Faculty Voices

Eleven million Africans were forcibly sent to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. Two out of every three came to Latin America and the Caribbean. Alejandro de la Fuente, Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics at Harvard, discusses how Afro-descendent mobilization has brought change to the region in the last twenty years. De la Fuente, who is also director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard’s Hutchins Center, points to a transformative wave—particularly in Latin American constitutions—that now recognizes Afro-descendents as integral members of pluricultural nations. That recognition has led to “concrete and measurable opportunities.” But there’s still a long way to go.

Jocelyn Viterna, Harvard Professor of Sociology and director of undergraduate studies in the sociology department, discusses the February 28 Salvadoran elections. The results of these elections for the legislative body and mayoral offices are likely to determine the course of the country for years to come. Viterna, the author of Women in War: The Micro-processes of Mobilization in El Salvador, has worked and researched in El Salvador for 25 years.

Doris Sommer, Ira and Jewell Williams Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of African and African American Studies, discusses the relationship between the humanities and democracies, as well as the dire implications of budget cuts for the humanities both in the United States and Latin America.

Yanilda María González, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of Authoritarian Police in Democracy: Contested Security in Latin America discusses policing, state violence and citizenship in democracy. Looking at issues of race and class, she shows how ordinary democratic politics in unequal societies can perpetuate authoritarian policing.

Marcia Castro, Andelot Professor of Demography at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, takes a look at the challenges Brazil—long a world leader in immunizations—faces with the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Mariano Siskind, Harvard Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of Comparative Literatures, reflects on the political, social, and cultural implications of famed soccer star Diego Maradona’s life and death.

This Fall has been a busy season for democracy, from elections in Bolivia (and the United States) to a resounding vote for a new Chilean constitution. Steve Levitsky, director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and co-author of How Democracies Die, puts it all in context in this podcast.

Davíd Carrasco, Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America, and June Carolyn Erlick, Editor-in-Chief, ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America discuss Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).