Projections of Power in the Americas

This book is a fascinating contribution to the study of politics and social relations in the Americas, as well as to the study of power. The nine essays describe different ways in which power is being exerted and projected in the Americas - by governments, by special interests, and by transnational criminal organizations. However, they also tell stories of collective and individual empowerment of citizens in the Americas.

Auteur

Helene Balslev Clausen is a researcher and external lecturer at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has published widely in the field of migration studies.

Niels Bjerre-Poulsen is Associate Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of the Americas at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. His major fields of research are American political culture and the American presidency.

Jan Gustafsson is Associate Professor at the Center for the Study of the Americas, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. His main areas of research and academic interest are Latin American politics and culture, including popular culture and identity constructions, identity theory, and semiotics.

Résumé
Two phenomena are of central interest in the nine contributions that make up this volume: one is the question of power and its multiple forms, and the other is that geographical, political and cultural multifaceted unity we call the 'the Americas'. The book is a multidisciplinary effort, written by scholars from the fields of history, political science, anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, who all share an interest in the ways in which power is projected in the Americas. Some contributors focus on the sources of power, while others are more concerned with how it is presented and legitimized by those who hold it. Likewise, some investigate the relations between government and citizens, while others look at more informal structures of power. Common to all contributions, however, is that they attempt to trace the forms that political and social power take in different American contexts - from the highest echelons of political power in Washington, D.C. to the local politics of a small village in Mexico. Common to all contributions is a nuanced exploration of the various manifestations of political and social power in the Americas.

Contenu

Introduction. Power and its Multiple Projections in the Americas Part I 1. The Bush Administration and the Theory of "The Unitary Executive" Niels Bjerre-Poulsen 2. The Nation and the Revolution -Techniques of Power and Interpellation in Revolutionary Cuba Jan Gustafsson Part II 3. Talking of Tlatelolco: The Power of a Collective Memory Suppressed but Not Surrendered Julia L. Sloan 4. The Power of Memory: The Construction of the Vietnam Veterans and Kent State Memorials Birgitte Madelung Part III 5. The Power of the Past: British North America in the Second Half of the 18th Century Merete Borch 6. Women's Rights as Human Rights: Exile, International Feminist Encounters, and Women's Empowerment under Military Rule in Chile, 1973-1990 Jadwiga Pieper Mooney Part IV 7. Projecting Power beyond the Law: Transnational Criminal Organizations Richard L. Millett 8. Old and New Ways of Influencing Social Movements in Latin America Mario Alberto Velázquez Garcia 9. Power and Nonprofit Organizations - North American Charity Organizations in a Mexican Town in the Border Region Helene Balslev Clausen Notes on Contributors Notes Index