Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies 2022-2023

Dancers in traditional blue dresses fill the street during Carnaval in Ayacucho, Peru, February 2023. (Photo by Emily Fjaellen Thompson.)

The Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies is published by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

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For thirty years, 2334 Bowditch Street has been the home of the Center. (Photo by Jim Block.)

COMMENT: An Important Transition

The Center for Latin American Studies is becoming the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), providing intellectual space to analyze cultures, histories, politics, and languages of the entire region.

British sailors use lanterns hunt for stowaways in a merchant ship’s hold in this 19th-century etching. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

ANTICOLONIALISM: Stowaways: On Translating Rita Segato

By Ramsey McGlazer | Ramsey McGlazer writes about the process of translating Rita Segato’s seminal work, La crítica de la colonialidad en ocho ensayos (The Critique of Coloniality in Eight Essays).

A 1758 map of “The island of Hispaniola, called by the French St. Domingo.” (Image from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center.)

THE CARIBBEAN: Notes on Black latinidades, Antillean Political Thought, and Empire

By franchesca araújo | Following a conversation with Lorgia García Peña, franchesca araújo reflects on Black latinidades in the Caribbean. 

A speaker at the event "Access to Reproductive Rights: Lessons from Latin America and the U.S.", in March 2023 at CLACS.

EVENTS: Center for Latin American Studies 2022-23

In 2022-23, the Center for Latin American Studies organized a full and diverse program of events.

During the Constitutional Convention’s opening on July 4, 2021, Elisa Loncón (right) and Jaime Bassa (left) lead a moment of silence for those killed during Chile’s struggles. (Photo by Cristina Dorador.)

CHILE: After Fifty Years, Can Chile Move Past the Legacy of Pinochet’s Constitution?

By Antonia Mardones Marshall | The efforts to reform Chile's Pinochet-era constitution have been running into the realities of the country's fragmented political landscape. Antonia Mardones Marshall looks at the prospects for further reform.

A map showing the research locations of Berkeley students supported by CLAS in 2022-23.

RESEARCH: Student Grant Recipients and Research Photos

CLAS supported Berkeley students to travel across the US and the Americas for field research and language classes.

Rocío Moreno. (Photo from desInformémonos, courtesy of Rocío Moreno.)

ANTICOLONIALISM: A Struggle That Transcends Borders

By Diana Negrín | Diana Negrín organized an event series featuring Rocío Moreno, the representative from Mezcala for the Indigenous Governance Council of Mexico’s Congreso Nacional Indígena.

A billboard in Berkeley, California, calls for the city to “rematriate the (Ohlone) land.” (Photo courtesy of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.)

ANTICOLONIALISM: Sogorea Te’ Land Trust Is Huchiun, A Territory of the Lisjan Ohlone

By Rocío Moreno (translated by Deborah Meacham) | Rocío Moreno describes the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust’s work to "rematriate" Ohlone lands in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Author Alex Reep (right) interviews vendor Luz Dila in the Galería El Porvenir, Cali. (Photo by Fabián Villa.)

RESEARCH: Lessons From a Traditional Food Market, Where Culture and Cuisine Converge

By Alex Reep | Mapping the food web that surrounds the Galería El Porvenir market in Cali, Colombia, Alex Reep digs into the consumers, the vendors, and the working of this urban market oasis.

The meeting of the “Transformative Agro-Ecology” workshop, with participants around the conference table at CLAS, March 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Latin American and Caribbean Socionatures Working Group.)

RESEARCH: Creating Collaborative Learning Spaces for Critical Environmental Social Scientists

By Ángela Castillo-Ardila, Sebastián Rubiano-Galvis, María Villalpando Páez, and Andrés Caicedo | The Latin American Socionatures Working Group assembled an innovative event series on critical environmental studies.

One of the chambers of the Supreme Court in Mexico. (Photo courtesy of the Presidencia de la República Mexicana.)

LAW: Populism and Challenges to Judicial Independence in Mexico

By Mónica Castillejos-Aragón | As president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador has attacked the independence of that country's judiciary. Mónica Castillejos-Aragón examines the history and current state of that conflict.

A weaving teacher helps a student weave turquoise and purple yarn on a loom

CLAS: By the Numbers, 2022-23

Highlighting the reach, diversity, and impact of the CLAS program for the 2022-23 academic year.

This Issue's Team

Chair: Natalia Brizuela
Vice Chair: Julia Byrd
Program Coordinator: Janet Waggaman
Editor: Deborah Meacham
Design and Layout: Greg Louden

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Center for Latin American Studies or UC Berkeley.

The contents of this magazine were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.