as direct participants in the establishment of a democratic political system are able to maintain their position in the new order largely through an expansion of their ability to meet popular demands through clientelistic arrangements. While these corporatist groups may serve to facilitate social mobilization during the establishment of democratic regimes, they do so only in so far as they can maintain social control of in-group membership without fully providing for representative democracy. Once these democratic institutions are consolidated as key parts of the democratic structure, these corporatist arrangements provide for a type of unstable democratic purgatory: democracy is not fully representative, yet it is not completely unresponsive to the demands of the electorate. ^ The condition of democratic purgatory produces a paradox whereby democracy can be undemocratic under certain conditions. The stability of these regimes allows for democratic consolidation, despite the undemocratic basis of legitimacy. While these regimes can undergo consolidation, ultimately, this condition is unstable: either these regimes must establish an endogenous basis of political legitimacy (one that is not simply a function of the corporatist/clientelistic political structure), or the democracy will suffer a qualitative decline that may result in a democratic breakdown. Furthermore, this study finds that the viability of any type of democratic regime rests upon its adaptability to ensure adequate representativeness. ^

Waves of Change Within Civil Society in Latin America: Mexico City and Sao Paulo

For the past half a century, Latin American scholars have been pointing toward the emergence of new social actors as agents of social and political democratization. The first wave of actors was characterized by the emergence of novel agents-mainly, new popular movements-of social transformation. At first, the second wave, epitomized by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), was celebrated as the upsurge of a new civil society, but later on, it was the target of harsh criticism. The literature often portrays this development in Latin American civil society as a displacement trend of actors of the first wave by the second wave-""NGOization""-""and even denounces new civil society as rootless, depoliticized, and functional to retrenchment. Thus, supposedly, NGOization encumbers social change. The authors argue that NGOization diagnosis is a flawed depiction of change within civil society. Rather than NGOization related to the depoliticization and neoliberalization of civil society, in Mexico City and Sao Paulo, there has been modernization of organizational ecologies, changes in the functional status of civil society, and interestingly, specialization aimed at shaping public agenda. The authors argue that such specialization, instead of encumbering social change, brings about different repertoires of strategies and skills purposively developed for influencing policy and politics. Their argument relies on comparative systematic evidence. Through network analysis, they examine the organizational ecology of civil society in Mexico City and Sao Paulo.

e-Government architectures, technical and political situation in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Political violence and economic development in Latin America: issues and evidence

Includes bibliography

Political Parties and Governors as Determinants of Legislative Behavior in Brazil`s Chamber of Deputies, 1988-2006

This article examines the relative importance of regional and national forces in shaping the behavior of Brazilian legislators at the national level. A widely held view is that national legislators respond to state pressures in making decisions, rather than pressures from the national government. Governors not only can influence national debates but also can determine outcomes by exerting control over their states` legislative delegations. This article examines a dataset of all roll-call votes in the Chamber of Deputies between 1989 and 2006 to isolate and evaluate the impact of local pressures on legislative voting. Spanning the terms of five presidents and five different congresses, the data show that the local influence is weaker than the national on the voting decisions of individual legislators and the voting cohesion of state delegations. Alternative institutional resources allow the central government to counteract the centrifugal pressures of federalism and other institutional influences.

Doing Courts Justice? Studying Judicial Politics in Latin America

The past decade has brought an unprecedented boom in the study of courts as political actors in Latin America. We examine the extraordinary diversity of academic research on judicial politics in the region, identifying the key questions, findings, and theoretical debates in the literature, highlighting important conceptual disjunctions, and critiquing the research methods scholars of judicial politics in Latin America have employed in their work. We close by suggesting new avenues of inquiry to help advance the collective effort to understand the roles courts play in Latin American politics.

RACE, RESOURCES, AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN A BRAZILIAN CITY

Does race influence political behavior in Brazil? Using data from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we explore whether an individual`s propensity to take part in a political association is affected by race, independent of socioeconomic position and of the availability of resources derived from this position. We found that white individuals participate more in political associations than do black individuals; however, after taking into account the differences in all types of resources, we found no difference in participation by racial groups. Nevertheless, by interacting race, skills, and income, it turns out that different racial groups use the same resources differently. A white individual`s propensity to participate politically is significantly more affected by income than a similar black individual`s propensity. Therefore, we argue that race mediates the effect of resources on political participation, which means that either different groups may use different resources or different groups can differ in how intensively they use resources.

Beyond Numbers THE IMPACT OF GENDER QUOTAS IN LATIN AMERICA

This article considers the impact of electoral quotas for women. Most studies have either focused on whether particular policies increase the numbers of women elected or assessed the extent to which a greater number of women in the legislature produces more gender-sensitive legislation. However, little attention has been paid to the cultural changes that can result from adopting gender quotas. This article argues that, although increasing the number of women in legislatures may improve the attention to gender issues, broader processes are involved. Latin American women`s activism and alliances have been critical in ensuring the expansion of women`s rights and increasing the number of women elected. Quotas, and the debate surrounding their adoption, have provided an incentive for women`s collective action and fostered the politicization of gender issues. An analysis of the impact of quotas, therefore, must recognize these broader impacts.

Management of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis in Latin America A Consensus Position Paper From Pan-American League of Associations of Rheumatology and Grupo Latino Americano De Estudio de Artritis Reumatoide

Objective: A consensus meeting of representatives of 18 Latin-American and Caribbean countries gathered in Renaca, Chile, for 2 days to identify problems and provide recommendations for the care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Latin America, a region where poverty and other health priorities make the efforts to provide effective and high quality care difficult. This report includes recommendations for health professionals, patients, and health authorities in Latin America, with an emphasis oil education and therapeutic issues. Methods: Fifty-one rheumatologists (list available only online on the JCR website) from 18 Latin-American and Caribbean countries with a special interest in RA participated in the consensus meeting. Participants were experts identified and appointed by the National Societies of Rheumatology affiliated with the Pan-American League of Associations for Rheumatology (PANLAR) and by the Grupo Latino Americano De Estudio de Artritis Reumatoide (GLADAR)-an independent group of Latin American rheumatologist researchers were also invited to the meeting. Eight topics were identified as priorities: patient, community and allied health professional education, health policy and decision making, programs for early detection and appropriate treatment of RA, role of classic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), role of biologic therapy, and drug safety surveillance. To reach consensus, a survey with questions relevant to the topic of interest was sent to all participants before the meeting. During a 2 day meeting, the answers of the survey were reviewed and discussed by each group, with final recommendations on action items. Results: The specific topic of the survey was answered by 86% of the participants and 68% of them answered the entire survey. It was agreed that RA and rheumatic diseases which are currently not but should be public health priorities in Latin America, because of their prevalence and impact on quality of life. Conclusions: Strategic areas identified as priorities for our region included: early diagnosis and access to care by multidisciplinary teams, creation of databases to identify infections with the use of biologic agents in RA which are relevant to Latin America, and overall efforts to improve the care of RA patients in accordance with international standards. Implementation of educational programs aimed to improve self-management for patients with RA was also considered crucial.

Economic sanctions and human rights: an analysis of competing enforcement strategies in Latin America

This article addresses the consequences of economic sanctions for the protection of human rights in Latin America. The literature on sanctions and compliance informs three hypotheses, which investigate the relationship between sanctions and the level of rights protection in two groups of countries: those that were targeted by sanctions and those that were not. Using data from the Political Terror Scale (PTS) and from Freedom House, I find empirical evidence that sanctions do improve the level of protection in countries that were not targeted. This finding can be explained by the deterrent effect attributed to sanctions by the compliance literature, broadly interpreted. The presence of economic sanctions in a given year increases the probability of observing better human rights practices by almost 50%. These results hold for the 12 Latin American countries that were not subject to economic sanctions for the period 1976-2004.