This book brings together experiences with a rich variety of sustainable forest and tree resource management partnerships in various countries in Latin America - Trinidad, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guyana, Brazil and Ecuador. The authors reflect on the scope, objectives, institutional organisation and benefits of partnerships, on the actors involved and excluded, and on the hindrances associated with overcoming cultural differences, institutional barriers, power imbalances and diverging interests. The question that runs as a common thread through this book is whether, and under what conditions,...

This book analyses patterns of collective action that emerged during Guatemala's democratic transition between 1985 and 1996, focusing in particular on the role of indigenous actors in the political processes undergirding and shaping democratisation and the respective impact of the transition upon indigenous social movements. Comparatively little has been written about collective action in Guatemala within the discipline of political science, despite the mobilisation of a wide range of social movements in response to the brutal armed conflict; rather, literature has focused principally on the...

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a period of economic crises, increasing indebtedness as well as financial instability for Latin America and most other developing countries; in contrast, China showed amazingly high growth rates during this time and has since become the third largest economy in the world. Politically, China presents itself more prominently on the international stage, stressing its position as a developing country and seeking new alliances, including South-South alliances. Based on several case studies, this volume assesses how China's rise-one of the most...