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51. Rethinking the Consultation-Conflict Link: Lessons from Bolivia's Gas Sector

Author:
Almut Schilling-Vacaflor
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article sheds light on 26 consultations in Bolivia's gas sector (2007–2012) and challenges simplified conceptions of prior consultation as a tool for conflict prevention and resolution. It shows that consultations do not only appease conflicts, but also exacerbate them as these procedures are used to negotiate broader grievances. This study further argues that narrow consultations (like those carried out in Bolivia) – rather than comprehensive ones – repress conflicts in the short‐term by limiting opportunities to mobilize against extractive projects. It also reveals that the degree of conflict and prevention potential of consultations varied according to the affected groups and highlights the ambiguous effects of the entanglement of consultations and compensations.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Energy Policy, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America and Bolivia

52. Democratizing Resource Governance through Prior Consultations? Lessons from Bolivia's Hydrocarbon Sector

Author:
Almut Schilling-Vacaflor
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
With the recent expansion of extractive industries in Latin America, contestations with the affected communities have increased in number and intensity. Therein, the indigenous right to prior consultation and to free, prior and informed consent has played a crucial role. Based on the empirical study of several consultation processes in Bolivia's hydrocarbon sector since 2007 and referring to deliberative theories as well as human rights norms, this article explores the enabling and constraining factors in the democratization of resource governance through these procedures. While the specificities of consultations in plurinational Bolivia are taken into account, the study also draws general conclusions for similar processes in other resource‐reliant countries.
Topic:
Democratization, Human Rights, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America and Bolivia

53. Making Sense of an Unstable Legislature: Committee Assignments in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, 1946 – 2001

Author:
Silvina Danesi and Ludovic Rheault
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Latin American legislatures have gone largely unstudied, with the functioning of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies prior to the 1980s being an entirely unexplored subject. This paper fills that gap by examining the organization of the Chamber, with particular focus on its standing committee system from 1946 to 2001. We assess the portability of two U.S.-based theoretical approaches to legislative organization by applying them to committee assignments. An original data set of Argentine deputies was constructed and a way of measuring political power in committees was devised for this study. Despite weak democratic governments, military interventions, and changes to the electoral system, we find that ruling parties have consistently influenced the committee system, shaping its structure and securing an over-proportion of their deputies in key committee positions. These results support the applicability of the U.S. originated Cartel Theory of legislative organization to understanding and studying legislatures outside that country.
Political Geography:
United States, Argentina, and Latin America

54. Contested Meanings of Corruption: International and Local Narratives in the Case of Paraguay

Author:
Malte Gephart
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
While the current international and transnational anti‐corruption campaign (ITACC) has been successful in calling worldwide attention to the topic, several critics have argued that the term “corruption” and the concepts that underlie it are ambiguous and that corruption and anti‐corruption have various meanings. This paper empirically explores these supposedly divergent meanings by comparing the ITACC with the anti‐corruption discourse in Paraguay. In order to explore not only the tensions but also possible coalitions between the ITACC and the Paraguayan discourse, I have conducted discourse analysis and constructionist interviews. The empirical exploration shows that differences, and thus tensions, exist between both levels with respect to the causes and effects attributed to corruption, as well as with regard to the ultimate goal of the fight against corruption. However, there also is a strong discourse coalition between the ITACC and Paraguay concerning concrete countermeasures, which indicates the dominance of the international anti‐corruption approach in the Latin American country. Very different actors with divergent understandings of corruption are able to act collectively against corruption via this discourse coalition, while still interpreting these actions according to their respective political agendas.
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, Government, International Cooperation, and Politics
Political Geography:
Latin America

55. Attitudes, Ideological Associations and the Left – Right Divide in Latin America

Author:
Nina Wiesehomeier and David Doyle
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Do Latin American citizens share a common conception of the ideological left–right distinction? And if so, is this conception linked to individuals' ideological self-placement? Selecting questions from the 2006 Latinobarómetro survey based on a core definition of the left–right divide rooted in political theory and philosophy, this paper addresses these questions. We apply joint correspondence analysis to explore whether citizens who relate to the same ideological identification also share similar and coherent convictions and beliefs that reflect the ideological content of the left– right distinction. Our analysis indicates that theoretical conceptions about the roots of, and responsibility for, inequality in society, together with the translation of these beliefs into attitudes regarding the state versus market divide, distinguish those who self-identify with the left and those who selfidentify with the right.
Political Geography:
Latin America

56. Party Systems in Latin America after the Third Wave: A Critical Re-assessment

Author:
Miguel Carreras
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This essay calls for a more nuanced analysis of the evolution of party systems in Latin America. I contend that the general impression that party systems are collapsing in Latin America and that processes of partisan and electoral dealignment are affecting most countries in the region is incorrect. I also argue that the process of moderation and de-ideologization of the main political parties in many Latin American party systems often facilitates processes of democratic consolidation. Finally, I discuss the positive impact recent transformations of Latin American party systems had on political representation in the region, by showing that formerly excluded groups – especially indigenous groups – have been integrated into the political system.
Topic:
Democratization
Political Geography:
Latin America

57. China and Latin America: Complementarity, Competition, and Globalisation

Author:
David S. G. Goodman and Jörn Dosch
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The rise of China is not a new phenomenon. The PRC's growing economic (and in a number of cases also political) involvement in Southeast Asia and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa has caught the attention of academics and policymakers alike. However, China's emergence as an important actor in Latin America has only recently appeared on the radar screen of the scholarly community and is still an under-researched area. Eight years have passed since Chinese President Hu Jintao's first tour of Latin America in November 2004, marking the beginning of a new phase in Beijing's trans-Pacific relations. The significant boost in Chinese–Latin American trade provides strong evidence for the importance of this emerging pattern of interaction. China's trade with the region reached 180 billion USD in 2010, evincing not only an increase of 50 per cent from 2009 but also a pattern of sharp growth since 2000, when the China–Latin America trade volume stood at just 13 billion USD. By 2007 bilateral trade had already exceeded Hu's original target of 100 billion USD, set for 2010 ( China Daily 2011; Xinhua 2008). The articles in this issue of the Journal of Current Chinese Affairs bear strong witness to the fact that this budding relationship has been driven mainly by a mutual desire to accelerate economic exchange.
Political Geography:
China, Latin America, and Southeast Asia

58. The Political Economy of Sino-Peruvian Relations: A New Dependency?

Author:
Ruben Gonzalez-Vicente
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article reviews dependency postulates and examines whether they are applicable to explain the political economy of China's contemporary relations with Peru. It argues that the dichotomy between Peru as a commodity-providing periphery and China as a core manufacturing centre is insufficient to explain the ways in which power is embedded in the international economic system, and particularly inadequate to identify winners and losers in the international division of labour. Thereby, in line with some recent international political economy discussions of power, the article proposes that China should not be understood as a self-contained economic entity, but as a hub where natural resources are mobilized for transnational production. Furthermore, contending that a focus on nation-states fails to capture the complexity of (under)-development dynamics, it suggests that notions of internal colonialism, flexible sovereignties and postcolonial analyses of representation provide fresher perspectives from which to understand the distribution of power along the political economy of Sino-Peruvian relations.
Topic:
Development and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
China and Latin America

59. Chile's Economic and Political Relationship with China

Author:
Juan Carlos Gachúz
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
China's foreign policy has been characterized in the last decade by a heightened interest in reaching out to Latin America, particularly to countries rich in natural resources and with potential markets for Chinese exports, and Chile is one of these countries. The paper shows that even though the Chilean economy has benefitted from the signing of the FTA, it also faces potential risks. To continue to benefit, Chile needs to boost exports in other potential export sectors (value-added products or services) and should attempt to attract more Chinese FDI to Chile's export industry. The export of raw materials (particularly non-renewable ones) is not always sustainable in the long term. The roles of the Chilean state and the private sector in attracting Chinese investment and enhancing diversification of exports of value-added products are crucial for the future of the economy of Chile and its relationship with China.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
China, Latin America, and Chile

60. China, Global Governance and the Future of Cuba

Author:
Adrian H. Hearn
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
China's deepening engagement with Latin America has been accompanied by concerns about the Chinese government's regard for international conventions of economic governance. Critics claim that across Latin America and the Caribbean, Chinese aid and trade are characterised by excessive state intervention. This article argues that, for two reasons, the rationale for these misgivings is dissipating. First, since the onset of the global financial crisis, China has gained influence in multilateral institutions, prompting them toward greater acceptance of public spending in developing countries. Second, recent developments in Cuba show that China is actively encouraging the Western hemisphere's only communist country to liberalise its economy. China sits at the crossroads of these local and global developments, prompting Cuba toward rapprochement with international norms even as it works to reform them.
Topic:
International Cooperation
Political Geography:
China and Latin America