Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies, Fall 2014

Vintage American cars
UC Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, CLAS Chair Harley Shaiken, and Chilean Ambassador to the United States Juan Gabriel Valdés at the 2014 Chile-California Conference. (Photo by Peg Skorpinski.)

COMMENT: Fall 2014

By Harley Shaiken |  Highlighting the Fall 2014 issue of the Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies’ coverage of U.S.-Cuba relations, inclusive development and more critical issues facing Latin America.

An arrow points along a road next to an old fortress in Havana, Cuba. (Photo by Ana García.)

CUBA: A Way Forward

By Peter Kornbluh | Shedding light on the history behind the radical shift of U.S. – Cuba relations with Director of the Cuba Documentation Project Peter Kornbluh.

The edges of a stack of Brazilian coins spell out the national motto: Order and Progress. (Photo by Justo Ruiz.)

BRAZIL: Progress and Pessimism

By Carola BinderDiscussing the successes and daunting challenges facing Latin America’s largest economy with Brazilian economist João Saboia.

The Andes loom behind the modern buildings of the Santiago skyline. (Photo by alobos Life.)

INEQUALITY: Inclusive Development and Democracy

By James G. Lamb | Reporting on the third annual Chile-California Conference, which brought together leading academics and development practitioners to weigh in on the social and political consequences of income inequality in the Americas.

A "Sold" sign in front of the U.S. Capitol at a rally for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman.)

INEQUALITY: Unrigging the Game

By Carola BinderIs inequality really inevitable? Berkeley's Emmanuel Saez and Paul Pierson argue that good public policy is the solution for evening out income distribution.

The ribbon of a Chilean tax stamp. (Photo by Matías Aros Márza.)

CHILE: A Taxing Process of Reform

By Juan Pablo AtalTaking a look at Chile’s changing tax policy and highlights the challenges facing meaningful reform with economist Tasha Fairfield.

Lush foliage and trees in the Amazonian rainforest. (Photo by Alberto García.)

CLIMATE: Is Our Carbon Sink Sunk?

By Noelia González | Sounding a dire warning about climate change through scientist Jeffrey Chambers and his research on tree mortality in the Brazilian Amazon.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent assists undocumented minors up out of the water while crossing the Río Grande in July 2014. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.)

CENTRAL AMERICA: Migrants or Refugees?

By Angela E. Fillingim | Crossing the U.S.- Mexico border, the number of unaccompanied children reached a crisis level in 2014. A panel of experts discusses the tragic situations in Central America pushing these children north.

The vibrant autumn colors of Lapostolle Vineyard in Chile, certified as both organic and biodynamic. (Photo by Jorge León Cabello.)

CHILE AND CALIFORNIA: The Wine Is the Land

By Adina Merenlender, Miguel Altieri, Olga Barbosa, Andrés Muñoz-Sáez, Carlos Pino, and Houston Wilson | Exploring the impacts of climate change and strategies for the future of vineyards with researchers from UC Berkeley and Chile.

A danger sign to warn of recent pesticide application in a field in Salinas, California. (Photo by Paolo Vescia.)

PUBLIC HEALTH: Growing Up Too Fast

By Rose Kagawa | Looking at why girls are beginning puberty earlier than ever before and how this impacts long-term well-being with Public Health's Julianna Deardorff.

A greatly enlarged image of the Ebola virus budding from the surface of a Vero cell. (Image courtesy of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.)

PUBLIC HEALTH: Disparities From the Cell to the Street

By Eva Raphael | Describing how urban poverty shapes the public health worries of the future with Dr. Lee Riley.

Daniel Scioli stands before a giant screen displaying Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Sergio Massa at a 2009 campaign event. (Photo by Mariano Pernicone.)

ARGENTINA: Contending for the Future?

By Eugenia Giraudy | Discussing plans for creating an effective government and confronting rising violence and crime in his country with Argentine congressman Sergio Massa.

UC Berkeley theater students in a Teatro Campesino-inspired performance that opened the talk by Luis Valdéz. (Photo by Ryan Montgomery.)

THEATER: Performance and Politics

By Martha Herrera-Lasso | Celebrating 50 years of Chicano theater in the United States with the founder of El Teatro Campesino Luis Valdez.

Regions under control of various caudillos are shown in this “Atlas of the Mexican Conflict” was published by Rand McNally and Company in 1914. (Image from The Newberry Independent Research Library.)

MEXICO: Geography, Ideology, and Revolution

By Claudio Lomnitz | Writing about Mexican anarchist Ricardo Flores Magón and the first transnational grassroots political movement to span the U.S.-Mexican border.

Black and white photo of members of the Junta Organizadora del Partido Liberal Mexicano in 1910. From left:  Anselmo Figueroa, Práxedis G. Guerrero, Ricardo Flores Magón, Enrique Flores Magón, and Librado Rivera. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons.)

EXCERPT: "The Return of Comrade Ricardo Flores Magón"

By Claudio Lomnitz | Excerpt from the author's book on the Mexican Revolution's transnational support across the U.S. border.

The rugged peaks and glaciers of Los Cuernos, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile. (Photo by Kurt Cuffey.)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Berkeley in the Andes

Photograph by Kurt Cuffey| Evolving alpine glaciation and topography are the subject of a bi-national research project in the Patagonian Andes.