Ethnicity, Race, and Indigenous Peoples (ERIP)

A Section of the Latin American Studies Association

LASA/ERIP March 2006 Minutes

Dear Members of the LASA Section on Ethnicity, Race, and Indigenous Peoples,

We had a well-attended and fruitful business meeting in San Juan. During the meeting we discussed the following items (please read to the bottom where you will find the call for nominations for four positions on our governing council).

1. Council Member Mario Blaser reported on the status of the section's proposal to the LASA Executive Committee with respect of Indigenous and Afro-Latin participants. The goal is to help bring participants to LASA meetings for workshops and to encourage collaborations. There was some discussion about the interface between the ERIP proposal and national LASA's Otros Saberes initiative which will provide financing to "teams comprised of both indigenous and/or Afro-Latin and university based knowledge producers" for research over one year beginning July 2006. Proposals for that initiative are due June 1, 2006. The first year of the initiative is for Indigenous and Afro-Latin issues, with future rounds involving gender, the environment, worker rights, and youth cultures. The full statement of purpose can be found in the LASA conference program book. We decided to constitute a committee chaired by Mario Blaser to monitor this important issue and to keep us informed as to the status of the proposal. Elena Cirkovick will also serve on the committee. In connection with this issue, we discussed the importance of assuring that people being financed are respected by the local communities.

2. Leon Zamosc reported that the new journal, LACES (Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies), carries a special discounted rate for section members, although the journal is independent from the section. Leon, whose home institution is UC San Diego, proposed that the section consider co-sponsoring with UC San Diego Latin American Studies, Department of Ethnic Studies, and LACES a conference every two years or so. It would be an academic conference that would also provide room for papers and discussion of issues related to activism and practice. This proposal was unanimously approved.

3. Our section has approximately 260 members, giving us the right to designate five panels to the program committee for the next LASA meeting. Nancy Postero and Eva Thorne have volunteered to be the Co-Chairs of the ERIP program committee.

4. Leon Zamosc also offered to discuss with the LACES board whether the ERIP website could host discussions with authors of selected articles.

5. Everyone agreed that the website should be a top priority of the section. Marc Becker who did the original set-up work has been contacted to see if he can continue working on it now that the section has funds to pay for its further development and upkeep. More on this as we make progress.

6. Erick Langer proposed that the section support and write whatever letters might be necessary in support of Aymara historian Waskar Ari, who has been denied a visa to take an academic position at the University of Nebraska. Agreement on this was also unanimous.

7. As of the LASA meeting in San Juan we are in need of electing members to the following positions on ERIP's governing council:

Chairperson – To coordinate and organize communication; spearhead and follow through on initiatives that are decided and approved by the membership and the governing council. The term of the Chair will be one and one-half years.

Three council members – There are five council members (two positions are not up for election – Susan Fitzpatrick-Behrens and Todd Eisenstadt). Council members, together with the Chair and the Secretary/Treasurer confer to implement decisions of the membership and to propose new initiatives. Also, each council member will be asked to be in charge of a particular area of work. For example, website, conferences, liaison with committees, publicity, etc. The term of the Council Members will be three years.

PLEASE SEND YOUR NOMINATIONS TO JAN HOFFMAN FRENCH, SECRETARY/TREASURER (JAN@DUKE.EDU).

I will compile a list, solicit short statements from each nominee, prepare a ballot, and send it out to the entire membership for a vote.

I LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING YOUR NOMINATIONS.
Jan Hoffman French
Secretary/Treasurer