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Inequality
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Recent Articles
Decriminalizing ‘Colonial’ Laws in the Anglophone Caribbean – ‘Buggery’
The moment I stepped foot back on the island, I was no longer the 14-year-old boy who once proudly wore his school uniform to Wolmer’s Boys High School—the oldest school in the Caribbean—and to Maranatha Gospel Hall, my local church. I had become something else entirely in the eyes of the state: a criminal. An illegal presence.
Remembering Pope Francis
The world has lost one of the most charismatic pontiffs of the last century with the passing of Pope Francis, the first Latin American prelate of the church’s 1.3 billion Catholics. Francis was a reformer who made himself available to the faithful, and traveled to 66 countries, including eleven in Latin America.
A Review of The Amazon in Times of War
Marcos Colón’s book The Amazon in Times of War offers a compelling collection of essays exposing the physical, economic and institutional violence that devastates the Amazon. He argues that much of this destruction stems from deliberate state policies enacted under former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023). Colón not only documents the struggles of Indigenous and other traditional communities but also critiques the role of profit-driven industries such as logging, mining and cattle ranching in the ongoing exploitation of the Amazon and its peoples.
From Our Current Issue
Weaving Memory through Fashion: The Magical Genesis of Equihua
Growing up in California, I spent so much time gazing at the sky, often losing myself in its vastness.
Unsubmissive Images
Hemetério José dos Santos (1858-1939), a Black grammarian and teacher at Rio de Janeiro's most important schools suffered racist attacks in the press because of the way he dressed.
Transnational Fashion on the Frontier: Migration and Modernities in the Brazilian Amazon
When you think of fashion, you might not think of politics.
Spotlight
Perspectives in Times of Change
Check out these reflections on social, economic, cultural and political transformations in Latin America, the Caribbean and Latinx communities in the United States.
“Roots, Bloody Roots”: Family Clans and the Evolution of Narco-Violence
In May 2024, Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich wrote on X, “We are going to lock them all up” after criminals in Rosario threatened to kill her. She issued the statement in response to random attacks by criminal organizations causing the deaths of civilians in the Argentine city of Rosario where two taxi drivers, a gas station employee and a bus driver with no apparent ties to organized crime had been murdered by hitmen.
Latin America: Where the Streets Have No Law? Ride-hailing, 10 years later…
Imagine a typical morning in Latin America: in Mexico City, people gathered on bustling sidewalks, checking their smartphones as they look for the closer Uber; in Buenos Aires, traditional taxis and modern ride-hailing apps like inDrive coexist amid the city’s vibrant energy; in Bogotá, the familiar rumble of the TransMilenio adds to the urban symphony as passengers shift between public transit, Cabifys and DiDi Taxis.
Rooted and Rising: A Journey of Growth, Identity and Change
The poet T.S. Eliot once wrote, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” These words capture the essence of my journey between Mexico and the United States, two lands that have shaped my identity and my understanding of home.
StudEnt Views
Empathy Is Listening and Seeing Through: Mapping the Unseen Patient Journeys of Chagas Disease
I write these words not based on my experience from a distant field site in another country but from clinics and community spaces in our neighborhoods in Massachusetts and long video calls—spaces where I’ve had the privilege of listening.
A Journey of Encounter with the Rabinal Achi´and Las Guacamayas
Rabinal Achi’ and Las Guacamayas are among the oldest dances in Guatemala, whose origins date back to before the Spanish conquest.
Latin America In-Corporated: Multinationals and Development: a Bad Idea?
In November 2021, Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), presented the agency’s “New Vision for Global Development” to the audience at Georgetown University.
Book ReviewS
A Review of Historieta Doble: A Graphic History of Participatory Action Research
In 1997, I attended the worldwide Action Research Conference in Cartagena, Colombia. One of the sessions opened a space for action research from industrial settings. I presented a project on learning in a network of small businesses in a region of Norway. A Mexican professor raised his hand after the presentation and said: “Excuse me for being direct, but do we live in the same world?”
A Review of Liberation Theology and Praxis in Contemporary Latin America. As it Was in the Beginning?
The book Liberation Theology and Praxis in Contemporary Latin America assumes great relevance with the shifting landscape of the Catholic Church under Pope Francis, whose papacy has signaled a renewed engagement with many of the themes central to liberation theology. From his emphasis on economic justice and ecological responsibility in Laudato Si’ to his advocacy for oppressed communities, Francis has revived aspects of liberationist discourse that were marginalized under previous pontificates.
A Review of The Return of the Contemporary: The Latin American Novel in the End Times
Latin America, and the world more broadly, has been mired in crisis throughout the first quarter of the 21st century. From economic downturns to ecological disasters to legacies of racism and enslavement, the neoliberal trends of past decades have permeated our daily lives with instability amid longstanding narratives of constant progress. If, as we are told, our society is constantly progressing, why has precarity abounded? In The Return of the Contemporary: The Latin American Novel in the End Times, Nicolás Campisi explores the ways in which contemporary Latin American authors confront these realities, focusing on the genre of the novel.
DRCLAS Podcast: Faculty Voices
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