One of the defining trends in international finance over the last two decades has been the unprecedented growth in the levels of international reserves accumulated by emerging nations. In a global financial system characterized by market failures and sudden stops, many developing countries have opted for the protection provided by individual accumulation of reserves as a second-best outcome. However, as suggested by Rodrik (2006), among others, the accumulation of reserves comes at a hefty opportunity cost to the nations that hold them. It is this particular aspect that brings into question—or at least merits a re-examination of—the validity and efficiency of reserve accumulation as a stabilization and development strategy, particularly in the context of some cash-strapped developing nations. This dissertation takes an in-depth look at this trend in Latin America by investigating the extent of protection of these precautionary reserves, the role of contagion risk in the accumulation process, and the outlook of regional arrangements of cooperation, such as regional reserve pooling mechanisms.

Since at least the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, security has emerged as a major political paradigm built upon an expansive definition of state control emphasizing not only the mere policing of violations of law, but the means through which the state asserts itself as a particular political entity through the militarized management of social actors both inside and outside its borders. Through an analysis of the case of Colombia's Democratic Security policy, this dissertation documents the transformations of social mobilization within the boundaries of the newly politicized, and newly globalized, security state. The research builds upon six months of ethnographic work and in-depth interviews with Valle del Cauca regional chapters of pacifist feminist grassroots network Women’s Peaceful Route, with human rights advocacy organization Permanent Committee for Human Rights, and with afrodescendant movement Process of Black Communities. Analyzing the work of these organizations, this dissertation assesses the uneven impact of security policies on social actors claiming territorial, cultural, and political rights. Through these organizations the work illuminates how security is gendered and racialized, while it is strongly resisted by the movements’ challenge to the model of citizenship promoted by the state. The research poses that, no longer able to see human rights work in terms of the defense of individuals, social movements have instead redeployed the concept of human rights as a mode of articulating radical democratic demands reflecting a collective social struggle. Illustrating the connections between neoliberal development and security, and its impact for afrodescendants and women’s claims for rights and recognition, the dissertation shows how global discourses on security influence the constitution of new social identities through the constant re-iteration of the question 'who is the terrorist,' and the subsequent re-articulation of new parameters of citizenship. Beyond Colombia’s case, this research advances existing scholarship regarding the technologies of statehood in the post September 11 era, at the same time that it contributes to an understanding of social mobilization in the context of global and hemispheric governance.

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The 2009 Ley Orgánica de Educación (the "Organic Law of Education," hereafter "LOE") of Venezuela is a recent foundational document that represents goals of the Bolivarian Revolution within the educational sector. Passed ten years into the administration of President Hugo Chavez, this document articulates a vision of the educational provisions for Socialism of the XXIst century. While many tenets of the law support international declarations of educational targets and development milestones, such as Education for All, democratization, national sovereignty, and indigenous rights, the mechanisms for achieving these goals are highly contested within the Venezuelan higher education community. Additionally, they counter many recommendations of Northern aid and lending organizations, which have imposed goals of privatization, decentralization, and competition upon higher education in the Global South as conditionalities of funding, yet have arguably exacerbated inequalities in beneficiary societies. The LOE embraces a radical model of educational inclusion and governance influenced by the anti-colonial principles of Venezuela's national hero, Simon Bolivar, who serves as a symbol for national sovereignty, regional solidarity, anti-imperialism, and valorization of cultural identity. This study examines the language, provisions, and ideologies that construct the LOE through critical discourse analysis to determine how it is intended to implement the process of decolonization. Through an analytical framework of liberation theory, I link the discourse of the LOE to the societal goals of the Bolivarian Revolution including "participatory, protagonistic democracy" and national self-determination that counter the guidelines of the Washington Consensus toward education. In addition, I examine the implications it presents for redefining the nature of higher education in Venezuela in particular and in the Latin American region in general.

No description available.

<p> Based on indicators of educational achievement in the United States, Latinos have lagged behind most other demographic groups. This study explored Latino students&rsquo; social identity through a qualitative research design that privileged student voice as a vehicle to addressing educational disparities. The research design employed a phenomenological approach within the framework of practitioner research to explore students&rsquo; constructions of identity in reference to school in one suburban community. Research has shown that students&rsquo; experiences and sense of social identity can have significant impacts on academic performance (Aronson &amp; Good, 2002; Moya, 2002; 2009; Steele &amp; Aronson, 1995; Steele, Spencer, &amp; Aronson, 2002). As a Latino school district leader who desires to improve practice by better understanding Latino students in a suburban school setting in which they have a minority presence, in this study I created a forum where students could speak to their experiences and reality in that setting. This study&rsquo;s conceptual framework was grounded in the following areas of scholarship: social identity theory, critical race theory, and the concepts of student voice. Data collection included interviews, focus groups, and identity mapping with 15 high school participants. The study resulted in four main findings: Latino students feel stigmatized and isolated; they perceived and replicated racial microaggressions; there are elements of school they appreciate; and institutional practices create and support bias. This study is only a start to a fuller review and exploration of these themes at the school level. For such conversations to be productive, students&rsquo; voices must be included.</p>

<p> The United States is one of the top destination countries for human trafficking, and Florida has the third highest number of reported cases of human trafficking. Despite the severity of this issue, Florida anti-trafficking legislation, reintegration programs, and awareness campaigns tend to contribute to the invisibility of the victims and undermine their recovery and reintegration into society, especially when the victims are immigrants. This project uses a multi-method approach including content analysis of anti-human trafficking campaigns to argue that portrayals of a &ldquo;perfect victim&rdquo; only amplify stigmatization and discrimination against immigrant victims. Through in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation highlighting the voices of immigrant survivors, law enforcement and service providers, I analyze the individual and structural challenges to reintegration. Using these insights, I offer several recommendations about the type of services and training necessary to help trafficking victims recover from their trauma and rebuild their lives. </p>

<p> The speeches given by Pedro Segundo and Getulio Vargas during wartime not only reveals their orientation of leadership but in turn provides something else. These discourses gives one a unique window into not only how these leaders chose to perceive the challenges of wartime but how to address them to the national populace. The rhetoric they used had to transform for purposes of mobilization while adapting to shifting political environments. Among one of the features of this adaptation was the choice of which aspects of the national consciousness to stress at pivotal moments. By examining the public speeches of Pedro Segundo and Getulio Vargas one can see the political orientation of both leaders, understand the political climate of both periods, and witness how much Brazil had changed in the eighty-one years between the beginning of the Paraguayan War and the end of WWII.</p>

<p>This thesis seeks to recover historical memory during El Salvador&rsquo;s devastating anticommunist campaigns from 1932 to 1963. With El Salvador&rsquo;s long history of repression against social movements, fear and even shame have silenced stories about the movement and its participants. In line with the current projects dedicated to social memory, this projects reconstructs the untold story of Felix Paname&ntilde;o, a local shoemaker and member of the Communist Party in the 1930s through his family&rsquo;s memories. Shoemakers were key to the growing political consciousness of the time, as documented by Roque Dalton through the testimonial of shoemaker and survivor of the 1932 revolt, <i>Miguel M&aacute;rmol</i>. Much of Paname&ntilde;o&rsquo;s life and struggle transpired within key political moments from the persecutions of political activists that followed the 1932 revolt, known as &ldquo;<i> La Matanza</i>&rdquo;, through the wave of repressive military dictatorships that conspired against political activist and democracy. These dictators imposed a tyranny that ultimately drove large numbers of Salvadorans to migrate to the U.S. beginning in the 1960s. Many of these immigrants, in turn, silenced their memories and depoliticized in exchange for a new beginning. Today, some of these memories are being rebuilt, giving insight to better understanding El Salvador&rsquo;s past, as well as the present peoples&rsquo; struggle for democracy at home and those participating from abroad. </p>

<p> This study investigated leadership emergence and growth from the perspective of a purposeful criterion sample of Evangelical pastors in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Their description of their stories regarding how they emerged as leaders and how they grew as leaders was the primary source of data acquired through semi-structured interviews.</p><p> There is a need for greater clarify regarding the processes by which a person emerges and comes to embody the virtues and attributes needed for leadership. Leadership is culturally contingent, but there is a lack of specificity in understanding how the Latin American culture influences leadership emergence and growth.</p><p> Three research questions guided this study: (1) How do Evangelical pastors describe how they emerged as leaders?; (2) How do Evangelical pastors describe how they grew as leaders?; (3) What Latin American cultural elements can be observed in the Evangelical pastors' descriptions of how they emerged and grew as leaders?</p><p> The literature discussed caudillismo, a prototype of leadership in Latin America, which includes elements of high-power distance, machismo, and paternalism. </p><p> Using snowball sampling, twenty-five pastors were chosen and the interview data revealed twelve processes by which these pastors emerged as leaders. For instance, the accompaniment of others was key as was having firsthand experiences in ministry, which moved them to compassionate, on-going action. They emerged because someone saw something in them, named it and opened up spaces (opportunities) for "acts of leadership." Contrary to expectations, training played almost no role in emergence but did in leadership growth. </p><p> Seven processes were identified that promoted their growth, like being self-taught, sharing interdenominationally, and keeping an open mind. Six cultural dimensions were observed as having a direct influence (both positive and negative) on leadership emergence and growth: (1) High tolerance for uncertainty; (2) Diffuse culture; (3) Image of limited good; (4) Caudillismo; (5) Ascribed status; (6) Self-effacing (modesty).</p><p> This study meets the need for academic inquiry on leadership in Latin America, in Spanish, in the hope that it stimulates Latin Americans to analyze their own leadership, and informs expatriates who serve Latin Americans how to better participate with God in helping leaders emerge and grow.</p>