James Lerager’s research while affiliated with Macalester College and other places

In the 2000s, Bolivia and Ecuador were marked by battles over natural resources in which mass mobilizations challenged the neoliberal privatization of resources such as water and natural gas. In El Alto and Quito, these mobilizations boosted the public standing of women whose frontline militancy helped confront privatization and build momentum for the election of women to top leadership. Although gender discrimination persisted, women’s activism in these resource battles demonstrated to men their capacity to lead in arenas other than health, family, and education. In the wake of these conflicts, variations in women’s voice—the power to speak, set agendas, and dictate discourse—on the executive councils of popular organizations prove to be determined by societal sexism, leadership and training opportunities for women, the presence of more women on the executive council, the status of the council seats won by women, and the particular organization’s decision-making process.

James Lerager explains how he attended his first major campaign event, a MAS rally for Evo Morales's presidential campaign. The Plaza Villarroel, overlooking La Paz, was filled to overflowing with thousands of MAS supporters arriving by foot, public bus, and taxi. The Plaza Villarroel, overlooking La Paz, was filled to overflowing with thousands of MAS supporters arriving by foot, public bus, and taxi. Most were dressed in the MAS's blue and black. After hours of music, campaign chants, and speeches by party leaders and candidates for public office, Evo Morales Ayma and vice presidential candidate Álvaro García Linera, dressed in long traditional woolen ponchos and wearing necklaces of coca leaves and flowers, came onstage to a welcoming ovation. In the succeeding days, James followed the MAS campaign to Cochabamba, where a series of campaign events and meetings culminated in a massive rally in the soccer stadium.

Study of land invasion organizations in Lima and Quito reveals six surprising trends that differ by metropolitan context. Specifically, invasion organizations tend to differ with respect to building materials, original land ownership, the difficulty and consequences of acquiring land titles, strategies for acquiring electricity, and types of neighborhood regimes. A more general contrast also emerges: Lima organizations are more likely to encounter quick initial success followed by gradual decline, while the success of Quito organizations is often more gradual, resulting in long-term organizational survival. These citywide trends can be explained by three factors—public policy, local democratization, and geography and climate—that are often neglected in favor of neighborhood-level explanations.