Empowerment and survival

This two-part article explores the experience of living and working for poverty-focused NGOs in a civil war whose roots lay in the chronically inequitable distribution of power and access to resources. Based on 12 years' work in Central America, the article reflects on the demands and constraints placed on international aid workers in the context of civil conflict; and on the ways in which relationships with local organisations and NGOs are affected. Empowerment and participation are examined from the perspective of those who reject their role as war victims. In Part Two (to be published in Volume 7, Number 1), the author examines the immediate and longerterm impacts of war and political violence, both on those who survive and on local and international workers who are concerned to address its causes and consequences.     

Transition in El Salvador: A multi-layered process

This paper reflects on the obstacles facing Salvadoran NGOs in the transition from war to peace. Firstly, on the difficulties inherent in the peace process itself: insufficient structural change; the trap of electoral politics; a transition process that was too narrowly defined; and the impossibility of reconciliation without addressing the need for collective memory, public responsibility, or justice. Secondly, on the difficulties peculiar to NGOs and popular organisations in El Salvador: the difference between the skills and resources they had developed in war and those needed in peace; the problems in establishing their role in the national reconstruction plan; and the fact that they were themselves made up of people who were still suffering the psychological wounds of war.     

Building assets to reduce vulnerability: microfinance provision by a rural working people's union in Mexico

Proyecto Tequisquiapan (PT) provides protective microfinance services in a small region of rural Mexico, including, importantly, open access to deposit facilities. The authors report on new research which examined PT's record in enabling people with different degrees of vulnerability to build assets and protect themselves from both sudden shocks and more predictable demands for lump sums of cash. Proyecto Tequisquiapan was found to be relatively more useful for the most vulnerable households. Its successes rely on its small scale and on the commitment of its staff, whose salaries are subsidised, to innovation and experimentation in order to remain relevant to members' changing and differentiated financial lifeworlds. This stands in contrast to the current trend towards large‐scale commercialised microfinance. The World Bank, the authors argue, should take note.     

Latino politics—class struggles: Reflections on the future of Latino politics

Abstract

This paper is a set of reflections about the future of Latino politics in the United States. All politics built around an identity presuppose the reality of that identity. In this paper, I examine the structural and ideological barriers to Latino identity formation and the structural commonalities that shape the experiences conducive to Latino identity formation. After I outline the major divisions in the “Hispanic"/Latino population, I present a theoretical analysis of identity formation and the functions of identity politics, theorizing the ways in which the characteristics of this population foster or hinder the development of Latino identity. The main argument of this paper is that preferences for and debates about ethnic labels/identities and ethnic claims often mask class divisions and class‐based grievances within this population, and that recognition of the relationship between class location, identity formation and identity politics might be a necessary step for the development of successful Latino workers’ politics.