St. Thomas Law Review
First Page
593
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This Essay is based on my presentation at the LatCrit VII conference, which was part of a panel discussion on Coalition Building, Globally and Locally. The purpose of the presentation and of this Essay is to reflect upon the significant role of Latin civil society organizations ("CSOs"), not only in that region's political, social and economic development of other regions, but also in the historical trajectory of the U.S. As I prepared my remarks and noted the achievements of Latin CSOs, I began to question why there are so few Latino and Latina leaders in transnational CSOs and in the so-called global civil society movement ("GCS"), particularly in the movement to resist the predatory effects of globalization. Consider, for example, the citizen-led groups in Latin America such as the cocaleros and campesinos who fought the Bolivian Water and Gas Wars and then helped elect cocalero Juan Evo Morales Ayma as the country's first indigenous head of state in 2005. Consider also, the broad-based coalition that led Luiz Indicio Lula da Silva to victory in the Brazilian presidential elections in 2002 and 2006. Groups such as these have been instrumental in effecting monumental political and social changes in their home countries. Why, then, have Latinos and Latinas not been more prominent within GCS networks? As I will explain, what I have discovered might cause a less sanguine person to sink into a pit of despair, therefore, this Essay also could accurately have been titled Why Dreams Die: The Soul-Crushing Disillusionment of a Naive Optimist. Yet, in a stunning display of the power of positive thinking and of faith in the influence of the academy, I conclude on a positive note.
Recommended Citation
Becky L. Jacobs,
Pareto Negativity: The Enemy of My Enemy is Not Necessarily My Friend - Latin Leadership, Coalition Building, and Predatory Globalization,
20
St. Thomas L. Rev.
593
(2008).
Available at:
https://scholarship.stu.edu/stlr/vol20/iss3/11