Author: Publisher: Alejandra Ciuffolini
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 13
Book Description
Author: Jungle Laboratories
Author: Gabriela Soto LaveagaPublisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822391961
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 347
Book Description
In the 1940s chemists discovered that barbasco, a wild yam indigenous to Mexico, could be used to mass-produce synthetic steroid hormones. Barbasco spurred the development of new drugs, including cortisone and the first viable oral contraceptives, and positioned Mexico as a major player in the global pharmaceutical industry. Yet few people today are aware of Mexico’s role in achieving these advances in modern medicine. In Jungle Laboratories, Gabriela Soto Laveaga reconstructs the story of how rural yam pickers, international pharmaceutical companies, and the Mexican state collaborated and collided over the barbasco. By so doing, she sheds important light on a crucial period in Mexican history and challenges us to reconsider who can produce science. Soto Laveaga traces the political, economic, and scientific development of the global barbasco industry from its emergence in the 1940s, through its appropriation by a populist Mexican state in 1970, to its obsolescence in the mid-1990s. She focuses primarily on the rural southern region of Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, where the yam grew most freely and where scientists relied on local, indigenous knowledge to cultivate and harvest the plant. Rural Mexicans, at first unaware of the pharmaceutical and financial value of barbasco, later acquired and deployed scientific knowledge to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, lobby the Mexican government, and ultimately transform how urban Mexicans perceived them. By illuminating how the yam made its way from the jungles of Mexico, to domestic and foreign scientific laboratories where it was transformed into pills, to the medicine cabinets of millions of women across the globe, Jungle Laboratories urges us to recognize the ways that Mexican peasants attained social and political legitimacy in the twentieth century, and positions Latin America as a major producer of scientific knowledge.
Rural Social Movements in Latin America
Author: Carmen Diana DeerePublisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813063582
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357
Book Description
"A remarkable collection. The chapters provide extremely useful information on a range of social movements generally not well covered in academic work--and the coverage is provided by people who are either activists within the movements themselves or long-time supporters."--Wendy Wolford, University of North Carolina "An original, unique, and excellent collection. The book has great theoretical value and political relevance."--Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Saint Mary's University (Halifax) All across Latin America, rural peoples are organizing in support of broadly distinct but interrelated issues. Food sovereignty, agrarian reform, indigenous and women’s rights, sustainable development, fair trade, and immigration issues are the focus of a large number of social movements found in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Peru. The contributors to Rural Social Movements in Latin America include academic researchers as well as social movement leaders who are seeking to effect change in their countries and communities. As a group they are at the forefront of some of the most critical environmental, social, and political issues of the day. This volume highlights the central role these movements play in opposition to the neoliberal model of development and offers fresh insights on emerging alternatives at the local, national, and hemispheric level. It also illustrates and analyzes the similarities--notably the struggle for sustainable livelihoods--as well as the difference among these various peasant, indigenous, and rural women's movements.
Organic Coffee
Author: Maria Elena Martínez-TorresPublisher: Ohio University Press
ISBN: 0896802477
Category : Coffee growers
Languages : en
Pages : 191
Book Description
Provides a unique and vivid insight into how this coffee is grown, harvested, processed, and marketed to consumers in Mexico and in the north.
Reordering of Culture
Author: Alvina Roberta RuprechtPublisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 0886292697
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 602
Book Description
Political, economic and social barriers among Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada are giving way to global forces and the "global dreams" they inspire. This collection of original articles and essays examines popular culture, literature, theatre, belief systems, indigenous practices and questions of identity, exile and alienation. The interconnectedness and distinction of cultural production throughout the Americas, "transplanted" interests, the mediation of African and European influences, and the expression of shifting identities, all reflect the development of a new American neighbourhood.
Sustainable Development, Campesino Organizations and Technological Change Among Small Coffee Producers in Chiapas, Mexico
Author: Maria Elena Martinez-TorresPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Coffee growers
Languages : en
Pages : 470
Book Description
The goal of the research presented here is to analyze the critical elements involved in, and impacts of, the small farmer organic coffee boom in Chiapas.
Power and Resistance
Author: James PetrasPublisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004307427
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
This book concerns the form taken today by US imperialism in Latin America, with reference to the projection of US state power as a means of both advancing the economic interests of the US capitalist class in the region and maintaining its hegemony over the world capitalist system. In Part I the book delves into the complex relationship that exists between imperialism and capitalism as the system that dominates the world economy. Part II elaborates on the economic and political dynamics of imperial power in Latin America and the forces of resistance that these dynamics have generated. Part III focuses on the relationship between the United States and Venezuela, which has assumed the leadership in the anti-imperialist struggle.
Accountability Politics
Author: Jonathan FoxPublisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199208859
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 451
Book Description
How can the seeds of accountability ever grow in authoritarian environments? This book explores the how civil society "thickens" by comparing two decades of rural citizens' struggles to hold the Mexican state accountable, exploring both change and continuity before, during and after national electoral turning points.
Struggle for Indigenous Rights in Latin America
Author: Nancy Grey PosteroPublisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1837642400
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Book Description
The Indian question has come to the forefront of political agendas in contemporary Latin America. In the process, indigenous movements have emerged as important social actors, raising a variety of demands on behalf of native peoples. Regardless of the situation of Indian groups as small minorities or significant sectors, many Latin American states have been forced to consider whether they should have the same status as all citizens or whether they should be granted special citizenship rights as Indians. This book examines the struggle for indigenous rights in eight Latin American countries. Initial studies of indigenous movements celebrated the return of the Indians as relevant political actors, often approaching their struggles as expressions of a common, generic agenda. This collection moves the debate forward by acknowledging the extraordinary diversity among the movements composition, goals, and strategies. By focusing on the factors that shape this diversity, the authors offer a basis for understanding the specificities of converging and diverging patterns across different countries. The case studies examine the ways in which the Indian question arises in each country, with reference to the protagonism of indigenous movements in the context of the threats and opportunities posed by neoliberal policies. The complexities posed by the varying demographic weight of indigenous populations, the interrelation of class and ethnicity, and the interplay between indigenous and popular struggles are discussed.
Los grandes problemas de México. Tomo 13. Políticas públicas
Author: José Luis Méndez, coordinadorPublisher: El Colegio de Mexico AC
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 487
Book Description