The 1990s have seen a proliferation of social movement activities throughout
Latin America. In some countries the adoption of new national constitutions
have created new spaces of political mobilisation for social actors. While
most movements emerge out of specific national contexts, some of them have
connected with wider regional and global struggles. The importance of Latin
America within the globalising anti-capitalist movement, for example, has
been highlighted with successive annual stagings of the World Social Forum
in Porto Alegre, Brazil, since 2001, and the People's Global Action meeting
in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 2001. It has been increasingly recognised that
networking and the construction of alliances, both within and beyond a
particular state's boundaries are important strategies for social movements
in the pursuit of their aims.
This session seeks to address these issues and critically examine the
current state of social movement organising in Latin America. It is hoped to
explore a broad range of experiences of social mobilisations, analysing
problems encountered in these processes as well as reflecting on ways
forward. The session aims at providing a space of exchange of ideas and
discussions that identify common themes arising out of the concrete
experiences in various countries.
Both conceptual papers and those presenting more empirical case studies in
the light of wider regional or global processes are welcome. In particular
it is hoped that papers will explore the potential for networking between
social movements of different countries in Latin America. Movements to be
analysed would include, but are not restricted to, struggles over ethnicity,
gender, land rights, labour, human rights, environment, neighbourhood.
The conveners will actively explore the possibilities of publication of the
papers presented.