Abstract, Latin American Studies: Publishing and Politics by Ronaldo Munck

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Latin American Studies: Publishing and Politics 
by Ronaldo Munck

This is an opportune moment, I believe, to debate the future of Latin American studies journals, given their variety and well-established nature. My own standpoint derives from a long-term membership of the Latin American Perspectives advisory panel and a brief stint as chief editor of the Bulletin of Latin American Research (UK) as well as membership of around a dozen editorial boards of journals dedicated to labor and globalization studies. And, of course, as has any other active researcher I have faced the demands made by the powers that be on where we should publish and what we should publish.

Abstract, A View from the North by Rory M. Miller

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A View from the North 
by Rory M. Miller

Having spent a significant part of my career editing the two major interdisciplinary journals on Latin America published in the United Kingdom, I have thought for years about what our role as editors should be in terms of linking different traditions of Latin American studies—North American, European (in all their various national guises), and Latin American (again, in all their various national guises). There were clear differences between the two journals. The Bulletin of Latin American Research was the journal of the (UK) Society for Latin American Studies, so one could envisage the “typical” reader as one of the 200 or so who attended annual conferences; the Journal of Latin American Studies, one of the two or three leaders internationally in the field, presented different challenges, since its readership was much broader and its reach much more global, evident in the fact that roughly 40 percent of submissions came from North America. (I should emphasize here that what follows is my personal view, not that of my editorial colleagues or the publisher of either journal.)

In the end I would hope that the Journal of Latin American …

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Latin American Perspectives
July 2016 vol. 43 no. 4 Abstract, pages 116-118

Abstract, The Clash of Political Paradigms in Twenty-first-Century Latin America and the Response of Area-Study Journals by Steve Ellner

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The Clash of Political Paradigms in Twenty-first-Century Latin America and the Response of Area-Study Journals 
by Steve Ellner

The relationship between state and society, particularly with regard to social movements and organizations, constitutes an important paradigmatic gap separating the experiences of Latin American and U.S. democracies and represents a challenge to area-study programs, including academic journals. These differences manifest themselves in major ways today as a result of the rise to power of leftist and center-leftist movements, as they also did in the past on different fronts. U.S. labor leaders, for instance, steeped in the tradition of Samuel Gompers who envisioned organized labor’s political role as that of a pressure group, have always felt uncomfortable with the political party affiliations of their Latin American counterparts. This line of thinking, which rests on the separation of social movements and the state, is reflected in the U.S. scholarly literature on organized labor in the region. Latin American trade unionists, on the other hand, justify the nexus by pointing to the supportive role played by parties during military dictatorships when many labor leaders are forced to go underground or into exile.

Abstract, Publishing in International, Peer-reviewed Social Science Journals: Implications for Latin American Studies by Carmen Diana Deere

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Publishing in International, Peer-reviewed Social Science Journals Implications for Latin American Studies 
by Carmen Diana Deere

The Bolivian Platform against Climate Change is a coalition of civil society and social movement organizations working to address the effects of global warming in Bolivia and to influence the global community. Many of the organizations use indigenous philosophy and worldviews to contest normative conceptions of development. A study of the growth of this movement drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in 2010 reveals a complex relationship between state and nonstate actors that has had a striking impact on the global community despite the failure of multilateral climate change negotiations.

Abstract, The Bolivian Climate Justice Movement: Mobilizing Indigeneity in Climate Change Negotiations by Kathryn Hicks and Nicole Fabricant

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The Bolivian Climate Justice Movement: Mobilizing Indigeneity in Climate Change Negotiations 
by Kathryn Hicks and Nicole Fabricant

The Bolivian Platform against Climate Change is a coalition of civil society and social movement organizations working to address the effects of global warming in Bolivia and to influence the global community. Many of the organizations use indigenous philosophy and worldviews to contest normative conceptions of development. A study of the growth of this movement drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in 2010 reveals a complex relationship between state and nonstate actors that has had a striking impact on the global community despite the failure of multilateral climate change negotiations.

Abstract, Latin American Studies Journals at a Critical Juncture

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Latin American Studies Journals at a Critical Juncture 

At the Thirty-third International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association in 2015, Latin American Perspectives sponsored a featured session entitled “Latin American Studies Journals at a Critical Juncture.” Suggested themes and issues for discussion were the following:

How can journals best serve as a means of dialogue between academics in Latin America and the global North?

Abstract, Unsettling Times: Living with the Changing Horizons of the Peruvian Andes by Mattias Borg Rasmussen

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Unsettling Times: Living with the Changing Horizons of the Peruvian Andes 
by Mattias Borg Rasmussen

As in many other parts of the Peruvian Andes, the peasants of rural Recuay report receding glaciers, altered patterns of precipitation, and disappearing species of plants and wildlife among the many things that may unsettle the everyday. Susan Whyte’s concept of uncertainty highlights the fact that climate change emerges in different ways in particular situations. It informs water politics and local lives but is not a priori the most important part of the story. Rather than adapting to climate change, people adapt climate change to their social worlds.

Abstract, The Complexities of Memory, Truth, and Justice Processes Artistic and Cultural Resistance by Roberta Villalón

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The Complexities of Memory, Truth, and Justice Processes Artistic and Cultural Resistance 
by Roberta Villalón

The second wave of memory, truth, and justice mobilizations continues to build high across Latin America (Villalón, 2015). Since the turn of the century, various countries of the region have witnessed a push to address the unresolved human rights abuses of past military regimes and civil conflicts. Previous processes of truth, reconciliation, and justice have been reevaluated, new interpretations of past violence have emerged, once-immune victimizers have been tried, and richer collective memories have developed. The difficulties of coming to terms with not only the horror of extreme violence typical of (dirty and civil) wars but also the incompleteness of justice postwar have permeated ebullient memory mobilizations and reconciliation efforts. Simple answers to the quintessential “Who is to be blamed?” and “How to move on?” have been put to rest, and a widespread recognition of the severe complexities of past, present, and future has taken hold. Did the violence actually begin before the military coups because of histories of structural inequality? How can we make sure that all the targets of violence are recognized without exacerbating latent conflicts? Are the limitations of democratization/pacification simply unavoidable, and, if so, will the struggles for memory, truth, and justice never end? Is current victimization a continuation of past oppression? How are we to deal with the arbitrariness of abusive power relations? Are justice, reconciliation, and social equality possible, or are they utopian ideals worth pursuing despite persistent dynamics of marginalization?

Abstract, Oil and the Chávez Legacy by Daniel Hellinger

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Oil and the Chávez Legacy 
by Daniel Hillinger

In the final 15 years of the Punto Fijo era (1958–1998), as state institutions and socioeconomic conditions deteriorated, the executive class of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. broke free from state control. In his 15 years as president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez reasserted the state’s control over the company and reestablished a fiscal regime that brought the country enormous financial benefits. It is a legacy, however, that has an uncertain future.

Abstract, "Colombia’s Gallery of Memory: Reexamining Democracy through Human Rights Lenses" by Erika Márquez

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Colombia’s Gallery of Memory. Reexamining Democracy through Human Rights Lenses 
by Erika Márquez

The Gallery of Memory, a street exhibit organized by Colombian activists affiliated with the Victims of State Crimes Movement to memorialize human rights violations, connects individual cases of human rights abuse with a larger critique of state violence. Through this exercise, activists bring together earlier and current violations of human rights and provide a framework that situates present undemocratic currents within the trajectory of the state’s politics of exception and its correlates, national security and the internal enemy. Critical reflection on the potential for place-based, coproduced resignification of security measures in a context of systemic violence suggests that the Gallery has become part of the movement-based human rights repertoire for democratizing citizenship in Colombia.

Abstract, "Colombia’s Gallery of Memory: Reexamining Democracy through Human Rights Lenses" by Erika Márquez

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Colombia’s Gallery of Memory. Reexamining Democracy through Human Rights Lenses 
by Erika Márquez

The Gallery of Memory, a street exhibit organized by Colombian activists affiliated with the Victims of State Crimes Movement to memorialize human rights violations, connects individual cases of human rights abuse with a larger critique of state violence. Through this exercise, activists bring together earlier and current violations of human rights and provide a framework that situates present undemocratic currents within the trajectory of the state’s politics of exception and its correlates, national security and the internal enemy. Critical reflection on the potential for place-based, coproduced resignification of security measures in a context of systemic violence suggests that the Gallery has become part of the movement-based human rights repertoire for democratizing citizenship in Colombia.

Abstract, "Political Conflict and Spiritual Battle: Intersections between Religion and Politics among Brazilian Pentecostals" by Carlos Gustavo Sarmet Moreira Smiderle and Wania Amelia Belchior Mesquita

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Political Conflict and Spiritual Battle: Intersections between Religion and Politics among Brazilian Pentecostals 
by Carlos Gustavo Sarmet Moreira Smiderle and Wania Amelia Belchior Mesquita

A new interpretation of Evangelical actors’ increasing participation in Brazilian political and electoral contests is that elements of Pentecostalism predispose a believer to see the world as the site of an eternal struggle between God and Satan. The belief in demons that have territorial jurisdictions, known as territorial spirits, is one aspect of this theology. The cognitive universe of this belief induces the Evangelical voter to make electoral decisions on the basis of religious premises. It teaches the voter to conceive, without much reflection, the spiritual battle and the electoral game as territorial disputes.

Abstract, "Religion and Politics in Argentina: Religious Influence on Legislative Decisions on Sexual and Reproductive Rights" by Juan Cruz Esquivel

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Religion and Politics in Argentina: Religious Influence on Legislative Decisions on Sexual and Reproductive Rights 
by Juan Cruz Esquivel

The interactions between the state and religious institutions in Argentina are expressed on the municipal, provincial, and national levels, in the sphere of legislation and public policy, and in a wide range of undefined informal relationships. Politics and religion have historically been intertwined, and their relationship can be described as subsidiary laicism, in which the recognition of civil rights coexists with significant intervention of the Church in the implementation of public policy and in which state support of religion at an intermediate level is considered legitimate. Religious institutions and convictions influence votes in the Congress on laws expanding sexual and reproductive rights, and under such influence provincial and municipal governments delay the implementation of those laws.

Abstract, "The Legacy of Liberation Theology in Colombia: The Defense of Life and Territory" by Leila Celis

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The Legacy of Liberation Theology in Colombia: The Defense of Life and Territory 
by Leila Celis

Liberation theology was very important in Latin America between 1970 and 1980. While it is less significant today, it has not disappeared. If we look at Colombia, we can see the pastoral and political commitment of the religious and the laity in various regions as they accompany marginalized communities, victims of government and parastatal violence, in conformity with their preferential option for the poor. Motivated by the crucified Christ, the heirs of liberation theology have developed a theology of life or of human rights. As human rights advocates, they identify among the causes of violence the policies of capitalist development, denounced as imperialist and responsible for the poverty of the majority of the population. This development has its origin in the parallel dynamics of social and international relations and the associated adaptation of the social movement.

Abstract, "Political Participation of Pentecostal Minorities in Chile, 1937–1989" by Miguel Ángel Mansilla and Luis Alberto Orellana

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Political Participation of Pentecostal Minorities in Chile, 1937–1989 
by Miguel Ángel Mansilla and Luis Alberto Orellana

Chilean Pentecostals have been described as passive and politically conformist in their relations with the military government. Instead, there is historical evidence that they have been an active and interactive minority. Pentecostal denominations have participated in political projects associated with leftist political parties. Pentecostal leaders have associated themselves with various political parties as a form of political struggle for recognition, and active Pentecostal organizations resisted and protested during the military government.

Abstract, "New Forms of the Relationship between Politics and Religion: Ecclesiastical Base Community Activists in Mexico City" by Hugo José Suárez

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New Forms of the Relationship between Politics and Religion: Ecclesiastical Base Community Activists in Mexico City 
by Hugo José Suárez

Beginning in the 1960's, new forms of living the faith emerged in Latin America that linked it with a political dimension. The Catholic Church changed its pastoral orientation, and ecclesiastical base communities were established as part of an “option for the poor.” The reflection that accompanied this process was known as liberation theology. By the end of the 1970's these communities were organizing conferences, publications, and theological reflections with strong international links and included hundreds of believers both in the countryside and in the city. During the following two decades, they were active participants in the construction of leftist political alternatives. While a minority pastoral practice today, they continue to hold national gatherings and maintain their international contacts. In-depth interviews with three members of ecclesiastical base communities in a working-class neighborhood in Mexico City show how these individuals have built their socio-religious practice and their religious beliefs. Their experience is part of a global reconstitution of belief systems in Mexico that affects all of the salvation enterprises in their various expressions.

Abstract, "Religion, Autonomy, and the Priority of Place in Mexico’s Maya Highlands" by Ruth J. Chojnacki

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Religion, Autonomy, and the Priority of Place in Mexico’s Maya Highlands 
by Ruth J. Chojnacki

The irruption of Mexico’s highland Maya on the world stage with the 1994 New Year’s Day uprising by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation generated a torrent of publications. Relatively neglected in this literature is the deconstruction of costumbre (ancestral Maya tradition) by Maya youth dislocated by Mexico’s early-1980s economic collapse. In one exemplary Tzotzil Maya pueblo, the acquisition of biblical literacy and the cognitive skills it entails in Catholic Church–sponsored courses oriented to liberation theology propelled a generational religious revolt. The ensuing reclamation of ancestral territory from ladino ranchers upended colonial relations, enabling indigenous peasants in this and other highland Maya communities to institute autonomous modes of production. Driven by a dialectic of religious ritual and agricultural labor, this assertion of Maya agency attests to the salience of religion and the priority of place as indispensable resources for indigenous socioeconomic autonomy confronting neoliberal assault.

Abstract, "Religious Pluralism and New Political Identities in Latin America" by

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Religious Pluralism and New Political Identities in Latin America 
by Cristián Parker

The role of religion in Latin American politics can no longer be interpreted with reductionist schemes. The faithful—citizens—are combining faith and politics in unprecedented ways, and churches and denominations are no longer factors of political identity. The reconfiguration of new social and political movements interweaves complex linkages with the religious. The transformations of the political field and especially of democratic processes have reshaped identities in a context of increasing religious and cultural diversity with relatively less Catholic presence and greater Evangelical presence. Institutional secularization and religious pluralism seem to go hand in hand with a new cleavage between religion and politics.

Abstract, "Minoritization and Pluralization: What Is the “People” That Pentecostal Politicization Is Building?" by Joanildo A. Burity

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Minoritization and Pluralization: What Is the “People” That Pentecostal Politicization Is Building? 
by Joanildo A. Burity

The emergence of Pentecostalism on the Brazilian scene has raised new questions about the way religion relates to the definition of a “people,” how religious minorities can be politically and legally integrated into the mainstream of national identity, and to what degree the state-religion relation is constitutive of society in a context of increasing sociocultural, religious, and political pluralization. The argument draws on the concept of minoritization proposed by William Connolly, against the background of Laclau’s problematic of the formation of a people as a hegemonic actor. An analysis of Pentecostal discourse on “the public” and “the people” reveals that Pentecostalism minoritized itself in response to perceived exclusion and this accentuated pluralization within it. An unintended effect of this logic was the fluidity of the boundary between sacred and profane, religious and secular. In a context of growing cultural, social, and political pluralization, these discursive practices have the potential to lead either to the aggiornamento of Pentecostalism or to the regressive closing of a populist right-wing discourse.

Abstract, "Spirits, Bodies, and Structures: Religion, Politics, and Social Inequality in Latin America" by Jennifer Scheper Hughes and Maria das Dores Campos Machado

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Spirits, Bodies, and Structures: Religion, Politics, and Social Inequality in Latin America 
by Jennifer Scheper Hughes and Maria das Dores Campos Machado

Religion has been married to the colonial and imperial project in Latin America since the Spanish conquistadors planted the first cross on American soil. Even as the new European religion took root across the continent it became incarnate precisely in the large, impoverished, racially complex, subject, and politically marginalized population that the Catholic Church itself helped to create through the long colonial period. Religious institutions were intimately involved in producing and then maintaining structures of social inequality from the very “invention” of Latin America: thus was the vein opened. At the same time, just as religion was essential to colonial processes, it has been, inevitably, part of anticolonial and decolonializing movements and struggles. This issue returns again to the theme of religion and social inequality and the social movements (religiously motivated and otherwise) that seek to address religions’ ambivalent legacy across the continent. The election of the Argentine Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the first Latin American pope brings global attention to the complexity of the Latin American religious landscape as the religious context that shapes his agenda. Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) has made the problem of inequality central to his papacy, decrying the “unfettered market” and the resulting global “economy of exclusion.” Not only did he speak on the evils of capitalism before a joint session of the U.S. Congress but he garnered international media and public attention in April 2014 when he famously tweeted “Inequality is the root of social evil.” It would appear that Rome itself now calls for attention to the problem of inequality.