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BAPTISTA ESSAY PRIZES
2004
The
2004 Undergraduate-level Baptista Essay Prize was awarded to Kathryn Grimbly
(Humanities) for her paper, “Caribbean Visual Arts in the Era of
Post-Modernism.” Jennifer
Costanza (Political Science) took the Graduate-level prize for her essay,
“Elusive Hegemony: A Critical Analysis of United States Policy towards
Haiti.” Praised by evaluators
as “engaged and engaging” and “a first class piece of work”
respectively, the evaluators were impressed with the excellent quality of the
winning essays.
2005
The
2005 Undergraduate-level Baptista Essay Prize was awarded to Fabiola Rios
(Women’s Studies) for her paper, “Filling the Gap: The Colonial Project
and the Goddess,” which evaluators praised as “outstanding.” Gena Chang-Campbell’s essay, “‘Y/O’ Mestizaje as Foil
and Fetish of Postcolonial Consciousness,” won the Graduate-level Prize,
impressing the evaluators with the “creativity and flair” with which it
was written.
For
more information on the Prize and winning students and their papers, visit
CERLAC's Projects page.
The
Michael Baptista Essay Prize was established by the friends of Michael
Baptista and the Royal Bank of Canada in honour of Michael Baptista in
recognition of the areas central to his spirit and success: the importance of
his Guyanese / Caribbean roots, his dedication to and outstanding achievement
at the Royal Bank of Canada, and his continued and unqualified drive and love
of learning.
This
$500 Prize is awarded annually to both a graduate and an undergraduate student
at York University in recognition of an outstanding scholarly essay of
relevance to the area of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, from the
humanities, social science, business or legal perspective.
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Reflections
on “Speaking Truth to Power”:
Doing
Fieldwork in Bolivia
By Susan Spronk
I will always remember a particular day in May 2005 when I participated in
the first day of protests that would eventually topple another Bolivian
president. The crisp air of the altiplano filled my nostrils, the intense
sun beat down on my face, and the protestors' chant, “El gas es nuestro,
carajo! (The gas is ours, dammit!)”, rang in my ears. The crowd was
abuzz with nervous anticipation and speculations about whether this march
would repeat the events of the “Gas War”, when military troops killed
around 80 civilians during peaceful protests a year and a half before.
That day in May, we all suspected that another passage in Bolivian history
was about to be written. As a graduate student with my pen and notebook in
hand, I resolved to make my small contribution by writing part of that
history.
As an academic from “the North,” it is always important to think hard
about what role you want to play in writing history, but especially
important when you write about subjects from “the South.” The goal of my work as an academic is to produce
comprehensive, systematic, and theoretically engaged work that speaks
reflexively to some of the dilemmas with which I have wrestled, keeping in
mind the wise words of Barrington Moore: “In any society the dominant
groups are the ones with the most to hide about the way society works.
Very often therefore truthful analyses are bound to have a critical
ring…. For all students of human society, sympathy with the victims of
historical processes and scepticism about the victors’ claims provide
essential safeguards for being taken in by the dominant mythology.”
The process to define my role as an academic did not start with my
fieldwork in
Bolivia, where I arrived in July 2004 to do research for my dissertation
on urban water privatization. During
my graduate studies at York, I was always encouraged to critically reflect
on this question by fellow graduate students and professors, who are
largely activist-academics like me. Stepping out of the classroom,
however, I confronted the difficult task of fieldwork, how do you tease a
coherent story out of a complex situation created by living, breathing
subjects, most of whom are from a different background with respect to
ethnicity, race, gender, and class? These many conversations about the
role of academics that I had at York, and later with friends and
colleagues in Bolivia, did not resolve all of my epistemological
questions, but helped me to remain firm in one conclusion. It would be
irresponsible not take a stand on some issues, such as the damage brought
by transnational companies seeking to make profit from the exploitation of
natural resources in Bolivia.
As
an activist-intellectual, I chose a research method that bridged inquiry,
activism, and participatory approaches to the production of knowledge. I
assigned myself the role of secretary during meetings, ran a public
workshop on privatization debates, helped with international campaigns,
participated in protests, and wrote articles for the progressive press on
the struggles happening in Bolivia. The danger of such an approach is
that, as Edward Said warns, you can become too close to the movement to be
able to “speak truth to power.” As it turned out, however, power was
not that interested in speaking to me anyway. For
example, after looking up my name on the Internet, the private water
company in La Paz refused to give me any further information.
As
an academic, you probably are relatively privileged and have some power. I
hope that I can put mine to good use.
Susan Spronk lives in Québec City, where she is writing her dissertation
entitled "The Politics of Water Privatization: Neoliberal Reform and
Popular Resistance in Cochabamba and La Paz-El Alto, Bolivia." Her
ten months of fieldwork in Bolivia between July 2004 and August 2005 were
sponsored by IDRC and SSHRC.
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Graduate
Diploma in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
The Graduate Diploma Program is available to
students registered in a Masters or Doctoral program at York who have a
strong interest in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The diploma is
completed in conjunction with another discipline and allows students to
pursue more focused research on issues of interest in the region. CERLAC
would like to extend its congratulations to the following students who
successfully completed the diploma in 2004-2005 – we wish you the best of
luck in your future endeavours!
Amiel Blajchman.
The Sustainable Development Effects of Nickel Mining in Bonau,
Dominican Republic. MES Environmental Studies.
April 2005.
Sara Bryant.
A Debt with Memory: human rights, democratization and external
debt. MES Environmental
Studies. April 2005.
James Howard.
Sustainable Community Development Initiative in Guatemala. MES
Environmental Studies. April 2005.
Shana Yael Shubs.
MES Environmental Studies. Legitimacy
Struggles: Rebellion, media & social change in post-2001 Argentina. December
2005.
For more information on the diploma program
visit CERLAC's Graduate Program website.
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GRADUATE
STUDENT UPDATES
Gena
Chang-Campbell (PhD,
Social
and Political Thought). Gena
is in the third year of her doctoral work, which focuses on religion and
identity in Brazil and Cuba. Her major research paper is titled “Y/O –
Mestizaje as Foil and Fetish of Postcolonial Consciousness,” for which she
won the 2005 Baptista Essay Prize. She has
presented her work both in Toronto and in Mexico, and in 2005/2006 Gena was
a recipient of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
Elena
Cirkovic (PhD,
Law). Elena is currently in
the second year of a doctorate degree in International Public Law. Her
dissertation in progress is entitled “Human Rights Discourse and
Indigenous peoples in International Law: an Examination of the Principles of
Reconciliation and Self-determination.”
Joel
I. Colón-Ríos
(PhD, Law). Joel
began his doctoral work this year in Constitutional Theory; U.S. – Puerto
Rico juridical relationship. In addition to two publications forthcoming in
2006, he is currently researching for a paper entitled “Reconstituting
Puerto Rico: On the Dilemmas of (Un)Sovereignty and Democracy.”
Kate
Ervine (PhD,
Political Science). Kate
is currently in the fourth year of her PhD program and is conducting
fieldwork in Chiapas, Mexico. She is examining the implementation of the
Mexico-Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, with a specific focus on the
intersection of globally defined conservation and development schemes
(conceived within institutions such as the Global Environment Facility and
the World Bank), with local level needs, realities, and alternatives to
mainstream projects. Her work
is also focusing on the impact of externally defined policy frames in terms
of the ability for local communities to engage in participatory and
inclusive development at the local level.
In August 2005, Kate received the International Development Research
Centre (IDRC) Doctoral Research Award.
Ruth
Felder (PhD,
Political Science). Ruth
is in her fifth year of her PhD program, focusing on political economy,
structural adjustment and Argentina.
Her current
fieldwork is on the neoliberal restructuring of the state in Argentina. She
has a number of recent and forthcoming publications and has presented her
work on several occasions both at York and in Argentina.
Gavin
Fridell (PhD,
Political Science). Gavin successfully defended his PhD dissertation in the
spring of 2005. He is currently
working on a critical assessment of the Conservation International
shade-grown coffee program and conducting research on the Lomé Conventions
and the banana industry. His
recent publications on fair trade are used as course material in a number of
universities, including a forthcoming paper previously published online as a
CERLAC Working Paper, entitled “Fair Trade and the International Moral
Economy: Within and Against the Market.”
Gavin was an active participant in the University Consortium on the
Global South and a co-founder of the Fair Trade @ York campaign.
In 2004 he received a Latin American Studies Association Student
Grant.
Oscar
Grandío Moráguez (PhD,
History). Oscar is currently
in his fifth year of doctoral studies in African Diaspora and Caribbean
History. His thesis in progress is entitled: “West Central African Slaves
and The Transformation of their Ethnic Identities:
The Development of a Congo Culture in Nineteenth-Century Cuba.”
In 2005, Oscar received support from the Graduate Development Fund
and the Research Cost Fund from York University’s Faculty of Graduate
Studies. Between 2004-2005, he was part of the Research Association for the
Project “Ecclesiastical Sources and Historical Research on the African
Diaspora in Brazil and Cuba,” funded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities, U.S.A. In the summers of 2003 & 2004, Oscar was the
recipient of a Research Grant from the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database
Project, funded by the Arts of Humanities Research Board (UK).
He has several forthcoming publications and has presented his work at
a number of recent conferences.
Simon
Helweg-Larsen (MA,
Social and Political Thought ). Simon is currently in the second year of his
Masters degree programme, working on a Major Research Paper on Guatemala and
the Commission to Investigate Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security
Apparatuses (CICIACS). His fieldwork focused on the CICIACS human rights
commission and post-war violence in Guatemala. On March 2nd 2005,
Simon was a panel member in the CERLAC and UCGS panel discussion on
“Security and Militarism in the Americas.”
He is a recipient of the Martin Cohnstaedt Graduate Research Award
for Studies in Non-Violence.
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ELGA
MARTINEZ-SALAZAR
By
Sarah Blackie
Egla
Martinez-Salazar loved asking questions, taking notes and exploring ideas
from a very young age. And
although she did not come to Canada from Latin America purposely to study,
this award-winning academic eventually found a place at York that has set
the stage for a career of engaged scholarship that connects academia with
the experiences of everyday life.
(Article continues from the top of the page here)
From the time in her native Guatemala,
through engagement in human rights and popular education activities in
Guatemala, Mexico and Canada, Egla continuously reaffirmed her dedication to
progressive and inclusive social transformation.
Her PhD supervisor, Dr. Alan Simmons notes that not only has she
contributed to the scholarly literature on resistance to oppression, but
also to “the applied efforts by poor and racialized rural Guatemalan women
to promote human rights, democracy and citizenship in ways that are
meaningful to them.”
Her commitment to interdisciplinary
scholarship is evident. Her
life at York began in the Women’s Studies Department, after which she
moved into the Faculty of Environmental Studies where she received her
Master’s Degree. As a PhD
student in the department of Sociology, Egla received the prestigious
Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) award from the Tokyo
Foundation in 2004. In June
2005, she successfully defended her PhD dissertation, “The Everyday Praxis
of Guatemalan Maya Women: Confronting Marginalization, Racism and Contested
Citizenship.”
Egla confronted a personal challenge during
the end of her doctoral studies that could have delayed her successful
completion. Sadly, her sister
Dinorah Martinez passed away on March 10, 2005 while Egla was in the final
stages of her dissertation. Though
many friends and colleagues urged her to take time off to recover before
resuming such a difficult task, Egla persevered and completed her work in
honour of her sister’s life.
Her current research focuses on how state
terror was racialized and gendered in Guatemala and the impacts of everyday
racism on society in Guatemala in a globalizing era.
As part of a broader inquiry she is also engaging with the Maya
Cosmovision; both how indigenous peoples are recuperating and reconfiguring
it as well as how it may operate as a site of resistance.
Not surprisingly, she is interested in applying this understanding to
practices in both teaching and her everyday life.
After finishing her studies at York this
spring, Egla took a position teaching in the Women’s Studies Department at
McMaster University, where she has found support both as a worker and as a
human being – support that she deeply appreciates.
In addition to both teaching and working on
future publications, Egla is currently organizing a campaign to help Maya-Tz'utujil
survivors of Hurricane Stan and the subsequent mudslides. After she was personally contacted by several survivors
expressing concern about how their voices are being marginalized by national
non-governmental and other organizations in the reconstruction project, she
dedicated herself to aiding the efforts of grassroots organizations created
by survivors of these disasters (see below).
Egla’s life is
enriched by many friends and colleagues that she had the opportunity to work
with in her time at York. Undoubtedly,
her passion and dedication had as much of an effect on the York community as
well, and many would echo Dr. Simmons in saying that “working
with her has always been challenging, exciting and rewarding.”
CERLAC wishes her the very best as she pursues what is sure to
be a promising and rewarding career.
To contribute to
the transnational solidarity efforts of the Committee of Emergency and Reconstruction of Panabaj, donations may
be made to:
SWIFT
BIC: CUCXCATTONT
Credit
Union Central of Ontario, 2810 Matheson Blvd. East, Mississauga, Ontario,
Canada
//CC0828-04392
Alterna
Savings, 165 Attwell Drive, Toronto Ontario, M9W 5Y5
Beneficiary:
Panabaj Survivors
Member
Account Number: 6899793-311
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PAULA AND
LEANDRO
By
Rachel O'Donnell
Paula
Hevia Pacheco and Leandro Vergara Camus have similar roots: both had parents
who fled Chilean repression
in the 1970s and became part of the Chilean community in Montreal.
They both attended the University of Quebec in Montreal as
undergraduates, where they met as Political Science students.
After completing their BAs, they decided they were looking for a
cultural and political experience in Latin America that would go well beyond
tourism and where they could gain first-hand familiarity with the region –
an interest in engaging with communities in Latin America that continues to
characterize their research today.
(Article continues
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They left for Mexico City in 1996 and stayed
through 1999, when they completed MA degrees at the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM), Paula in Latin American Studies and Leandro in
Political Science. They recall
their time together in Mexico City fondly, immersed in Latin American
scholarship in a city that they describe as boiling over with history,
culture, and politics.
While still in Mexico, Paula and Leandro met
CERLAC Fellow Judy Hellman, who was doing field research there at the time.
They give Judy credit for encouraging both of their initial
applications to York. Judy, who
teaches in Social Science and Political Science at York, now advises both
Paula and Leandro’s research projects.
Paula and Leandro both have a long history of
involvement with CERLAC that begins shortly after their arrival at York.
Soon after they began their PhD programs in 1999, they attended and
reported on a CERLAC-organized conference that focused on the 2000 Mexican
elections. Not long after, they
organized a graduate student seminar on Latin American issues and realities,
with support from CERLAC and the Political Science department, which was
aimed at building a community of students and scholars with interests in
Latin America. This effort
culminated in the organization of a two-day conference that included both
student-led seminars and guest speakers. Last February, in collaboration
with CERLAC Fellow Liisa North and other members of the York community,
Paula and Leandro were involved in a CERLAC/UCGS conference on Indigenous
struggles. The confernece
brought together members of Canadian First Nations communities involved in
very important political struggles and specialists on indigenous issues from
different Canadian and Latin American universities (see page ???).
Paula’s
research focuses on women’s organizations in Mexico.
She is working on a comparative dissertation that investigates these
organizations throughout the country, weaving together local and regional
contexts with contemporary debates around political organizing in the
women’s movement. In doing so
she looks at the ways in which women have addressed issues of internal
diversity and the strategies they have developed to transgress the
structural and ideological obstacles that contribute to their oppression.
For his doctoral
research, Leandro was interested in analyzing the particular conditions of
struggle as well as the concrete achievements of peasant movements in the
context of the neoliberal restructuring of the Latin American countryside.
He is thus carrying out a comparative study of the development alternatives
put forward by the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil and the
Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas, Mexico. In his
dissertation he examines issues pertaining to land tenure, the focus and the
organization of agricultural production, and the issue of political autonomy
in respect to political parties and the state.
Both Paula and Leandro emphasize the
importance of fieldwork and have a strong belief that they cannot do
academic work without a solid understanding of the people and the culture
that shape the politics they attempt to understand. They are often invited to present on their fieldwork
experience in seminars and conferences at York and at universities across
Canada. Greg Albo, in the
Department of Political Science at York, points out the importance of their
research in light of their commitment to fieldwork:
“Paula and Leandro have been engaged in
unique and inspiring projects on the lives and livelihoods of peasants and
their communities in Latin America. The
projects are unique in that it is rare to find such a mixture of theoretical
sophistication and elegance with direct participatory field research; and
inspiring because they do not treat questions of peasant communities, the
relations between men and women, the articulation of rural and urban
struggles, as issues of an archaic politics but as a necessary part of
building more democratic and egalitarian social orders today.”
From 2003-2004, Leandro and Paula lived and
worked in Chiapas, Mexico, including three months in a small indigenous
community. Paula noted that
this experience enabled her to bring a new aspect to her research as she had
the opportunity to participate in women’s organizations at the local
level. Having faced many
challenges to both conducting research and balancing the time involved in
community life that enriched their experiences, Paula and Leandro are
grateful for the opportunity to have undertaken fieldwork.
Both feel that it enriched their understanding of Mexican political
movements and the broad significance of indigenous and women’s struggles
in contemporary Mexican politics.
Paula
and Leandro bring these rich experiences not only to their own research, but
also to their graduate program, to CERLAC, and to the undergraduate classes
they teach. They speak often of
how much their own research has been influenced by the work of their
students and colleagues at CERLAC and York.
Undoubtedly, their commitment and enthusiasm for Latin American
politics and social movements has greatly benefited all of us at CERLAC as
well. We wish them luck as they
come to the end of their doctorate work and we look forward to ongoing
collaboration with them as they embark on what will surely develop into
inspiring and fruitful academic careers.
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2004/2005
Graduate Assistants
During the academic year, seven new graduate assistants
came on board. CERLAC thanks them for their excellent work!
Gabriela
Agatiello is an MA
candidate in Political Science. Her
research interests include social
movements, democracy, and
migration in Latin America.
During the summer she interned
with the Center for Legal and Social Studies in Argentina through
CIDA’s Canada Corps program. As a GA, she wrote articles
on CERLAC events and assisted with the graduate diploma programme.
Mike
Ambach is an MES candidate in Environmental
Studies. His research focuses on
community-based environmental learning in rural
Canada. Since 1998 he has worked as a facilitator
for cultural exchange projects, primarily in Latin America.
At CERLAC he coordinated the Brown Bag Seminar Series
and helped with the LACYORK listserv.
John Carlaw is
an MA candidate in political science. His research focuses
on trends in the global political economy and democratization
in Central America, particularly Guatemala. In
the summer he interned at the Canadian Embassy in the Dominican Republic
through York’s International Internship Program.At CERLAC he moderated
events and built the new website.
Simon Helweg-Larsen
is an MA
candidate in Social and Political Thought, and
worked on the REDLEIDH project. During the
summer, Simon conducted research in Guatemala on the
“hidden powers,” attacks on human rights activists, and the proposed
CICIACS commission.
Melanie Thomas is
an MA candidate in Political Science. Her research
interests focus on democracy, social citizenship and rights-based
development in Central America. Prior to beginning her
graduate studies she worked with various Canadian NGOs
and interned with a human rights NGO in Honduras. As a
GA, she assisted with CERLAC’s REDLEIDH project.
Sharifa
Wright is
an MA candidate in Social and Political Thought.
Her research interests include Caribbean political thought,
modern European thought and African philosophy. At CERLAC
she worked in the Documentation Centre. Sharifa was
born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica.
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