Durante décadas, la nación de Colombia ha sufrido el flagelo del desplazamiento forzado debido al conflicto armado, lo cual ha dejado más de ocho millones sin hogar y sin tierra. Para responder ante esta crisis, los teólogos de la Fundación Universitaria Seminario Bíblico de Colombia crearon una metodología—la investigación-acción misional—a fin de entender el fenómeno del desplazamiento forzado, movilizar las iglesias del país y así fomentar la recuperación holística de las víctimas. Se involucraron docenas de estudiosos y profesionales de cuatro continentes, además de coinvestigadores seleccionados de las mismas comunidades desplazadas. La investigación abarcó los campos de la teología, la economía, la política, la pedagogía, la sociología y naturalmente la teología. El fruto de esta colaboración innovadora fue una intervención llamada Fe y Desplazamiento, la cual se ha implementado en docenas de comunidades a lo largo del país. Este libro recopila sus hallazgos y aprendizajes, describiendo el potencial de la metodología de investigación-acción misional y demostrando el poder de la investigación teológica interdisciplinar, puesta al servicio de la misión de la iglesia local.

This book critically examines the association between the notions of crisis and migration in the context of Latin America, and from three different perspectives: first, it analyzes the discourses based on the concept of crisis employed by the media, academic researchers, civil society organizations and the state to frame human mobility issues; second, it investigates migrants’ agency under conditions of crisis; and third, it discusses whether “migration crisis” is a conjunctural or structural phenomenon in the region. Chapters in this contributed volume investigate the crisis-migration nexus in seven Latin American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua and Uruguay – by discussing different human mobility phenomena, such as the migrant caravans that departed from Central America bound to Mexico and the United States; the Nicaraguan exodus caused by the political crisis in the country; the perception of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia’s media; the presence of Caribbean migrants in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Crisis and Migration: Critical Perspectives from Latin America will be of interest to a wide range of social scientists interested in migration studies, as well as to policy makers and civil society organizations. This book offers a fresh look at the way we conceive, represent, and think about the relationship between crisis and human mobility. As the volume’s contributions show, a critical examination of the notion of crisis is a first step towards a more comprehensive understanding of the plight of present-day migrants worldwide.

The migration process is interpreted in a different way when researchers live in so-called societies of origin, than when it is interpreted from societies of destination—even when research work is multi-situated. The localization of researchers in this field involves numerous factors that influence the modalities for conducting research. Research agendas are clearly mediated by these localizations and this book on the contemporary social sciences points out those mediations, breaking with the dichotomous readings that are implicit in this migration process (origin-destination, north-south, and cause-effect, to mention just a few). In the individual chapters, priority is given to presenting the modalities through which research is conducted in multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary teams on the American Continent. In summary, the focus of this book is on the narrative of methodological experience of the Practice of Research on Migration and Mobilities.

There is long-standing debate on how population growth affects national economies. A new report from Population Matters examines the history of this debate and synthesizes current research on the topic. The authors, led by Harvard economist David Bloom, conclude that population age structure, more than size or growth per se, affects economic development, and that reducing high fertility can create opportunities for economic growth if the right kinds of educational, health, and labor-market policies are in place. The report also examines specific regions of the world and how their differing policy environments have affected the relationship between population change and economic development.

"Estudios ambientales, culturales, de población, de administración pública, económicos, sociales," 2005-2006