Report presented at the meeting of the Executive Council of the Latin American Studies Association (online session), May 22–23, 2020.

This article examines patterns of change and continuity in Latin American foreign policies. It asks two interrelated questions: How can we conceptually and empirically account for foreign policy change? And why do states change their foreign policies in Latin America? To answer these questions, we used the results of a new expert survey on foreign policy preferences in the region between 1980 and 2014. The results we obtained using both linear and nonparametric specifications are very clear and consistent: presidential ideology is what matters the most. Simply put, a change in the ideology of the president produces a change in foreign policy that is almost equivalent in magnitude, all other theoretically relevant factors set to their means.

This article examines how the organizational structure of a social movement affects the tactics it is likely to adopt. Hybrid movements gained prominence at the start of the twenty-first century. Like movements of the past, they protested on the streets; but unlike the movements of the past, they also acted like interest groups by lobbying government over policy. Considered through the lens of traditional scholarship, this phenomenon presents a puzzle. Loose networks of activists are thought to be good at contentious politics but incapable of negotiating with government. By contrast, federations of interest groups are seen to be good at insider lobbying but subject to co-optation. This article theorizes the middle ground between social movements and interest groups by proposing a third structure for social movement organizing, the federative coalition, which incorporates some of the advantages of hierarchy while avoiding some of its pitfalls. The article illustrates this argument through a case study of Brazil’s AIDS movement.

To explain the high rates of violence in Central America’s Northern Triangle, this article argues that it is rooted in an armed arena comprised of state and nonstate actors with roles in security, ranging from the military to organized crime. In this space of collaboration, those actors bring resources and reap rewards, strengthening their relationships in the process. Of the many activities within the armed arena, one of the most destructive is the trafficking of firearms. Based on fieldwork in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, this article focuses on two sets of relationships that demonstrate the armed arena’s strength. The first set is the area of criminal justice, centered on investigations, ballistics, inventories, and destruction of arms. The second is the arms market: regional trafficking, internal arms sales, and the state’s licensing system. Evaluating governmental responses, the final section shows that arms control policies are most effective when they target and disrupt these relationships.

O artigo toma como referência a abordagem dos regimes de bem-estar proposta inicialmente por Gösta Esping-Andersen e tem como objetivos a caracterização dos regimes de bem-estar nas unidades federativas brasileiras e a identificação dos fatores e complementariedades capazes de explicar a heterogeneidade da proteção social no Brasil. Além disso, inovando em relação a trabalhos precedentes, introduz uma dimensão étnica na construção tipológica, tema quase negligenciado pela literatura especializada. A metodologia utilizada foi uma combinação entre a análise fatorial e a de cluster. A primeira caracterizou os tipos e a segunda agrupou e classificou os estados segundo seus sistemas de proteção social (SPS). Foram encontrados três tipos de SPS etnicamente segmentados, confirmando a inadequação de tratar o País como um tipo único e homogêneo e evidenciando o peso da hierarquia étnica na produção de bem-estar.

El estudio de las atribuciones de pobreza y riqueza ha tenido un rol central en la literatura sobre la justificación de las desigualdades sociales. La investigación en esta área ha explorado en qué medida se usan razones individualistas versus estructuralistas para explicar por qué ciertas personas logran posiciones más precarias o aventajadas que el resto. En esa línea, este artículo busca dar cuenta de cómo cambian en el tiempo estas razones, en el contexto de una sociedad que ha tenido grandes transformaciones estructurales en las últimas décadas, donde además se mantiene una alta desigualdad de ingresos, como es el caso de la sociedad chilena. Tomando dos encuestas con representatividad nacional de los años 1996 y 2015, los resultados indican en un primer nivel descriptivo que han aumentado las atribuciones individualistas sobre el origen de la pobreza y la riqueza —tales como la falta de esfuerzo y la iniciativa personal— y que han bajado las razones de carácter estructural —como el desempleo o las políticas económicas—. No obstante, a través de un análisis de clases latentes (LCA), se ofrece una segunda aproximación más matizada a este fenómeno, mostrando que la baja de atribuciones estructurales se asocia al aumento de personas que atribuyen tanto razones individualistas como estructurales a la pobreza y riqueza, predominando una combinación de ambas a la hora de significar estos hechos. Estos cambios en los patrones de atribución se discuten en el marco de las transformaciones económicas y culturales de la sociedad chilena.

The purpose of this study is to develop an overview of the Latin American women-owned business environment. Documentary research was conducted based on the factors of the Integrated Framework Assessment for an Enabling Environment for Women-Owned Businesses developed by the International Labor Organization, including access to credit and financial services, institutionalism, associations and women entrepreneurs’ networks, legal and regulatory framework, the distribution of the use of time, citizen security and gender-based violence, and promotion of entrepreneurship. The study concludes that even though there have been important initiatives related to these factors in Latin America and these issues have become important in political agendas, there has been uneven progress in different countries.

El 2 de octubre de 2018 marcó la quincuagésima conmemoración de la masacre del aún desconocido número de estudiantes, transeúntes y otros inocentes en la Plaza de las Tres Culturas de Tlatelolco. Como siempre, el programa cultural del Memorial 68 incluyó varias producciones teatrales, pero esta vez llamó la atención el uso casi exclusivo de la farsa como modo de expresión dramática. La farsa tiende a ser burlona, irreverente y alejada de la realidad, lo que lleva a preguntarse por qué tantos dramaturgos han recurrido a este género antiguo y poco respetado para tratar un capítulo tan doloroso y álgido de la historia mexicana. Este estudio se fundamenta en la teoría de la farsa, la tragedia y la risa y en la percepción extendida de la misma historia mexicana como una farsa. Aunque el uso de la farsa como vehículo para una conmemoración tan significante podría sorprender y hasta ofender, el análisis de cinco obras comprueba que la farsa es últimamente la expresión más realista del ciclo absurdo y sin fin de la historia mexicana, la que ha mostrado repetidamente que se puede matar con impunidad tanto a estudiantes como a todos los que se oponen al orden establecido.

This article explores the governing logics and political implications of citizen security in Puebla, Mexico, specifically, the Programa Nacional de Prevención del Delito (National Program for the Prevention of Crime, PRONAPRED). Taking a biopolitical perspective, the article centers on how citizens are produced through the application of citizen security initiatives. This production operates at two levels: the regulation of populations and the molding of subjects. First, vital statistics and risk-related variables highlight those populations that exceed the median for risk. Second, those at-risk groups are targeted for training to reduce their susceptibility to violence. Training focuses on the individual, asking citizens to identify and minimize risk in a manner that emanates from and contributes to security governance. The political ontology of citizen security is this citizen/citizenry coincident with official measures. The democratic aspirations of citizen security are consequently muted, as security governance locates citizens within the confines of state power and, at the same time, holds them separate from this power to produce citizen existence.

En este artículo se analizan dos producciones recientes de Cecilia Vicuña y Ana Tijoux: la instalación Quipu Mapocho (2017) y la canción “Río abajo” (2014), respectivamente. A partir de estos trabajos, se examinan los cruces entre arte y activismo y cómo ambas artistas elaboran retóricas de la resistencia que vuelven porosos los límites entre el arte y lo político e instalan posiciones críticas frente a la racionalidad moderna-colonial-patriarcal-capitalista que aún rige a las sociedades latinoamericanas. Desde esta perspectiva, se propone que Vicuña y Tijoux promueven la descolonización de la naturaleza a partir de la descolonización de los saberes, articulando un discurso ecológico en que los ríos y mares son defendidos desde una “cultura del agua” de raíz indígena, pero sin caer en visiones puristas o arcaizantes.

Este artículo explora la relevancia del Caribe para entender la colonialidad, la decolonialidad, y el giro decolonial. Confronta y comienza a corregir los efectos de cierto latinoamericano-centrismo en las formas usuales de entender el giro decolonial en América Latina, el Caribe mismo, y otras regiones. Se identifican tres sentidos distintos del giro decolonial: el giro decolonial como analítica, el giro decolonial como sociogénesis histórica, y, de forma más estrecha, el giro decolonial como una red de intelectuales que se han distinguido por sus estudios sobre la colonialidad y la decolonialidad. El articulo explica como el Caribe, el pensamiento caribeño, e intelectuales caribeños han jugado un rol importante en cada una de estas dimensiones.

This essay reviews the following works:

Centroamérica: Filibusteros, estados, imperios y memorias. By Víctor Hugo Acuña. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Costa Rica, 2014. Pp. xv + 151. $5.99 paperback. ISBN: 9789968684408.

I Ask for Justice: Maya Women, Dictators, and Crime in Guatemala, 1898–1944. By David Carey Jr. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013. Pp. xxv + 335. $55.00 hardcover. ISBN: 9780292748682.

A Camera in the Garden of Eden: The Self-Forging of a Banana Republic. By Kevin Coleman. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016. Pp. 312. $27.95 paperback. ISBN: 9781477308554.

Empire by Invitation: William Walker and Manifest Destiny in Central America. By Michel Gobat. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018. Pp. 367. $39.95 hardcover. ISBN: 9780674737495.

Solidarity under Siege: The Salvadoran Labor Movement, 1970–1990. By Jeffrey L. Gould. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. xviii + 262. $29.99 paperback. ISBN: 9781108410199.

Banana Cowboys: The United Fruit Company and the Culture of Corporate Colonialism. By James W. Martin. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2018. Pp. x + 252. $58.10 hardcover. ISBN: 9780826359421.

Breve historia de Centroamérica, 5th ed. By Héctor Pérez Brignoli. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2018. Pp. 352. ISBN: 9788491811923.

El laberinto centroamericano: Los hilos de la historia. By Héctor Pérez Brignoli. San José, Costa Rica: Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de América Central, 2017. Pp. x + 163. $4.40 paperback. ISBN: 9789968919326.

Las luchas de los trabajadores hondureños organizados (1880–1993). By Mario Posas. Tegucigalpa: Editorial Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, 2017. Pp. 523. ISBN: 9789992632987.

Historia de las desigualdades sociales en América Central: Una visión interdisciplinaria, siglos XVIII–XXI. Edited by Ronny Viales y David Díaz. San José, Costa Rica: Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de América Central, 2016. Pp. xix + 634. $8.79 paperback. ISBN: 9789968919241.

This essay reviews the following works:

Chino: Anti-Chinese Racism in Mexico, 1880–1940. By Jason Oliver Chang. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2017. Pp. xiv + 257. $28.00 paperback. ISBN: 9780252082344.

Paisanos Chinos: Transpacific Politics among Chinese Immigrants in Mexico. By Fredy González. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. Pp. xiii + 277. $29.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780520290204.

Camaradas: Nueva historia del comunismo en México. Edited by Carlos Illades. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2017. Pp. 375. $18.95 hardcover. ISBN: 9786077457251.

Seen and Heard in Mexico: Children and Revolutionary Cultural Nationalism. By Elena Jackson Albarrán. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2015. Pp. 414. $35.00 paperback. ISBN: 9780803265349.

The Blood Contingent: The Military and the Making of Modern Mexico, 1876–1911. By Stephen B. Neufeld. Albuquerque: University of Mexico Press, 2017. Pp. vii + 400. $29.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780826358059.

A History of Infamy: Crime, Truth, and Justice in Mexico. By Pablo Piccato. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. Pp. xi + 374. $34.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780520292628.

The Power and Politics of Art in Postrevolutionary Mexico. By Stephanie J. Smith. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017. Pp. xiii + 275. $29.95 paperback. ISBN: 9781469635682.

This essay reviews the following works:

Democracia em risco? 22 ensaios sobre o Brasil hoje. By Sérgio Abranches and twenty-three others. bold>São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. Pp. 328. R$69.90 paperback. ISBN: 9788535932027.

Presidencialismo de coalizão: Raízes e evolução do modelo político brasileiro. By Sérgio Abranches. bold>São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. Pp. 434. R$69.90 paperback. ISBN: 9788535931556.

Brazil Apart: 1964–2019. By Perry Anderson. bold>London: Verso, 2019. Pp. 224. $21.56 hardcover. ISBN: 9781788737944.

Dinheiro, eleições e poder: As engrenagens do sistema político brasileiro. By Bruno Carazza. bold>São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. Pp. 324. R$69.90 paperback. ISBN: 9788535931259.

Valsa brasileira: Do boom ao caos econômico. By Laura Carvalho. bold>São Paulo: Todavia, 2018. Pp. 192. R$49.90 paperback. ISBN: 9788593828621.

Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective: Minority Presidents in Multiparty Systems. By Paul Chaisty, Nic Cheeseman, and Timothy J. Power. bold>Oxford: Oxford University Press. US$85.00 hardcover. ISBN: 9780198817208.

O lulismo em crise: Um quebra-cabeça do período Dilma (2011–2016). By André Singer. bold>São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. Pp. 392. R$54.90 paperback. ISBN: 9788535931150.

A batalha dos poderes: Da transição democrática ao mal-estar constitucional. By Oscar Vilhena Vieira. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. Pp. 233. R$49.90 paperback. ISBN: 9788535931815.

This essay reviews the following works:

Seams of Empire: Race and Radicalism in Puerto Rico and the United States. By Carlos Alamo-Pastrana. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2016. Pp. xvi + 213. $79.95 hardcover. ISBN: 9780813062563.

Civil Rights and Beyond: African American and Latino/a Activism in the Twentieth-Century United States. Edited by Brian D. Behnken. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2016. Pp. 270. $27.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780820349176.

Afro-Politics and Civil Society in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. By Kwame Dixon. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2016. Pp. xiii + 174. $74.95 hardcover. ISBN: 9780813062617.

Black Autonomy: Race, Gender, and Afro-Nicaraguan Activism. By Jennifer Goett. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2017. Pp. ix + 222. $26.00 paperback. ISBN: 9781503600546.

The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil. By Gladys L. Mitchell-Walthour. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. xvi + 266. $34.99 paperback. ISBN: 9781316637043.

The Geographies of Social Movements: Afro-Colombian Mobilization and the Aquatic Space. By Ulrich Oslender. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016. Pp. xiii + 290. $25.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780822361220.

Becoming Black Political Subjects: Movements and Ethno-Racial Rights in Colombia and Brazil. By Tianna S. Paschel. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. Pp. ix + 311. $26.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780691169385.

This essay reviews the following works:

Experimentalisms in Practice: Music Perspectives from Latin America. Edited by Ana R. Alonso-Minutti, Eduardo Herrera, and Alejandro L. Madrid. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xxi + 343. $41.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780190842758.

Listening for Africa: Freedom, Modernity, and the Logic of Black Music’s African Origins. By David F. Garcia. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2017. Pp. xii + 360. $28.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780822363705.

Musicians in Transit: Argentina and the Globalization of Popular Music. By Matthew B. Karush. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2017. Pp. x + 268. $26.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780822362364.

Entre géneros y sexualidades: Tango, baile, cultura popular. By Mercedes Liska. Buenos Aires: Milena Caserola, 2018. Pp. 172. $32.90 paperback. ISBN: 9789874010021.

Aurality: Listening and Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century Colombia. By Ana María Ochoa Gautier. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014. Pp. xiii + 266. $26.95 paperback. ISBN: 9780822357513.

Oscar Alemán: La guitarra embrujada. Sergio Pujol. Buenos Aires: Planeta, 2015. Pp. 340. ISBN: 9789504945628.

Valentino en Buenos Aires: Los años veinte y el espectáculo. By Sergio Pujol. Buenos Aires: Gourmet Musical, 2016. (1st ed. 1994.) Pp. 224. ISBN: 9789873823084.

This essay reviews the following works:

Theories of the Nonobject: Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, 1944–1969. By Mónica Amor. Oakland: University of California Press, 2016. Pp. x + 309. $65.00 hardcover. ISBN: 9780520286627.

Brazil through French Eyes: A Nineteenth-Century Artist in the Tropics. By Ana Lucia Araujo. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2015. Pp. xxvi + 238. $55.00 hardcover. ISBN: 9780826337450.

Tarsila do Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in Brazil. By Stephanie D’Alessandro and Luis Pérez-Oramas. New Haven: Yale University Press; Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2017. Pp. 192. $50.00 hardcover. ISBN: 9780300228618.

Cultural Exchanges between Brazil and France. Edited by Regina R. Félix and Scott D. Juall. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. Pp. 225. $45.00 paperback. ISBN: 9781557537461.

Proust’s Latin Americans. By Rubén Gallo. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2014. Pp. 280. $45.00 hardcover. ISBN: 9781421413457.

Transatlantic Encounters: Latin American Artists in Paris between the Wars. By Michele Greet. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. Pp. viii + 288. $27.50 hardcover. ISBN: 9780415933048.

Tropical Travels: Brazilian Popular Performance, Transnational Encounters, and the Construction of Race. By Lisa Shaw. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018. Pp. 231. $29.95 paperback. ISBN: 9781477314791.

Art Systems: Brazil and the 1970s. By Elena Shtromberg. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016. Pp. 210. $29.95. ISBN: 9781477308585.

Making the Americas Modern: Hemispheric Art, 1910–1960. By Edward J. Sullivan. London: Lawrence King Publishing, 2018. Pp. 336. $50.00 hardcover. ISBN: 9781786271556.