Changes in the Andes
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
The conference will be divided into five panels and a keynote roundtable discussion. Each panel will have one participant speaking on each country, and a commentator. All panels will be moderated by Brown University faculty.
The conference is open to the Brown University community and registered guests. The evening events will be open to the greater public and will be located at the Salomon Center on The College Green.
Panels
Each panel will address an area of questions of thematic and theoretical relevance to the three countries involved. Although topics covered deal with Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, they are relevant to our theoretical comprehension of the subjects in question.
Panel 1: “Politics, Popular Mobilization, and Democracy”
The ongoing and evolving nature of the political systems of Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela make them an essential part of any debate. Members of this panel could consider the following questions:
- What can we learn from the difficulties these countries have faced in trying to create more “inclusionary” systems of governance in societies that face structural and institutional deficiencies?
- Can processes of ‘inclusion’ strengthen social consensus, the ‘quality of democracy’, human rights and the rule of law? Or do they exacerbate polarization? What are some long term strategies for building reconciliation and tolerance?
- What can we learn from the processes of “constituent assemblies” in these three countries? Do they really promote “new forms of democracies”? If so, how? If not, why not?
- What is the theoretical and global relevance of these topics, particularly as they relate to South America and the Caribbean? What are the long term trends that apply to these countries and the region as a whole?
Panelists include:
Bolivia Donna Lee Van Cott, University of Connecticut
Ecuador María Agusta Calle, Ecuadorian National Assembly, President of the Sovereignty Desk
Venezuela Sujatha Fernandes, City University of New York
Discussant Jennifer McCoy, Georgia State University and The Carter Center
Panel 2: “Economic Development, Social Equality, and Sustainability”
The mixed record of the Washington Consensus of the 1990s forced a redefinition of economic development and social policy. Heavily influenced by the work of three Nobel Laureates, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and Muhammad Yunus, the fields of economic development and social policy are being redefined and reconsidered in the age of “globalization” in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
- What can the experience of the social, political and economic exclusion of traditional development models in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela teach us? How do these countries aid our understanding of the “growth without development” debate? Are these countries redefining the old debate of “how much state, how much markets’? If so, how? What is the impact on economic policy and development?
- How are the economic development models being proposed by these countries different from models of the past? Is it ‘deja-vu all over again’ or is there something genuinely different? How are these countries re-defining conceptions of foreign versus national capital?
- What is ‘economia social’ in these countries? Is an approach that combines the amelioration of the lot of the marginalized sectors with the stimulation of economic growth through cooperatives and microcredits, a viable component to more orthodox policy management? What are the lessons these countries offer other economies in the region?
- Is the “alternative development model” being proposed in these countries feasible? Is it sustainable? Can they foster the so-called “socialism of the 21st century”?
Panelists include:
Bolivia Kevin Healy, George Washington University
Ecuador Scott McKinney, Hobart and William Smith College
Venezuela Michael Penfold, Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion
Discussant Julia Buxton, Bradford University, UK
Panel 3: “Natural Resources: Social, Political, and Environmental Implications”
Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela have over 95% of proven energy reserves in the Hemisphere. This mere fact makes them important players in any talks on the future of energy security and integration.
- What has the redefinition of ownership and use of natural resources meant for these countries in terms of their own development, the environment and their relationship to the multinational companies and the world economy?
- What has been the impact of new policies (oil in Venezuela and Ecuador, natural gas in Bolivia) on these countries’ development and in fiscal and monetary policy? How do they compare to past policies? Will the use of revenues from natural resources for social programs impair productivity on the all-important industries? How are environmental implications being considered in the new energy policies?
- How can energy foster –or not- the integration of the Andean region and South America?
- What is the relationship between these countries wealth of energy reserves, the Hemisphere and the United States? How can they be resolved given the predominant consumption-based development model prevalent in the US?
Panelists include:
Bolivia Hernando Larrazabal, World Bank*
Ecuador Freddy Elhers, Secretary General Community of Andean Nations
Venezuela Daniel Hellinger, Webster University
Discussant Raymond C. Offenheiser, Oxfam America*
Panel 4: “Politics of Inclusion in the Andes”
- The ethnic and racial underpinnings of socioeconomic inequality and social conflict – myth or reality? How does it affect the conception (or lack thereof) of a ‘national development project’?
- The role of the historically known as “minorities” (indigenous peoples and afro-descendents): what has been their role in building “multicultural” democratic development models in these three countries?
- Social inequality, citizen mobilization and political participation – what are the lessons from these 3 countries in terms of the challenges faced by ‘alternative’ models of development in South America that try to foster ‘empowerment’?
- Given the natural resource-base of these three countries, how do they deal with the assumed contradiction of promoting environmental rights and using natural resource extraction, refining and distribution as an essential development tool? How does this compare/contrast with the development plight of historically excluded communities (i.e. indigenous and afro-descendents)? Can we speak of the beginning of “new civilizations” in the Andean region?
Panelists include:
Bolivia Silvia Rivera, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés
Ecuador Luis Macas, Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador
Venezuela Aristóbulo Isturiz, Central University of Venezuela
Discussant Marc Becker, Truman State University
Panel 5: “New Approaches to Foreign Policy”
Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela have been openly critical of the Bretton Woods institutions that have managed the world economy and inter-American Affairs since the end of World War II.
- Where do the foreign policies of these countries find a common ground? Where do they differ?
- What are the implications of these countries foreign policy in the current international system where the US plays a dominant role? (OAS, FTAA, OPEC, Plan Colombia, the fight against drugs, and the relation with the USA come to mind).
- What do these countries foreign policy and proposals mean for the rest of the Andean region (Colombia and Peru), South America, and the inter-American system? (The Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas, the Bank of the South and the South American Community of Nations come to mind).
- What is the theoretical and global relevance of these topics, particularly as they relate to Latin America and the Caribbean? To the rest of the world?
Panelists include:
Bolivia Esteban Ticona, Director, Diplomatic Academy, Bolivian Foreign Ministry
Ecuador María Isabel Salvador Crespo, Foreign Minister of Ecuador*
Venezuela Jennifer McCoy, Georgia State University and The Carter Center
Discussant Thomas Ponniah, Harvard University
* Indicates that the speaker has yet to be confirmed.
Keynote Roundtable Discussion
A keynote roundtable discussion featuring Mario Gustavo Guzman Saldana, Bolivian Ambassador to the United States; Luis Benigno Gallegos Chiriboga, Ecuadorian Ambassador to the United States; and Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States – will be introduced by former United States Senator Lincoln Chafee.
Logistics
- Media are invited to attend any part of the event. Registration required.
- Interviews can be arranged upon request.
- An ISDN line and TV studio are available.
- A live webcast of the keynote roundtable will be available on the Watson Institute website.
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