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BWPI in Latin America

Rimisp and BWPI colleagues meet in Ecuador

BWPI research in Latin America revolves around three distinct axes of collaboration and research.

BWPI Collaboration with Rimisp-Latin American Center for Rural Development

Collaboration with Rimisp-Latin American Center for Rural Development currently focuses on two components: research into the links between poverty, growth and institutional change in rural Latin America; and an initiative to strengthen the capacity of Latin American postgraduate programmes, training professionals working on rural development and poverty reduction.

In relation to the first component, BWPI Associate Director Anthony Bebbington and Research Fellow Leonith Hinojosa are currently engaged in research designed to link research with outreach and engagement with local and regional governments. The component is focused on Bolivia, South America's poorest country. See proposal for details.

In relation to the second component, Anthony Bebbington is working with Rimisp's Rural Territorial Development group to improve the provision of graduate education in Central America and the Andean region. The goal of this engagement is to strengthen the academic and institutional development of a group of master's degree programmes in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Bolivia. In October 2008 at FLACSO Ecuador headquarters in Quito, a formal network of these programmes was established and in July 2009 the first summer school for graduate teachers and researchers within the network will be held, see agenda (Word Doc). Participants will consider issues such as how to ensure a successful territorial development graduate programme; how to forge links between teaching and research; how to set up and maintain collaborative links with other programmes; how to ensure effective student evaluation; and how to handle a variable profile of full- and part-time students.

The work with Rimisp is closely connected to research currently being carried out by Anthony Bebbington and Leonith Hinojosa on territory, conflicts and development in Andean countries.

Urban conflict, violence and inequality

This area of work has two distinct components. The first revolves around the study of gang violence in Central America, building on Senior Research Fellow Dennis Rodgers’ longitudinal ethnographic research on a youth gang in a poor urban neighbourhood in Managua, Nicaragua, which has been ongoing since 1996. The research focuses specifically on the relationship between socio-economic conditions and changing gang dynamics, particularly as they relate to violence and social order.

The second strand of investigation explores the politics of urban planning. It considers how the poor are often ignored in city development, on the one hand, and the process of 'urban resilience' – the way certain city features enhance or mitigate urban life in contexts of chronic violence and insecurity – on the other. This work combines both top-down and bottom-up perspectives, in order to ensure a holistic approach.


Both strands of research are proceeding in collaboration with the Global Urban Research Centre, directed by Professor Caroline Moser.

Related research: Social Movements and Poverty in Peru and South Africa

The Research Programme Social Movements and Poverty in Peru and South Africa, at the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester, is co-directed by BWPI Directors Anthony Bebbington and Diana Mitlin. This research aims to develop a coherent body of knowledge on:

News

Events

Latin American Studies Association International Congress - June 2009.

People

Key people working on this theme include:

Publications

Recent publications on this theme include:

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