"Eight substantial papers that examine environmental change in Latin America and the Caribbean. Considers how development is affected by agriculture, biodiversity, drainage basins, coastal and semi-arid ecosystems, and urbanization. Lacks contribution of geographers"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.
Exploring how the concept of sustainability might be applied in each of the social sciences, this book argues that environmental questions will increasingly dominate humanity in the course of the 21st century. This holds out the opportunity, and practical necessity, to stimulate new lines of theoretical development within the social sciences and new forms of intellectual cooperation across them.
This book invites us to reflect on the restoration of terrestrial ecosystems in the context of a region whose identity is still under construction, Latin America and the Caribbean, immersed in a social, economic, ecological and political crisis, whose roots originate historically and politically in colonialism and in the prevailing model of capital accumulation. For the first time, insights and practical experiences on restoration are gathered from most Latin-American and Caribbean countries. Furthermore, this book offers a social approach to restoration, which will likely become preponderant in this field and in this region. The authors claim that a Latin-American knowledge of restoration is under construction and that this discipline can be a significant tool to empower local populations, which might, in turn, lead to a collective action of change. Case studies from 11 countries of the region were compiled, involving multiple voices that emerge beyond generalist principles and with a bottom-up approach. The main idea of the book is to open a debate about the identity of ecological and social restoration in this region. This book is targeted to restoration specialists, volunteers, environmental managers, researchers, politicians and NGOs working on the complexity of socioecological restoration in a region with unavoidable social problems. It is intended for people with similar concerns to those of the chapters' authors. This work tries to integrate a movement on the rise, almost silent, born with its own narratives of successes and failures that do not hinder its development. Finally, the determination and commitment of Latin-American and Caribbean social actors to restore not only natural values but also social, ethical and cultural ones is remarkable.
Beginning with volume 41 (1979), the University of Texas Press became the publisher of the Handbook of Latin American Studies, the most comprehensive annual bibliography in the field. Compiled by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress and annotated by a corps of more than 130 specialists in various disciplines, the Handbook alternates from year to year between social sciences and humanities. The Handbook annotates works on Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the Guianas, Spanish South America, and Brazil, as well as materials covering Latin America as a whole. Most of the subsections are preceded by introductory essays that serve as biannual evaluations of the literature and research under way in specialized areas. The Handbook of Latin American Studies is the oldest continuing reference work in the field. Katherine D. McCann is acting editor for this volume. The subject categories for Volume 57 are as follows: Electronic Resources for the Social Sciences Anthropology Economics Geography Government and Politics International Relations Sociology
Community Capacity and Resilience in Latin America addresses the role of communities in building their capacity to increase resiliency and carry out rural development strategies in Latin America. Resiliency in a community sense is associated with an ability to address stress and respond to shock while obtaining participatory engagement in community assessment, planning and outcome. Although the political contexts for community development have changed dramatically in a number of Latin American countries in recent years, there are growing opportunities and examples of communities working together to address common problems and improve collective quality of life. This book links scholarship that highlights community development praxis using new frameworks to understand the potential for community capacity and resiliency. By rejecting old linear models of development, based on technology transfer and diffusion of technology, many communities in Latin America have built capacity of their capital assets to become more resilient and adapt positively to change. This book is an essential resource for academics and practitioners of rural development, demonstrating that there is much we can learn from the skills of self-diagnosis and building on existing assets to enhance community capitals. Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Contains scholarly evaluations of books and book chapters as well as conference papers and articles published worldwide in the field of Latin American studies. Covers social sciences and the humanities in alternate years.