I’m proud to be part of this project and to have written a chapter on corporate social responsibility in Latin America that stemmed from my time in Guatemala two years ago. 

2018 SNX (South-North Exchange Conference)

Antigua, Guatemala

May 18-19, 2018

From Extraction to Emancipation: Development Reimagined 

Call for Papers

Sponsored by:

Latina & Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc. (LatCrit), the UC Davis Journal of International Law and Policy, and _________ [other sponsorships are under consideration, and please suggest your own school or program]

In July 2015, a delegation of law professors and lawyers from the United States and Canada traveled to Guatemala to study sustainable development. That study inspired the group to produce an edited volume, to be published in early 2018 by the ABA Section of International Law, that considers Guatemala as a case study to examine broad global themes arising from development practices in emerging economies around the world. The 2018 SNX conference provides an opportunity to continue the discussions and further engage and involve the local victims of unfettered globalization. 

This project offers important lessons to policy makers, corporate investors, and affected individuals and communities on strategies to improve distributional justice and respect for the rule of law, including human rights and environmental norms and aspirations. It also connects to such global themes as climate change, labor regimes in the context of trade, and forced migration, all of which have transborder implications and across-border commonalities. 

The 2018 SNX conference posits extraction as a metaphor for looking at exploitation from a wider lens. Although the conference is grounded in the Guatemalan experience, we invite speakers from a broader global context whose work is informed by similar experiences. We seek  papers that look at exploitation and resistence from a variety of perspectives and experiences. Particularly, we invite papers across disciplinary boundaries and from all constituencies on the following topics, as well as other topics you might suggest of relevance to the Global South:

The conference’s proceedings will be held in Spanish and English (with simultaneous translation). 

To be considered for participation, please send a brief abstract (not exceeding 500- 600 words) of your presentation and your contact info by December 15, 2017 to: benders@seattleu.edu and to:realdana@ucdavis.edu. Decisions will be announced in December 2017. The UC Davis Journal of International Law and Policy will publish a symposium volume to include selected papers from the conference. Please indicate in your abstract if you are interested in this publication opportunity. 

Conference Information: The 2018 SNX will be held at the Posada de Belen facility in Antigua, Guatemala. The organizing committee is currently negotiating a conference rate with a hotel(s) close to our conference venue.

Conference Registration fees, to include some meals and in-country transportation, are subject to change, but estimated for now as:

If you have any questions, please contact the program coordinators: Raquel Aldana (UC Davis), Steven Bender(Seattle University), Anibal Rosario Lebron (Howard) anibal.rosario.lebron@gmail.com, Willmai Rivera–Perez (Southern) wrivera-perez@sulc.edu, Yanira Reyes (InterAmerican) reyesyanira@gmail.com, or Sheila Vélez Martínez (Pitt) siv7@pitt.edu.