Moving Forward? State Efficiency, Social Mobility, and Violence in Latin America (1970-2010)

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Over the past generation, Latin America has made laudable improvements in democratization and economic growth. However, this progress has not always benefitted the numerous marginalized constituencies found throughout the continent. This panel seeks to examine how state efficiency has affected social stability and social mobility in Latin America over the course of the past four decades. We explore this issue through a variety of mixed methods and cover a wide range of countries: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru. Our collective research proposals find that the selective provision of goods and entrenched clientelism distort state-led policies related to social welfare, security and electoral competition. As a result, these policies often fail to improve governance and stability in the region.

Sub Track

• Violence and (In)security

Session Organizer

• Marcus A Johnson, Princeton University

Chair

• Fiorella P Vera-Adrianzén

Individual Presentations

• Ethnic Violence in Latin America - Rethinking the Theory with a Regional Perspective - Carolina Acevedo

• Racial-ized Democracy: the relationship between racial incorporation and clientelism - Marcus A Johnson, Princeton University

• Making Insurgency Work: State Expansion, Order, and Violence in Arauca (2002-­‐2010) - Charles Larratt-Smith, University of Toronto, CINEP

• The Genesis of Urban Violence in Venezuela: A conceptual framework - Daniel Leon

• Welfare Regimes and Conflict in Latin America: Reassessing the Effect of Social Welfare on Civil Conflict Onset - Fiorella P Vera-Adrianzén

Discussant

• William D Stanley, University of New Mexico