Colonial state terror in Puerto Rico: A research agenda

Este artículo propone el concepto de terrorismo de estado colonial como categoría para el análisis de los usos de la violencia política llevados a cabo por los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico y por organizaciones pro-estatales en el conflicto colonial puertorriqueño. Para ello, el artículo está dividido en tres partes generales: en primer lugar, se presenta un análisis de la definición jurídico-política del colonialismo estadounidense a través del concepto del estado de excepción colonial; en segundo lugar, expone el concepto de terrorismo de estado colonial; y en tercer lugar, desarrolla una breve historia sobre los usos del terrorismo de estado colonial a lo largo de la historia del colonialismo estadounidense en Puerto Rico. De este modo, este artículo busca establecer una agenda de investigación para la mejor comprensión de la relación entre el colonialismo, la violencia política, el derecho y la despolitizaciónThis paper puts forth the concept of colonial state terror as a category for the analysis of the uses of political violence in the Puerto Rican colonial conflict by US and Puerto Rican governments and pro-state organisations. To this end, the paper is divided in three general parts: firstly, it provides an analysis of the legal and political definition of US colonialism through the concept of the colonial state of exception; secondly, it exposes the concept of colonial state terror; and thirdly, it develops a brief history of the uses of colonial state terror in the long history of US colonialism in Puerto Rico. In doing so, this paper seeks to establish a research agenda for the better understanding of the relationship between colonialism, political violence, law and de-politicisatio

Multicultural needs assessment of extension educators

"Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.""Cambio Center at the University of Missouri."Oklahoma State University's College of Human Sciences and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) have developed a multicultural and community engagement program to determine intercultural training needs. The program conducted a study to determine the needs for intercultural training by Extension personnel across the state of Oklahoma. The results of this study showed that OCES personnel are interested in attending intercultural training and developing their own intercultural competence to reach multicultural groups. This study helped OCES design its first intercultural competency training plan. This plan includes assessing intercultural competence and designing trainings materials using a variety of modalities such as face-to-face workshops, lectures, and online activities via Adobe Connect or Desire 2 Learn (D2L) platforms

Fossil Capital in the Caribbean: The Toxic Role of ‘Regulatory Havens’ in Climate Change

Secrecy jurisdictions play a crucial role in the legal framework perpetuating climate change. This paper demonstrates how these jurisdictions sustain the dynamics of climate change by enabling capital accumulation rooted in environmental degradation. A regulatory approach to law and climate change must address the global nature of the legal structure that upholds exploitative and ecocidal social relationships. This paper argues that secrecy jurisdictions are a pivotal yet under-analyzed element of the global legal architecture that facilitates climate change. It, therefore, proposes the term regulatory havens to describe their purpose more adequately. Our analysis includes a case study of the Caribbean, as this geographical region operates as the epicenter for externalizing legal liabilities and extra-legal activities that contribute to climate change while also disproportionately suffering its impacts. The paper outlines how the corporate organizational structure prevalent in regulatory havens enable fossil fuel companies to shield themselves from liability, thus allowing them to detoxify fossil fuel assets. It then sets out a typology of ‘mechanisms of avoidance’ that enable fossil fuel companies to secure key commercial advantages and operate under the radar of regulatory constraints. It briefly analyses the need to dismantle regulatory havens as a prerequisite for building a sustainable economy

Camas Calientes: Housing Adjustments and Barriers to Social and Economic Adaptation Among Georgia\u27s Rural Latinos

We examined conditions among Latinos in rural Georgia, using Morris and Winter\u27s (1978) model for housing adjustment and adaptation, in order to develop a framework for extending the segmented assimilation model into the literature on residential assimilation. Morris and Winter\u27s model is predicated on the notion that persons who suffer from multiple normative deficits will deviate from housing norms. We argue that significant deviations from housing norm\u27s may lead to delayed incorporation or, at worst, downward assimilation. Using unstructured interviews with key informants and focus groups with Latino residents in four rural counties, we find that Latino immigrants in rural Georgia aspire to live in housing conditions typically identified with American housing norms; however, due to lack of income, legal status, and other deficits, they cannot. In short, the results of our study offer support for Morris and Winter\u27s theory and suggest that the housing stock available to Latino migrants in rural Georgia may impede incorporation to other areas of American life

Family & Consumer Sciences and Cooperative Extension in a Diverse World

The role of Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) as a program area in Extension dates back before the Smith Lever Act of 1914. As we celebrate 100 years, reaching a new set of audiences poses a challenge to Extension. These audiences include new Americans, new family structures, urban populations, new occupations, and virtual clients from around the world. This commentary examines the role that FCS will play in the next 100 years to face these challenges

Hispanics and Housing During the Economic Downturn

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (11th : 2013 : Columbia, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.This paper focuses on how Hispanic home ownership and population growth has evolved in the Southern United States. The theme discussed is one of change and adjustment, looking closely at the 2010 U.S. Census, along with other resources, and how Hispanics have been adjusting into the local economy. The data also shows how Latino home ownership has influenced this outcome. It has been seen throughout the U.S. that the Language Hispanic population is growing quickly, but the two geographical areas that have seen the most immigration in recent decades have been in the West and South. With so much of U.S. population growth connected to the rise in the Hispanic immigrant population, it has become even more important for Hispanics to successfully navigate this socioeconomic and cultural environment. One of the quickest ways of doing this is through home ownership. This gives people the opportunity to settle down and create a community. One of the major obstacles for Hispanic immigrants who are building their communities and families in the U.S. is that work is often connected to seasonal agriculture or construction. These factors both vary in terms of stability and quality of available work. It is important to look into how the Hispanic population uses housing tenure towards building a stronger future for their families in the U.S. and abroad. Immigrant Hispanic population growth throughout the South has been some of the largest in the country. Home ownership rates have only slightly raised throughout this population boom. In recent months there has been an outcry from several states that feel that the immigrant population boom is negatively affecting their lives and that those who are living in these areas illegally need to leave. Many states have created anti-immigrant legislation that have left the immigrant Hispanic population concerned with discrimination, eviction or legal persecution. Some states have witnessed an exodus of immigrants which has affected some of the major commodities in agriculture and other businesses that traditionally employ immigrant laborers. As a result, houses have been foreclosed and immigrant families have left their homes in the middle of the night. Hispanics showed significant purchasing power in the U.S. and have become an example of an ethnic group specifically targeted with sub-prime lending, also known as the Foreclosure Generation. With so many different variables affecting the Hispanics in the South, how can we prepare the next generation of Hispanics to attain home ownership? First, there must be stronger trust in the financial institutions in order for people to readily seek their help and advice on consumer borrowing. We can use both universities and nonprofit organizations in order to disseminate knowledge about strong financial decisions, and how one decision can set them on the right path towards a better financial future. Through closer ties and better financial knowledge, the next Hispanic generation can move towards the path of reaching higher rates of home ownership, stability and wealth

Movilizaciones caribeñas por la justicia y la reparación: el caso de CARICOM

This paper analyses the role of law in the mobilizations for reparation, restoration, and recognition of historical injuries and violent legacies caused by colonialism, slavery and racism in the State members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). By emphasizing on the CARICOM requests for reparation and restitution, this paper addresses the following three objectives: 1) to expose how the effects of colonial violence are interpreted; 2) to identify who are the main actors and what are the claims arising from these Caribbean mobilizations; 3) to analyze the uses of law implemented by this mobilization and the legal and political positions assumed by the European states. The paper proposes a sociolegal analysis of the legal mobilizations in postcolonial Caribbean countries. This overview of the CARICOM mobilization for reparation and justice will allow us to establish a dialogue about the role of postcolonial states in the process of memorialization of a violent colonial past and about the possibility of decolonial justices in postcolonial Caribbean states.Este artículo analiza el papel del derecho en las movilizaciones por la reparación, la restauración y el reconocimiento del legado de violencia y subdesarrollo económico producto del colonialismo, la esclavitud y el racismo en los estados miembros de la Comunidad Caribeña (CARICOM). Al enfatizar en las demandas de reparación y restitución presentadas por CARICOM contra diversos estados europeos, este artículo atiende los siguientes tres objetivos: 1) mostrar cómo los efectos de la violencia colonial son interpretados en la actualidad; 2) identificar quiénes son los actores más importantes y cuáles son los reclamos adelantados; 3) analizar los usos del derecho implementados por esta movilización y las posiciones jurídicas asumidas por los estados europeos que han sido demandados. Este artículo propone un análisis socio-jurídico de las movilizaciones jurídicas en el contexto postcolonial caribeño. Este análisis de las movilizaciones de CARICOM por la justicia y la reparación nos permitirá establecer un diálogo sobre el papel de los estados postcoloniales en los procesos de memorialización de la violencia colonial y sobre la posibilidad de la justicia decolonial en el contexto de los estados caribeños

Anti-corruption legislation in Puerto Rico: A sociolegal study of the registry of persons convicted of corruption

This paper engages in a sociolegal analysis of the anti-corruption legislation enacted by the Puerto Rican Government in the aftermath of Maria (2017). The paper pays particular attention to the implementation and sociolegal impact of Act 2 of January 4, 2018, entitled, “The Anti-Corruption Code for the New Puerto Rico” and the creation of a Registry of Persons Convicted of Corruption. The rationale behind the Act and the Registry is to enforce transparency, open governance, and help the Puerto Rican government in its efforts to eradicate public corruption. Conversely, this paper argues that these reforms have introduce a punitive approach to anti-corruption in PR. Approach that I have termed, punitive governance. The paper suggests Act 2 and the Registry had have a dual outcome: 1) a punitive approach to corruption that harm people in precarious positions, and 2) normalize the structural dynamic enabling corruption the powerful. Thus, this paper intends to illustrate the contradictions in anti-corruption as punitive governance, and the way in which a specific image of corruption is reproduced through governmental actions, legal practices, and discourses. Este artículo realiza un análisis socio-jurídico de la legislación anticorrupción promulgada por el Gobierno de Puerto Rico tras el paso del huracán María (2017). El articulo presta especial atención a la implementación e impacto socio-jurídico de la Ley 2 de 4 de enero de 2018, titulada “El Código Anticorrupción para el Nuevo Puerto Rico” y la creación de un Registro de Personas Convictas por Actos de Corrupción. La razón fundamental detrás de la Ley y el Registro es hacer cumplir políticas de transparencia, la gobernabilidad y ayudar al gobierno de Puerto Rico en sus esfuerzos por erradicar la corrupción en el sector público. Por el contrario, este artículo argumenta que estas reformas han introducido un enfoque punitivo para combatir la corrupción en PR. El artículo sugiere que la Ley 2 y el Registro tuvieron un doble resultado: 1) un enfoque punitivo de la corrupción que perjudica a las personas en posiciones precarias, y 2) normalizar la dinámica estructural que permite la corrupción de los poderosos. Así, este artículo pretende ilustrar las contradicciones de la anticorrupción como gobernanza punitiva, y la forma en que se reproduce una imagen específica de corrupción a través de acciones gubernamentales, prácticas jurídicas y discursos legales

Aguilar Fernández, Paloma, Políticas de la memoria y memorias de la política. El caso español en perspectiva comparada

A partir de la década de 1990, el tema de la memoria histórica, la memoria colectiva y social, así como las concepciones plurales y conflictivas de la misma, junto con el tema de la justicia transicional, se han convertido en uno de los ámbitos de debate socio‑jurídico‑político y académico más importante. El incremento en la producción académica tiene sus orígenes en la incipiente “democratización” y/o paso de múltiples países de América Latina, África, Asia y Europa del Sur y del Este de sis..

The criminalization of socio-environmental struggles in Puerto Rico

Throughout the twentieth century and the outset of the twenty-first, Puerto Rico’s sociopolitical and pro-independence struggles from US colonial rule have been influenced by the emergence of mobilizations for environmental justice. This article suggests that our understanding of both environmental and anticolonial mobilizations can be broadened by considering Puerto Rico’s sociopolitical and colonial reality, as well as emphasizing the criminalization processes that take place as an institutional reaction to social mobilization. The structure of the article follows a threefold analysis. In the first part, I describe the historical basis of Puerto Rico’s colonial situation, including its environmental impact, outlining the intertwined nature of these two processes. The second part outlines the mechanisms of repression and criminalization developed by the US and Puerto Rican governments. Finally, part three analyses the Puerto Rican environmental conflicts between 1999 and 2012, as well as how pro-environmental civil disobedience became a criminal offence.A lo largo del siglo XX e inicios del siglo XXI las movilizaciones sociopolíticas y anticoloniales puertorriqueñas y/o las luchas contra el régimen colonial estadounidense en Puerto Rico, se han visto influenciadas por el surgimiento de movilizaciones por la justicia ambiental. Este artículo sugiere que nuestra comprensión de los movimientos ambientales y anticoloniales puertorriqueños puede ser expandida en la medida que consideramos la realidad sociopolítica y colonial puertorriqueña, así como al enfatizar en el estudio de los procesos sistemáticos e institucionales de criminalización desplegados contra estas movilizaciones sociales. La estructura de este articulo se fundamenta en un análisis tridimensional. La primera parte, describe brevemente la historia colonial de Puerto Rico y el impacto del colonialismo sobre el medioambiente, señalando de esta manera la intensa correlación entre estos dos procesos. La segunda parte describe los mecanismos de represión y criminalización desarrollados por los gobierno de Estados Unidos de América y Puerto Rico. Finalmente, la tercera parte analiza los conflictos medioambientales puertorriqueños entre los años 1999 y 2012 y muestra como la desobediencia civil en favor del medioambiente fue criminalizada