Nicaragua Network News

Unlike earlier U.S. interventions in Latin America, the Reagan administration's attempt to overthrow the Sandinista government of Nicaragua during the 1980s was not allowed to proceed quietly. Tens of thousands of American citizens organized and agitated against U.S. aid to the counterrevolutionary guerrillas, known as "contras." Believing the Contra War to be unnecessary, immoral, and illegal, they challenged the administration's Cold War stereotypes, warned of "another Vietnam," and called on the United States to abide by international norms. A Call to Conscience offers the first comprehensive history of the anti?Contra War campaign and its Nicaragua connections. Roger Peace places this eight-year campaign in the context of previous American interventions in Latin America, the Cold War, and other grassroots oppositional movements. Based on interviews with American and Nicaraguan citizens and leaders, archival records of activist organizations, and official government documents, this book reveals activist motivations, analyzes the organizational dynamics of the anti?Contra War campaign, and contrasts perceptions of the campaign in Managua and Washington. Peace shows how a variety of civic groups and networks?religious, leftist, peace, veteran, labor, women's rights?worked together in a decentralized campaign that involved extensive transnational cooperation.

Rethinking Revolution brings to life the spirited and often contentious debates among frontline activists over how to unify and transform their societies toward greater economic, social and political equality. Looking at the most dynamic new social movements in several countries, Connell examines how these groups are challenging and enriching strategic vision of leading political parties, even as they redefine the nature of power and the struggle to achieve it. A bold and provocative analysis' - Howard Zinn 'Thoughtful, often brilliant' - Margaret Randall'

The second-largest Latino-immigrant group in Los Angeles after Mexicans, Central Americans have become a remarkable presence in city neighborhoods, with colorful festivals, flags adorning cars, community organizations, as well as vibrant ethnic businesses. The people from Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama living in Los Angeles share many cultural and historical commonalities, such as language, politics, religion, and perilous migratory paths as well as future challenges. The distinctions are also evident as ethnicities, music, and food create a healthy diversity throughout residential locations in Los Angeles. During the 1980s and 1990s, an unprecedented number of new Central Americans arrived in this cosmopolitan city, many for economic reasons while others were escaping political turmoil in their native countries. Today they are part of the ethnic layers that shape the local population. Central Americans have embraced Los Angeles as home and, in doing so, transported their rich heritage and customs to the streets of this multicultural metropolis.

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society discusses media around the world in their varied forms—newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, books, music, websites, social media, mobile media—and describes the role of each in both mirroring and shaping society. This encyclopedia provides a thorough overview of media within social and cultural contexts, exploring the development of the mediated communication industry, mediated communication regulations, and societal interactions and effects. This reference work will look at issues such as free expression and government regulation of media; how people choose what media to watch, listen to, and read; and how the influence of those who control media organizations may be changing as new media empower previously unheard voices. The role of media in society will be explored from international, multidisciplinary perspectives via approximately 700 articles drawing on research from communication and media studies, sociology, anthropology, social psychology, politics, and business.

This volume provides a systematic overview of the contemporary Latin American youth violence phenomenon. The authors focus specifically on youth gangs, juvenile justice issues, and applied research concerns, providing a rounded and balanced exploration of this increasingly important topic.