Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> World - Caribbean & Latin American

The contributors to Beyond Civil Society argue that the conventional distinction between civic and uncivic protest, and between activism in institutions and in the streets, does not accurately describe the complex interactions of forms and locations of activism characteristic of twenty-first-century Latin America. They show that most contemporary political activism in the region relies upon both confrontational collective action and civic participation at different moments. Operating within fluid, dynamic, and heterogeneous fields of contestation, activists have not been contained by...

Sustainable Ecotourism in Central America: Comparative Advantage in a Globalized World examines the factors necessary for Nicaragua, Panama, and Belize to implement an economic development model based on the growth of ecotourism and foreign direct investment. In order to determine what factors are necessary to implement this model, this book analyzes the state of ecotourism development in Costa Rica and the lessons that the Costa Rican case can provide for other Central American states. It also assesses the effects of globalization and the increasing implementation of free market policies on...

This volume surveys the interplay between state and non-state actors in Latin American foreign policies and attitudes towards the Middle East in the twenty-first century. How will domestic instability and international tensions affect the choices and behavior of Latin American countries towards the Arab world? The chapters here offer insight into this and similar questions, as well as a comparative value in analyzing countries beyond those specifically discussed. Common topics in policy making are considered-namely, Israel and Palestine, Iran, the Gulf countries, and the Arab "Spring"-as...

This book is the first examination of the Cuban military in the context of Cuba's political and economic challenges in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR - and therefore of Soviet economic, political and psychological support. It provides important historical and political contexts of the development and engagement of the military.

This book offers a comparative analysis of the distinct experiences of the Peruvian and Bolivian cocaleros as political actors. In doing so, it illustrates how coca, an internationally criminalzsed good, affected the path and outcome of cocalero political empowerment in each case.

This book studies a significant event in US relations with Latin America, shedding light on the role of dependent states and their foreign policy agency in the process by which local concerns become intertwined with the dominant state's foreign policy. Plan Colombia was a large-scale foreign aid programme through which the US intervened in the internal affairs of Colombia, by invitation. It proved to be one of the major successes of US foreign policy, and has been credited with stemming a potentially catastrophic security failure of the Colombian state.

This book discusses...

The contributors to Beyond Civil Society argue that the conventional distinction between civic and uncivic protest, and between activism in institutions and in the streets, does not accurately describe the complex interactions of forms and locations of activism characteristic of twenty-first-century Latin America. They show that most contemporary political activism in the region relies upon both confrontational collective action and civic participation at different moments. Operating within fluid, dynamic, and heterogeneous fields of contestation, activists have not been contained by...

This book examines the everyday functioning and impact of international law and the development project, particularly across cities in emergent nations.

While leftist governments have been elected across Latin America, this Pink Tide, as it has been called, has so far failed to reach Peru. Instead, Peru represents a particularly stark example of state capture, in which an extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of a few corporations and pro-market technocrats has resulted in a monopoly on political power. In the wake of the 2016 general election, John Crabtree and Francisco Durand provide a close look at the ways in which Peruvian elites have been able to consolidate their position at the expense of genuine democracy.

In their...

While leftist governments have been elected across Latin America, this Pink Tide, as it has been called, has so far failed to reach Peru. Instead, Peru represents a particularly stark example of state capture, in which an extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of a few corporations and pro-market technocrats has resulted in a monopoly on political power. In the wake of the 2016 general election, John Crabtree and Francisco Durand provide a close look at the ways in which Peruvian elites have been able to consolidate their position at the expense of genuine democracy.

In their...

This book offers an in-depth analysis of the political economy of soybean production in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, by identifying the dominant private and public actors and control mechanisms that have given rise to a corporate-driven, vertically integrated system of regionalized agricultural production in the Southern Cone of South America. The current agricultural boom surrounding soybean production has been aided by aggressive new agro-technologies, including biotechnology, leading to massive organizational changes in the agricultural sector and a significant rise in the power of...

The only comprehensive overview of media changes in Latin America, charting the course of the Pink Tide in economic, political, and legal regimes from Mexico and Nicaragua to Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Argentina.

The Americas face many security challenges, including drug trafficking, organized crime, guerrilla movements, terrorism, and environmental challenges. Experts have long debated whether some countries in the region can be classified as failed states. While various states in the Americas have been labeled as failed states, calling a country a failed state is quite controversial and requires a precise definition of what constitutes a failed state. This book instead discusses fragile states in the Americas. Fragile states are weak states that are fertile grounds for organized crime groups and...

With vast oil reserves, Venezuela is one of the richest countries in Latin America. Venezuela is also the cradle of democracy in South America. It is tragic that Venezuela has turned into a social, political, and economic disaster. The reason for this is simple. The nation is increasingly in the iron grip of corrupt and incompetent leaders. Venezuela is a rich country, yet it is suffering from a massive and growing shortage of food, medicine, and basic goods. Venezuela has an inflation rate of over 60 percent, among the highest in the world. Price controls in Venezuela have led to massive...

Challenging the U.S.-Led War on Drugs explores the cases that have resisted the U.S. pressure to adopt a militarized approach to fight against drug trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Through a sweeping narrative history from the recovery of democracy in 1983 to the present, Cutrona applies international relations and comparative politics theories to understand Argentina s different trajectory vis-a-vis the rest of the region. The author demonstrates that in broad questions of vulnerability to U.S. pressure, external factors often play a secondary role in...

When Mexico's authoritarian Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) was defeated in the 2000 presidential election after seventy-one years of uninterrupted rule, many analysts believed the party would inevitably splinter and collapse. An authoritarian party without control over government resources and without a strong national executive creates both opportunity and incentive for ambitious politicians to leave the party and join a separate faction. To the surprise of many, however, the PRI managed to deviate from this pattern, and returned triumphantly to the presidency in 2012....

When Mexico's authoritarian Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) was defeated in the 2000 presidential election after seventy-one years of uninterrupted rule, many analysts believed the party would inevitably splinter and collapse. An authoritarian party without control over government resources and without a strong national executive creates both opportunity and incentive for ambitious politicians to leave the party and join a separate faction. To the surprise of many, however, the PRI managed to deviate from this pattern, and returned triumphantly to the presidency in 2012....

The issues surrounding the academic under-performance of the government secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago, compared with the denominational assisted schools have been debated for many years. An equally persistent issue surrounds the placement in the secondary schools and the inequalities which many persons perceive to be inherent in the process.

In this masterly study, Professor Ramesh Deosaran examines the nature and dimensions of inequality in opportunities for education, and their relationship to gender, race, family background and socio-economic status. He...

The Caribbean integration process is evolving in new and exciting ways but that process requires action on the part of regional governments to give substance to what has been in the minds and hearts of Caribbean people for a very long time.

The setting for Caribbean people to press their demand for less talk and more action from their leaders was provided at a Forum on the future of the Caribbean calling for 'disruptive thinking, bold action and practical outcomes'. It was held in Trinidad in 2015 and jointly hosted by The University of the West Indies and the government of Trinidad...

March 2015 should have been a time of celebration for Brazil, as it marked thirty years of democracy, a newfound global prominence, over a decade of rising economic prosperity, and stable party politics under the rule of the widely admired PT (Workers' Party). Instead, the country descended into protest, economic crisis, impeachment, and deep political division. Democratic Brazil Divided offers a comprehensive and nuanced portrayal of long-standing problems that contributed to the emergence of crisis and offers insights into the ways Brazilian democracy has performed well, despite the...