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"This splendid collection by two of our leading political sociologists pioneers new directions in the study of social justice in Latin America. What Justice? Whose Justice? is impassioned scholarship at its best. It brings together detailed studies of rights and institutions, inequality and struggle, citizenship and indigenous politics, war and peace. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in what the so-called triumph of democracy over dictatorship in the region really means today in the lives of the still dispossessed."—Matthew C. Gutmann, author of The Romance of Democracy: Compliant Defiance in Contemporary Mexico
"This book offers a stimulating interdisciplinary analysis of the gripping problems of justice, inequality, and citizenship, and of citizen responses to these issues in contemporary Latin America. It is essential reading on these interrelated themes."—Scott Mainwaring, co-editor of Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America
"First-rate contributors address the quality of democracy in several Latin American countries in these readable and provocative essays. The volume focuses particularly on the relation between democracy and the law, on the importance of the past, and on informal politics and indigenous political movements. A must-read for all those who are tracking the course of democracy in the region and who are concerned about its political future."—Jane S. Jaquette, co-editor of Women and Democracy: Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe
"For anyone who still assumes that markets plus elections suffice to resolve the problems of injustice that are the political, social, and economic patrimony of Latin America, this book will be a firm wake-up call. At the same time, the excellent case studies in this book make it clear that the current global neoliberal regime is no more effective at suppressing local struggles for justice than the more traditional forms of domination that came before it. It is valuable and provocative reading for anyone interested in understanding the contemporary political dynamics of justice and injustice."—Peter Evans, editor of Livable Cities?
List of contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
1. Struggles for Justice in Latin America
Susan Eva Eckstein and Timothy P. Wickham-Crowley
PART ONE: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, RIGHTS, AND INJUSTICE
2. Social Inequality, Civil Society, and the Limits of Citizenship in Latin America
Philip Oxhorn
3. An Exception to Chilean Exceptionalism? The Historical Role of Chile’s Judiciary
Lisa Hilbink
4. Presidential Crises and Democratic Accountability in Latin America, 1990–1999
Aníbal Pérez-Liñán
PART TWO: THE POLITY, THE SOCIAL CONTRACT, AND INJUSTICE
5. The Vicious Cycle of Inequality in Latin America
Terry Lynn Karl
6. Perpetrators’ Confessions: Truth, Reconciliation, and Justice in Argentina
Leigh A. Payne
7. Colombia: Does Injustice Cause Violence?
Marc W. Chernick
PART THREE: DEMOCRATIZATION: THE PROMISE OF JUSTICE AND ITS LIMITATIONS
8. Progressive Pragmatism as a Governance Model: An In-Depth Look at Porto Alegre, Brazil, 1989–2000
Sybil Delaine Rhodes
9. Citizen Responses to Conflict and Political Crisis in Peru: Informal Politics in Ayacucho
David Scott Palmer
PART FOUR: ETHNIC RESPONSES TO INJUSTICES
10. Social Justice and the New Indigenous Politics: An Analysis of Guatemala, the Central Andes, and Chiapas
John A. Peeler
11. The War of the Peace: Indigenous Women’s Struggle for Social Justice in Chiapas, Mexico
June Nash
12. Reflections on Remembrance: Voices from an Ixcán Village
Beatriz Manz
List of Contributors
Index
About the author
Susan Eva Eckstein is Professor of Sociology at Boston University and former president of the Latin American Studies Association. She is the author of Back from the Future: Cuba under Castro (1994). Timothy P. Wickham-Crowley is Associate Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University and former program chair of the Latin American Studies Association. He is the author of Guerrillas and Revolution in Latin America: A Comparative Study of Insurgents and Regimes since 1956 (1992). Together they edited Struggles for Social Rights in Latin America (2002).
Summary
The new millennium began with the triumph of democracy and markets. But for whom is life just, how so, and why? And what is being done to correct persisting injustices? This book offers fresh insights that deepen our understanding of social justice as ideology and practice.
