International Conference Culture, Economy, Participation and Governance in Latin American Cities

Transcription

1 International Conference Culture, Economy, Participation and Governance in Latin American Cities Friday, 21st Saturday 22nd February, 2014 Kultur & Kongresshaus, Schlossplatz 9, Aarau The decentralisation processes currently underway in Latin America have put cities in a more central place to provide social welfare and to improve democratic practice. Many Latin American cities are spaces of social and economic innovation from where institutions of checks and balances and participatory mechanisms start to emerge and to spread. Political leadership, tensions between national and sub-national politics, and the role of digital media in urban mobilizations as well as the understanding of urban spaces as forums of disputed processes of identification are topics we are going to discuss. The conference aims to take stock of some of the achievements, pitfalls and potentialities inherent to this process by engaging academics with practitioners from the Latin American Network for Just, Democratic and Sustainable Cities, which is currently active in sixty cities representing ten Latin American countries The conference languages are English and Spanish (no translation). The fee is 20 CHF per day and should be paid on the spot. Students with a valid student ID will not have to pay the fee, however, all attendants have to register until 19 February with name, affiliation and day(s) of attendance via to: yanina.welp@zda.uzh.ch Organizers ProDoc «The Dynamics of Transcultural Governance and Management in Latin America» co-directed by: Sponsors

2 First day :30 Opening Prof. Dr. Andreas Glaser (Center for Research on Direct Democracy) 13:30 14:30 Megacities and the Challenge of Governance Prof. Dr. Daniel Kübler (University of Zurich) Presented by Prof. Dr. Corinne Pernet (University of Basel) 14:30 16:00 Latin American Network for Just, Democratic and Sustainable Cities Ariel Kogan (Nossa São Paulo) Presented by Dr. Yanina Welp (c2d/university of St.Gallen) Break 16:00 17:00 Social Accountability, Citizenry and Sustainable Urban Governance Prof. Dr. Andrés Hernández Quiñónez (Universidad de los Andes) Presented by Prof. Dr. Marc Hufty (Graduate Institute) 17:00 18:00 Participatory Budgeting in Latin American Cities Prof. Dr. Benjamin Goldfrank (Seton Hall University) Presented by Dr. Uwe Serdült (Center for Research on Direct Democracy) Second day 9:00 9:40 Narrative Theory: Exploring Food Justice in a US Context Jonna Cohen (University of St.Gallen) Presented by Dominik Mösching (University of St.Gallen) 9:40 10:20 The National is not Sufficient for the Study of Latin American Politics Tomas Dosek (Universidad de Salamanca) Presented by Dr. Saskia Ruth (Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau) Break 10:50 11:50 Social Media and Participatory Democracy: The Brazilian Experience Dr. Anita Breuer (German Development Institute) Presented by Dr. Rolf Rauschenbach (Universidade de São Paulo) 11:50 12:50 Memory in Modern Urban Spaces: Berlin and Buenos Aires Dr. Ralph Buchenhorst (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg) Presented by Prof. Dr. Yvette Sánchez (University of St.Gallen) Lunch 14:00 15:00 The Conquest of the Territory in Cities with Low Democratic Quality Prof. Dr. Flavia Freidenberg (Universidad de Salamanca) Presented by Dr. Sabine Kradolfer (Sociedad Suiza de Americanistas) 15:00 16:00 Closing Remarks Prof. Dr. Laurence Whitehead (Oxford University) Presented by Dr. Yanina Welp (c2d/ University of St.Gallen)

3 List of Participants Anita Breuer (German Development Institute, GDI) Political communication via the Internet and online social networking sites (SNS) has come to form an inherent part of civil society activism today. Yet the potential of online activism to bring about political change is debated. In 2011/12 the GDI conducted an investigation on the analysis of the Brazilian anti-corruption campaign Ficha Limpa (clean record), which was primarily promoted through social media channels. This presentation will provide an overview of the impact of this campaign on the Brazilian political system. Picking up on the Brazilian 2013 urban riots related to a planned increase in public transportation costs and the confederations cup it will then proceed to discuss the broader implications of online social networks for urban political participation. Anita Breuer holds a Master in Area Studies Latin America and received her doctoral degree in Political Science from the University of Cologne in Since 2011 she holds a post as a senior researcher at the German Development Institute, Bonn, Germany, where her research focuses on the role of the Internet and social media in democracy promotion. She has recently co-edited Digital technologies for democratic governance in Latin America (Routledge, 2014) with Yanina Welp. Ralph Buchenhorst (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg) Ralph s contribution Memory in modern urban spaces: Comparing Berlin and Buenos Aires develops a discourse analysis of contemporary approaches in urban space to combine the local identities of memorial sites with the need to participate in global communication processes. It emphasizes that although metaphorical representations are still relevant in urban settings, they can no longer be unified by a single meta-myth. Nevertheless, the article strives to convey that the illegibility of contemporary mega-cities is not caused by a degeneration of the idea that cities are integrated both socially and through communication. Rather, it represents the chance to understand urban spaces as forums in search of a collective identity based on the work of remembrance. Ralph Buchenhorst is a Senior Research Fellow at the Graduate School Society and Culture in Motion, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Vienna and his habilitation (German qualification for full professorship) from the University of Potsdam. Buchenhorst has been a DAAD guest professor at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Jonna Cohen (University of St.Gallen) Jonna s guiding research question is How are Latinos empowering themselves through food? Using the United States as a context for research, Jonna recently carried out a pilot study by visiting five cities and conducting informal interviews and engaging in participant observation. This working paper explores three case study options for further fieldwork, examines the relationship between participatory action research and storytelling, and fleshes out key aspects of the narrative approach- such as chronology, micro-, meso-, and metalevel discourse, and reflexivity. Jonna is enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Organization Studies and Cultural Theory at the University of St. Gallen. Her dissertation project US Latino cuisine paving the way to TransArea is part of the ProDoc Research Module Cultural Negotiations: Asymmetries in the Latin American TransArea.

4 Tomas Dosek (Universidad de Salamanca) Traditionally, comparative politics scholars have analysed political processes from a national perspective and with aggregate level data for the whole territory, assuming that what was happening at the sub-national level was similar to the national level dynamics. Additionally, the differences among respective sub-national units, in both formally federal and unitary countries, are often not taken into account. This paper argues that employing a multi-level approach is critical to the study of political phenomena. Tomas references examples and also draws from classical political science, with attention to political parties, party systems and democratization, to show how such an approach offers an improved understanding of current political processes in Latin America. Tomas Dosek is PhD. Candidate in Political Science at the Universidad de Salamanca. He holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the Instituto de Iberoamérica (Universidad de Salamanca) and MA in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Economics, Prague. He is also a researcher at the Instituto de Iberoamérica. Flavia Freidenberg (Universidad de Salamanca) Flavia's presentation explores how policy is made in the community of Saltillo, the capital of the state of Coahuila in northern México, where the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) has been in power since the beginning of the twentieth century. Her research describes the strategies employed in constructing political careers within the PRI, and how mechanisms of patronage function. It is argued that in this case, territorial conquest (feuding within the community), personal relationships, and networks of distribution and exchange (media, material and symbolic resources), serve as critical links between the leader, his intermediaries, and civil society in maximizing his share of power. Flavia Freidenberg is Director and researcher at the Instituto de Iberoamérica of the University of Salamanca (Spain), Academic Director of its master and doctoral program in Latin America Studies, as well as chief editor of América Latina Hoy - Revista de Ciencias Sociales. Andreas Glaser (c2d, University of Zurich) Andreas Glaser is Professor for Constitutional, Administrative, and European Law at the University of Zurich as well as director of the Centre for Research on Direct Democracy (c2d). Before coming to Zurich he worked at the Universities of Munich and Heidelberg where he also wrote his habilitation thesis on the interplay between EU and national legal action with the editor Mohr Siebeck (Orig. title Die Entwicklung des Europäischen Verwaltungsrechts aus der Perspektive der Handlungsformenlehre ). Benjamin Goldfrank (Seton Hall University) This presentation offers a comparative examination of participatory budgeting (PB) in cities across Latin America at a time of increasing academic pessimism regarding PB. The presentation asks three questions: Does PB have the potential to contribute to sustainable urban development? How effective in improving local government has PB been in the region? And what explains why PB has been more effective and sustainable in some cities than in others? In short, I argue that participatory budgeting is indeed a promising innovation for sustainable urban development, but that its record in Latin America is mixed, because effective, sustainable PB only tends to emerge under a combination of factors that is not common in the region. New studies, however, give reasons for optimism regarding PB's potential. Benjamin Goldfrank (Ph.D. Political Science, UC Berkeley, 2002) is Associate Professor and Department Chair at Seton Hall University s School of Diplomacy and International Relations. He is the author of Deepening Local Democracy in Latin America: Participation, Decentralization, and the Left (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2011), co-editor of The Left in the City: Participatory Local Governments in Latin America (London: Latin American Bureau and Transnational Institute, 2004), and author of a number of articles.

5 Andrés Hernández Quiñónez (Universidad de los Andes) The Network for Just, Democratic and Sustainable Cities (La Red por Ciudades Justas, Democráticas y Sustentables) is a collection of society-based initiatives directed towards city management. It proposes methodologies for evaluating and monitoring public policy, transparency, public access to information and civil participation, and constructs alliances committed to civil society and successive governments through collective action on goals related to sustainable development and equity. This paper analyses the nature of the Network s initiatives and takes stock of its actions, including the configuration of actors in corporate alliances for social responsibility, and the areas of urban governance that achieved impact. Andrés Hernández Quiñónez, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. He has written several books and articles on accountability, citizen participation and governance. Marc Hufty (Graduate Institute) Marc Hufty, political scientist, is professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland. His current research activities focus on multi-level governance processes applied to biodiversity conservation. He coordinates the research theme Governance in the NCCR North-South network and the Group for Research on Environment and Governance (GREG) at IHEID. He has taught and done field research in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Nicaragua, Madagascar and South Africa. Ariel Kogan (Red de Ciudades Justas y Sostenibles, Nossa São Paulo) The Network for Just, Democratic and Sustainable Cities is a non-partisan, civic society initiative. It is a democratic, decentralized space that encourages self-organization by seeking to strengthen its various nodes, promoting horizontal decision-making processes and cooperation. Its areas of action include: i) Enhancing citizen participation; ii) Developing in dicators to evaluate the quality of city life and governance; iii) Monitoring public policy; iv) Knowledge sharing and identifying best practices; v) Advocating the right to information access and accountability; vi) Fostering dialogue between sectors. More than half of the world s population and nearly 80% of Latin Americans live in cities. As part of the Latin American Network, the Brazil Network and his own Sao Paulo Network, Ariel addresses urban sustainability, the empowerment of civil society and encouragement of participation in the civil sector, with the goal of positively impacting public policy. Ariel Kogan studied Industrial Engineering at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina, and ENISE, in France. He is a researcher of the Sustainable Cities Program of Our São Paulo Network, Brazil. He is a member of the working group of Indicators and Focal Points in the Latin American network of cities, a member of the board of the Open Knowledge Foundation, Brazil, a member of the advisory council of the Working Group of Waste of Ethos Institute, has been a speaker for TEDx, Mendoza, and participates in a number of urban social movements. Sabine Kradolfer (Sociedad Suiza de Americanistas) Sabine Kradolfer is an anthropologist and sociologist. She is currently a senior researcher at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). Her scientific profile is broad based, covering areas such as race and ethnicity, indigenous peoples of Latin America, intersections between social inequalities (sex, race, class) and political sciences as well as equality between men and women in academic careers.

6 Daniel Kübler (University of Zurich) The emergence of megacities raises a number of conceptual questions for political science and public administration. It is as yet unclear to what extent the huge size of megacities presents conditions that require qualifications or adaptations to existing concepts and theoretical models for the analysis of governance in megacities as compared to urban regions of lesser size. The aim of this paper is to discuss this conceptual issue. With respect to policy problems, distinctions between megacities and smaller cities seem to be a matter of degree rather than quality. With respect to governability, however, megacities seem to present particular problems: institutional complexity, a weakness of public resources and, linked to this, an actor system where private businesses and the informal sector plays a more important role, as well as a strong entwinement between local and national governments. Only the new regionalist approach rests on theoretical premises that can, realistically, seen to be met in megacities. Analysing megacity governance on the basis of the new regionalist approach means to focus our attention on four elements that facilitate coordination by negotiation: (a) actors attitudes towards sustained negotiation as the core means of policy-coordination, (b) the emergence of consensus as a mode of interaction, (c) the construction of political leadership at the scale of the megacity, (d) the use of slack in the multi-levelled relationships by policy-relevant actors. Since April 2009 Daniel Kübler is professor for Research in Democracy and Public Governance at the IPZ and head of the department of research on democracy at the Centre for Democracy in Aarau. Dominik Mösching (University of St.Gallen) Since 2012, Dominik Mösching is enrolled as PhD student in the program Organization and Culture at the University of St. Gallen. He graduated 2009 at the University of Zürich with a MA thesis on how economic interests and national identities shape attitudes towards globalization. He is project manager for sustainability education at the non-profit foundation myclimate. Corinne Pernet (University of Basel) Prof. Dr. Corinne A. Pernet is SNSF professor at the Institute for European Global Studies. Her research interest include the history of international organizations, cultural history as well as nutrition. Rolf Rauschenbach (Universidade de São Paulo) Rolf Rauschenbach is an affiliate researcher at the Núcleo de Pesquisas em Políticas Públicas at Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil (NUPPs, Research center for public policy). Before joining NUPPs, he was working and teaching at the Departamento de Ciência Política at Universidade de São Paulo. He studied Political Science, Business Administration, Economy, Philosophy and History at Universität St. Gallen and Basel (both Switzerland), Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), New York University (USA) and Institut des Études Politiques de Paris (France). He wrote his doctoral thesis in the field of political philosophy at Universität St. Gallen. His research interests include direct democracy, political participation, political culture and political philosophy. He is currently working on an in-depth analysis of processes of direct democracy on the federal, state and municipal level in Brazil, as well as on a number of theoretical studies on participation.

7 Saskia Ruth (Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau) Saskia Pauline Ruth is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Political Science at the NCCR Democracy at the University of Zurich and the Center for Democracy Studies in Aarau. Her dissertation research focusses on the effect of different linkage strategies of political parties - like clientelism and personalism - on the quality of political representation in Latin America. Yvette Sánchez (University of St.Gallen) Prof. Dr. Yvette Sánchez holds the chair of Latin American Cultural Studies and is director of the Centro Latinoamericano-Suizo de la Universidad, both at the University of St. Gallen. She is engaged in several research projects on cross-cultural topics of the region, working in the field of transcultural or TransArea Studies. Prof. Sánchez was born in Maracaibo (Venezuela), studied Spanish Language, Literature and Anthroplogy and got her PhD from the University of Basel. Currently she is preparing the edition of a manual on cross-cultural management in the BRICS (TransCulture: Shifting perspectives on business in the BRIC states ) and editing Cruzar las Américas on US Latino culture (at the University of Pittsburgh, Revista Iberoamericana). Uwe Serdült (Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau at the University of Zurich) Uwe Serdült is vice-director of the Centre for Research on Direct Democracy (c2d) and a lecturer at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich. Before coming to Aarau he taught and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Universities of Zurich and Geneva respectively. Research stays lead him to Poland (PU Cracow), Japan (Waseda and Ritsumeikan University) and the USA (University of Pittsburgh, PA). He studied History, Political Science and Computer Science at the Universities of Zurich and Geneva. Yanina Welp (c2d/university of St.Gallen) Yanina Welp is currently the Regional Director for Latin America at the Center for Research on Direct Democracy (C2D) and academic coordinator of the doctoral program The Dynamics of Transcultural Governance and Management in Latin America (SNF funded program, based at the University of St.Gallen). Her research interests include comparative studies on participatory democracy in Latin America; pre-conditions and uses of direct democracy mechanisms (referendum, initiative and recall), process of democratization, and the role of ICT's to promote democracy and governance. She is the current president of the Red Eurolatinoamericano de Gobernabilidad para el Desarrollo. Laurence Whitehead (Oxford University) Laurence Whitehead is a Senior Research Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and Senior Fellow of the College. His most recent books are Latin America: A New Interpretation (Palgrave, 2006 second revised updated edition 2010). Laurence Whitehead, Democratization: Theory and Experience (OUP, 2002); and Democratizacion: Teoria y Experiencia (Fondo de Cultura Económica 2011). His most recent edited publication is Caleidoscopio de la Innovación democrática en América Latina (FLACSO, México, 2011) which he produced jointly with Yanina Welp. Among recent articles there is The Westminster System: Model or Muddle? in the Taiwan Journal of Democracy, May 2013; and Enlivening the concept of Democratisation: The Biological Metaphor in Perspectives on Politics, july He is editor of an Oxford University Press series, Studies in Democratization and President of the Conseil Scientifique of the Institut des Ameriques in Paris, and belongs to the steering committee of the Red Eurolatinoamericana de Gobernabilidad para el Desarrollo.