Building Latin American Bicentennials in the Age of Globalization

The bicentennial commemorations of independence in Latin America, especially Argentina, Chile, and Mexico in 2010, and seven other countries during the next 15 years, offer an excellent opportunity for comparative and multidisciplinary action and research on how governments and civil society in these countries are constructing their bicentennial commemorations and how they will use this historical moment to address urgent issues of social inclusion and institutional reform.

This historical convergence therefore offers the opportunity to hold broader region-wide discussions about democracy and social justice. In Argentina, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has suggested that the Bicentennial commemoration offers an opportunity to consider the "re-founding" of the state, strengthening human rights, the rule of law, and popular representation, while confronting the problems of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. Other scholars and public figures across the region have begun to appreciate the Bicentennial as a potentially important historical moment for the region in pursuing social and institutional reform.

The Origins

In 2004, the Latin American Bicentennial Project (LABP) team of the New School created an initial database on bicentennial activities and published an edited volume in 2005 titled "Construir Bicentenarios: Argentina". The publication focused on the meaning of commemoration and specific proposals for discussion during the Argentine Bicentennial. Some 10,000 copies of this book were printed in collaboration with Caras y Caretas, and thousands have been sold in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America. An important message of this book is that the Bicentennial should be a process and not a one time event.

This work has been further extended by the Bicentennial Project (BP) of School of Architecture, Design, and Urban Planning of the University of Buenos Aires (FADU-UBA), which has developed a directory of 90 bicentennial activities in Argentina and elsewhere in the region. The BP consists of 18 Argentine staff, most working as volunteers, under the supervision of Professor Margarita Gutman and Associate Professor Rita Molinos, and they are also working with the City and Provincial Governments of Buenos Aires.

Building on the work already underway at the New School and at FADU-UBA, the BP is carrying out a joint action-research effort to collaborate with researchers throughout the region. This effort includes strengthening capacity and creating tools for the region as a whole to best discuss and continue to work on the process of "re-founding". Tools for this include: web site, an on-line publication (The Bicentennial Observer), and a Bicentennial database, as well as an International Call for Submissions of Papers and Visual Digital Presentations on the above subjects which would include papers and participants from the other countries as well. Discussion of these papers in regional conferences with policy-makers and representatives of civil society organizations in 2009 and 2010 would will itself also be part of the Bicentennial process. In addition, throughout the period of regional commemorations, the LABP will support publications in the form of books, articles, and a web -site.

Objectives

The Observatory on Latin America (OLA) of the New School and the Bicentennial Program of the FADU-UBA, together with research teams in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay, have embarked on a three-year action and research project to document and interpret:

1) the different modes by which Latin American countries constructed their national centennial commemorations and how they left their mark on their respective cities, and how they are preparing their bicentennials;
2) the different ways in which Latin American countries commemorate their national bicentennial through public, private and civil society initiatives;
3) the processes and outcomes, in terms of current plans and their links to projects for the future;
4) the relationship between the bicentennial commemorations and the effect of the current global economic crisis on local economies; and
5) the relationship between the bicentennial commemorations and local political mobilizations.

To achieve this goal, the OLA Bicentennial Program has organized two International Calls for Papers and Audiovisual Presentations. The project will culminate in a Bicentennial Summit Research Conference in Mexico in 2011 bringing together regional and national policy-makers and researchers from government, universities, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

The 2nd International Call for Papers and Audiovisual Presentations 2009-2010 "Bicentennials in Action: Commemoration, Economic Crisis and Political Mobilization in Latin America"

Between 2009 and 2011, nine Latin American countries will commemorate the bicentennial of their independence. Other countries in the region will follow with their own commemorations soon after. The bicentennials coincide with the growing impact of the economic crisis and the change of many national governments in Latin America, they constitute an historic opportunity for reflection, action and the design of new paths for development, inclusion and social justice in the region.

Unlike the 1st International Call for papers, which included a comparative view of the centennial commemorations of the Latin American countries, the aim of this 2nd International Call for Papers and Audiovisual Presentations 2009-2010 "Bicentennials in Action: Commemoration, Economic Crisis and Political Mobilization in Latin America" is to join efforts to understand how the bicentennial commemorations are affected by the important current economic, political, and social processes, and how, at the same time, the Bicentennials affect these processes.

This Call promotes the exchange of information, reflections and knowledge about how different Latin American countries commemorate their national bicentennial. It emphasizes the relationship between the commemorations, the global economic crisis, and changing patterns of political mobilization and leadership, including the creative tension between balance and vision, which is very much related to the idea of "Bicentennials in Action".

The 5 awarded authors from this 2nd Call for papers and audiovisual presentations will present their work at an international conference to be held in Mexico in 2011. The awarded works and the honorable mentions will be published in an edited volume in 2011.

1st International Call for Papers and Audiovisual Presentations 2008 "Building Latin American Bicentennials in the Age of Globalization"

In 2008, the 1st International Call, "Building Latin American Bicentennials in the Age of Globalization" was carried out. After disseminating the call through electronic newsletters that were sent to 3500 institutions and individuals, publishing it on more than 80 websites, and recording 175,000 hits on the OLA website, 79 final submissions were received, including 63 essays and 16 audiovisual presentations from 14 countries. An academic committee made up of 31 members, representing nine countries, participated in three successive rounds of evaluation to select the five awards and seven honorable mentions.

The awarded works were presented by their authors at the International Conference held on February 26 and 27, 2009 in New York and will be integrated in the book "Building Latin American Bicentennials in the Age of Globalization" to be published in 2010.

Building Latin American Bicentennial Program Team OLA - New School

Direction: Margarita Gutman (since September, 2006)
General Coordination: Cecilia Golombek (since January, 2010) · Valeria Luzardo (February, 2008 - December, 2009)
Media Coordination: Valeria Luzardo (since January, 2010)
Program Associates: Cristina Gómez and Alejandra Otero (since January, 2010) · Chelsea Long (September, 2008 - August, 2009) · Ximena Maroto (April, 2009 - December, 2009)

Bicentennial Program team in Buenos Aires FADU-UBA

Program Co-Directors: Margarita Gutman and Rita Molinos (since September, 2006)
General Coordination: Ileana Versace (since February, 2008)
Media Coordination: Martín Gromez (since February, 2008)
Coordination Assistant: Gabriela Sorda (since September, 2009)
Operational Support: Javier Nesprias (since April, 2008) · Lucila Pugni Reta (since July, 2010) · Alejandro Schwindt (April, 2008 - June, 2010)

Internet website team www.bicentenarios.edu.ar (January to December 2007)

Direction: Margarita Gutman and Rita Molinos
General Coordination: Victoria Baeza
Photo Album section: Ileana Versace, Sandra Rua, Héctor Aguilar and Marina Vasta
Agenda section: Miguel Carrasco, Mariano Schilman and Carola Moris

The above are also members of the Cátedra Historia I-II-III Gutman-Molinos of FADU-UBA: www.gutmanmolinos.blogspot.com