Browsing by Subject "Argentina"
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Item Absent yet still present: family pictures in Argentina's recordatorios(2010-05) Van Dembroucke, Celina; Giunta, Andrea; Lindstrom, NaomiThis study analyzes one of the most active memories of state repression during democracy in Argentina: the memorial advertisements (recordatorios) of those disappeared by the most recent military dictatorship (1976-1983), which are published on a daily basis in the newspaper Página/12. In this thesis, I focus on the pictures of the victims of state repression that appear within the frame of these memorials as the expression of both cultural and personal memory. The leader of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, published the first recordatorio on the tenth anniversary of her daughter’s death, in August 1988. During that same year, 20 relatives of disappeared people went to the newspaper and followed Carlotto’s footsteps, publishing advertisements themselves. Currently, more than 20 years after the first advertisement was published, three to five recordatorios appear in the newspaper every day. The emergence of the recordatorios inaugurates a new discursive genre as contradictory as the disappearance itself. On the one hand, they are connected to the announcements related to the search for missing people (serving the goal of finding a person alive). On the other hand, the recordatorios also resemble obituaries (making a tribute to someone that has passed away). The recordatorio thus emerges as an impossible reality, following the logic of both genres, thus performing both functions in a paradoxical way. This study focuses on the family pictures that appear in the recordatorios and sheds light on how they illustrate the entanglement of the family and the public sphere, and contribute to the debate on the role of personal subjectivity in the construction of collective memory. From a multidisciplinary perspective, the present thesis aims to capture the complexity surrounding these texts and the familial imagery they include, looking at the inherent tension between the private tragedy of a family that has lost one of its members and the public character that stems from their publication in one of Argentina’s national newspapers.Item Antun Saadeh in the mahjar, 1938-1947(2016-05) Leidy, Joseph Walker; Di-Capua, Yoav, 1970-; El-Ariss, TarekAntun Saadeh (1904-1949), the founder of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, has often been labelled a political and ideological imitator of European fascism. This association has led many to gloss over an important feature of his career: the mahjar, or Arab diaspora, particularly in Argentina and Brazil where he spent much of his life. This thesis contends that Saadeh's illiberalism emerged not as a mere echo of European fascism but from a diverse set of ideas and experiences. Central among these was his experiences and perceptions of the mahjar, which became a symbolic foil for Saadeh’s Syrian Social Nationalism. On the one hand, Saadeh conceived of the mahjar in terms that paralleled the historicist ideal of Phoenician trading colonies in Lebanese nationalism. However, Saadeh also had reservations about the dedication of migrant communities to the national cause. Reflecting this ambiguity, Arabic-language periodicals published in Argentina show how Saadeh was received in 1940s migrant society, where he found both supporters and detractors. There, Saadeh’s initially positive reception was followed by a turn against him in public debates. Nonetheless, Saadeh and his party had some success in establishing their movement in the mahjar, where younger supporters connected Saadeh to local discourses of national liberation. Viewing Saadeh from the perspective of his transnational influences and migrant audiences allows us to see him not as an exception in midcentury Levantine politics but within the wider context of nationalist politics in Lebanon, Syria, and the mahjar at the end of the Mandate era.Item Architecture of coarse grained (conglomeratic) deep water lobes at the base of a sandstone dominated fan, Jurassic Los Molles Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina(2015-05) Shin, Moonsoo; Steel, R. J.; Olariu, Cornel; Mohrig, DavidThe complex structural and stratigraphic framework of the Neuquén Basin developed by Triassic-Jurassic extensional processes formed a deep basin and accumulated coarse-grained gravity flow deposits on slope and basin floor. The Los Molles Formation exposes the succession of gravity flow deposits from conglomerates to mudstones over a 9 km outcrop belt in southern Neuquén Basin. The Los Molles Fm. is over 1000 meters thick and its basal part is ~200 meters thick consisting of two fan units capped by 0.5-3 m of conglomerate beds. The initial deepwater fan units start with unusual pebble- and cobble-rich conglomerate beds at their base. To characterize the conglomerate lobes and their link with the correlative and overlaying basin-floor lobe complexes, satellite images, DEM (Digital Elevation Model), photomosaics (a few km), and 19 measured sections (30-190m thick) have been collected and interpreted. In all units measured, each lobe contains, from bottom to top, very coarse, poorly sorted, and erosional-based conglomerates (1-3m) overlain by amalgamated, normal graded turbidite sandstone beds (20-30m), and silty mudstone beds (up to 15m). Each of these three facies associations forms a succession (about 30-40 m thick) of lobe complexes with an overall fining upward trend. The conglomerate thickness and lateral extent decreases upwards as the third (uppermost) conglomerate layer demonstrates rather discontinuous, lenticular bodies. In contrast, the sandstone beds increase upward in thickness with finer grain size and better sorting. The conglomerate beds are interpreted as debris flow deposits based on their structureless and poorly sorted texture. However, some conglomerates are at times erosional at the base, poorly sorted throughout, but others are capped by normal grading for up to a third of their thickness. Normal grading suggests debris flow transforming into turbidity flow vertically. Flute marks associated with sandstone and conglomerate beds indicate paleoflow toward the east, in contrast to younger sandy fans that shows progradation dominantly north-northeastwards. The modern Var River system in southern France has a similar morphology with pebbles and cobbles transported to deepwater via steep gradient slope. As in the Var system, coarse sediments in the Los Molles Fm. bypass the shelf and steep slope to build the initial base of the fan. In summary, the earliest Los Molles conglomeratic fans were linked with high relief of the basin margin. Later, this margin relief decreased, and sandstone dominated fans.Item Between cosmopolitanism and nationalism : print, national identity, and the literary public sphere in the 1920s Petersburg and Buenos Aires(2010-05) Potoplyak, Marina; Lindstrom, Naomi, 1950-; Garza, Thomas J.; Levine, Madeline G.; Richmond-Garza, Elizabeth M.; Shumway, NicolasIn Russia and Argentina modernism arrived well before the advent of socioeconomic modernization, and found societies with restricted civil liberties, only nascent middle classes, and virtually non-existent public spheres. Despite these factors, within a span of some fifty years, Petersburg and Buenos Aires turned into vibrant literary capitals rivaling London, New York, and Paris as centers of literary modernism. This dissertation offers a new understanding of the period by exposing the critical role of publishers and cultural patrons in this extraordinary cultural advancement. I argue that they were able to reformulate their countries’ historically ambivalent positions vis-à-vis Western European civilization by working closely with avant-garde literary groups and viii promoting their literary works that combined sometimes contending, sometimes complementary cosmopolitanism and nationalism. My analysis of the interrelated processes of the development of print culture, national identity, and the literary public sphere in Russia and Argentina is informed by Benedict Anderson’s thinking about nationalism and print culture, Pierre Bourdieu’s treatment of publishers as key participants in cultural production, and the concept of the public sphere as seen by Jürgen Habermas. Close reading of select literary works of the 1920s shows that Russian and Argentine “peripheral” experiences, once transformed into artistic creation, became consonant with cultural practices of international modernism precisely because they combined both cosmopolitan and nationalist tendencies. Each of the writers considered—Jorge Luis Borges, Roberto Arlt, Veniamin Kaverin, and Konstantin Fedin—was able to formulate highly original and yet unmistakably national response to modernity. Following the writers’ trajectories from early literary experiments to the works of the late 1920s, when they renounced their youthful deviations and joined the literary (and sometimes even political) establishment, I show how these literary texts renegotiated the issues of national identity by reworking diverse and often “foreign” literary traditions into authentically Russian and Argentine prose.Item Between protection and punishment : children, sexual crimes and law in Buenos Aires, 1853-1912(2015-12) Ogden, Julia Grace; Twinam, Ann, 1946-; Garrard-Burnett, Virginia; Levine, Philippa; Brown, Jonathan; Rodriguez, JuliaThis dissertation examines how “children” emerged as a discrete social group through the codification of penal law in Argentina, and the prosecution of sexual deviance in the criminal courts of Buenos Aires. Between 1853 and 1912, as lawmakers drafted, and redrafted, a national penal code, they fundamentally altered the meaning of illicit sexuality from colonial legal antecedents. Spanish laws had punished the acts of rape, deflowering, incest, and sodomy because they defiled female chastity or offended God. The national penal code censured these actions when committed with individuals younger than a certain age. This redefinition of criminal sexuality institutionalized the notion of childhood “innocence,” and extended protection to youth until the age of sixteen. An analysis of 230 criminal court cases reveals how, as a result of these legal changes, age became the deciding factor in the prosecution of sexual crimes, and judicial authorities began to consider, and treat, lower-class girls and boys as “children.” This shift in perspective caused magistrates to extend state protection to poor youth who, due to elite assumptions of appropriate behavior and sexuality, had been previously excluded. Despite new visions of childhood, however, the perpetuation of cultural and ideological biases among judicial authoritis ensured that some individuals continued to exist outside the realm of official preservation. This work demonstrates how social boundaries were redrawn in the modern period, and argues for the central importance of the law in the process of state formation in Latin America. In doing so, it provides important contributions to literature on crime, childhood, and sexuality. The creation of a protected social group characterized by age reconfigured traditional associations that had been drawn along gender and class lines. Illuminating this process provides an alternative vision of the liberal state. The hesitancy of the judiciary to intervene in the sexual lives of lower-class families recasts the dominant historiographical view of governments eager to intrude into the private sphere. Additionally, the protection of poor children in the courts reveals how turn-of-the-century elites not only criminalized poor youth but also began to protect them prior to the emergence of the welfare state.Item Buying support without brokers : conditional cash transfers in Turkey and Argentina(2015-05) Tafolar, Mine; Weyland, Kurt Gerhard; Hunter, WendyThis master’s report examines how the implementation of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, which allocate benefits according to objective poverty criteria, affect entrenched patterns of clientelism, that is, the long-established provision of social benefits for political-electoral purposes. By analyzing two “most different” cases, Turkey and Argentina, the thesis probes the explanatory power of three major approaches in political science. Culturalism predicts that the traditional values underlying clientelism will corrode CCT implementation and lead to the distribution of the new benefits as political favors. Constructivism, by contrast, expects the modern, advanced principles embodied in CCTs sooner or later to create pressures for the transformation of traditional social programs and the abandonment of clientelism. But my extensive field research shows that neither of these approaches is convincing. Instead, non-clientelistic CCTs and traditional clientelistic programs exist side by side. This finding provides support for a rational-choice institutionalist approach that highlights the political-electoral incentives for politicians to target some constituencies with traditional clientelistic programs while appealing to others with modern, non-clientelistic CCTs. Moreover, poorer voters have incentives to obtain benefits in whatever way they are offered, entering into traditional exchange relationships to obtain clientelistic benefits while simultaneously complying with the objective criteria and conditions for receiving CCTs.Item Cenozoic sedimentation and exhumation of the foreland basin system in the Precordillera fold-thrust belt (31-32°S), southern central Andes, Argentina(2013-05) Levina, Mariya; Horton, Brian K., 1970-; Stockli, Daniel F; Ketcham, Richard AAndean retroarc shortening associated with flattening of the Pampean segment of the subducting Nazca plate has resulted in a thin-skinned, east-directed thrust system that partitioned and uplifted Cenozoic foreland basin fill in the Precordillera of west-central Argentina. The temporal and kinematic evolution of the Precordillera fold-thrust belt can be approached through detailed analyses of the clastic sedimentary deposits now preserved in intermontane regions between major thrust faults. In this project, we focus on the uppermost Oligocene–Miocene basin fill exposed in the axial and eastern Precordillera along the San Juan River (Quebrada Albarracín and Pachaco regions) and western flank of the frontal structure (Sierra Talacasto). The nonmarine successions exposed in these regions record hinterland construction of the Frontal Cordillera, regional arc volcanism, and initial exhumation of the Precordillera thrust sheets. Measured stratigraphic sections and lithofacies analyses of the preserved stratigraphic successions reveal initial development at ~24 Ma of an eolian depositional system influenced by regional volcanism and fluvial interactions, becoming a fully eolian system by 21-19 Ma. This system transitioned to a distributary fluvial system in which regions closer to the deformation front recorded sandy-gravelly braided stream sedimentation and regions farther east recorded more-distal floodplain-dominated deposition of thin-bedded mudstone and sandstone. The youngest sedimentary record is preserved in the Albarracin basin, a zone strongly influenced by explosive volcanism of nearby eruptive centers around 14 Ma, followed by a progradational alluvial-fan succession of pebbly, cross-stratified sandstone and thick, pebble to cobble conglomerate. Provenance changes recorded by detrital zircon U-Pb age populations suggest that initial deformation in the Frontal Cordillera coincided with the early Miocene transition from eolian to fluvial deposition in the adjacent foreland basin. The overall upward coarsening nature of the fluvial succession and increased presence of Paleozoic clasts reflect the eastward progression of thin-skinned deformation in the Precordillera and resultant structural partitioning of the synorogenic foreland successions. Using apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry we are able to further constrain the age of uplift-induced exhumation and cooling of several Precordillera thrust sheets to 12-9 Ma. This apparent pulse of exhumation is evident in all three sections, suggesting rapid, large-scale exhumation by synchronous thrusting above a single décollement linking major structures of the eastern Precordillera.Item The corporeality of trauma, memory, and resistance : writing the body in contemporary fiction from Chile and Argentina(2014-05) Tille-Victorica, Nancy Jacqueline; Lindstrom, Naomi, 1950-; Domínguez-Ruvalcaba, Héctor; Heinzelman, Susan Sage; Robbins, Jill; Wettlaufer, AlexandraThis dissertation looks at the representation and impact of gendered violence in the novel Pasos bajo el agua (1986) and in the short stories in Ofrenda de propia piel (2004) by Argentine author and former political prisoner Alicia Kozameh (b. 1953), as well as in Jamás el fuego nunca (2007) and Impuesto a la carne (2010), two novels by Chilean writer Diamela Eltit (b. 1949). By examining the particular expressions of physical and psychological pain in the aforementioned texts, I demonstrate that Kozameh and Eltit write the female body to simultaneously represent a corporeality that, until recently, has rarely been expressed in literature, and reconstruct a body that has been traumatized by state-sponsored violence and by what could be considered economic violence. Both of them denounce violence, torture, disappearances, exile, and indifference to justice as painful events that not only damage the spirits of the victims, but that are also inscribed upon the physical body. I also show how each author addresses the overlapping of individual and collective traumatic memories and how these are felt in the body as well. Finally, I argue that writing the materiality of the lived body, from its vulnerability to its resilience, provides for Kozameh and Eltit valuable insight into the ways in which female bodies are able to resist and reassess the meaning imposed on them by legally-endorsed and non-official systems of oppression. Their work thus has direct viii social relevance that goes beyond feminism's countering of male dominance and women's rights. Yet, I also show that they manifest their feminist commitment by using the voice and body of female subjects to incorporate marginalized Chilean and Argentine bodies into the linguistic realm in order to provide a fuller understanding of female corporeality in Latin America.Item Cuerpos resonantes : sonidos y voces en la poesía del Caribe y el Cono Sur 1930-1980(2016-05) Staig Limidoro, James Christian; Cárcamo-Huechante, Luis E.; Arroyo, Jossianna; Borge, Jason; Robbins, JillIn the present research I approach the sonic materiality in the works of poets of the 20th Century from Chile, Argentina, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. I analize the works of Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957), Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989), Néstor Perlongher (1949–1992) and Pedro Pietri (1944–2004); all of them presenting particular approaches to the production, consumption, and representation of sound through poetry. This research works with notions of sound studies, performance, animal, sex-gender, and cultural studies, to explore the different forms in which these authors use sound as part of a poetic-politic of the spoken word. I explore also how in their uses of sound they problematize notions of cultural identity, political revolution, nation building, censorship and belonging. In the present study I propose that these four poets—Mistral, Guillén, Perlongher, and Pietri—use their sound production as a tool for a political and aesthetic exercise that materializes notions of identity, agency, and belonging. Also, I claim that each poet presents a sonic conscience, bot in the production of sound and hearing.; that is, from their behalf there is a performatic notion of their work as sound and voice. This allows them to explore topics of gender, race, politics, diasporas, and aesthetics that amplify their “resonance” no only in writing but also in the sono-sphere of language and body. Thus, I explore the recording of their voices and performances as archives in which is possible to practice a critical, material, and bodily listening. Together with that, on methodological terms, I propose mi own reading as part of a escucha profunda, in dialog with the elaborations of close listening by Charles Bernstein and an attention to the effects of “resound” (Jean-Luc Nancy) that leads the poetic phenomenon in a sense level, physical experience and perception (Don Idhe).Item Cytogenetics of some mammal species from central Argentina(Texas Tech University, 1996-08) Tiranti, Sergio I.This study is to assess the karyology of several small mammalian taxa in central Argentina, using chromosomes to assist in identifying species, and to provide new chromosomal data for several species from geographic áreas where studies have not been done. Specimens of small mammals, representing 24 species belonging to 6 families, were live-trapped in 26 localities in 6 provinces of central Argentina. Specimens were subjected to the standard in vivo procedure of colchicine mitotic arrest for obtaining chromosomes from bone marrow. Chromosome slides were observed and photographed and the diploid number and morphology determined for each specimen.Item Democratic governance and the courts : the political sources of the judicialization of public policy in Argentina(2011-08) Ryan, Daniel Eduardo; Brinks, Daniel M., 1961-; Hunter, Wendy; Madrid, Raul; Perry, H. W.; Werksman, Jacob; Weyland, KurtThe purpose of this dissertation is to examine under what political conditions public policy issues are likely to become judicialized in Argentina. This study shows that the most widespread theoretical explanation, the loser argument, is too general and does not provide much analytical insight about the relationship between the political context and the judicialization of policy. Meanwhile, other explanations developed by the literature, mainly the politically disadvantaged group and the fragmented legislative power, although theoretically valid, have a limited empirical coverage and cannot fully explain the phenomenon of policy judicialization in Argentina. Taking into account the limitations and contributions of the existing theories, the theoretical argument of this dissertation is predicated upon the idea that there are various, alternative political scenarios under which judicialization is likely to occur. In other words, there is not just one, but several, different political conditions or combinations of conditions that might trigger the involvement of courts in public policy. Within this conceptual framework, the dissertation argues that policy disputes are likely to become judicialized under two political scenarios which have not been considered by the existing literature: first, when the state apparatus is unable to implement or enforce policy goals and mandates already approved by the political branches of government, and second, when the political elites in charge of the executive do not fully support existing policy mandates, and the legislature is too passive or deferential to the government regarding that policy issue. In these types of political contexts, social actors are likely to judicialize their policy claims. To assess these arguments, the dissertation develops a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of 13 major policy conflicts that occurred in Argentina during the last two decades, complemented by case studies. As a result of my analysis, I identify three combinations of political conditions that are sufficient to trigger the judicialization of policy in Argentina. Two of these combinations clearly fit with my theoretical argument and expectations about what political scenarios are likely to lead to policy judicialization, while the third combination closely reflects the political disadvantage argument.Item Developing a Vaca Muerta shale play : an economic assessment approach(2016-05) Sierra, Diego Ernesto; Ikonnikova, Svetlana; Fisher, W. L. (William Lawrence), 1932-A total of 450 production wells are in operation in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale formation as of February 2016, of which 90% were drilled since 2013. In order to assess the economic value of the vertical, directional, and horizontal wells and understand the potential future shale play development, a data-driven approach is developed. First, historical production data are used to derive a 10-year production forecast, using decline curve analysis. Then, well profitability is assessed applying a discounted cash flow model for a sample of vertical, directional, and horizontal wells in the Loma Campana field. Initial oil and gas production rates reached 172.56 BBL/day and 309.42 Mcf/day for the median vertical well, 392.81 BBL/day and 587.76 Mcf/day for the median directional well, and 456.75 BBL/day and 571.46 Mcf/day for the median horizontal well. Based on the production histories, 10-year cumulative oil and gas production is expected to reach 76,389 BBL and 97,772 Mcf for the median vertical well, 174,701 BBL and 261,402 Mcf for the median directional well, and 203,134 BBL and 254,154 Mcf for the median horizontal well. The median vertical well is found to have a negative net present value (NPV) for any possible discount rate, while median directional and horizontal wells can be expected to give NPV (10%) values of $0.41 and $1.14 million, respectively, under the current fiscal and contractual conditions in the country. Internal rates of return for the median directional and horizontal wells were found to be 15.15% and 26%, respectively, while their break-even oil prices at a 10% discount rate were found to be $54.65 and $47.23 per BBL, respectively. Thus, the production profiles and well economics assessment allows to suggest that directional and horizontal wells could be economically viable under the country’s current economic environment, including oil and gas price subsidies.Item Drawing the line : human rights, state terror, and political culture in Uruguay(2009-08) Woodruff, Christopher Alan; Garrard-Burnett, Virginia, 1957-; Dulitzky, Ariel E.The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role that "political culture" played in differentiating Uruguay's human rights record under its military dictatorship (1973 to 1985), from the records of its Southern Cone neighbors, Argentina and Chile, during their periods of military rule in the 1970s and 1980s. Statistical data clearly shows that although the Uruguayan military regime tortured and imprisoned an extremely high percentage of its population, the country suffered a relatively tiny number of fatalities, per capita, compared to the toll of deaths associated with the actions of the armed forces in Argentina and Chile. To explain this distinction in repressive policies and tactics, I find that each of the three countries under comparison developed distinct cultural assumptions due to their differing historical and political trajectories, which heavily influenced their respective political behaviors. Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile share many structural factors in common, which are all important for explaining the successive plunge of Southern Cone nations into brutal dictatorships and bloody "dirty wars." However, in order to understand why one regime's tactics differed in lethality from the others, I assert that it is necessary to employ political culture as the definitive explanatory variable. Through the analysis of historical trends and statements made by government leaders, I find that Uruguay distinguished itself from Argentina and Chile in three principal areas during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: democratic stability, political inclusion, and human rights promotion. Taken together, I conclude that Uruguay developed a democratic political culture, which assumed that legitimate governance included, among other ingredients, respect for the electoral process and rejection of lethal violence as a political instrument. Ultimately, these two assumptions played a pivotal role in constraining the policy alternatives available for consideration by the Uruguayan dictators, such that the prevalent use of extra-judicial executions and forced disappearances, as seen in Argentina and Chile, was not an option in Uruguay.Item Economic inequality, policy and performance in the formal sectors of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile : evidence from regional and sectoral data, 1994 to 2007(2011-05) Spagnolo Mecle, Laura Tatiana, 1977-; Galbraith, James K.; King, Christopher T.; Roberts, Bryan R.; Sakamoto, Arthur; Ward, PeterThis dissertation focuses on trends in pay inequality in the formal sectors of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile from the early 1990s into the latter part of the first decade of the new millennium. In-depth, single-country studies of inequality of each country of study seek to understand and explain the sources of movement in inequality in each country, relating changes in inequality to shifts in the relative roles of key economic sectors and geographic jurisdictions. In addition to these single-country studies of inequality, this dissertation develops a regional perspective on the dynamics of inequality by synthesizing findings from the three countries of study, identifying both commonalities and differences. This dissertation also evaluates the relationship between trends in inequality and the macroeconomic policies and factors that influence them. By eschewing the inequality of household incomes and focusing instead on measures of inequality in the underlying distribution of pay, this dissertation presents empirical evidence that fluctuations in countries' inequality levels are intrinsically related to macroeconomic factors. This dissertation applies Theil's T statistic, which belongs to the family of generalized entropy inequality measures, to develop new measures of economic inequality. The calculations presented in this dissertation are performed on data obtained from semi-aggregated datasets in which employment and average wage data organized by economic sectors and geographical jurisdictions, as derived from administrative records. Sectoral analysis shows that the changing levels of overall inequality are explained to a great extent by variations in the performance of a reduced number of "key" high-pay sectors, especially finance, extractive industry and civil service. In terms of the dynamics of geographic distribution, the role of these key sectors is observed in the driving role played by key geographic units: those composed of, or containing, the countries' main metropolitan centers, and those with high concentrations of economic activity in extractive industries.Item The emergence of the south European migration system and the role of social networks of migration as catalysts of change in countries of origin : the cases of Argentina and Peru(2010-08) Vasquez, Tania R.; Buckley, Cynthia J.; Roberts, Bryan R., 1939-; Raley, Kelly; Sakamoto, Arthur; Hale, Charles R.With this study I aim to understand the role of social networks of migration as very special catalysts of change in the countries of origin of important labor migration streams, particularly in the case of the emergent and second most important system of migration in which Latin Americans participate, i.e. the South European Migration System. I pursue this aim through the means of examining the characteristics and mechanisms of operation of ego – centered social networks of migration that are active within the migration streams from Argentina and Peru to Italy and Spain, therefore: (1) I examine the two different institutional contexts that contribute to the shape of the mentioned social networks of migration in Argentina and Peru; (2) I study the structure of these networks (which comprises characteristics such as size, density, and degree of heterogeneity); their resources and mechanisms of operation ; and (3) I discuss the main possible causal influences that these social networks of migration exert in the countries of origin of the emigration streams I study, namely Argentina and Peru, considering the very specific characteristics these social networks have in each one of the country cases. In order to discuss these causal influences, I examine their impact on children residing in Argentina and Peru who are members of migrant sending households, and I specifically analyze impacts on their living arrangements. I use quantitative and qualitative data on the emigration streams from Argentina and Peru to Italy and Spain which I collected during 2006, 2007 and 2008 , in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Lima (Peru). Quantitative data was collected using a small household survey targeting relatives of migrants to Spain and Italy, in both cities (Argentina – Italy: n=75, Argentina – Spain: n= 245, Peru – Italy: n= 206, and Peru – Spain: n=398). Qualitative data included expert interviews (n=5 for Peru and n=7 for Argentina); and different types of semi-structured in- depth interviews targeting relatives of migrants to Spain and Italy in different household positions, including children 12 -18 years old (n=11 for Peru, and n=11 for Argentina).Item Exceptional soybeans : genetically modified soybeans in Argentina and international environmental governance(2015-05) Smith, Geneva Montana Leader; Lentz, Erin C.; Smith, LindsayOn the margins of the first and developing worlds, Argentines have made many bids to enter into the small cohort of international power-players with varying degrees of success. This report takes a step back from rumors and suspicions surrounding Argentina to instead draw attention to the economic growth and international political clout gained through state and private industry support of agricultural biotechnology. Perhaps more important than revenue generated through exports of a lucrative crop, this transformative technology, namely in the form of genetically modified (GM) soybeans, has given Argentine political and industry elites the means to establish credibility in the international community. In turn, this has aided the Argentine state in negotiating the contours of its sovereignty on its own terms. GM soybeans have indeed become a stalwart of Argentine economic growth and a means to gain respect from the international community. There is still controversy, however, surrounding regulation of GM soybean production and the uncertain effects on those whose livelihoods depend on its continued adoption. Given that the jury is still out on the long-term effects of agricultural biotechnology production on soil quality, health and human safety, and rural job opportunities, the domestic effect of Argentine exceptionalism deployed for international purposes is troublingly unclear. An exploration of Argentine exceptionalism in relation to a shifting, yet always hybrid political economy and some of the contradictions via two case studies is a first step toward discovering how transitions to agricultural biotechnology affect the lives and livelihoods of Argentines at home.Item Expanding the Central Bank mandate in the “Soy Republic” : an assessment of the impact of Central Bank governance on agricultural competitiveness and interest articulation in Argentina(2013-08) Berenter, Jared Steven; Stolp, Chandler; Galbraith, James K.This paper examines the impact of a new Central Bank mandate on agricultural competitiveness and on the ability of the agricultural sector to articulate its policy interests within Argentina’s policymaking process. Reforms to Argentina’s Central Bank charter, passed into law in April 2012, loosened restrictions on Central Bank lending to Argentina’s Treasury and authorized the Central Bank to act to reduce unemployment and spur economic development. The Central Bank carries out its new mandate within a policymaking process characterized by strong presidential authority, weak political institutions, powerful provincial governments, and a budget system that politicizes the transfer of fiscal resources from the federal government to the provinces. Within these policymaking dynamics, this paper analyzes the actions of the Mesa de Enlace, an interest group coalition comprised of Argentina’s four largest agricultural producer associations, and its response to changes in Central Bank governance. My argument is twofold. First, I argue that the new mandate in the long run will exert inflationary pressure on Argentina’s real exchange rate, a key determinant of competitiveness for primary commodity exports, particularly soy. Public statements made by various representatives of the Mesa de Enlace indicate strong opposition to the nominal overvaluation (atraso cambiario) of the peso. Second, I argue that the new mandate politicizes an already-politicized Central Bank. Given the agricultural sector’s waning influence in institutionalized policymaking channels, executive intrusion in Central Bank operations is economically harmful. Such government interference serves to diminish agricultural considerations in monetary policymaking and to encourage the Mesa de Enlace’s exploitation of informal channels for interest articulation, creating disincentives for robust investment and causing undesired work stoppages, hoarding, and social protest.Item Facies variability in deep water channel-to-lobe transition zone : Jurassic Los Molles Formation, Neuquen Basin, Argentina(2014-05) Tudor, Eugen Petrut; Steel, R. J.; Olariu, CornelThis study focuses on the facies changes from the lower slope to toe-of-slope to basin floor over a 10 km outcrop belt, in down-dip and oblique-strike directions to the basin margin. The Jurassic Los Molles Formation in Neuquen Basin, Argentina represents the slope and basin floor of basin margin clinoforms, coeval with the shallow water and fluvial deposits named Las Lajas and Challaco formations respectively. The shallow and deep water deposits are diachronously linked in an Early-Mid Jurassic source-to-sink system developed in a back-arc basin during the incipient development of the Andes Mountains. Satellite images, high resolution panorama pictures and measured sections were used to correlate and interpret the spatial variability and overall geometry of the base of slope to basin floor units. The observations of this study refine the model for the channel-to-lobe transition zone with increase recognition and quantification of facies and architecture variability. The Los Molles basin margin was coarse grained and was ideal to observe changes in the geometry and depositional facies of channel-to-lobe deposits from updip to downdip continuous over an 8 km outcrop belt. The described channel-to-lobe transition zone clearly shows a downdip change in bed boundaries from dominantly erosive to non-erosional (bypass) to depositional and with a range of distinct facies changes. In the transition zone the sand to shale ratio is high (N:G: 65-70 %), with gutter casts and deep scours, with a high degree of amalgamation, gravel lags, mud rip-up clasts and laterally migrating beds. Within the same depositional unit (deep water lobe), at the base of the slope, the dominant sandstone beds change from amalgamated structureless and normal graded sandstone beds in the channelized lobe axis to parallel laminated and normally graded in the channelized lobe off-axis areas. Similar facies changes have been observed along proximal to distal direction. The lateral change of the dominant structures in the beds indicates changes in the flow regime and depositional style.Item From worker to worker-owner : emotional labor in the cooperative workplace(2012-08) Sobering, Katherine Elizabeth; Auyero, Javier; Rudrappa, SharmilaMany studies into emotional labor are constrained by a capitalist paradigm, where emotional labor is performed within corporate organizations with hierarchical divisions of labor. Using the case of Hotel BAUEN, this paper considers emotional labor in different organizational and relational context: a worker-owned and worker-recovered business in Argentina. Drawing on ethnographic observations in Hotel BAUEN, this paper shows how service work is structured in the cooperative hotel. Instead of doing emotional labor in the traditional “service triangle,” worker-owners provide services in a “cooperative dyad” without the oversight of a boss. This structural difference has both organizational and relational implications for the business. First, worker-owners provide a variety of services to a broad set of customers. Second, the processes of autogestión (self-management) rely on workers’ emotional labor to cultivate lateral workplace relations through self-management. Ultimately, within the cooperative service workplace, emotional labor functions differently than the literature would suggest. Rather than reproduce social inequalities, workers use emotional labor to generate capital and sustain an organization that seeks to reduce inequality.Item Grievances matter : unemployment and the decline of the piquetero movement (2003-2007)(2011-05) Perez, Marcos Emilio; Auyero, Javier; Auyero, Javier; Young, MichaelThe unemployed workers movement in Argentina (also known as the piqueteros) emerged during the mid 1990s, as a response to the increasing poverty and unemployment produced by the economic reforms implemented by the national government. Its extraordinary growth and leading role in the protests of 2001-2002 led many scholars to believe that it would become an enduring aspect of Argentina’s politics. However, after 2002, the movement entered a period of decline, which was reflected in the loss of members, support, and public influence. In this paper, I study the trajectory of this movement in order to advance certain arguments regarding the relation between grievances and collective action. I will argue that a key factor behind the decline of the movement was the amelioration of the main grievance which gave it rise. The emergence and consolidation of the piqueteros coincided with a period of increasing unemployment. However, after 2002, Argentina’s economy entered a phase of intense growth which significantly improved labor market conditions. The new scenario deeply affected the movement’s influence. Therefore, the study of the piqueteros can provide significant insight about social movement theory. In particular, it suggests that the relation between grievances and collective action is more direct than what the resource mobilization and political process approaches predict. In other words, the case of the piqueteros shows that grievances matter: although several factors may mediate between them and collective action, their effect is never negligible. In addition, this paper addresses a more “empirical” gap. Although there is an increasing body of literature about the decline of the piquetero movement, most studies focus on political variables and neglect the potential role played by the reduction in unemployment. In other words, in exploring the causes of this downfall, authors usually center on the emergence of a new government in 2003, the divisions between different organizations, and the loss of legitimacy among other sectors of society. By focusing on an alternative explanation, I expect to contribute to the understanding of this movement.
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