The Basic Christian Communities in Latin America were created with the official support of the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s in order for the Church to work with the poor people of Latin America. However, the official representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America, CELAM, does not recognize Liberation Theology, and the Pope and CELPM condemned the People's Church claiming it opposes the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.This thesis studies a particular experience of the Basic Christian Communities in a rural area of San Gabriel, Costa Rica. It shows that the farmers of San Gabriel de Aserri have their own culture and customs which express their strategies in order to develop their goals. The local priest should develop and support the goals of the community for the well being of the Church and the community.The survey shows that when local organizations began in San Gabriel de Aserri in 1979, they helped to broaden the farmers social and economic consciences, theological beliefs, pastoral and liturgical practices. These changes are assisted by the growth and actions of the organization known as Basic Christian Communities.The Basic Christian Communities support leaders of the communities and familiarize them with the doctrine of the Catholic Church which gives the lay people more participation in the Church. Lay leaders, along with the members of the Basic Christian Communities and priests develop new solutions to the economic, social, and political problems of the poor people.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / Typescript. Vita. Bibliography: leaves 257-262.

La Costa Norte del Perú tiene el privilegio de contar con innumerables monumentos arqueológicos que son testigo fiel del desarrollo de importantes culturas en el antiguo Perú. Sin embargo, esta riqueza histórica no está siendo aprovechada convenientemente como potencial económico de la región por diferentes motivos que analizaremos en el presente trabajo. En la actualidad la mayoría de lugares arqueológicos de esta zona se encuentran en la categoría de recursos turísticos únicamente, la misma que pueden motivar en el futuro el viaje de corrientes turísticas porque cuentan con un valor cultural susceptible de ser explotado racionalmente. Solamente algunos, como por ejemplo las Ruinas de Chan-Chan o la Huaca el Dragón pueden ser considerados como atractivos turísticos puestos que son recursos con valor e integrado a la comercialización en forma de producto. Es importante mencionar que con el descubrimiento de las Tumbas del Señor de Sipán que dicho sea de paso ya se encuentra dentro del circuito turístico de esta zona, se ha logrado despertar un mayor interés por descubrir y preservar los secretos y misterios que envuelven a estas culturas; existiendo actualmente muchos investigadores que aportan al estudio de los antepasados de tal forma sé amplíe el desarrollo turístico y económico de la región sobre la base cultural.

This dissertation examines rural families responses to global and local situations that have made earning a livelihood as a farmer very difficult. Drawing from original research, including a household livelihood census of 195 households, interviews with 72 people, participant observation, and archival research, the dissertation explores how rural families have responded to declines in domestic agricultural markets fueled by global and national forces and local environmental change. It asks: what impact will small farming families responses to these forces of change have on peoples identities as peasants? I argue that while great change is underway in the countryside, peasant identity continues to flourish as people on the ground re-work and re-negotiate what it means to be a peasant. This research provides a voice to those often overlooked by macro-analyses of economic, political, or cultural development by providing rich ethnographic details on how global forces impact otherwise out-of-the way places. This dissertation critically examines what is meant by development and change, what development and change look like in a local, grounded context and what current trends can teach us about the future of rural areas both in Costa Rica and in other regions of the world experiencing similar phenomena: increasing educational opportunities for youth, a continued opening up of agricultural markets, a blurring of the line between the urban and the rural, and declining environmental quality.

Transcendentalism's key tenet is the act of ego-transcendence: the perception of the basic unity of human being, nature, and universe, beyond traditional dichotomies such as ego/world, ego/non-ego, ego/others, spirit/matter, good/evil. It is, therefore, an awakening of the Self in the sacred world where profane dualities are non-existent, an illumination of consciousness in the perception of Cosmic Unity. Chapter 2 considers transcendentalism an archetypal Weltanschauung and therefore pursues its evolvement through time: in Latin American aboriginal cultures, especially Costa Rican; in Oriental thought: Hinduism, Taoism, and Zen, whose major literary creations are surveyed; in Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman. It then traces its development in contemporary Hispanic literature, from Becquer, a precursor, to Jimenez and Guillen--the most representative Spanish contemporary transcendentalists--and Lezama Lima and Paz, their Latin American counterparts. It closes with a study of the thought and poetry of the Costa Rican writers who signed the Manifiesto transcendentalista in 1977. Chapter 3 explores transcendentalism in the oral literature of Costa Rican Indians, and a section on Colonial poetry, since most historians have ignored it. It closes by establishing the identity of the first truly Costa Rican poet, Justo A. Facio, the first modern writer to coincide with transcendentalism. Chapter 4 traces most instances of ego-transcendence in Costa Rican poetry from 1894 to 1957. It studies the lyrical evolution of the country in general and thus includes all major writers. Since the chapter offers a comprehensive, unified history of contemporary Costa Rican poetry, all stylistic, ideological, and thematic preferences were incorporated: lyric, epic, social, revolutionary, feminist, and children's poetry were analyzed. A generational scheme was employed for the historical organization, based on Cedomil Goic's adaptation for Latin American literature of Ortega's system, and was complemented with a summary of generational preferences to determine the sensibilidad vital of each group. These two methods allow for comparisons and contribute to incorporate Costa Rican poetry into the mainstream of Latin American literature. The study in general proves that most poets are individuals capable of transcending orthodox dualities to experience the Unity of existence.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

This document examines and analyzes solo vocal music composed by several Costa Rican composers who did not remain in Costa Rica, but rather left the country to study abroad. Unlike prior studies of Costa Rican vocal music, which have focused upon the use(s) composers made of indigenous folk elements, this study identifies foreign, non-indigenous elements that were introduced into Costa Rican vocal music by musical pioneers such as Julio Fonseca (1885-1950) and Dolores Castegnaro (1900-1979), composers who studied at various times in Italy, Belgium, France and Mexico. Excerpts of their music have been analyzed for this document to demonstrate specific international influences. Another two composers were selected due to their present importance in Costa Rican music: Eddie Mora and Marvin Camacho. In a very distinctive manner, these composers bring to the musical environment of Costa Rican diversity and exoticism in Eddie Mora's case and a mix of contemporary with Costa Rican elements with Marvin Camacho's music. In analyzing the music of these four composers, this research intends to present the different influences of other countries into Costa Rican music while Marvin Camacho brings back its own Costa Rican voice.

Magíster en Gestión y Políticas Públicas / En los últimos años se observa un interés generalizado por el uso de instrumentos que permitan medir la incidencia de la pobreza más allá de los indicadores monetarios. Esta tendencia, lejos de cuestionar los resultados de dichas mediciones busca reconocer que este es un fenómeno que no puede ser medido con un único indicador, siendo necesaria una mirada más amplia a fin de poder diseñar mejores y más precisas políticas que permitan la superación de la pobreza. En este sentido, el estudio de caso se desarrolla con el objetivo general de elaborar una propuesta exploratoria para la medición multidimensional de la pobreza siendo esta una contribución a la discusión que recién comienza a instalarse entre las autoridades del Estado costarricense. El estudio se desarrolló en el marco de una metodología cuantitativa, alcance descriptivo y exploratorio, siendo desarrollado en cuatro etapas: en la primera se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de los principales desarrollos conceptuales sobre el bienestar y la pobreza; en la segunda se analizaron las propuesta de medición multidimensional desarrolladas en América Latina; en la tercera se elaboró una propuesta exploratoria y a partir de esta se calculó la incidencia de la pobreza multidimensional; finalmente, se presentan las conclusiones y recomendaciones del caso. La metodología de medición multidimensional más aceptada en la actualidad es la desarrollada por Alkire y Foster. En este sentido, se calculó la incidencia de la pobreza para distintas líneas de corte entre dimensiones evidenciándose una alta sensibilidad de los resultados a distintos valores de k. Utilizando un valor promedio (k=3) se identificó que en el 2013 un 31.5% de la población sufre pobreza multidimensional. Las dimensiones asociadas a las tecnologías de la información, educación básica y calidad del empleo son las que identifican a la mayor cantidad de personas en situación de pobreza multidimensional, evidenciando con ello que las políticas sectoriales en dichos ámbitos han sido insuficientes para lograr los umbrales mínimos de bienestar establecidos en la medición. Definir el objetivo que se persigue al momento de adoptar una medida multidimensional resultada fundamental para garantizar que esta no sea una medición sino más bien una herramienta de desarrollo humano. En este sentido, la proyección del índice a partir de las metas sectoriales establecidas en el plan nacional de desarrollo, el mejoramiento de las fuentes de información, la definición de mecanismos que permitan modificar los indicadores y umbrales del índice, el seguimiento que se le brinde a la medición, la estrategia comunicacional que se siga para darla a conocer, y una adecuada rendición de cuentas, son las principales recomendaciones del estudio. Finalmente, se considera oportuno incluir en futuros ejercicios aspectos que den cuenta de la vulnerabilidad, esto a partir de la evidencia de estudios anteriores que demuestran la existencia de una importante movilidad descendente en el grupo de las personas no pobres.

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Civil (Especialização em Hidráulica). Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2009

Graduation date: 1981 / Best scan available for figures and pages listing computer code. Original is a photocopy.