Rachel Sieder

Multiculturalism in Latin America

Editora / Editor: Rachel Sieder (ed.) rachel.sieder@sas.ac.uk Titulo / Title : Multiculturalism in Latin America: Indigenous Rights, Diversity and Democracy (Multiculturalismo en Latinoamerica: Derechos Indigenas, Diversidad y Democracia) Idioma / Language : English / Ingles Ciudad, fecha / City & date : Basingstoke and New York 2002 Editorial ISBN: Palgrave 0-333-99870-7 (hardback) 0-333-99871-5 (paperback) Temas relacionados / Related topics -Multiculturalidad, Pluralismo legal, Pueblos Indigenas, Derechos Indigenas, Derechos Humanos, America Latina, Retos de la diversidad, democracia multicultural, estado pluricultural, constitucionalismo pluralista -Multiculturalism, legal pluralism, indigenous peoples, indigenous rights, human rights, Latin America, diversity and democracy, pluricultural state, constitutionalism

Rule of law in Latin America : the international promotion of judicial reform

This volume analyzes the judicial reform processes funded by international donor organizations in Latin America. As billions of dollars are spent on judicial reform, it is pertinent to ask about the fate of these projects. The authors examine the way in which international organizations rationalize and prioritize their reform proposals and agenda in Latin America; how reform agendas are implemented and followed up (or not); how international donor organizations relate to national governments and civil society, and to each other; and what factors account for the successes and failures of their reform initiatives. The book also addresses the question of the connection between rule of law reform and broader processes of regime consolidation and state building, from both a political and a social perspective.

Renegotiating ‘law and order’ : judicial reform and citizen responses in post-war Guatemala

This study examines reforms aimed at strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala implemented since the signing of the peace accords in December 1996. Despite nearly US

Rethinking Democratisation and Citizenship: Legal Pluralism and Institutional Reform in Guatemala

200 million in foreign aid to the justice sector, impunity remains the rule, the judicial process is subverted by military and criminal networks, citizen confidence in the judicial system remains low and recourse to non-judicial measures – the ‘privatisation of justice’- is on the increase. It is argued that the institutionally-focused approach to rule of law reform currently predominating in donor thinking ignores the historical context within which understandings of ‘law’, ‘justice’ and ‘rights’ are shaped. Institutions do matter, but only by understanding the role of law in long-run processes of state formation and the dynamic, inter-subjective nature of legal interactions can we begin to understand the specificities of socio-legal change.

Honduras: The Politics of Exception and Military Reformism (1972—1978)

The December 1996 peace settlement in Guatemala agreed a series of institutional reforms in order to recognise the rights of the countrys indigenous peoples; some 23 different ethno‐linguistic groups which make up 60% of the overall population. This article explores the relationship between pluri‐culturalism, citizenship, democracy and law in the contemporary politics of Guatemala. While territorially autonomous regions or separate legal jurisdictions are often proposed as a means to ensure indigenous rights, I argue that within a framework of post‐conflict reconstruction, integration with a measure of autonomy for democratically organised communities is the ideal. This is linked to development of an integrative form of citizenship which combines both social membership and identity and rights. Finally, I argue that support for pro‐active efforts to challenge the legacies of authoritarianism, militarisation and inequality will be necessary in order to strengthen democracy, build a culture of citizenship a...

Recognising Indigenous Law and the Politics of State Formation in Mesoamerica

The specificities of contemporary Honduran politics are explored by examining both national historical development and the cooption of popular protest by military reformism in the 1970s. The dynamics underpinning demobilisation of the popular movement after 1976 are explained with reference to both the agrarian reform implemented by the military and certain features of local political culture, such as patronage and clientelism, which – it is argued – were utilised selectively to coopt a sector of the organised labour movement. Divisions within the popular movement, in part a product of traditions of statelabour relations, were also significant in weakening the popular challenge.

Género, derecho y cosmovisión maya en Guatemala

During the 1990s ‘pluri-culturalisation’ became part of the lexicon of state reform in many Latin American countries, as governments responded to multiple pressures. Indigenous organisations on the ground gained in strength throughout the decade and pressed for recognition of group rights for indigenous peoples. In addition, international organisations such as the UN increasingly advanced indigenous rights as a form of human rights, and a body of international law emerged referring to the specific rights of indigenous peoples. Across the continent governments responded to such developments, to a greater or lesser degree, by adopting a multiculturalist discourse and instituting a series of constitutional and legal reforms to recognise the rights and identities of their indigenous populations.1

Elections and democratization in Honduras since 1980

Resumen es: Este articulo explora los aportes que han hecho las mujeres indigenas organizadas en sus reflexiones sobre identidad, derechos colectivos y derechos de g...

Challenging Citizenship, Neo-liberalism and Democracy: Indigenous Movements and the State in Latin America

Although Central America returned to electoral rule during the 1980s, lack of participation, political violence and militarization meant that democracy remained decidedly limited. This articles outlines the particularities of the transition to constitutional government for the case of Honduras, and examines the role of successive electoral processes on prospects for democratic consolidation, focusing on the relationship between electoral processes and the nature of the party system. It is maintained here that whilst the longevity of the bipartisan system has been an important element of stability, the nature of the two dominant parties (Liberal and National) has hindered the consolidation of a more democratic politics. However, the article also argues that successive elections have been the catalyst for limited modernization of the party system and have increased citizenship confidence in the electoral process, and that this ‐together with a gradual reduction in the influence of the military ‐ has strengt...

Cruces de fronteras, identidades indígenas, género y justicia en las Américas

ContestingCitizenshipinLatinAmerica:TheRiseofIndigenousMovementsandthePostliberal ChallengeDeborah J. YasharCambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 2004, 388 pp, ISBN 10:0521827469 j 13: 9780521827461 (hardback), ISBN 10: 0521534801 j 13:9780521534802 (paperback)The Struggle for Indigenous Rights in Latin AmericaNancy Grey Postero & Leon Zamosc (Eds)Brighton and Portland, OR, Sussex Academic Press, 2004, 272 pp, ISBN 1 84519 006 8(hardback), ISBN 1 84519 063 7 (paperback)Pobladoras, Indi´genas and the State: Conflicts over Women’s Rights in ChilePatricia RichardsNew Brunswick, NJ, and London, Rutgers University Press, 2004, 256 pp, ISBN 0-8135-3422-4 (hardback), ISBN 0-8135-3423-2 (paperback)The three books under review analyse relations between indigenous movements and thestate in Latin America and constitute important contributions to a rich field ofinterdisciplinaryenquiry.Whileearlierconsiderationsof‘thereturnoftheIndian’focusedon indigenous identity and the demands of indigenous movements, today scholars areincreasingly concerned with the dialectical relationship between those movements anddifferent kinds of states and state policies.