This paper provides a cross-cultural analysis of the experiences of Oxfam GB in supporting urban community-based disaster risk reduction in Haiti, Guyana and the Dominican Republic. The paper focuses on the efforts of Oxfam GB and its local partners to overcome the determining influence of local governance on who benefits from interventions, and the longevity of positive outcomes.
A benefit-cost analysis was performed on varying levels of standard buildings codes for Haiti and Puerto Rico. It was found that in the two areas studied, the expected loss of life was reduced the most by use of high seismic building code levels, but lower levels of seismic building code were more cost-effective when considering only building damages and the costs for code implementation.
"A change in attitudes toward nature and "natural persons" during the 1920's-30's in the United States led in part to a revision in North American attitudes toward Latin Americans. Insofar as the peoples of Latin America, including Indians, blacks, women, children, and the poor, symbolized natural folk - that is, those individuals not participating in mainstream capitalist culture - they became the substance of a stereotype made popular by a countercultural revolution in the 1920's-30's." (author)
Against the backdrop of a tremendous surge in ethnic identity politics and social movement organizing over the last two decades in Ecuador, two complementary musical trends are explored that have emerged in reference to the country's Afro-Ecuadorian population. The first showcases the traditional music and dance of the marimba as a symbol of Afro-Ecuadorian identity. The second features numerous popular music fusions of the marimba repertoire with genres including rock, salsa, reggaetón, and more, with broad appeal to audiences throughout the country and beyond.
Analyzes how identity construction and ethnic representation processes take place in a folkloric festival framed by the multicultural policies of the Colombian state. Accounts for how institutions and base Afrocolombian communities use bullerengue—a local musical tradition that is now strong in the Uraba zone—as a tool in this construction process.
Hamburg, Germany: Institut fur Iberoamerika-Kunde (IIK), GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies/Leibniz-Institut fur Globale und Regionale Studien
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
With the intensification of economic relations between the People's Republic of China and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, Beijing's role as a development donor has expanded in the region. The transparency of the Chinese donor services are limited since the transitions between development aid, investment and trade credits and direct investments are flowing. Focal points of Chinese engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean are upgrading the infrastructure projects in the extractive and energy sectors, education and training.
Hamburg, Germany: Institut fur Iberoamerika-Kunde (IIK), GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies/Leibniz-Institut fur Globale und Regionale Studien
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean have quickly recovered from the global financial crisis. With growth rates exceeding 6 percent from the previous year in 2010, the economies outpaced the OECD, which grew only by 2.3 percent. The growth prospects for the region are further analyzed.
