Latin America and the Caribbean

‘Development is a bag of cement’: the infrapolitics of participatory budgeting in the Andes

Reflecting on observations of participatory budget schemes in the Andean region of South America, this article argues that the statements and behaviour of those who take part in participatory budget meetings should be understood as a form of public performance which often differs significantly from the ‘backstage discourses’ of participants once they are no longer performing in public.

Author: 
Cameron, John
Page: 
10

Challenging relations: a labour-NGO coalition to oppose the Canada-US and North American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA), 1985-1993

In 1987-1988, a national debate erupted in Canada on the desirability of entering into a free trade agreement with the USA and its potential effect on Canadian culture, society, and national sovereignty - as well as its economy. A national coalition of labour unions and civil society groups emerged to oppose such an agreement with the USA, and later its expansion to Mexico as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Author: 
Huyer, Sophia
Page: 
3

Building bridges across a double divide: alliances between US and Latin American labour and NGOs

Full-text sample article FREE from Taylor & Francis. Trying to build alliances that span the divide between trade unions and NGOs as well as the divide between the North and the South might seem a utopian task. But this is exactly what an imaginative new generation of organisers from the western hemisphere's labour movements and NGOs are trying to do. This paper analyses two very different efforts working to bridge this `double divide'.

Author: 
Anner, Mark
Author: 
Evans, Peter
Page: 
2

Implementing ILO Child Labour Convention 182: lessons from Honduras

This article explores the implementation of Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Honduras. It highlights key lessons learned from a joint Save the Children Fund-UK and Ministry of Labour project. These lessons are of relevance to similar projects addressing the application of child labour legislation and to projects focusing on institutional strengthening and children's participation. The article examines the centrality of partnership and ownership, and the value of child-centred approaches.
Author: 
Groves, Leslie
Page: 
15

Spreading manufacturing growth gains through local jobs: lessons from the Guatemalan highlands

The author describes the evolution of the garment-manufacturing sector in the district of Totonicapán in the Guatemalan highlands, an area long associated with weaving and related skills. Producers have been shrewd in finding ways to take advantage of changes in the global economy, for instance by importing cheaper fabrics from Asia to reduce the cost of the final products. Producers have thus been able to exploit the domestic and regional market niche for lower-cost garments than are available in the department stores, adapting their output to respond to fashions and trends.
Author: 
Ortez, Omar
Page: 
14

Never the twain shall meet? Women's organisations and trade unions in the maquila industry in Central America

The garment and textile factories and assembly plants in the Central American free trade zones, known as the maquila industry, have given rise to new actors on the labour scene, as women's organisations and local monitoring groups now work alongside the traditional trade union sector. Furthermore, some of these new organisations are linked to networks based elsewhere, mainly in the USA and Europe, and are actively involved in transnational campaigns to improve working conditions in the maquila.
Author: 
Prieto, Marina
Author: 
Quinteros, Carolina
Page: 
12

Social capital: red herring or right on? the Jamaican perspective

The discourse on social capital continues in the development arena, within which the concept is examined both as a means to an end and as an end in itself. Strengthening social capital begins at the community level. As the linkages become internalised and institutionalised, the networks created offer both state (weak or strong) and citizens a means of encouraging participatory decision making, problem identification, and problem solutions. As the Jamaican example reflects, development in small island states is an iterative process and not top-down.
Author: 
Wint, Eleanor
Page: 
11

Drawing Development: Analysing local understandings of development in three Andean communities

This article shows how local understandings of development can be researched empirically by reference to experiences presented from three drawing workshops performed with children in the Ayacucho region in the Peruvian Andes. The children were asked to draw pictures from their community, as they would like it to become in the future. Their drawings are analysed by using an adapted form of Grounded Theory, and further interpreted as expressions of local development discourses.
Author: 
Hoejer Mathiasen, Stinne
Author: 
Lauritsen, Peter
Page: 
2

Balancing act: Business and household in a small Bolivian city

Sucre is a city of micro enterprises. The lines between business and household are often blurred: accounts are mixed, space is shared, and partners from outside the household are rare. On the surface, this kind of business organisation seems most inadequate for economic success. Yet a closer look at the internal workings of Sucre's businesses suggests that the complex `balancing act' between business and household may represent not sloppy management (as micro enterprise development agencies often maintain), but a flexible strategy for household well-being.
Author: 
Eversole, Robyn
Page: 
2

New forms of environmental governance? A case study of Costa Rican environmental NGOs

Increasingly development theorists and practitioners view NGOs as catalysts of sustainable development. NGOs have been regarded as champions of democratisation and promoters of new ways of engaging in politics, with considerable influence on the development of civil society and new partnerships in environmental and social advocacy. This article analyses the ways in which Costa Rican environmental NGOs (ENGOs) engage in politics, by focusing on their perceptions of their roles in environmental governance and in representation of civil society.
Author: 
Nygren, Anja
Author: 
Tahkokallio, Laura
Page: 
5
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