Evolving approaches to cross-border data flows: Latin American and African perspectives

The paper focuses on the Latin American perspective on modernity, especially on the Peruvian sociologist Anibal Quijano’s notion of coloniality. Coloniality is explained as a theoretical framework for critical reflection of modernity with an emphasis on the forms of knowledge (episteme) and on non-Western, more specifically Latin American historical experiences and perspectives. The aim is to introduce some Latin American efforts to critically understand coloniality as the other face of modernity and to develop a distinctive critique of capitalism, globalisation and Eurocentrism in their historical dynamics. In the first part, the paper briefly introduces Latin America as a geocultural place and a object of social research in a historical perspective. Special attention is paid to the question of racial classification and authenticity. In the second part, the paper focuses on the notion of coloniality as it was conceptualised by A. Quijano and by other Latin American authors. In the third and fourth parts, the paper deals with the problem of coloniality in wider epistemic contexts of modern social sciences and in relation to the notion of alterity and to the question of decolonisation of social scientific thinking. The final discussion addresses some of inspirational and problematic points of this conception such as problems of decolonisation, intellectual dependency and critique, and the problem of conceptualisation of differences in scientific discourses.

Over the past three decades, neoliberal and Latin American neostructuralist ideas have contributed to the restructuring of Latin American capitalism from import substituting industrialisation (ISI)...

This introduction to the Special Issue ‘Families on the Move – Latin American Perspectives’ explores the intersections of family life and migration within and toward Latin America. While existing scholarship has focused predominantly on migrant and transnational families in Europe and North America due to language barriers and epistemic exclusions, this Special Issue brings critical attention to the dynamics of intra-regional and South – South migration. Latin America presents a unique context for theorising family-related migration. This is due to factors such as porous borders, flexible and intergenerational care arrangements, heightened economic precarity in countries of origin and settlement, enduring colonial legacies, and migration policies that blend progressive legislation with restrictive implementation and practice. Drawing on theoretical contributions from scholars working on the region and literature written in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, this issue advances the international literature along three key dimensions: (1) rethinking binary notions of separation and reunification by highlighting fluid forms of family life that have movement and transit at their core; (2) examining how progressive policies alone cannot guarantee the right to family life, especially in the face of economic precarity and implementation gaps; and (3) interrogating how colonial, racial, and gendered legacies shape perceptions of family and care. By centreing on Latin America, this Special Issue fills a critical gap in migration literature while also challenging essentialised notions of ‘the South’, demonstrating that migrant families’ experiences are diverse, intersectional, and profoundly shaped by the specific socio-historical conditions of each local context.

Latin American and World Histories: Old and New Approaches to the Pluribus and the Unum

In line with more recent studies in legal anthropology, and transnational legal rights studies [—. 2003. Human Rights Law and the Demonization of Culture (And Anthropology Along the Way). PoLAR, 26(1):55–73; —. 2006. Transnational Human Rights and Local Activism: Mapping in the Middle. American Anthropologist, 108(1):38–51; Sieder, Rachel & John Andrew McNeish. 2013. Gender Justice and Legal Pluralities: Latin American and African Perspectives. Routledge], this article explores how a young woman claiming to be abducted and raped navigates among the plural legal systems available in fending for justice. The article thus investigates what I refer to as ‘contesting normative orders’ and different perceptions of sexual violence and rape that are present in the plurality of existing legal systems in Tanzania. How are transnational legal rights approaches to violence and rape against women perceived by the various parties involved – including representatives of local ‘customary law’? How is violence against women acted upon, and – based on which principles – finally settled locally? The article draws on anthropological fieldwork among the Meru in northern Tanzania, conducted intermittently since 1989.

Gender Justice and Legal Pluralities: Latin American and African Perspectives, Rachel Sieder and John McNeish 1. Gender, Human rights and legal pluralities: experiences from Southern and Eastern Africa, Anne Hellum 2. Indigenous women fight for justice: Gender rights and legal pluralism in Mexico, Maria Teresa Sierra 3. The gender of law: politics, memory and agency in Mozambican community courts, Bjorn Enge Bertelsen 4. Sexual Violence and gendered subjectivities: indigenous women's search for justice in Guatemala, Rachel Sieder 5. Between sharia and CEDAW in Sudan: Islamist women negotiating gender equity, Liv Tonnessen 6. Indigenous rights and violent state construction: the struggle of Triqui women in Oaxaca, Natalia De Marinis 7. Opening the Pandora's Box: human rights, customary law, and the communal liberal self in Tanzania, Natalie J.Bourdon 8. An Accumulated Rage: legal pluralism and gender justice in Bolivia, John-Andrew McNeish andAna Cecilia Arteaga Bohrt

This title in the ‘Law, Development and Globalization’ series draws out issues in relation to gender justice and legal pluralities in multi-ethnic, multicultural and often multi-faith settings, ill...

A América Latina exerce um papel internacional importante em relação à governança ambiental. O conhecimento gerado por estudos empíricos e teóricos sobre os desafios ambientais fundamenta os esforços renovados na região para se alcançar o uso dos recursos naturais de maneira sustentável e equitativa. Embora os vínculos entre as dimensões social e ambiental tenham sido pauta do meio acadêmico desde a década de 1990, novas tendências na governança ambiental na América Latina merecem uma abordagem analítica mais abrangente. Este artigo explora alguns tópicos de trabalhos emergentes e faz uma breve reflexão dos elementos relevantes e 'multidimensionais' para uma análise integrativa. Os autores argumentam que, para se aperfeiçoar as 'Perspectivas Latino Americanas' para resolver dilemas sócio-ambientais, várias correntes interpretativas devem ser conectadas em arcabouços conceituais integrativos que possam melhor abordar questões complexas relativas a interações do estado, sociedade civil e setor privado em múltiplas escalas. Um consórcio de dez instituições europeias e latino americanas contribui para o desenvolvimento de tais programas através de projetos de Governança Ambiental na América Latina e no Caribe: Desenvolvendo Programas para Uso Sustentável e Equitativo de Recursos Naturais (ENGOV).

This introductory essay illustrates the context, clarifies the relevance, and outlines the key themes of this Special Issue on “Latin American Perspectives on Datafication and Artificial intelligence”. It starts pointing out that so far, the engagement of Latin American scholarship in the exploration of data technologies and the rise of intelligent systems has been limited. However, it is argued, Latin American traditions in both research and praxis have much to offer to our understanding of the evolution of the information ecosystem. We propose to map different Latin American perspectives on datafication and AI using an analytical matrix structured along two theme lines, that is three building blocks (infrastructure, imaginaries, practices) and three interpretative lenses (decoloniality and race, feminist theory, pluriversal thinking). Then, we reflect on two procedural issues: the need to consider this Special Issue as a conversation-starter, and the importance of having this conversation in multiple languages and in an open access format. We conclude providing an outline of the various contributions of the Special Issue. Authors address algorithms from the south and coloniality, datafication and corruption, data activism, AI and journalism, and platform labor in the context of Latin America and drawing on Latin American theoretical contributions

This paper argues in favor of non-personal data regulation in Latin America as a way of helping the digital economy reach its full potential in the region. While overall there are significant improvements regarding personal data, there is a vacuum in terms of data that does not allow the identification of any individual person, either because it is not initially related to a data subject or because it was anonymized. Drawing from data economics, the paper argues that countries in Latin America should regulate non-personal data because of the winner-takes-all dynamics of data markets, the importance of having control over non-personal data for local companies, and to try and balance the scales. In particular, the paper addresses three issues to be regulated, namely property vs. access to non-personal data, cross-border data flows, and data standardization.

Charles W. Bergquist (1942–2020)

Eduardo Posada-Carbó and Carlos Malamud (eds.), The Financing of Politics: Latin American and European Perspectives (London: Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, 2005), pp. xiv+266, £35.00, £14.95 pb; 19.95 pb; €50.00, €24.00 pb. - Volume 38 Issue 1

The Financing of Politics: Latin American and European Perspectives. Edited by Eduardo Posada-Carbó and Carlos Malamud. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution Press, 2005. 266p. $65.00 cloth, $19.95 paper. Edited books are never consistent across all chapters, but like this one, they can be fun. The book's organization is straightforward: a brief introduction, three increasingly specific theoretical chapters, and seven country case studies covering Latin Europe (Italy, Spain, and France), Britain, and South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, and Uruguay).

This introduction presents a special collection of the Journal of Human Rights Practice, ‘Developments, Opportunities and Complexities in Global South Climate Litigation’. It conceptualizes and problematizes ‘climate litigation’ and the ‘Global South’, and brings together perspectives from a diverse range of scholars and practitioners from the Global South to advance knowledge on how climate litigation in the region has developed in recent years. The number of cases discussed, and the depth of analyses illustrate that the region is contributing to the pursuit of climate justice through litigation. The collection showcases a rich body of scholarship on climate litigation from African, Latin American, and Asian perspectives. In the face of political, cultural, and other barriers to knowledge production, contributions demonstrate nuanced, contextual engagement with climate litigation in the Global South. Therefore, this collection challenges the narrative that cases dealing with climate change and its human rights and justice implications are few and far between in the Global South. It emphasizes their relevance for the global discourse on climate litigation.

In the mid-1960s a new forum for progressive work in Latin American studies was born in Southern California. It was initiated by junior faculty and graduate students who questioned the mainstream emphasis on institutional stability in modern capitalism. Negative effects of the market economy in Latin America such as social inequality, political repression, and external dependence, they protested, were absent from the agenda of mainstream research. Too often, concerns central to Latin American intellectuals were sidelined by traditional U.S. journals. To counter this tendency, the Southern California progressive Latin Americanists, many of them educated at the prestigious but rather conservative Stanford University, launched initiatives such as Union of Radical Latin Americanists (URLA), the Los Angeles Group for Latin American Solidarity (LAGLAS), Non-Intervention in Chile (NICH), and the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA). In 1974 they converged in a new academic journal, Latin American Perspectives (LAP). During its founding meeting in Laguna Beach, LAP was conceived to be on the cutting edge of studies on capitalism, socialism, and imperialism and in tune with popular struggles and debates within the Latin American left. The founders’ intention was to unite intellectuals North and South and be open to new thinking and debates. They adopted a participatory editorial culture accompanied by a critique of both mainstream positivism and the orthodox Marxist politicization of social research while seeking theoretical innovations and concrete analyses of capitalism. During four decades, debates appeared in the journal’s pages, initially with pioneering issues on dependency, Cuban socialism, gender, democratic class struggle, and imperialism. Later, when