This research tries to answer how the influence of labour unions can have a positive or negative effect on inequality during and after the neoliberal era. Neoliberalism is a broad concept referring...Show moreThis research tries to answer how the influence of labour unions can have a positive or negative effect on inequality during and after the neoliberal era. Neoliberalism is a broad concept referring to an economic paradigm that rose in the 1980s. It is built upon classical liberal thoughts on self-regulating markets. The best way to conceptualize it is to split neoliberalism into three intertwined categories: As an ideology, a mode of governance and as a policy package. It can be seen as an ideology, because decision-makers and economists see neoliberalism as the only way to achieve economic growth. The second category refers to certain modes of governance. Neoliberal modes of governance include the transformation of bureaucratic mentalities to entrepreneurial mentalities. The last category, neoliberalism embodies itself as a set of public policies in deregulation of the economy, liberalization of trade and industry and privatization of state-owned companies (Steger & Roy 2010: 11-14). Neoliberalism had positive effects such as economic growth. However, a striking effect is that it increased the gap between the rich and the poor. This was possible because neoliberal organisations possessed extensive resources, they had alliances with key elites, and had strong personal networks outside the government (Andrain 2014: 23). Consequently due to privatization the state provided less welfare and safety nets. Labour unions are one of the best social groups to defend the rights of the labourers and to advocate a more equal society. As Mcguire (1999) shows in his research it appears that great influence of labour unions have a negative effect on equality. In this research a comparative study will be made of Brazil and South Korea regarding the role of labour unions in the reduction of inequality.Show less
The intention of this thesis is to contribute to a broader understanding of what economic development means for inequality and poverty levels in Brazil. This thesis will focus on the period 2003...Show moreThe intention of this thesis is to contribute to a broader understanding of what economic development means for inequality and poverty levels in Brazil. This thesis will focus on the period 2003-2011, in which Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva was president. There are several reasons for choosing this timeframe. Lula was inaugurated right after Brazil was named one of the most important emerging economies, demonstrating the growing potential and role the Brazilian economy began to play worldwide. Furthermore, it has been mentioned that Lula’s presidency was unlike any other. He is said to have been truly dedicated to advancing economic growth, while also aiming for social change and reducing inequality levels. Can the three phenomena mentioned in the nexus be combined and tackled simultaneously? Consequently, by focusing on the Lula era (2011-2013) this thesis will attempt to answer the following research question; to what extent can economic growth go hand in hand with a reduction in poverty and inequality? Is this trinity possible?Show less
In December 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize cannabis, regulating all processes from the possession, growth, and distribution of the plant. As a breakthrough in...Show moreIn December 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize cannabis, regulating all processes from the possession, growth, and distribution of the plant. As a breakthrough in the international drug control regime, it reflects the rapidly shifting paradigm towards drug policies in Latin America. The international and mostly U.S. led attempt to eliminate the production, transport, sale and consumption of so-classified illicit drugs, or narcotic and psychotropic drugs, has been for several decades an important dynamic in the relations, movements and conflicts across all of the Americas. The social and human costs have been very high and an increasingly larger amount of activists, politicians and researchers have spoken out against this often called ‘war on drugs’ and have sought for alternatives to avoid the costs paid by society. These alternatives mostly focus on cannabis, the most consumed illicit drug worldwide (UNODC: 2014, 41). Accordingly, this paper will mostly limit its scope on the specific role of cannabis. Though the prohibitionist model continues to prevail in the region, an increasing amount of countries have decriminalized cannabis and the reform debates in the region have gradually gained legitimacy and importance in the past few years. Due to the importance and impacts that these transnational trends have in the region, this paper will assess what role the legalization of cannabis in Uruguay has played in the discourse towards drug policies in Latin America. The objective of this study is to analyze the Latin American paradigm shift away from prohibitionism and towards the regulation of cannabis as an alternative to the war on drugs and, in such context, the decreasing hegemony of the U.S. in the region. The case study, more specifically, will look at the transnational effects that Uruguay’s decision has had in the region to reinforce these trends.Show less
This thesis deals with the indigenous identity construction of the Honduran Garifuna and their ability to claim collective rights within the Latin American multicultural framework.
The effects of the globalization of the economy have been diverse and the fruits of liberalization have not been enjoyed by all. Neoliberal policies have opened up national markets to international...Show moreThe effects of the globalization of the economy have been diverse and the fruits of liberalization have not been enjoyed by all. Neoliberal policies have opened up national markets to international competitors. In Latin America the traditional cultivation of coffee by small farms started to become challenged due to the subjection to the competition with multinational enterprises. Farmers have set up cooperatives and the Fair Trade Organization have assisted them to obtain a fair access to the market. In addition, fair trade cooperatives intent to promote the development of the farmers’ living standards. The Fair Trade cooperative, Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region in Mexico and Society of Small Producers for Coffee Export in Nicaragua, seem to have reduced the vulnerability of farmers to fluctuating market prices. Although, the Fair Trade cooperatives have offered farmers a platform of development and sustainability, the effects of Fair Trade and the cooperatives internal procedures are likely to be influenced by the social, economic and political context of each country. However, while limitations are present to the effects of Fair Trade, the organization has provided a positive step in the process of sustainable development and equitable international trade.Show less
By looking at how Ernesto Che Guevara and José Martí talk and write about gender, sex, religion, nascence, class and race, this thesis shows how both thinkers defined "the people" of Cuba.
This bachelor’s thesis deals with the topic of collective memory in Latin America. It analyzes the role of the Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica (CNMH) in the construction of collective memory...Show moreThis bachelor’s thesis deals with the topic of collective memory in Latin America. It analyzes the role of the Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica (CNMH) in the construction of collective memory and concludes that it can be understood as a new approach to peace building. The thesis is divided into three parts: first it gives a theoretical background about the concept of collective memory. The second part deals with collective memory in the Southern Cone of Latin America and shows recent developments in the field. The third part turns to the Colombian case study. Here the Colombian conflict is shortly explained and the CNMH tasks are presented. Thereafter the discussion follows, which concludes that the construction of collective memory can be understood as a peace-building tool. In this context the focus of the CNMH on the victims is explained. The focus on the victims in the construction of collective memories about the Colombian conflict serves as a tool to relieve them from the psychological burden that presses on their shoulders due to the experienced violence. In addition the victims serve as a common denominator in memory, since by the focus on the victims the actual cause of the conflict, political and societal polarization, is taken out of the focus of the public commemoration process. In addition to that, by the focus on the victims, the CNMH registers civil society’s voices and ensures that they are heard. By giving civilians a greater level of participation in the public debate, the civil society becomes a third party actor, which is seen as crucial to an enduring peace process.Show less
A unique perspective on the personal development of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara towards the Cuban revolution, using the Bhagavad Gita as an interpreting tool.
An examination of the shift in solidarity flows within the Zapatista network.The Zapatistas originally received humanitarian solidarity as receivers of altruism from the North. Their anti...Show moreAn examination of the shift in solidarity flows within the Zapatista network.The Zapatistas originally received humanitarian solidarity as receivers of altruism from the North. Their anti-neoliberal, anti-globalisation discourse facilitated a shift towards the South becoming the dominant actor in these solidarity exchanges by providing inspiration for First World movements and events.Show less
Francis Fukuyama's "End of History and The Last Man" hypothesis has become a much maligned and often misused one. Here, his concept of Thymocracy is tested against a non-Western society, Singapore.
This thesis concludes that Gabriel Marcel’s notion of the spirit of abstraction provides us with important insights regarding how and why the Republican army was able to repress the community of...Show moreThis thesis concludes that Gabriel Marcel’s notion of the spirit of abstraction provides us with important insights regarding how and why the Republican army was able to repress the community of Canudos as viciously as it did. As put by Blundell, “The process of abstraction, which Marcel also refers to as primary reflection, “is, roughly speaking, purely analytical and (…) consists, as it were, in dissolving the concrete into its elements.””(p. 59). Once one of those elements is accorded, “isolated from all other categories, an arbitrary primacy, we are victims of the spirit of abstraction.” (Marcel, p. 155-156). By connecting his battle against the spirit of abstraction with issues such as fanaticism, the role of (communication) technology and the press, violence and war, religion and historiography, Marcel provides us with a unique perspective to use when analysing conflicts such as the Canudos War. Especially his emphasis on the role of language in the process of justifying war turned out to be particularly useful. As put by Johnson, “Naming, says De Certeau, is not “the ‘painting’ of a reality any more than it is elsewhere; it is a performative act organizing what it enunciates. It does what it says and constitutes the savagery it declares. (…) To understand subalternity thus is to side with the argument that it is a discursive effect.” (p. 30). Words, so it seems, are the primary vehicle through which the spirit of abstraction manifests itself.Show less
