The Politics of Autonomy in Latin America

Abstract

Non-governmental public action (NGPA) by and for disadvantaged and marginalised people has become increasingly significant over the past two decades. This new book series is designed to make a fresh and original contribution to the understanding of NGPA. It presents the findings of innovative and policy-relevant research carried out by established and new scholars working in collaboration with researchers across the world. The series is international in scope and includes both theoretical and empirical work.The series marks a departure from previous studies in this area in at least two important respects. First, it goes beyond a singular focus on developmental NGOs or the voluntary sector to include a range of non-governmental public actors such as advocacy networks, campaigns and coalitions, trade unions, peace groups, rights-based groups, cooperatives and social movements. Second, the series is innovative in stimulating a new approach to international comparative research that promotes comparison of the so-called developing world with the so-called developed world, thereby querying the conceptual utility and relevance of categories such as North and South.

Waste Pickers at the Heart of the Circular Economy: A Perspective of Inclusive Recycling from the Global South

“…The social and solidarity economy (SSE) centres on everyday practices of alternative ways of engaging in economic activities, synonymous with transitioning to sustainability, offering tools for organizing, enabling people to support each other and to anticipate different practices and relationships, guiding concrete actions (Dinerstein 2015, Kawano & Miller 2008. It is concerned with the livelihoods, working conditions, different forms of organization, and policy requirements, highlighting the social and human assets dimensions (Caruana & Srnec 2013;Laville 2015, Singer 2009.…”

Decolonising territory: Dialogues with Latin American knowledges and grassroots strategies

“…The most prominent example is the Zapatistas who, following failed attempts at reaching a government agreement in the San Andrés accords, rejected the sovereignty of the Mexican state altogether (Reyes and Kaufman, 2011). The Zapatistas’ territorial autonomy can be understood as a negation of strategies of ‘taking power’ (Holloway, 2002) and an attempt to build non-hierarchal, horizontal power relations based on potencia (or power-to) (Clare et al, 2017; Dinerstein, 2015; Holloway and Peláez, 1998), rooted in everyday, embodied practices such as food production (Naylor, 2017). Despite the resistance of many Zapatistas to any form of sovereignty, the state is present within rebel territories, most clearly in the form of military checkpoints, but also through everyday practices such as school funding or legal representation, leading to tensions within the diverse communities of Chiapas (Barmeyer, 2008; Mora, 2015).…”

Local wishes map as a tool for promoting dialogue and developing healthy cities

“…These innovative politics created by social participation are the basis of autonomy. The meaning of autonomy in this study is defined as the art of organizing hope, or the willingness to create what has not yet been developed (DINERSTEIN, 2015). So, the autonomy with participation requires empowerment.…”