“They can’t stop the push”: Lessons from the University of Puerto Rico’s 2010-2011 student strikes

6:30 pm, Tuesday, March 15, 2012

"University Occupied" April 2010 - by Indymediapr.org

 Students at the University of Puerto Rico put together two of the most resourceful and inspiring student strikes in recent history. Against austerity policies and the privatization of public education, combining extensive grassroots organizing with creative tactics, students were to outwit the administration’s repressive offensive while rallying popular support around the struggle for an accessible, democratic and quality university. Both UPR student strikes, with their own characteristics, provide an instructive repertoire of action for the current student uprising in NYC. Join us for a conversation with student activists Marimer Berberena and Alicia M. Petru, as they share their experiences and lessons learned throughout the high and low-points of the strikes.

@ Room Number 5414 - Graduate Center

Latin America Cultural and Philosophical Criminology – Study abroad

AELLA Series: Central America in Perspective

6:30 pm, Tuesday February 28, 2012

Costa Rican Democracy, Oppositional Movements and the Central American Free Trade Agreement

With some scenes from the Documentary “Santo Fraude” (2010, Alexander Rojas).

By:  Jeremy Rayner, Anthropology-Graduate Center & Andrés León, Anthropology-Graduate Center

For more information on the event click here.

AELLA Series: Citizenship, Global Capitalism and Transnational Communities

7:00 pm, Tuesday March 20, 2012

Mixtec Geographies: Drawing the boundaries of Santa María Tindú

By Rocio Gil, Anthropology-Graduate Center

Strategic Citizenship: Dual Marginalization and Organized Transnational Political Engagement

By Howard Caro-Lopez, Sociology-Graduate Center

Rocío Gil and Howard Caro are going to present their dissertation projects regarding the migrant community of Santa María Tindú and the Ecuadorian and Dominican migrant political participation respectively. A discussion along with panelists and attendants on the topics of citizenship, globalization and transnationalism will follow afterwards.

For more information on the event click here.

Stay tuned for AELLA Series on March 15 and May 8!

All events are going to be at:

Room Number 5414 - Graduate Center

365Fifth Avenue, New York

(ID required to enter building)

Refreshments will be served!

6:30 pm, Tuesday February 28, 2012

by Jeremy Rayner

Costa Rican Democracy, Oppositional Movements and the Central American Free Trade Agreement

 By:  Jeremy Rayner, Anthropology-Graduate Center & Andres León, Anthropology-Graduate Center

With some scenes from the Documentary “Santo Fraude” (2010, Alexander Rojas)

In October of 2007, mounting contention over the Central American Free Trade Agreement in Costa Rica culminated in a historic referendum, pitting the decentralized, grassroots movement of the “No” against a “SÍ” campaign supported by big businesses together with the Costa Rican and US governments.   This panel will discuss the significance of CAFTA for Central America as well as the contention over the treaty’s ratification in Costa Rica.  We will explore how this conflict over “free trade” contributed to the creation of new political subjectivities and forms of political participation, while raising fundamental questions about the meaning of democracy and popular sovereignty in the context of neoliberal globalization.

@ Room Number 5414 - Graduate Center

365Fifth Avenue, New York

(ID required to enter building)

Refreshments will be served!

6:30 pm, Tuesday March 20, 2012

Rocío Gil and Howard Caro are going to present their dissertation projects regarding the migrant community of Santa María Tindú and the Ecuadorian and Dominican migrant political participation respectively. A discussion along with panelists and attendants on the topics of citizenship, globalization and transnationalism will follow afterwards.

by David Bacon

Mixtec Geographies: Drawing the boundaries of Santa María Tindú

 By Rocío Gil, Anthropology-Graduate Center

Explores how the people of Santa María Tindú – a migrant community from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico – struggle to define their community and how they draw its boundaries to create a space of governmentality. Based on ethnographic research and on my collaboration in the process of a transnational census designed by Tindureños, I argue that Santa María Tindú is defined by two kinds of friction: on the one hand, their relation as migrants with global capital, and on the other, the tension in the definition of internal community boundaries. Both kinds of friction are shaped by inequalities that are simultaneously reproduced and contested in Tindureños’ everyday lives.

May Day 2010. By Howard Caro.

Strategic Citizenship: Dual Marginalization and Organized Transnational Political Engagement

By Howard Caro-Lopez, Sociology-Graduate Center

Explores the impact that Ecuadorian and Dominican migrant civil society organizations in New York City have on migrants’ transnational political engagement and mobilization.  Based on participant observation research of and in-depth interviews with multiple organization leaders and activists, I argue that these organizations attempt to mobilize voters and pursue political engagement through a phenomenon that I refer to as strategic citizenship.  Strategic citizenship reflects how migrants struggle against multiple state elites to empower themselves in contemporary global capitalism, where they represent a critical vehicle for accumulation for sending and receiving nation-states.

365Fifth Avenue, New York

(ID required to enter building)

Refreshments will be served!

Every semester AELLA needs to renew its charter. Renewing the charter is key for AELLA to keep its budget allocation (money available to organize events), its office space, and its official recognition as a student organization. AELLA has historically made its resources available to Latino student or students with an interest in organizing events around Latin American and Latino issues, and will continue to provide our resources to students who express interest.

To maintain AELLA as a charter, 23 roster signatures, or memberships, are needed using the DSC website. To “join” or “sign in” you need to take the following steps:

1. Log in to the DSC website (cunydsc.org—note: you will need to register with the site if you are not already a member)

2. Hover over the tab on the right labeled “Chartered Organizations” and
click the link labeled “Join/Sign Rosters”

3. Click on the name of the organization you are interested in joining. In this case, click on AELLA (Latina/o and Latin American Students Association)

4. Click the link that says “JOIN THIS ORGANIZATION” and you’re done!

Please help if you’d like to preserve this space and resources for Latin American   & Latina/o students and scholars! Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding the new charter renewal process or AELLA in general.

Thank you in advance! We look forward to seeing you in upcoming AELLA events. All best,

Martín Cobian Rivera     &    Marimer Berberena Alonso

recorcholisz@gmail.com      mberberena@gc.cuny.edu

Co-Chairs