Lovell S. Jarvis
"The Long Term Agricultural Effects of Economic and Land Reforms
in
Chile, 1965–2000"
Chile was the first Latin American country to engage in significant
and sustained economic reform combined with land reform, beginning
in the mid-1960s. Land reform ended around 1978, but the economic
reforms were redirected and intensified between 1974 and 1984.
This talk will examine the impact that reforms of the agricultural
sector have had over the long term, including relative prices,
income growth and distribution, political impact, product mix,
employment and technology.
Lovell S.
Jarvis is a professor in the Department of Agricultural and
Resource Economics at UC
Davis. Professor Jarvis conducts research on agricultural development
and agricultural policy in less-developed countries. He has
written on international trade issues, biotechnology and nutrition
policy
in developing countries. Jarvis has also written extensively
on the historical development of Chile’s agricultural
sector.
Monday,
September 13, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photo of
the event
Daniel A. Sumner
"Agricultural Trade Disputes and U.S. Farm Subsidies:
Implications for Latin America"
Professor Sumner will review how Brazil has used
the World Trade Organization’s provisions for dispute resolution to challenge
U.S. and EU farm subsidy programs. The ongoing cotton dispute
and Brazil’s challenge to EU sugar subsidies will be outlined
along with their impact on the Doha Development Agenda negotiations.
Latin American economic development and international relations
will also be discussed.
Daniel A. Sumner is the Frank H. Buck Jr. Professor
in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at
UC Davis and the Director
of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center. Professor
Sumner’s research includes all aspects of agricultural
policy, with an emphasis on agricultural trade policy and the
WTO and dairy industry issues.
Monday,
October 4, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos of
the event
Peter H. Smith
"Illiberal Democracy in Latin America"
Democratization
in contemporary Latin America is a complex process. The most
common polity throughout the region has become “illiberal” democracy — a
form that combines free and fair elections with systematic
restrictions on civil liberties. A central question is whether
these “illiberal” democracies are likely (a) to
endure, (b) to backslide into some version of authoritarianism,
or (c) move in a more liberal direction.
Peter
H. Smith is Professor of Political Science and Simón
Bolívar Professor of Latin American Studies at UC San
Diego. He is a specialist on comparative politics, Latin American
politics, and U.S.–Latin American relations. Professor
Smith has been an affiliate of CLAS since 2003.
-CLAS
Working Paper "Cycles
of Electoral Democracy in Latin America, 1900-2000" by
Peter H. Smith (.pdf file)
-Download
paper "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy in Latin America" on which
talk is based (.pdf file)
Monday
October 18, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis and photos of the event
Estela Neves
"Brazil 2004: Environmental Challenges and Local Action"
What are the possibilities and limitations of municipal action
in applying environmental policies in Latin America? To what
extent can local authorities fulfill their constitutional responsibility
regarding environmental management?
In this talk, Neves will examine the decentralization process
of the 90s, how it changed the context of government action in
the environmental arena and how local governments are responding
to the new challenges. She will compare the situation in Brazil
with that of Mexico, another environmentally rich country that
shares many common threats.
Estela Neves is an environmental planner affiliated with the
Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janerio. She specializes
in environmental policies and management, particularly at the
local government level. Originally trained as an architect and
urban planner, Neves has 18 years of professional experience
in environmental planning. She is currently a visiting scholar
at CLAS.
Monday,
October 25, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Suzana
Sawyer
"Suing ChevronTexaco: Citizenship, Contamination and Capitalism
in the Ecuadorian Amazon"
In
November 1993, a Philadelphia law firm filed a $1.5 billion
dollar class-action lawsuit against Texaco Inc. in the New
York Federal Court on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadorian citizens.
The plaintiffs sought reparations for alleged health problems
and environmental degradation resulting from over 25 years
of Texaco's petroleum activity in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Nearly
ten years later, after being shuffled back and forth between
the U.S. Federal Court and the Court of Appeals, the lawsuit
was transferred to Ecuador, and the trial began in October
2003. Professor Sawyer will discuss the case and its implications
for citizenship and corporate behavior in Ecuador and beyond.
Suzana
Sawyer is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology
at UC Davis. Her current research focuses on conflict over
oil operations in Ecuador. Her new research examines the lawsuit
against Texaco, focusing specifically on what it tells us about
shifting regimes of citizenship, sovereignty and law.
REFERENCES
2002
"Bobbittizing Texaco: Dis-membering Corporate Capital and Re-membering
the Nation in Ecuador" Cultural Anthropology. 17 (2):
150-180.
2001
"Fictions of Sovereignty: Prosthetic Petro-Capitalism, Neoliberal
States, and Phantom-Like Citizens in Ecuador." Journal
of Latin American Anthropology. 6 (1): 156-197.
Monday,
November 1, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
