This article analyzes the environmental degradation of the Argentine interior, emphasizing the roles played by different income groups. Argentina beyond the pampa is composed of fragile ecosystems that have been substantially degraded through decades or even centuries of overuse and abuse. This study ascertains the nature and extent of environmental degradation for each part of the interior, the relative importance of various income groups in agricultural production, and the differential tendency to degrade the environment of agriculturalists at different income levels. These variables are used to show that both the wealthy and the poor have played crucial roles in the environmental degradation of the Argentine interior.

Este artículo examina el papel constitutivo de los periódicos bolivianos en los inicios del proceso deformación nacional (1825–1855, aproximadamente). Discute su intervención en los debates políticos y legales del momento, sus esfuerzos por definir los elementos que identifican con la nacionalidad, su inserción en un precario mercado, su promoción de los valores patrios y participación en la formación de ciudadanos. El artículo muestra la capacidad incorporadora de elementos heterogéneos que tienen las hojas impresas y, sobre todo, la reconceptualización del tiempo y el espacio que articulan en términos de lo nacional. Finalmente, sin minimizar las contribuciones del proyecto letrado de construcción nacional, destaca también las tensiones y limitaciones que le son inherentes.

In the 1980s and 1990s, neoliberalism and changing policy-making regimes presented social actors throughout Latin America with new challenges and opportunities. This article analyzes the political strategies developed by two organizations representing small manufacturers in Mexico for responding to these sweeping economic and political changes, emphasizing the organizational bases of political activism. Strategies are assessed according to organizations' public expression of support for or opposition to economic policies, the extent to which organizations work within existing arrangements for interest representation, and the political alliances made by small business organizations and their leaders. One strategy in Mexico entailed acquiescing to radical economic policy changes, deploying significant resources to preserve a set of corporatist institutions that regulated business association, and supporting the government incumbents. Another strategy entailed voicing persistent public criticism of neoliberalism, spearheading a national campaign against business corporatism, and supporting the Center-Left opposition. Analysis of these strategies demonstrates the important effects of institutional legacies during periods of regime change. The perseverance of corporatist institutions can make it difficult for weak actors to shed old modes of activism, notwithstanding a changed array of material and political incentives.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, Bolivian intellectuals and politicians debated how the country's Indian population should be incorporated into social and political life as the nation became increasingly integrated internally and forged stronger links to the world market. Public health was central to this discussion because of elite fears of contagion due to greater contact between Indians and non-Indians and the realization that if Indians were to be productive members of society, then their physical well-being had to be considered. This study examines the proposals of two Bolivian doctors, Jaime Mendoza and Nestor Morales, for improving the health of the native population in the context of the larger national debate about ethnicity and citizenship.

Esta nota analiza las profundas transformaciones que en distintos órdenes—religioso, social, cultural y político-eclesiástico—experimentaron la diócesis de Buenos Aires y su clero secular a fines del período colonial. Si bien en el Río de la Plata la política reformista de la corona española en el terreno eclesiástico no tuvo la misma incidencia que en otras áreas de América, las últimas décadas del siglo XVIII—ricas en fermentos innovadores como en situaciones conflictivas—resultan decisivas para comprender el desarrollo de los acontecimientos político-religiosos de la primera mitad del siglo XIX, entre ellos la cuestión de la politización del clero y la reforma eclesiástica de 1822.

This research note discusses an emerging subfield of inquiry in the study of democratization in Latin America: a focus on the relationships between past human rights abuses and democratization processes. It outlines four sets of questions emerging around the themes of “historical memory” and “legacies of authoritarian rule.” The study then examines documentary collections of major human rights nongovernmental organizations (HRNGOs) in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. The purpose of this endeavor is to provide researchers interested in studying the four issues with specific information on documents produced and currently held by the HRNGOs in the Southern Cone. The essay examines seven HRNGOs in Chile, ten in Argentina, and four in Uruguay, and ends with practical hints for researchers who wish to use these resources.