This book is open access under a CC-BY license. The multiple purposes of nature - livelihood for communities, revenues for states, commodities for companies, and biodiversity for conservationists - have turned environmental governance in Latin America into a highly contested arena. In such a resource-rich region, unequal power relations, conflicting priorities, and trade-offs among multiple goals have led to a myriad of contrasting initiatives that are reshaping social relations and rural territories. This edited collection addresses these tensions by unpacking environmental governance as a complex process of formulating and contesting values, procedures and practices shaping the access, control and use of natural resources. Contributors from various fields address the challenges, limitations, and possibilities for a more sustainable, equal, and fair development. In this book, environmental governance is seen as an overarching concept defining the dynamic and multi-layered repertoire of society-nature interactions, where images of nature and discourses on the use of natural resources are mediated by contextual processes at multiple scales.

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a period of economic crises, increasing indebtedness as well as financial instability for Latin America and most other developing countries; in contrast, China showed amazingly high growth rates during this time and has since become the third largest economy in the world. Politically, China presents itself more prominently on the international stage, stressing its position as a developing country and seeking new alliances, including South-South alliances. Based on several case studies, this volume assesses how China's rise-one of the most important recent changes in the global economy-is affecting Latin America's national politics, political economy, and regional and international relations. Several Latin American countries benefit from China's economic growth by means of commodity exports, rising prices, and Chinese investment. Furthermore, China's new role in international politics has been helpful to many leftist governments' efforts in Latin America to end the Washington Consensus. The contributors to this thought-provoking volume examine these and the other causes, effects, and prospects of Latin America's experiences with China's global expansion from a South-South perspective.

."..fills a significant gap in the existing discourse by providing a comprehensive analysis of a crucial structural feature of South-South relations. Alex Fernandez Jilberto (who sadly passed away shortly before the book was published) and Barbara Hogenboom have put together insightful chapters on the bilateral relations between individual Latin American states and China, written by knowledgeable specialists, to produce one of the best books yet in its field." International Affairs

"This is an excellent macro study of Sino-Latin American relations. The credentials of the contributors are first-rate, as are the organization and readability of the book - Highly Recommended." Choice

" This] volume is filled with rich data drawn from timely empirical research... A] crucial contribution to Latin American Studies on a subject of ever increasing urgency. From a political economy perspective this sophisticated yet accessible volume covers the waterfront of major domestic and international relations issues raised by China's growing influence in the region. The focus on the longer-term development implications of the relationship for Latin America raise a critical question that cuts to the core of Latin America's perennial dilemma. How will the region wean itself off raw materials exports as the principal engine of economic growth? The relationship with China, in any case, does not seem to be the path." Eduardo Silva, Tulane University

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a period of economic crises, increasing indebtedness as well as financial instability for Latin America and most other developing countries; in contrast, China showed amazingly high growth rates during this time and has since become the third largest economy in the world. Based on several case studies, this volume assesses how China's rise - one of the most important recent changes in the global economy - is affecting Latin America's national politics, political economy and regional and international relations. Several Latin American countries benefit from China's economic growth, and China's new role in international politics has been helpful to many leftist governments' efforts in Latin America to end the Washington Consensus. The contributors to this thought provoking volume examine these and the other causes, effects and prospects of Latin America's experiences with China's global expansion from a South - South perspective.

Alex E. Fernandez Jilberto was Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam until his death in 2010. Barbara Hogenboom is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation (CEDLA) in Amsterdam. Together they have published several edited volumes, including "Big Business and Economic Development - Conglomerates and Economic Groups in Developing Countries and Transition Economies" (Routledge, 2008).

This new collection critically examines the new global policy of 'good governance'. This catchphrase of aid policy and development thinking has been the subject of too little analysis to date. This book redresses the balance. It places the prefix 'good', and exactly what that means, under the microscope and examines the impact of neoliberal governance in a wide range of countries and territories, including Chile, Russia, Argentina and Indonesia.

Bringing together an international and multidisciplinary group of experts, this is the first comprehensive volume to analyze conglomerates and economic groups in developing countries and transition economies. Using sixteen in-depth case studies it provides a comparative framework for the study of contemporary process of privatization, economic and financial liberalization and neoliberal globalization. Exploring the various causes and economic, social and political effects of the rise of 'big business' in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe, the main issues that are examined include: the nature of contemporary economic concentration the relations between 'local' and 'external' investors the impact on development, and on economic and political control over its direction the new role of the state towards conglomerates and economics groups the effects of economic and political changes on the legitimacy of the state and large companies. This volume is perfect as either a textbook or supplementary reading for students at all levels, as well as researchers and governmental and non-governmental professionals working and studying in the fields of international business and economic development.

This new collection critically examines the new global policy of 'good governance'. This catchphrase of aid policy and development thinking has been the subject of too little analysis to date. This book redresses the balance. It places the prefix 'good', and exactly what that means, under the microscope and examines the impact of neoliberal governance in a wide range of countries and territories, including Chile, Russia, Argentina and Indonesia.

This book is open access under a CC-BY license. The multiple purposes of nature - livelihood for communities, revenues for states, commodities for companies, and biodiversity for conservationists - have turned environmental governance in Latin America into a highly contested arena. In such a resource-rich region, unequal power relations, conflicting priorities, and trade-offs among multiple goals have led to a myriad of contrasting initiatives that are reshaping social relations and rural territories. This edited collection addresses these tensions by unpacking environmental governance as a complex process of formulating and contesting values, procedures and practices shaping the access, control and use of natural resources. Contributors from various fields address the challenges, limitations, and possibilities for a more sustainable, equal, and fair development. In this book, environmental governance is seen as an overarching concept defining the dynamic and multi-layered repertoire of society-nature interactions, where images of nature and discourses on the use of natural resources are mediated by contextual processes at multiple scales.

Bringing together an international and multidisciplinary group of experts, this is the first comprehensive volume to analyze conglomerates and economic groups in developing countries and transition economies. Using sixteen in-depth case studies it provides a comparative framework for the study of contemporary process of privatization, economic and financial liberalization and neoliberal globalization. Exploring the various causes and economic, social and political effects of the rise of 'big business' in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe, the main issues that are examined include: the nature of contemporary economic concentration the relations between 'local' and 'external' investors the impact on development, and on economic and political control over its direction the new role of the state towards conglomerates and economics groups the effects of economic and political changes on the legitimacy of the state and large companies. This volume is perfect as either a textbook or supplementary reading for students at all levels, as well as researchers and governmental and non-governmental professionals working and studying in the fields of international business and economic development.

This volume examines a central conundrum of Latin American politics. How is that the triumph of neoliberal-inspired economic restructuring in the 1980s and 90s did not cause the political demise of populist movements? What is remarkable, as these scholars show, is that Latin American populist parties, which had long been associated with statist, quasi-Keynesian, even demagogic economic policies, have survived the transition to the much harsher era of free markets, privatisation, unemployment and increasing inequality. And without apparently losing their political popularity, in contrast both to the far left and traditional oligarchic parties. Indeed Latin American populist forces seem to have made neoliberalism their own. The Editors have carefully chosen from South and Central America a representative set of countries through which to explore this phenomenon - Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua. What emerges is an up-to-date, nuanced modern political history of Latin America which does full justice to the distinctive political paths of each country while at the same time making clear the significant extent to which the region's populist tradition as a whole has adapted to the new economic realities. This is in marked contrast to the very different political trajectories of Africa and Asia in the past two decades.

The book makes an important contribution to the discussion on the nature and impact of current processes of regionalization and globalization. NGOs criticism on Mexico's weak enforcement of environmental policy could not be ignored or silenced in the NAFTA debate. In the end, a supplemental environmental agreement was added to the trade agreement: a unique event.