Development,racism, and discrimination in the Dominican Republic

From an analysis of recent empirical research in the Dominican Republic, this article addresses the ways in which racism underpins elements of governance, and explores organisational and individual responses to racialised discrimination initiated by the state. The context is timely, given the steady rise in reported racist and violent attacks against people presumed to be of Haitian origin in the Dominican Republic over the past five years. The government has intensified formal military and police round-ups of migrants and settlers suspected to be of Haitian origin, and this article assesses the group and individual responses to these state-led actions, analysing formal and informal interventions, their evolution, maintenance, and impact.     

A rural economic development plan to help the USA win its war on cocaine

Since the 1980s, the USA has fought cocaine in the Andes with carrots and sticks: interdiction and crop eradication wield the sticks, while Alternative Development (AD), which offers economic assistance to farmers who voluntarily abandon illicit cultivation, provides the carrots. Yet cocaine continues to permeate US streets, and rural Andean communities remain isolated from the legitimate economy. Many critics blame US belligerence for compounding the Andean drug war. The underlying problem with the existing strategy, however, might not be the aggressiveness of its military sticks, but the flimsiness of its development carrots. The inability of AD to persuade farmers to abandon coca cultivation may be causing US policy makers to over-apply military solutions – often inflaming rural communities and exacerbating regional instability in so doing. Few legal crops can match the earning power of coca. The article therefore suggests that the US carrot could be made more attractive by adopting a Venture Development model which helps rural farmers to process their legal produce into high-quality finished goods that command premium prices. Such a strategy could conceivably choke the cocaine engine by applying market-based forces to address market-based realities.     

Maize diversity,poverty, and market access: lessons from Mexico

Crop genetic diversity and poverty are linked: first, resource-poor farmers often maintain genetic diversity; and second, crop diversity, when properly valued by the market, has the potential to alleviate poverty. This article examines this supposition by drawing on three case studies of the intersection of the market with poverty and maize diversity in Mexico. These suggest that the bulk market for maize offers little room for maize landraces (local maize varieties known as criollo maize), in that it does not reward qualitative variation in maize grain and instead presents incentives that make planting ‘improved’ maize germplasm the rational economic choice for small-scale farmers. Meanwhile, attempts to add value to maize landraces via market differentiation have had varying success. Although there is potential for differentiated markets to contribute to successful business models and poverty alleviation, these cases exhibit trade-offs between product consistency, investment of labour and resources, and genetic-diversity conservation.     

Indigenous protest,social networks,and ethnic stereotyping: some insights from the Peruvian Amazon

This article examines the nature of social protest undertaken by an Amazonian indigenous organisation against international energy companies working in Peru. It analyses the response of Peruvian and international NGOs to the indigenous group's activities and challenges certain stereotypes concerning the nature of indigenous collective action and perceptions of community. In particular, it focuses on the way in which NGO workers attempt to explain the failure of the indigenous organisation to mobilise and sustain collective protest. The article highlights the dissonance between romanticisation of indigeneity and the lived reality of the indigenous group. It advocates the use of anthropological studies and social-movement theory to explore the limits to indigenous mobilisation and suggests their use for more sensitive planning of initiatives with indigenous groups. As demand for oil and gas grows across the globe, and governments in developing countries seek to increase revenues from lucrative extractive industries, clashes between indigenous groups and energy companies are likely to increase. The need for sensitive engagement between NGOs and indigenous groups is therefore of the utmost importance.     

Ethical predicaments for anthropologists: the Peruvian case

This article discusses the ethical challenges posed to anthropologists working as experts in mining companies and in tourism. It proposes alternative solutions that are coherent with the ethical principles of their discipline.     

Transnational peace building: bringing salt and light to Colombia and the USA

In 2003, Lutheran World Relief (LWR), an international relief and development NGO, began a peace-building initiative in Colombia. It facilitated the formation of a partnership between peace-sanctuary churches in Colombia and six communities of faith in the US Midwest, co-ordinated by LWR staff. This partnership, called ‘Sal y Luz’ (Salt and Light), has the goal of education and advocacy both in Colombia and in the USA. Sal y Luz represents a powerful example of transnational solidarity for peace. There are also implications and lessons of this case study for the broader field of NGO peace-building work. The Sal y Luz model of peace building brings benefits in terms of NGO accountability and effectiveness. The key innovation of the model is the means by which LWR effectively helped its US constituency to understand and become involved in peace-building work.     

Inequality,environmental injustice,and racism in Brazil: beyond the question of colour

Starting from an analysis of social and environmental injustice, the author argues that the concept of environmental racism is integral to the hegemonic model of capitalist development. She reveals how the financial mega-conglomerates, helped by the media, exploit such prejudices, and highlights the relevance of environmental racism in the struggle to overcome inequalities, to value the importance of diversity, and to build full citizenship for all.     

The production and marketing of sustainable forest products: chewing gum in Mexico

Natural chewing gum (chicle) represents just 3.5 per cent of the total chewing-gum market, which is dominated by synthetic chewing gum made from hydrocarbons. However, recent interest in sustainable livelihood strategies has opened up opportunities for enlarging chicle commercialisation for what is still a small, niche market. The production of chicle can serve to strengthen forest conservation and provide regular employment to those dependent on forest products, as part of a range of sustainable forest activities. However, the production and marketing of natural chewing gum have faced several serious problems: producers in Mexico have been organised in ways that enabled them to be exploited by both intermediaries and state institutions, and the processes of certification for organics and fair trade are unwieldy and expensive. This article suggests a number of ways of addressing these problems.     

Violence,fear, and development in Latin America: a critical overview

This introduction presents the core concepts that shape this special issue on the impact of violence and the processes of development in Central and South America. The understanding of development is considered in terms broader than the economic context alone, in order to assess wider social and political aspects. With a similarly expansive scope, forms of violence are addressed that range from direct physical harm and bodily attack to the often more subtle aggression of racialised abuse or the pressures on community-centred production from dominant market forces. In these contexts, violence, economic initiatives, and political allegiances form unintended and often dangerous networks of consequence for development matters. All the articles in this volume exemplify further the spatial environments of violence and diverse ‘landscapes of fear’ that shape our existence and help to define our actions, territories, and understanding of what happens around us.     

Citizenship: a perverse confluence

This article discusses the different meanings that citizenship has assumed in Latin America in the past few decades. Its main argument is that, in the perverse confluence between neo-liberal and democratic participatory projects, the common reference to citizenship, used by different political actors, projects an apparent homogeneity, obscuring differences and diluting the conflict between those projects.     

An international NGO representative in Colombia: reflections from practice

Certain contexts render particularly challenging the disjunctures and discontinuities between international NGO (INGO) headquarters and in-country operations, as this Christian Aid case demonstrates. Torn loyalties result when seeking to discern how best to work with partners in a human-rights crisis in a middle-income country. Navigating these challenges requires a critical interrogation and radical practice of partnership. With many INGOs partially or wholly decentralising operations, and in anomalous and complex INGO programme contexts like this, it is vital to analyse the disjunctures and to support in-country staff to respond creatively to them, to do justice to programme potential and partnership principles.     

No ‘return to the state’: dependency and developmentalism against neo-liberalism

In the emerging ‘post-Washington Consensus’ era, neo-liberalism is searching for alternatives that once again emphasise the state. Yet neither Latin American dependencia nor East Asian developmentalism – two development models actually practised ‘on the ground’ – shares the basic assumptions of the liberal, rationalist state. First, there persists a significant ontological divide over the purpose of the state. Developmentalists and dependentists advocate deep, dynamic state agency rather than the hands-off, liberal, ‘night-watchman’ state. Second, development theory has unfolded within a modern liberal framework of science, democracy, the interests of US foreign policy, and increasingly a commitment to poverty alleviation. Dependency and developmentalism reject these neo-liberal benchmarks in the interests of state consolidation and autonomy. The persistence of dependentist and developmentalist understandings of the state precludes a uniform, post-neoliberal reversal in development theory back to the state.     

‘Resistance as creation’: a new sociability in Argentina

While everyday forms of resistance are not new in Argentina, the spontaneity that characterised the insurrection on 19 and 20 December 2001 was unprecedented. It showed how the absence of leadership, co-ordination, and promise might open the doors to powerful forms of mobilisation and radical practices in direct democracy. The author suggests that in challenging capitalism and the social paradigms that it generates, the values and practices of counter-power, self-affirmation, collectivity, and multiplicity can all play a vital role in the success and survival of radical democracy. The article is largely inspired by the works of Colectivo Situaciones, an autonomous research collective in Buenos Aires, and draws on the example of the Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados (MTD) Solano. This movement of unemployed workers struggles against capitalist and state violence by practising a constantly renewed spiral of rebellion and creativity. From the perspective of a participant observer the article considers their successes, challenges, and limitations in developing radical democratic thought and practice.     

The historical contribution of faith-based health providers in the Ecuadorian health system: an overview of the evidence

ABSTRACT

Faith-based health providers (FBHPs) have historically shaped the national health system in Ecuador, yet there is little robust evidence of this role, or their current contribution to the national health system. This article situates FBHPs in the Ecuadorian health system, using secondary analyses of national health surveys to consider changes in contribution from 1998 to 2014, and synthesising this with secondary literature. The research confirms the important role that FBHPs have historically played in Ecuador, but also shows that their current role needs to be better understood if universalisation of health service coverage is to be achieved.     

Building synergies in development research: is it time for the Mosaic Approach?

Development research has responded to a number of charges over the past few decades. For example, when traditional research was accused of being ‘top–down’, the response was participatory research, linking the ‘receptors’ to the generators of research. As participatory processes were recognised as producing limited outcomes, the demand-led agenda was born. In response to the alleged failure of research to deliver its products, the ‘joined-up’ model, which links research with the private sector, has become popular. However, using examples from animal-health research, this article demonstrates that all the aforementioned approaches are seriously limited in their attempts to generate outputs to address the multi-faceted problems facing the poor. The article outlines a new approach to research: the Mosaic Model. By combining different knowledge forms, and focusing on existing gaps, the model aims to bridge basic and applied findings to enhance the efficiency and value of research, past, present, and future.     

Social Network Analysis to evaluate organisational networks on sexual health and rights

There are many challenges in evaluating international networks. The use of conventional tools can be difficult and often provides less than useful information. Social Network Analysis offers benefits for network evaluators by allowing for documentation and analysis of inter-relationships between individuals and organisations. This paper describes the use of this approach in the evaluation of a major international project entitled the Global Dialogues on Sexual Health and Well-being. It highlights the value of maps in enabling clear visual representations of networks, the identification of areas needing greater focus and the basis on which networks are constructed.

Analyse des réseaux sociaux pour évaluer les réseaux organisationnels sur les droits et la santé génésiques

L’évaluation des réseaux internationaux présente de nombreux défis. L'utilisation d'outils conventionnels peut être difficile et fournit souvent des informations qui ne sont pas des plus utiles. L'analyse des réseaux sociaux comporte des avantages pour les évaluateurs des réseaux, car elle permet la documentation et l'analyse des corrélations entre individus et organisations. Cet article décrit l'utilisation de cette approche dans l’évaluation d'un important projet international intitulé Global Dialogues on Sexual Health and Wellbeing (Dialogues mondiaux sur la santé et le bien-être génésiques). Il met en relief la valeur des cartes pour permettre des représentations visuelles claires des réseaux, l'identification de zones nécessitant un axe central plus marqué et la base sur laquelle les réseaux sont construits.

Análise de Rede Social para avaliar redes organizacionais sobre saúde sexual e direitos

Existem muitos desafios para se avaliar as redes internacionais. O uso de ferramentas convencionais pode ser dificil e frequentemente oferece informações que não são úteis. A Análise de Rede Social oferece benefícios para avaliadores de rede ao considerar a documentação e análise das inter-relações entre indivíduos e organizações. Este artigo descreve o uso desta abordagem na avaliação de um grande projeto internacional chamado Diálogos Globais sobre Saúde Sexual e Bem-Estar. Ele destaca o valor de mapas para permitir representações visuais claras de redes, a identificação de áreas que estejam precisando de um maior enfoque e a base sobre a qual as redes são construídas.

El Análisis de Redes Sociales para evaluar redes de organizaciones que trabajan en salud y derechos sexuales

A la hora de evaluar las redes internacionales surgen muchos retos. Los métodos tradicionales pueden presentar dificultades y a menudo proporcionan información poco útil. El Análisis de Redes Sociales presenta ventajas para los evaluadores de redes ya que ofrece la posibilidad de documentar y analizar relaciones entre individuos y organizaciones. El presente ensayo examina cómo se utilizó este método para evaluar un importante proyecto internacional llamado “Diálogos globales sobre salud sexual y bienestar”. También ilustra cómo los mapas son valiosos porque muestran una clara representación visual de las redes, revelan las áreas que necesitan mayor atención y señalan las bases sobre las que se construyen las redes.     

Violence in development: the logic of forced displacement on Colombia's Pacific coast

A progressive piece of legislation in 1993 granted collective land rights to Colombia's black communities living in the rural areas of the Pacific coast region. This measure aimed partly to support sustainable development strategies in the region through territorial empowering of local communities. Yet 14 years later, the escalation of the country's internal conflict into the Pacific region has created unprecedented levels of forced displacement among rural black communities. Once referred to as a ‘peace haven’, the Colombian Pacific coast is now characterised by new spaces of violence and terror, imposed by warring guerrilla and paramilitary groups, as well as the armed forces. This article examines the nature of the externally induced violence in the region and shows how specific economic interests, in particular in the African Palm sector, are colluding with illegal groups that are used to spread fear and terror among local residents, to make them comply with the requirements of these economic actors.     

Post-disaster emergency and reconstruction experiences in Asia and Latin America: an assessment

From United Nations emergency responses involving tent camps, to the reconstruction approach of FUNDASAL in El Salvador and the post-disaster provision of housing by Caritas in Asia, it is clear that a giant step has been taken in thinking about emergency shelter, as well as about how prevention and reconstruction are managed. This article evaluates some current good practices in Asia and Latin America in post-disaster emergency shelter that use local skills, materials, and tools, and participatory processes.     

Empowering families as an alternative to foster care for street children in Brazil

Although the emphasis in current thinking about work with street children has changed from aid-dependency towards youth protagonism, many organisations ignore the role of the children's families in their interventions. In so doing, they reproduce obsolete welfare traditions and also violate rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and national legislation. This article illustrates the importance of child–family ties for both children and families, and argues that interventions that lack the involvement of parents and families serve to reproduce images of failed families and inadequate mothers. The author presents an alternative approach from Brazil which respects the rights and needs of children and families through family empowerment.     

A comparative analysis of microfinance and conditional cash transfers in Latin America

This paper addresses the question of whether microfinance and conditional cash transfers can be effective in alleviating poverty in the Latin American region, and provides a comprehensive assessment of each of these programmes using data and evaluation reports from 19 countries in the Latin American region, analysed in the context of six operational and impact criteria. The research shows that microfinance may be better suited for those living on US$2 per day or higher, while conditional cash transfers may be more beneficial for those living in extreme poverty. Neither programme offers a ‘magic bullet’ solution for poverty eradication, but they can provide positive outcomes when prescribed in combination.

Une analyse comparative du microfinancement et des transferts conditionnels d'argent en Amérique latine

Ce document se penche sur la question de savoir si le microfinancement et les transferts conditionnels d'argent peuvent être efficaces au moment d'atténuer la pauvreté et il fournit une évaluation complète de chaque programme, en utilisant des données et des rapports d'évaluation provenant de dix-neuf pays de la région, analysés dans le contexte de six critères opérationnels et relatifs à l'impact. D'après les résultats des recherches, il est possible que le microfinancement convienne mieux à ceux qui vivent avec 2 dollars EU par jour ou plus, tandis que les transferts conditionnels d'argent pourraient profiter davantage à ceux qui vivent dans des conditions de pauvreté extrême. Aucun de ces deux types de programmes ne fournit une solution « balle magique » pour l'éradication de la pauvreté, mais ils peuvent donner des résultats positifs lorsqu'ils sont prescrits en tandem.

Uma análise comparativa de microfinanças e transferências condicionais de dinheiro na América Latina

Este artigo busca examinar se as microfinanças e as transferências condicionais de dinheiro podem ser eficientes para aliviar a pobreza e oferece uma avaliação abrangente de cada programa utilizando dados e relatórios de avaliação de dezenove países da região, analisados no contexto de seis critérios operacionais e de impacto. A pesquisa mostra que a microfinança pode ser mais adequada para aqueles que vivem com US$2 por dia ou mais, enquanto que as transferências condicionais de dinheiro podem ser mais benéficas para aqueles que estão vivendo em condições de pobreza extrema. Nenhum programa oferece uma solução “mágica” para a erradicação da pobreza, mas eles podem oferecer resultados positivos quando prescritos em conjunto.

Un análisis comparativo de las microfinanzas y las transferencias de efectivo condicionadas en América Latina

Este ensayo analiza si las microfinanzas y las transferencias de efectivo condicionadas pueden contribuir a la reducción de la pobreza y ofrece una evaluación completa de las dos modalidades. Utiliza para ello datos e informes de evaluación de 19 países de la región y analiza los resultados a la luz de seis criterios operativos y de impacto. La investigación demostró que las microfinanzas pueden funcionar mejor para las personas que sobreviven con US$2 o más por día, mientras que las transferencias de efectivo pueden beneficiar más a las que viven en extrema pobreza. Ninguna modalidad es por sí misma una solución para erradicar la pobreza pero pueden producir resultados positivos si se les da un uso combinado.