SPRING
2004 CALENDAR
OF EVENTS |
January | February |
March | April |
May
 Art Opening
Andrés Ovalle, "The Unknown Land"
Andrés
Ovalle is a visual artist known for exploring the relations
between the intuitive knowledge
of the primitive
world and surrealism. Myths, fantasy and memory mingle in his
work which is suffused with a yearning for the sublime.
Art
Exhibit January 19 – May 7, 2004
For exhibit hours, please call us at (510) 642-2088.
Join
us for the artist’s talk, followed
by an opening reception.
Wednesday, January 21, 5:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Photos
from the opening
Adolfo Aguilar Zinser
"Is
The United Nations on the Brink? Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism
and
the Quest for World Peace and Security"
This lecture will analyze the current state of world affairs,
paying particular attention to the U.S.-led war against terrorism
and the role played by the UN and multilateral diplomacy. Drawing
from his recent experience as Mexican ambassador to the UN, Mr.
Aguilar will address issues including the quality of U.S. leadership
in world affairs after 9/11, the dissenting role of U.S. friends
and allies in the UN Security Council and the quest for UN reform.
Mr. Adolfo Aguilar Zinser recently served as Permanent Representative
of Mexico to the UN (2002-03), representing his country at
the Security Council during the critical past two years. After
resigning his post on November 20, 2003, he joined the National
Autonomous University of Mexico to resume teaching and to undertake
a research projected on topics related to U.S. and Mexican
affairs.
Thursday,
January 22, 5:00 pm
Morrison Room, Doe Library
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Jorge Wilheim
"The
São Paulo New Strategic Master
Plan"
 São
Paulo, Brazil’s most important city and a global
metropolis, is celebrating its 450th birthday. The São
Paulo of today, a metropolitan area of more than 17 million,
has come a long way since 1880 when it was a small town
of 60,000. A true new-world city, with its mobile society
and migrant culture, São Paulo is a thriving, cosmopolitan
city with many dramatic problems to face, from the unfair
distribution of income to high unemployment rates, from
its public transport challenges to the drainage of its
hilly urban site. The recently approved Strategic Master
Plan and its new zoning regulations are a pragmatic answer
to many of these problems. However, the Plan’s innovations
caused contentious local debate and were not easily approved,
because, as J.J. Rousseau said in the 18th century, “the
public interest is not the same as the interest of everybody.”
Jorge Wilheim is a well-known architect who
recently commemorated 50 years of professional practice.
He is currently responsible
for the Municipal Urban Planning Department of São
Paulo, in the Workers Party local government and also holds
the Rio Branco Chair in Brazilian Studies at UC Berkeley
for Spring Semester 2004. The former Deputy Secretary-General
of Habitat II, Jorge Wilheim has also been the country’s
Secretary of State for Planning and for the Environment.
His books include Fax: Messages from a near future and Projeto
São Paulo.
-Interview
with Jorge Wilheim on city planning in São Paulo (in
Portuguese)
-"Melting
Pots and Marketplaces": an article by Jorge Wilheim
on the future of the city
Wednesday,
February 4, 4:00 pm
Lounge, Women's Faculty Club
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Kirsten
Sehnbruch
"From the Quantity of Employment to the Quality of Employment:
An Application of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach to the Chilean Labor
Market"
Chile
is often held up as a model for the developing world because
its progress on market liberalization has led to high growth
rates coupled with a sharp reduction in poverty. Chile’s
flexible labor market in particular has been credited with
contributing to growth and lowered unemployment rates.
Most recently, Chile has pioneered alternatives to traditional
unemployment benefits and subsidies by implementing a “privatized” unemployment
insurance system. This presentation explores what is behind
this model image and points out some of its flaws by means
of a survey specifically designed to ask questions that
other labor market surveys avoid.
Kirsten
Sehnbruch has just completed her Ph.D. on the Chilean Labor
Market at Cambridge University. She has spent the last
five years researching the labor market in Chile and has
worked as a consultant to the Chilean government on a range
of issues related to the labor market, the new unemployment
insurance and the pension system. She is now a visiting
scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies.
-Draft
of the paper on which the talk will be based (.pdf file)
Monday,
February 9, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos of the event
The
Other Francisco
Director: Sergio Giral (1974)
This
critical adaptation of the 19th-century Cuban novel Francisco by Anselmo Suárez Romero deconstructs the novel to expose
its racist assumptions. Giral’s retelling reveals the nature
of slavery and class struggle in Cuba. Latin American film critic
John Mraz observed that “to Giral, the overlooking of slave
resistance by Suárez y Romero is the novel’s greatest
shortcoming … Giral not only portrays slave resistance
in escape and vandalism, but he also ends the movie with a montage
of a rebellion and the official reaction to it. Slaves are seen
burning cane fields and killing the mayoral and contramayoral,
while the omniscient voice-over recounts the long tradition of
slave revolt in 19th-century Cuba.”
100 minutes. Spanish with English subtitles.
Wednesday,
February 11, 7:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Ernesto
Zedillo Ponce de Leon
"Fostering or Frustrating Globalization, That
Is the Question"
 Ernesto
Zedillo was President of Mexico from December 1994 to December
2000. He is now Co-Coordinator of the UN Millennium Development
Goals Task Force on the Multilateral Trading System, Co-Chairman
of the UN Commission on the Private Sector and Development
and Co-Chairman of the International Commission on Global Public
Goods. He is also Director of the Center for the Study of Globalization
and Professor of International Economics and Politics at Yale
University.
Co-sponsored
by the Office of the Chancellor and the Robbins Collection
of the School of Law, UC Berkeley.
Friday,
February 13, 4:00 pm
Wheeler Auditorium, Wheeler Hall (map)
Analysis
and photos of the event
Fernando
Flores Labra
"Challenges for Chile: A Conversation with Senator Fernando Flores"
 |
Fernando
Flores |
Since
2002, Senator Fernando Flores Labra has represented Chile's
Tarapaca region. Previously, Senator Flores held several posts
in the Allende government including: Minister of the Economy,
Minister of Housing and Secretary-General of the Government.
During the three years following the 1973 coup he was held
as a political prisoner in Pinochet's concentration camps.
Senator Flores received his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies
from UC Berkeley and is the author of many books, including Building
Trust in Business, Politics, Relationships and Life,
and Disclosing New Worlds.
-Senator
Flores' official web page (in Spanish)
Tuesday,
February 17, 12:00-1:30 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Diamela Eltit
"Chile: 30 Years after the Military Coup"
 |
Diamela Eltit |
Diamela
Eltit is one of Latin America’s most daring and experimental
writers and is highly regarded for her avant-garde initiatives
in the world of letters. Author of nine novels, Eltit
began her engagement with literature during the years of Pinochet
rule when she participated in the neo-vanguard, staging art actions
against the dictatorship, and published her first novels, Lumpérica
(1983) and Por la patria (1986), to universal acclaim. She has
been honored repeatedly by international literary organizations,
among them the Modern Language Association in the United States
and Casa de las Americas in Havana, which last year sponsored
a week long conference on her work. She has also held posts as
writer-in-residence at Brown, Yale, Washington University and
Columbia and came to Berkeley several years ago as a Regents’ Lecturer.
-A
discursive analysis of Ms. Eltit's work, "Diamela
Eltit: A Gendered Politics of Writing" (.pdf file)
Wednesday,
February 18, 4:00–5:30 pm
Note: Location changed to Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall (map)
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Francisco
Goldman
"The Bishop Gerardi Murder Case"
Since
1998, novelist Francisco Goldman has been reporting on
the murder of the great human rights activist
Bishop Juan
Gerardi in Guatemala. To date, three military officers and
a priest have been imprisoned for the crime, an unprecedented
and still threatened conviction in Guatemala. Goldman’s
particular emphasis has been on the young Church and human
rights activists who carried out most of the investigation
that led to the convictions.
Goldman’s
journalism on the Bishop Gerardi case has been published
in The New Yorker and The New York
Review of
Books; he will publish a book expanding on those pieces in
2005. His talk will be a first-hand, personal account.
Francisco
Goldman is the
author of two award-winning novels: The Long Night of White
Chickens and The Ordinary. His novels have been published in
10 languages. In 2005 will publish a book, also with Grove,
on the Bishop Gerardi murder case in Guatemala.
-An
interview with Francisco Goldman from PIF Magazine
Monday, February 23, 4:00 pm
Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Jorge
Arrate
"The Chilean Popular Movement: Historical Overview and Future Perspectives"
 |
Jorge
Arrate
|
Professor
Arrate will examine the main milestones in the history of
the Chilean Popular Movement — made up of leftist groups,
unions and social organizations — after the foundation
of the “Sociedad de la Igualdad” in 1848. He
will analyze the characteristics of its development, in particular
the relationship between political parties and social organizations,
the role of theory in the formation of the ideological framework
of the Chilean Left and the cultural impact of the Popular
Movement. The significance of Recabarren and Allende, the
Popular Unity coalition, the fight against the dictatorship
and the transition to democracy will also be addressed. The
lecture will end with an analysis of the current situation
in Chile and likely future developments.
Jorge
Arrate has been a faculty member at the University of Chile,
the University of Santiago, Catholic University of Chile
and UC Berkeley. He was a Minister in the Allende, Aylwin
and Frei administrations and the Ambassador of Chile to Argentina
during the Lagos government. Currently, he is the President
of the Board of the University of Arts and Social Sciences
(ARCIS) in Santiago, Chile.
Wednesday,
February 25, 4:00 pm
Lounge, Women's Faculty Club
Analysis
and photos of the event
Paulo
Lins
"Cidade
de Deus/City of God" Paulo
Lins holds the Mario de Andrade Chair in Brazilian Culture
at The Center for Latin American Studies at UC Berkeley.
He is the celebrated author of Cidade de Deus (City of
God),
first published in 1997 and recently made into an acclaimed
movie of the same name.
Mr. Lins book was based on "10 years of research and
30 years of life experience" in the Cidade de Deus housing
project in Rio de Janeiro and is as much a memoir as a novel.
-A
short interview with Mr. Lins, from Hispanic News
co-sponsored
with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Thursday,
March 4, 4:00 pm
Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Natalia
Brizuela
"Photography, Melancholy and the Conception of Brazilian Nationalism"
The
Empire of Brazil’s passage toward progress
and modernity is reflected in the photographic and literary
production of the
second half of the 19th century. In this talk, Prof. Brizuela
will explore the relationship between 19th century Brazilian
nationalism and melancholy by mapping the historical, political
and theoretical geographies of the photography and literature
of the period.
Natalia
Brizuela recently joined the Department of Spanish & Portuguese
at UC Berkeley after completing her Ph.D. at New York University
where she worked on the relationship between politics and aesthetics
in Argentina and Chile. Her research focuses on literary and
visual cultures in the Southern cone and Brazil and their relationship
to state formations.
Monday,
March 8, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Carol
A. Smith
"Indigenous Movements in Guatemala and Ecuador:
Different Histories, Different Social Contexts, Different Strategies?"
This
talk will focus on the differences between the indigenous movements
in “peaceful” Ecuador and “violent” Guatemala.
Smith, who has studied both areas, will also comment on input
she solicited from other specialists comparing the situation
in Ecuador with that of other parts of Latin America where
indigenous social movements are taking place. Key to Smith’s
comparison is her challenge of the belief that the history
of the Maya movement in Guatemala developed out of Guatemala’s
period of violence in the 1980s.
Carol
A. Smith is Professor and Chair of Anthropology at UC Davis.
She has worked with the Maya of Guatemala in many different
parts of the country for 30 years, concentrating on ethnic/class
relations. Recently, her work has considered the nature of
Guatemala’s Maya movement as it has shifted over time
and space, race and racism in Guatemala and the intersection
of race, class, and gender in Guatemala and other parts of
Central America.
- Professor
Smith's biography from the Department of Anthropology at
UC Davis
Monday,
March 15, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Summer Research Grantee Symposium This two-day symposium is a unique opportunity to learn from
the current research of UC Berkeley graduate students who spent
last summer in Latin America.
Schedule
of presentations
Tuesday,
March 16, 2:00 – 5:00 pm and
Wednesday, March 17, 2:00 – 5:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Alfredo
Palacio Gonzales
"Building
a Social Network in Ecuador in the Era of Globalization"
Ecuador is
made up of a patchwork of indigenous communities, people of
colonial Spanish origin and descendants of African
slaves. Vice President Palacio Gonzales will address the fact
that not all these groups have reaped the benefits of the industrial
boom after the discovery of large oil reserves in the 1960s.
Additional steps to stabilize the economy, such as IMF-inspired
austerity measures and privatization, have generated widespread
unrest, primarily among the indigenous poor, who cannot afford
increased fuel prices.
Alfredo Palacio
Gonzales is the Vice President of Ecuador. During his time
in office he has sought to stabilize the
economy and
build a social network after the turbulent end of the last
century. He is the author of Hacia…Un Humanismo Científico and Incidencia
de las Enfermedades Cardiovasculares en Hospitales de la
Provincia del Guayas.
This event is free and open to the public. You may reserve your
seat in advance by calling 510-642-9460 with your name, number
of seats, phone number and/or e-mail address or email the information
to ihprogra@berkeley.edu.
- Vice
President Palacio Gonzales' official biography (in Spanish)
Co-sponsored
by the International House, Consulate General of Ecuador,
UC Berkeley International and Area Studies and the World
Affairs Council of Northern California.
Wednesday, March 17, 7:00 pm
Auditorium, International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue
Photos
of the event
Mariclaire Acosta
"A Human Rights Policy for a Democratic Mexico"
Mariclaire Acosta is the former subsecretary
for Human Rights and Democracy in the Secretariat of Foreign
Relations Office
in Mexico. Her career in the field of human rights has led her
on missions ranging from investigating the treatment of immigrants
in the United States to studying the effects of violence in Colombia.
Currently she is a member of the Advisory Council on Foreign
Relations for the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL).
Ms. Acosta is the author of many articles including: “Overcoming
Discrimination against Women in Mexico: A Task for Sisyphus,” “Lessons
Learned from Relations between Mexican and U.S. Human Rights
Organizations” and “Democracy, Governability and
Human Rights in Mexico.”
-Article
about Ms.
Acosta's leaving the Mexican government from Human
Rights Watch (August 2003)
Thursday,
March 18, 4:00 pm
Lounge, Women's Faculty Club
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Huberto
Juárez Núñez
"Economía
y Trabajo en México a una década
del NAFTA"
La economía mexicana contiene dos segmentos muy diferenciados.
El primero se asocia al mercado interno y el segundo produce
para la exportación. Esta dicotomía puede explicar
el bajo impacto en los beneficios esperados de acuerdos regionales
como el NAFTA. El producto nacional no ha tenido períodos
de crecimiento y estabilidad sostenidos. Entre otros resultados,
variables como el empleo y los salarios tuvieron en los últimos
diez años un promedio negativo. La desaceleración
de la economía norteamericana ha hecho más evidente
la dependencia en inversiones y exportaciones y, como resultado,
en México tenemos tres años de atonía. En
esta presentación se analizarán las características
del ciclo económico mexicano, las industrias de exportación
(especialmente la automotriz y las maquilas del vestido) y los
resultados en empleos y salarios con un enfoque especial en el
período 2001-2003.
Dr.
Huberto Juárez Núñez is Professor of
Economics at the Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico.
This presentation will be given in Spanish.
Monday, March 29, 4:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Photos
of the event
José Luis
Paz Soria
"Bolivian Archaeology and Nationalism"
In Bolivia, recent vindications of the indigenous villages are
frequently ignored by the national archeology community. This
neglect occurs because archeology is managed by a “scientific
community” that responds to an urban-occidental vision
of culture that prioritizes 1) the concept of a singular nation
state rather than acknowledging the many nationalities that
underlie the actual Bolivian territory, 2) the methodology
used to obtain
information to the detriment of the humane treatment that these
villages deserve, and 3) debates in limited academic circles
instead of engaging with the people who still hold these ancient
cultural traditions.
José Luis Paz Soria is the director of the Kallamarka
Archeological Project in La Paz, Bolivia. He has worked extensively
with the Taraco Archeological Project directed by Professor
Christine Hastorf, UC Berkeley. The majority of his publications
deal with
the study of the formative period in Bolivia.
Please
note: This presentation will be in Spanish.
Moderated
by Christine Hastorf, Professor of Anthropology
Co-sponsored
with the Department of Anthropology
Tuesday, March 30, 4:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos
of the event
The
Promised Ship
Director: Luciano Capelli (2000) and
Jump Over
the Atlantic
Director: María Eugenia Esparragoza (1990)
The
Promised Ship
In the 1920s, Marcus Garvey, the leader of the early 20th century black power
movement, founded a steamship line intended to transport black people back
across the Atlantic to their ancestral homelands. In this documentary, the
old townspeople of Limón, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, recall
the emotional impact this venture had on them and their parents, although it
never came to fruition. The film also documents the United Fruit Company’s
efforts to squelch Garvey’s organizing activities on the region’s
banana plantations. 51 minutes.
English
and Spanish with subtitles.
Jump
Over the Atlantic
This film traces cultural similarities and continuities
between a small Afro-Venezuelan settlement in Barlovento, on
the coast of Venezuela, and the Belgian Congo in Africa, where
people were captured and sold into slavery in the nineteenth
century. By showing each group film footage of their brothers
overseas, the film captures the opinions Venezuelans and Congolese
have of one another. This cross-cultural ethnographic exercise
shows that, long after their migration from Africa, Afro-Venezuelans
retain many African practices. 30 minutes.
Spanish and French with English subtitles.
Wednesday,
March 31, 7:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Mark
Alan Healey
"City of Rubble, Visions of Order: Architects, Powerbrokers and the Peronist
State in the Remaking of San Juan, Argentina After the 1944 Earthquake"
The
worst natural disaster in Argentine history, the 1944 San Juan
earthquake,
was also the spark for a wide range of projects for dramatic transformation.
While the aid campaign for victims launched the career of Colonel Juan Peron,
the city in ruins inspired dramatic plans for rebuilding. This talk will trace
the intellectual origins, political contours and ultimate trajectory of
architectural attempts to use this opportunity to forge a model city for the
nation.
Trained
as an architect and historian, Mark Healey recently arrived
at
Berkeley after teaching at New York University and the University of
Mississippi. His work centers on the broad transformations of state authority,
social life and cultural forms in twentieth-century Latin America, especially
Argentina. This talk comes out of his current project, which explores these
themes in the unmaking and remaking of the city of San Juan after the 1944
earthquake.
-Two
articles by Professor Healey from The American Prospect
dealing with the Argentinian financial crisis of 2001-02, "Down,
Argentine Way" and "The
Costs of Orthodoxy"
Monday
April 5, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Cristovam Buarque
Title to be announced
Cristovam Buarque is a Senator of the Republic in Brazil. He
served as Minister of Education for the 2003 year term.
POSTPONED
until Fall 2004
Susanne
Jonas
"Latino Immigrant Rights, Legalization Strategies and Citizenship in the
Shadow of the National Security State: Responses to Domestic Preemptive Strikes"
In
this talk, Prof. Jonas will address U.S. anti-immigrant measures
since 1996 with a focus on the changes that have taken place
since Sept. 11 and the passage of the “Patriot” Act(s).
A comparison will be made between the measures that were already
in place in 1996 and those that were created during the post-9/11 “national
security” regime. The proactive efforts by the Latino
immigrant communities to protect their rights will be examined.
In conclusion, a theoretical link will be made between anti-immigrant
measures and their opposite— i.e., the reconceptualization
of citizenship and its implications for U.S. democracy.
Susanne
Jonas teaches Latin American & Latino Studies at the University
of California, Santa Cruz. She is Associate Chair of LALS,
and coordinator of the “Latinos in California” Research
Cluster of UCSC’s Chicano/Latino Research Center.
-An
article by Professor Jonas from the Common Dreams website
Monday,
April 12, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos
of the event
 |
Floro
Tunubalá |
Floro
Tunubalá
"Peace and Prosperity in Colombia? Indigenous and Grassroots Communities’ Response
to Drugs and Warfare"
After
more than forty years of armed conflict, and with increasing
U.S. involvement in the war, Colombia is
not often associated
with peace. Yet grassroots campesino and indigenous communities
in Colombia have been successfully resisting violence and sowing
the seeds of alternative economic development. Floro Tunubalá will
share stories from the front lines of this struggle for peace
and prosperity in Colombia.
Floro
Tunubalá served as Governor of Cauca
in southwestern Colombia from 2001-03. The first indigenous
leader ever to be
elected governor in Colombia, Floro is a member of the Guambiano
nation and a representative of one of the strongest social movements
in Colombia, the indigenous and campesino movement of Cauca.
Event
in Spanish, with English translation
-Interview
with Mr. Tunubalá from the "Stop the Drug War" website
Co-sponsored
with the Institute for International Studies, Students Organizing
for Justice in the Americas, the
Chibcha-Colombia
Human Rights Information Committee, the Colombia Human Rights
Network and Coordinación Colombia–Europa–EEUU.
Monday, April 12, 4:00 pm
Room 223, Moses Hall
Photo
of the event
The Agronomist
Directed by Jonathan Demme (2004)
A
long-cherished personal documentary project from Academy Award-winning
director Jonathan Demme (The Silence
of the Lambs and Philadelphia),
The Agronomist is a celebration of an extraordinary man — journalist,
broadcaster and human rights activist Jean Dominique — and
his tireless fight against injustice and oppression in Haiti.
Demme shot many hours of footage with Dominique over fifteen
years. Their joint project was cut tragically short in April
2000 when, in the turmoil leading up to elections in Haiti, Jean
Dominique was assassinated outside his radio station, Radio Haïti
Inter. The Agronomist is a portrait of a remarkable man, his
extraordinary wife and partner Michèle Montas and their
beloved Haiti.
The
Agronomist is being released at a time when Haiti is in turmoil.
Headlines in our newspapers talk about
a “cannibal
army,” an upper class “revolutionary” opposition,
a compromised President and a two-hundred year struggle for democracy.
The Agronomist provides viewers with a context in which to understand
what is happening in Haiti today — and what may happen
tomorrow.
Please plan
to arrive early. Seating is limited and not guaranteed. Theater
is not responsible for overbooking. Doors open 30 minutes
before show time.
Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
Monday, April 12, 7:00 pm
Pacific Film Archive Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way
Sergio Aguayo
"Mexico’s 2006 Presidential Election: The Factors and
Actors Involved"
In
2006 Mexicans will elect a new president. Professor Aguayo
will analyze the possibilities of the 17 contenders for the
nomination and the tensions that competition is creating inside
the different
political parties. Open competition — normal in other democracies — is
already exposing the strengths and weaknesses of Mexican institutions
and social fabric. Professor Aguayo will discuss the possibility
of free and fair elections in light of doubts about the impartiality
of the new electoral authority and concerns about campaign
financing.
Sergio
Aguayo has been a Professor at the Colegio de México
since 1977. He is an expert on security issues, U.S.–Mexico
relations, the Mexican political system, refugees, democratization
and human rights. In 2003 he was one of the four experts who
wrote a report on Mexico’s human rights situation for
the United Nations. Professor Aguayo is also active in the
promotion
of democracy and human rights through organizations such as
Civic Alliance and the Mexican Academy of Human Rights. His
weekly
column appears in Reforma and 14 other Mexican newspapers,
and he is a panelist on TV Channel 11’s weekly program Primer
Plano.
Tuesday, April 13, 4:00 pm
Lounge, Women’s Faculty Club (map)
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Diaspora
and Homeland Development Conference
The Diaspora and Homeland Development Conference is an initiative
of the Berkeley Center for Globalization and Information Technology
which aims to understand and promote the capacities of diaspora
communities for economic development in their homelands. Contemporary
diasporas, because of their skills, wealth and transnational
networks, have become a new engine for cooperation between host-land
and homeland.
A variety of researchers who have done work on
diaspora–homeland
economic cooperation ventures will be speaking. Countries to
be discussed include Haiti, the Philippines, Mexico, Palestine,
Morocco, India, Pakistan, Armenia, Iran and Nigeria.
-Website
for the conference
Co-sponsored
by the Institute of International Studies, the Center for
Urban Ethnography,
and the Institute of Governmental Studies.
Tuesday,
April 13, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Room 223, Moses Hall
Maxine
Waters
"Perspectives
on a Changing Haiti"
 |
photo
courtesy of and © Tino Soriano |
Congresswoman
Maxine Waters has represented California’s
35th District, which includes a large part of South Central
Los Angeles and the Westchester community, for seven terms.
Formerly the Chair of the 39-member Congressional Black Caucus
(1997-98), Rep. Waters was recently named Co-Chair of the House
Democratic Steering Committee. Rep. Waters was a key figure
in Congressional efforts to restore Haiti’s democratically-elected
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power in 1991. In early
March, she testified before the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations on the role of the U.S. government in the overthrow
of President Aristide.
-Congresswoman
Waters' official website
Thursday,
April 15, 7:00 pm
Lounge, Women's Faculty Club (map)
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Adrian Hearn and Michael Spiro
"Sacred Allegiances: Decentralized Development and the Rhythm
of Community Religion in Cuba"
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, Cuba lost its main
source of economic support and the capacity to maintain its centralized
system of basic social services. As a result, neighborhood welfare
projects began to emerge, built on the collaboration of decentralized
state urban development institutions with community self-help
groups. Projects designed to confront growing problems have benefited
from the participation of Afro-Cuban religious leaders, who are
respected figures at the neighborhood level.
This talk considers the spiritual basis for this respect, looking
in particular at the fortification of community relationships
through sacred ceremonial music.
Adrian H. Hearn is an associate lecturer in applied anthropology
at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and a professional percussionist.
His research in Senegal and Cuba has focused on the capacity
of urban community-based organizations rooted in religious,
musical and medicinal traditions to deliver social welfare
services.
Michael Spiro is an internationally recognized percussionist,
recording artist and educator, who specializes in Afro-Cuban
and Brazilian musical forms.
Friday, April 16, 4:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Photos
of the event
 |
photo
courtesy of and © Tino Soriano |
Jean Casimir
The Haitian Crisis in Historical Perspective (1804-2004)
Jean
Casimir was the Haitian Ambassador to the United States from
1991-96. He played a key role in the negotiations
to restore
Haiti’s democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, to power in 1991. He later broke with Aristide, and
today is an important member of the democratic opposition.
Co-sponsored with the Department of Ethnic Studies.
Monday, April 19, 4:00 pm
Lounge, Women’s Faculty Club (map)
Analysis
and photos
of the event
Georgina
Lagos
"Mexico & California: New Challenges for Consular
Affairs"
Mexico’s foreign policy has undergone dramatic changes
during President Vicente Fox’ administration. Strengthening
the bilateral relation with the U.S. increased in importance,
and consuls were granted greater diplomatic authority to work
with the government and civil society in order to achieve this
goal. Mexican immigration to the U.S. has been another area of
concern, especially given the importance of the $12 billion a
year in remittances immigrants send home to Mexico. Georgina
Lagos will share her views on these and other issues facing the
Mexico–California partnership.
Georgina Lagos was the first woman to serve as Consul General
of Mexico in San Francisco (2001-04). Lagos played a key role
in gaining official recognition for the Mexican Consular ID as
a valid piece of identification for Mexican immigrants in many
California cities.
Tuesday, April 20, 4:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Analysis
and photos of the event
The
Forgotten Roots
Director: Rafael Rebollar (2001) and
Candombe
Director: Mabel Maio (1999)
The
Forgotten Roots
This impressive documentary details the history of Mexico’s
often-overlooked African populations. Drawing on interviews and
archival imagery, the film takes us from the slavery of the colonial
era to today’s Afro-Mexican communities in Guerrero, Oaxaca,
Campeche, Morelos and Veracruz. The Forgotten Roots argues that
Mexico’s famous mestizaje includes the important contributions
of African groups, as well as Spaniards and Indians. 50 minutes.
Spanish with English subtitles.
Candombe
This film gives a broad introduction to the history of
Candombe and documents its pervasive influence in the Río
de la Plata region of Uruguay. Touching on the region’s
history of slavery and the historical development of Candombe
from a marginal form to a widely accepted and appreciated musical
genre, it includes interviews with Candombe pioneers Lágrima
Ríos and Martha Gularte, as well as other historians,
musicians and experts. 48 minutes.
Spanish with English subtitles.
Wednesday,
April 21, 7:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Jaime
Breilh
"Towards Emancipatory Intercultural Science: The New Agrarian Research System
of Ecuador"
Dr.
Breilh is a visiting professor at the Center for Iberian and
Latin American Studies, UC San Diego. He is co-founder of the
Latin American Social Medicine Association and Director of
the Health Research Center (CEAS) in Quito. He will share his
ideas for a North–South collaborative research and intervention
program geared towards the construction of agrarian justice.
While
he will talk briefly about his most recent research, this session
will be framed as a discussion rather than a lecture.
Co-sponsored
with the Institute of International Studies.
Monday,
April 26, 12:00 pm
Room 223, Moses Hall
Rebecca Scott
"Building Citizenship on the Ruins of Slavery: Cuba and Louisiana in Comparative
Perspective"
Rebecca Scott is a professor at the
University of Michigan Law School, where she teaches a seminar
on race, law, and citizenship in comparative perspective, and
does research on slavery and the law. She began research in Cuban
history in 1976, and was one of the first North American scholars
to carry out research in national and local archives in the island
of Cuba. In 1987 she and several colleagues founded the Postemancipation
Societies Project, a collaborative research and teaching project
that links faculty and graduate students at the University of
Michigan, the University of Chicago, and the University of Maryland.
Wednesday,
April 28, 4:00 pm
Room 370, Dwinelle Hall
Joao
Cayres
"Lula's First 18 Months: A Labor Perspective"
Joao Cayres is the Coordinator of the Representative Committee
for the workers in the Ford Plant in Sao Bernadino, Sao Paulo
and the former Director of the ABC Metalworkers Union.
Monday, May 3, 4:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
Photos
of the event
Never Again
Directed by Marta Rodríguez and Fernando Restrepo (2001)
In
the violent and complex conflict that has racked Colombia,
it is always the most vulnerable who are the
most affected. Nunca
Mas presents the stories of Afro-Colombian peasants displaced
from their land in the armed conflict between the Colombian army,
Marxist guerillas and the right-wing paramilitary in the isolated
province of the Chocó. 56 minutes.
Spanish with English subtitles.
Poppy: The Damned Flower
Directed by Marta Rodríguez (1998)
This
documentary illustrates the stark choice confronted by many
rural Colombian communities: either grow
opium poppies or
face starvation. Indigenous farmers interviewed in the film characterize
the cultivation of illegal crops as a social problem, calling
for land reform, access to education and general alleviation
of poverty. Yet the Colombian government’s response to
the problem has been to use toxic herbicides that not only destroy
opium fields, but also ruin subsistence crops and affect the
rural population’s health. 30 minutes.
Spanish with English subtitles.
Marta
Rodriguez has devoted her career to exposing human rights violations
in her native Colombia, from her early,
ground-breaking
documentary on the families of brickmakers to her recent documentary
on Colombia’s displaced. She will present at the screenings
and hold a brief question and answer session after each of the
films.
Wednesday, May 5, 7:00 pm
CLAS Conference Room, 2334 Bowditch Street
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