Over the last two decades, there have been key developments in the Americas that have drawn attention to improvements in economic opportunity and democratic participation in several countries. At the same time, challenges remain. Governments, firms, and societies are addressing these issues through innovative methods of engagement, experimentation, participation, resistance, and critique.
The opening panel considered the effects of economic policies pursued in the region in the last two decades, tracking both growth and stagnation. Subsequent panels analyzed responses to uneven development, focusing on two types of reactions: movement and innovation. The second panel considered migration, and another pair of panels considered the rise of informality and the growth of illegal markets. All panels considered entrepreneurial responses, policy experiments, cultural productions, and social reactions that both address and interpret these challenges.
SCHEDULE
9:00-10:30 a.m. | Trade and Development: Growth and Challenges
- Gerardo Esquivel, Research Professor, COLMEX, Mexico
- Jenny Guardado, Professor, Georgetown University
- Celia Lessa Kerstenetzky, Professor, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
- Felipe Trigos, Vision Americas
10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. | Crossing Borders: Difficulties and Opportunities
- Rev. Sean Carroll, S.J., Executive Director, Kino Border Initiative
- Katharine Donato, Professor, Georgetown University
- Patricia Foxen, Deputy Director, National Council of La Raza
- Dulce Matuz, DREAMer and Activist
12:30 - 2:00 p.m. | Lunch
2:00-3:30 p.m. | Innovations: Informality and its Opportunities
- Alonso Acosta, Alumnus, Global Competitiveness Leadership Program, Peru
- Lissette Aliaga-Linares, Associate Professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha
- Matt Amengual, Associate Professor, MIT Management Sloan School
- William Maloney, Chief Economist, World Bank
3:45-5:15 p.m. | Innovations: Illegal Markets and Regulatory Alternatives
- Fernanda Alonso, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law
- Michael Collins, Deputy Director, Drug Policy Alliance
- Vidal Llerenas, Congressman (Morena), Mexico
- Joy Olson, Executive Director, WOLA
5:30 p.m. | Reception
This event was co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies and the Latin America Initiative.