Central American Societies Research Articles

Socioeconomic Factors Determining Multidimensional Child Poverty Groups in Central America: A Measurement Proposal from the Wellbeing Approach Using a Comprehensive Set of Children’s Rights

This article aims to show that multidimensional child poverty (MCP) is determined by several socioeconomic factors that influence the formation of stratified groups of poor children under five years of age living in Central America. This study advocates for a comprehensive set of children's rights with the purpose of addressing the different facets of child poverty from the perspective of child well-being, in order to estimate the incidence of MCP, by including multiple childhood deprivations and socioeconomic determinants. Child-specific indicators and household deprivation indicators are considered in the estimation of MCP. The study also states that child poverty is a complex concept, which includes the various types of deprivations experienced by children in the Central American societies and their deprivations are considered as the denial of children’s rights. Therefore, the MCP is estimated based on a conditional latent class analysis that includes not only manifest deprivation variables, but also socioeconomic determinants that help to better predict the incidence and probabilities of children being multidimensionally poor according to different poverty strata. The socioeconomic factors that show high risks of MCP are rural areas, indigenous children, young mothers and low levels of education attained by the head of the household, among others. One of the reasons to investigate the MCP for Belize and El Salvador is because there are few studies that address this problem for these countries and this research sheds light on the characteristics of early childhood poverty. The results indicate that the incidence of MCP is 49% in Belize and 76% in El Salvador. The research work concludes that the International Rights of the Child provide the opportunity to implement comprehensive social policies in Central America to eradicate child poverty.

Courtier and Seeing-Man: Differences in Europeans’ Roles in East Asian and Central American Societies as Reflected through Maps

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the maps of East Asia and Central America drawn by Europeans between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and illustrates the distinctions in the roles of Europeans in these two civilizations through the investigation of cartographic differences. In the initial stage of Europeans’ entry into East Asia and Central America, the local maps have both the characteristics and techniques of the outsiders and the insiders, reflecting the distinct scene of the encounter of civilizations. In the process of localization, the map system of East Asia deconstructed European cartography, the original purpose of early Europeans entering China was digested by Chinese society, and their role changed from missionary to royal courtier. European cartography deconstructed and colonized the traditional cartography of Central America, which corresponds to the history that Europeans gradually became the rulers of indigenous people in real life.

El trabajo de la memoria en Centroamérica: Cinco propuestas heurísticas en torno a las guerras en El Salvador, Guatemala y Nicaragua

Este artículo presenta una exploración comparativa del trabajo de la memoria en torno a las guerras de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en tres países centroamericanos: El Salvador, Guatemala y Nicaragua. Identifca cinco diferentes propuestas heurísticas para explicar las guerras (incluyendo sus principales causas y secuelas), que se utilizan, en mayor o menor medida, en cada país: el olvido impuesto, la guerra fraternicida, la revolución, el anticomunismo, y el desengaño. Vinculados con sectores políticos e históricos determinados, estas propuestas heurísticas cuentan con niveles de incidencia diferenciados en cada país. Su estudio permite visualizar la arena política del trabajo de la memoria en cada país, a la vez que permite analizar similitudes y diferencias entre los tres países. Enfocando el trabajo de la memoria como proceso político contencioso y relativamente fragmentado, el presente artículo contribuye a dimensionar los impactos del trabajo de la memoria en torno a las pasadas guerras en las sociedades centroamericanas en cuestión.

Entre Imperial Eyes e “información fidedigna”. Reflexiones sobre la representación de América Central en textos de viajeros alemanes

The texts written by European and North American travelers -travelogues, letters, reports, etc.- have played a major role in the production of Central American otherness and have had its repercussions in Central American literatures. Nowadays, there is an on-going debate about the value and epistemological status of these texts for the development of historical knowledge about Central American societies. The essay analyses three texts by German travelers in two historical key moments -mid nineteenth century and the nineteen-eighties of twentieth century- in the light of this theoretical and methodological debate and asks for the relevance of European travelogues for the representations of Central American realities and otherness in Central American literatures themselves from a transhistorical, epistemic, and “representational” rather than historical/ historiographical approach.

Violence Against Women and Asylum Seeking: Global Problems and Local Practices Applied to Guatemalan Women Immigrating for Safety

This paper, based on broader discussions surrounding gender violence and immigration in the U.S., provides critical information on the historical context of extreme violence against women and femicide plaguing Central American societies today. Drawing on experiences of precedent setting cases of Guatemalan women, the authors offer suggestions for culturally specific treatment of and support for women who seek asylum in the U.S. out of justified fear for their and their family members’ lives should they return to their country of origin. The arguments presented are predicated on the belief that women worldwide share experiences of myriad forms of male domination and gender inequality which, however, play out differently on their bodies and lives in ways that must be accounted for in our attempt to offer them appropriate care and assist them in creating the tools they need to change their circumstances.

Women's Work: Images of Production and Reproduction in Pre-Hispanic Southern Central America [and Comments and Reply

Women's Work: Images of Production and Reproduction in Pre-Hispanic Southern Central America [and Comments and Reply

Mediating Conflict in Central America

The Esquipulas peace process in Central America is examined as process, structure and context. It is found to be an innovative effort in regional conflict resolution. The study focuses on how mediation has been used in conflict management within Nicaragua. Trust- or confianza-based mediation has assumed special importance in the Nicaraguan case. The emphasis on the confianza relationship in Central American societies produces a type of mediator known as the insider-partial, who emerges from within the conflict situation itself. It differs markedly from the outsider-neutral third party common to post-industrial society. Its legitimacy and effectiveness come from the continuing personal connection of the mediator with the conflict parties before, during and after the intervention. The conflict between the Sandinista government and Atlantic Coast Indian leaders is analyzed to illustrate the use of confianza-based mediation and its effectiveness when combined with intervention by outsider-neutrals. The authors recommend a broadening of the concept of mediation to include intervention by insider-partials. Their continuity within and knowledge of the conflict situation effectively complement the outsider-neutrals' objectivity and lack of connection with conflictants. Mediator teams should be carefully selected to include both types, particularly for interventions in the developing world. It is recommended, additionally, that mediators attend more to modifying the mediation context to render it more supportive of their interventions. The authors conclude that Esquipulas represents a rich store of mediation experience for conflict research.

Christine A. Loveland and Franklin O. Loveland (eds): Sex Roles and Social Change in Native Lower Central American Societies (Urbana, Chicago and London: University of Illinois Press, 1982, $15.95). Pp. xix + 185.

Christine A. Loveland and Franklin O. Loveland (eds): Sex Roles and Social Change in Native Lower Central American Societies (Urbana, Chicago and London: University of Illinois Press, 1982, $15.95). Pp. xix + 185.

Sex Roles and Social Change In Natiwe Lower Central American Societies. CHRISTINE A. LOVELAND and FRANKLIN 0.LOVELAND, eds.

Sex Roles and Social Change In Natiwe Lower Central American Societies. CHRISTINE A. LOVELAND and FRANKLIN 0.LOVELAND, eds.

The Church and Revolutionary Struggle in Central America

The class conflict that rages in Central American societies touches every institution in those societies. The Church increasingly speaks not with one voice but several, a reflection of the debate that goes on in the larger society over whose class interests will prevail and over who will do what to help them prevail. The contemporary conditions of most Central American societies are hostile to a social democratic alternative and the choices of Christians are increasingly reduced to two: defend the ruling class or join the revolutionary movement. The following perspective on the historical relationship between Church and imperialism and the Church and Central American revolutionary movements is particularly significant because it is the position of a key participant in the Cursillos de Capacitaci6n movement that he describes. [The Editors]