This thesis reinterprets the writings of the Brazilian Catholic intellectual Alceu Amoroso Lima, in particular, his work in the 1930s. A leading Catholic intellectual and one of the most important laymen in the country, Alceu Amoroso Lima became well known for his opposition to the Brazilian dictatorship from 1964-85. The 1930s are a critical era in the development of his beliefs about the Church and social justice; however, he is often characterized as a militant, intolerant conservative during this time. This thesis demonstrates that the 1930s were in fact a crucial moment in the development of the beliefs that would transform him into a famous liberal in the 1960s. His writings of the 1930s contain the genesis of his liberal ideas. These same ideas would become central to international Catholic thought in the development of liberation theology in the 1960s. In Alceus philosophical debates over the nature of humanity and society, the Church and politics, several constant themes emerge. First and foremost was his belief in the importance of liberty and justice, and peaceful change as the method to obtain them. Second, he argued for the need for Church intervention into social issues and he initiated a debate over ecclesiology, specifically to what extent the Church should involve itself in temporal affairs. Finally, he stressed the paramount role of education in shaping the laitys understanding of Church doctrine, believing that a better foundation in Church dogma would prepare them to the face challenges of the modern world.

This thesis examines the impact of the recent recognition of indigenous autonomy in Bolivia on democracy in that country. Over the past several decades, the Bolivian central government has attempted to improve the quality of democracy in the country through reforms aimed at political decentralization and the inclusion of indigenous citizens, the countrys largest, historically marginalized group. In that spirit, President Evo Morales ratified Bolivias newest constitution in 2009, which legalizes self-determination for indigenous communities, upholding their right to define their own local political, economic and judicial systems. Nevertheless, this reform has failed to deepen democracy in the country for two reasons. First, there are inherent tensions between indigenous political systems and liberal democracy. Second, indigenous autonomy has been implemented in a top-down fashion in Bolivia, a process from which indigenous peoples were largely excluded. <p>While I argue that indigenous political systems must undergo several modifications to make them more democratic, these changes should be born out of serious dialogue between the state and indigenous communities, instead of being imposed from above without heeding the observations of indigenous actors. However, in Bolivia, the latter was the case. Thus, I argue, indigenous autonomy has reinforced the marginalization of indigenous peoples in Bolivia, diminishing the quality of democracy.

This thesis evaluates the impact of the Brazilian Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program, Bolsa Família, on educational outcomes with special attention to student performance. In Brazil, CCTs in education first appeared in 1995 in the Federal District of Brasília and in the city of Campinas, São Paulo with the Bolsa Escola Program. In 2004, Bolsa Escola and other social programs were collapsed under the comprehensive poverty alleviation initiative, Bolsa Família. As of 2011 there were 12 million families participating in the Bolsa Família Program making it the largest CCT Program in the world. This thesis demonstrates that since the implementation of Bolsa Família, students in the lowest income quintiles, the target population of Bolsa Família, have shown improved performance on the national achievement test, the SAEB, also known as Prova Brasil. This thesis suggests the inclusion of an additional transfer contingent on improved performance on exams or improved final grades to further stimulate the desire for academic achievement among recipient children and their families. In conclusion, this thesis finds that Bolsa Família has improved the educational outcomes for students of low socioeconomic status while simultaneously stimulating a much-needed discussion about the equity and quality of public education in Brazil.

In 1822 Haiti annexed the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo through effective rhetorical persuasion. The petition of Dominican municipalities for Haitian tutelage in the early 1820s and Spains refusal to object to the Haitian presence on the Spanish side, confirms that Port-Au-Princes twenty-two year administration over Santo Domingo was not an outright occupation. Haiti and the municipalities developed a profitable economic partnership. The city of Santo Domingo chose to exclude itself from the relationship and thereby became a political outcast on the island. President Jean Pierre Boyers administration from 1818 to 1843 succeeded in engendering a local peasantry, abolishing slavery, and producing significant economic growth in the Cibao. But he was deposed for failing to eradicate state-sponsored racial discrimination and for implementing unpopular and ineffective economic policy. The subsequent union between the two communities failed in 1844 not because of linguistic and cultural differences but rather due to the eastern sides increasing political and economic marginalization and the increased racial tensions destabilizing the western side. Although most Dominicans at the time agreed that separation from Haiti should be realized in 1844, they disagreed on whether to assemble a sovereign republic or reinstitute a protectorate over Santo Domingo. Considering that the ruling party there favored a French protectorate, the Dominican Republic was born in 1844 because no world power would agree to protect it. At its core, Dominican nationalism was handicapped because the ruling class was not invested in its preservation.

This project analyzes the disparate images of women produced during the period of Getúlio Vargas Estado Nôvo from 1937-1945, discussing their significance in the state-driven process of identity formation during the period. Using a variety of popular media sources and state-produced propaganda materials, I illustrate the paradoxical and dynamic socio-political space that women occupied in the national imaginary, the extent to which this space expanded or limited the realm of political and social action within Brazilian patriarchy, and how these contrasting images of Brazilian femininity produced at home and abroad affected notions of brasilidade. I argue that the Brazilian state ultimately did not effectively integrate women into the nationalist project, including them in the national imaginary, yet denying them full political rights and mobility. Furthermore, the Vargas regimes definition of brasilidade contradicted the more progressive images and modes of behavior promoted in the public sphere through popular media, as epitomized by Carmen Miranda.

In 1968, a military coup surprised Panama, placing political power in the hands of populist leader General Omar Torrijos Herrera. Recuperation of the Panama Canal remained a high priority to the government, and Torrijos repeatedly articulated that the means to territorial sovereignty only existed through a unified Panamanian nation. Thus, the Torrijos government embarked on the task of incorporating the marginalized masses into the government, including the notoriously autonomous Kuna. As pluriethnicity became a crucial tenet of Panamanian national identity, the Kuna struggled to preserve their culture but simultaneously adopted governmental development programs and capitalized on opportunities for political participation. This project studies the relationship between the Kuna and the Torrijos government, which lasted from 1968-1981, focusing on issues of nationalism, ethnicity, and identity.

This thesis asserts that the problem of gang violence is not solved through the deportations of criminal immigrants. There are several reasons deported Salvadoran gang members return to Los Angeles, including identification with the city of Los Angeles, lack of identification with El Salvador and fear of persecution in El Salvador. The history of El Salvador provides a base on which the current issue of deportations can be analyzed. Since the majority of gang activity in the United States is based in the Los Angeles area, the impact of growing up as an immigrant in Los Angeles is important to understand. Finally, immigration attorneys present asylum arguments based on the documented persecution of gang members by agencies the government of El Salvador cannot or will not control. My data, including interviews, newspaper articles and a transcription of a case for gang-based asylum, show a clear pattern of persecution by the Salvadoran national police.

In order to meet the demands of a European roaster interested in coffee produced by women, a Colombian coffee cooperative developed a female growers' program in 2000. Today this program has grown into an association of 390 women. This thesis evaluates how marketing strategies have impacted women's lives, gender roles, experiences of leadership, and expectations of improving profits as well as individual and communities living standards. In addition, it examines how women have taken advantage of gender equity, female leadership, and empowerment discourses as a marketing strategy. The lessons learned from the successes and challenges that these women have experienced is documented. This research examines how new circumstances and struggles have increased women's participation in coffee production and how these transformations have opened new opportunities for women in the market. The study is based on interviews with members of the Asociación de Mujeres Caficultoras Cauca, in the summer 2007.

This paper creates a contextualized narrative of the history of Amazonian development projects. This project will examine understandings and representations of nature and the Amazon, and how these representations, and their assumptions, have influenced the trajectory of development projects by the Brazilian state. The first chapter reviews how humans theoretically and philosophically understand and construct the human nature relationship, in theory and practice. The second chapter examines how the dominant views of the human-nature relationship were formalized and operationalized under the military dictatorship's Operação Amazônia and fostered economic and social incorporation of the region through the Polonoroeste and Carájas programs. Finally, the third chapter will use the Brazilian states hydroelectric plan and the Belo Monte case study to examine the contested nature of the narrative of Amazonian nature by examining competing visions for the Amazons future advanced by the Brazilian state and international environmental contingent. Throughout these different chapter topics the same themes of modernity, progress, economic growth, conceptualization of nature and definitions of appropriate human-nature relationships are examined.

During the past ten years, Mexico has witnessed incredible progress in the fight for rights of its gay and lesbian citizens. In 2009, Mexico City became the first city in Latin America to legally permit same-sex marriage. Several years later, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that marriages performed in the capital must be recognized in all 31 of the countrys states. This is dramatic social change in a nation where nearly 80 percent of the population self identifies as Catholic. So how did a predominantly Catholic country, with a reputation for a dualistic approach to gender become one of the Latin American leaders in same-sex rights? Using data from the Latin American Popular Opinion Project (LAPOP), this paper examines levels of support for same-sex marriage in Mexico, changes in that support between 2010 and 2012, and the factors that explain these shifts.