Latin American Studies Association fSPRING 2007o| VOLUME XXXVIII rum| ISSUE 2 IN THIS ISSUE On the Profession What LASA Can Do For Political Scientists by EVELYNE S. HUBER A Survey of Political Scientists’ Views on LASA by RAÚL MADRID El incierto rumbo de LASA by ARIEL C. ARMONY What Might LASA Do to Best Meet the Needs and Serve the Interests of Those in the Political Sciences? by SUSAN C. STOKES Debates Immigration Matters Don’t Panic, We are Hispanic! Migración y resistencia social by JOSÉ MANUEL VALENZUELA ARCE Crossing-back Methodologies Transnational Feminist Research on Incest in Mexico by GLORIA GONZÁLEZ-LÓPEZ Why the Immigrant Rights Struggle Compels Us to Reconceptualize Both Latin American and Latino/a Studies by WILLIAM I. ROBINSON Political Commentary Situación social y política de México y de Oaxaca al final del gobierno de Vicente Fox y principios del gobierno de Felipe Calderón. by SALOMÓN NAHMAD President Charles R. Hale, University of Texas, Austin [email protected] Vice President Eric Hershberg, Simon Fraser University [email protected] Past President Sonia E. Alvarez, University of Massachusetts, Amherst [email protected] Table of Contents Treasurer Kevin Middlebrook, University of London [email protected] EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 1 From the President | by CHARLES R. HALE For term ending October 2007 4 From the Associate Editor | by ARTURO ARIAS José Antonio Aguilar Rivera, Centro de Docencia e Investigación Económica ON THE PROFESSION Elizabeth Jelin, Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas 6 What LASA Can Do For Political Scientists | by EVELYNE S. HUBER Lynn Stephen, University of Oregon 8 A Survey of Political Scientists’ Views on LASA | by RAÚL MADRID For term ending April 2009 Alcida Rita Ramos, Universidade de Brasília 11 El incierto rumbo de LASA | by ARIEL C. ARMONY Guillermo Delgado, University of California/Santa Cruz 13 What Might LASA Do to Best Meet the Needs and Serve the Interests of Those in José Rabasa, University of California/Berkeley the Political Sciences? | by SUSAN C. STOKES Ex Officio Neil F. Harvey, New Mexico State University María Socorro Tabuenca Córdoba, DEBATES El Colegio de la Frontera Norte Milagros Pereyra-Rojas, University of Pittsburgh Immigration Matters Philip Oxhorn, McGill University 16 Don’t Panic, We are Hispanic! Migración y resistencia social FORUM EDITORIAL COMMITTEE by JOSÉ MANUEL VALENZUELA ARCE Editor 19 Crossing-back Methodologies: Transnational Feminist Research on Charles R. Hale, University of Texas, Austin Incest in Mexico | by GLORIA GONZÁLEZ-LÓPEZ Associate Editor 21 Why the Immigrant Rights Struggle Compels Us to Reconceptualize Both Arturo Arias, University of Redlands Latin American and Latino/a Studies | by WILLIAM I. ROBINSON Managing Editor Milagros Pereyra-Rojas, University of Pittsburgh POLITICAL COMMENTARY LASA STAFF 24 Situación social y política de México y de Oaxaca al final del gobierno de Vicente Membership Coordinator Fox y principios del gobierno de Felipe Calderón. | by SALOMÓN NAHMAD Jenna B. Bielewicz, University of Pittsburgh Congress Coordinator ON LASA2007 María Cecilia Q. Dancisin, University of Pittsburgh 27 Report from the Program Chairs | by NEIL HARVEY and MARÍA SOCORRO TABUENCA Communications Specialist Ian Downing, University of Pittsburgh CALLING ALL MEMBERS Assistant Director for Institutional Advancement Sandra Klinzing, University of Pittsburgh 28 Elections 2007: Nominating Committee Slate Executive Director Milagros Pereyra-Rojas, University of Pittsburgh NEWS FROM LASA Administrative Coordinator Israel R. Perlov, University of Pittsburgh 37 LASA Voluntary Support | by SANDY KLINZING 39 LASA Membership Report 2006 The LASA Forum is published four times a year. It is the official vehicle for conveying news about the Latin American Studies Association to its members. Articles appearing in the On the Profession and Debates sections of the Forum are commissioned by the Editorial Committee and deal with selected themes. The Committee welcomes responses to any material published in the Forum. Opinions expressed herein are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Latin American Studies Association or its officers. Direct subscriptions to the LASA Forum only, without LASA membership, are $50.00 per year. ISSN 0890-7218 President’s Report by CHARLES R. HALE | University of Texas, Austin | [email protected] The LASA Executive Council (EC) recently The data show how far we have come from braved Montréal’s sub-zero temperatures to LASA’s U.S.-centric beginnings, but also, attend our midterm meeting, an intense day how far we have to go. Currently, roughly and a half long session dedicated to vital 30 percent of our members live outside the Association issues. Reflecting on the past United States, of whom about 20 percent are nine months that culminated with this mid- Latin America-based. We have never had a reach our benchmark of supporting roughly term meeting, I am happy to report that the Latin America-based president. It is one 30 percent of total applications, we will need majority of my time and energy as President thing to reaffirm the principle, but quite to raise about $492,000 (25 percent more has been spent on issues of great intellectual- another to achieve full clarity about the end than our Puerto Rico goal)—while the political substance and challenges crucial to goals and the appropriate means to reach amount we currently have in hand is about Latin Americanist scholars. When, on them. What geographic distribution of our $257,000. The EC had a long and spirited occasion, I do not highlight these substantive membership do we seek? What changes in discussion about socially responsible dimensions myself, I have learned to rely organizational culture are most important in investment, in relation to management of upon the present EC—a critical, demanding, this gradual transformation toward LASA reserves and endowment funds, as energetic and highly talented group—to becoming a truly Americas-wide association well as the possibility of pursuing corporate bring them to the fore. Here is a glimpse of with a U.S. home? What kinds of relations donations. Without any attempt to convey our deliberations, followed by a comment on with our Latin American sister organizations the many complexities, I can report that the pluralism and the concerns about will best achieve complementarities and EC approved exploratory actions on both “politicization” within our Association. mutual support? Our practice of providing fronts: a more assertive move toward travel funds for significant numbers of Latin socially responsible investment of the One topic to which this EC has assigned America-based Congress participants is Association’s assets and a primary attempt to great importance is our commitment to the crucial to the overall objective of Latin attract donations from socially responsible “Latin Americanization” of LASA. While Americanization, but how sustainable are corporations. Fully aware that this latter our members surely have a range of our current fund raising strategies as both step is highly controversial, and fully positions on the meaning of this term, and general Congress attendance, and the Latin expecting it to generate intense and on the substance of this commitment, my American-based proportion of attendees constructive debate, I am very excited about sense is that most would endorse two broad continue to grow? We do not yet have firm the initiative. It is an opportunity for LASA principles (and these two certainly formed answers to these questions, but I can report to engage critically with the uneven and part of what I understood as my presidential that the EC has assigned them high priority, contradictory economic conditions in which mandate). We seek to increase the and has begun to take action. For example, we are all immersed, while also potentially percentage of Latin America-based LASA a subcommittee of the EC will design a brief fashioning creative new ways to meet our members as well as an evolutionary change survey to better understand the current Association’s pressing financial needs. I am toward an Association that more fully sources of travel funds available to Latin also deeply grateful to life member Michael encompasses the study of Latin America American participants and in May LASA Conroy, who has volunteered to work with from Latin America, thereby moving away officials will hold meetings with our the Fund Raising Committee and the EC to from an organizational culture and counterparts in Brazilian social science help us navigate this rocky terrain. More intellectual frame dominated by scholars organizations to discuss these issues in the details on this initiative will soon be from the North. To be sure, this stark context of both Montréal 2007 and Rio de available. contrast between Southern and Northern Janeiro 2009. perspectives does not always hold, given the Finally, I would like to report briefly on the great heterogeneity that both geographic Closely related to the need to increase the EC’s deliberations regarding our revitalized locations encompass. Still, the dual principle funds available for travel grants is the thorny commission on academic freedom, as well as is a reasonable point of departure, and question of corporate sponsorship. Given the related issue of a petition for LASA to indeed, it goes to the heart of why many of that attendance at the Montréal 2007 convene a fact-finding mission to investigate us find LASA to be so valuable and vital. Congress is projected to be greater than that the impact of social conflict and government of Puerto Rico, the fund raising challenge actions on Oaxacan intellectuals, academics, will be exacerbated as well. In order to 1 lasaforum SPRING 2007 : VOLUME XXXVIII : ISSUE 2 PRESIDENT’S REPORT continued… and cultural workers. The EC agreed that (including LASA officers, former officers, by academics on grounds that are portrayed LASA should establish a protocol for action and previous contributors to the Forum) as strictly objective or professional (and when our members’ (or would-be members’) may not agree with the views espoused, and therefore apolitical).