Jennifer M. Piscopo

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de diciembre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

Aymara embroiderer and costume designer Yolanda Chambi, 45, shows potatoes she grows on her field in Puno, Peru, in February. (Carlos Mamani/AFP via Getty Images)

The United Nations launched the Decade for Women in 1975, designating March 8 as International Women’s Day. This month, IWD turns 47 while what we once called the “novel coronavirus” heads into its third year.

By now, it’s well-known that lockdowns, home schooling and domestic responsibilities drove more women than men from the workforce around the world. Women worldwide lost $800 billion in earnings in 2020, and 13 million did not return to work in 2021.

Last International Women’s Day, world leaders from Europe to East Africa called for a covid-19 recovery effort that prioritizes women and gender equality. Yet my research for international organizations like UN Women shows that few governments have transformed such aspirations into action.…  Seguir leyendo »

People pass a poster for Chilean presidential candidate José Antonio Kast in Santiago on Nov. 9. (Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)

Six months ago, Chileans elected a reform-oriented majority to write a new constitution. Last month, Chilean voters made far-right candidate José Antonio Kast the front-runner for presidential runoff elections on Dec. 19. Kast will face the left’s Gabriel Boric, setting up a sharply divided race that pits Kast’s open admiration for Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship against Boric’s alliance with voting blocs demanding a more inclusive and democratic Chile.

If Kast wins the presidency, Chile could be led by two competing sets of institutions: on one side, an executive branch controlled by an authoritarian-minded president and a divided Congress; and on the other, a constitutional convention dominated by the left and political newcomers.…  Seguir leyendo »

A woman reads a newspaper showing the results of the previous day's referendum in favor of rewriting the nation's constitution in Santiago, Chile, on Oct. 26. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Chileans went to the polls this past Sunday, in a referendum postponed by the pandemic. On the ballot: should Chile replace the 1980 Constitution written by dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet? If so, who should write the new constitution? The referendum occurred following a year of protests over economic and social inequality, with some protests swelling to over a million people.

With turnout the highest in any election since 2012, nearly 80 percent of Chileans chose a new constitution. What’s more, roughly 80 percent also preferred a constitutional convention composed wholly of everyday citizens, instead of a convention composed of half citizens and half members of the Chilean Congress.…  Seguir leyendo »

For several weeks, angry Latin Americans have been protesting in the streets. In Bolivia, citizens are protesting allegedly fraudulent election results. In Chile and Ecuador, they’ve been marching and destroying property over economic inequality. And in Peru, battles over corruption reform led the president to dissolve congress, resulting in demonstrations and cries of a coup.

The eruption of protests suggests that Latin American governments are having difficulties delivering what voters care about: fair elections, honest politicians and economic redistribution. Analysts have suggested that the protests may lead voters to choose leftists and prompt governments to end economic austerity. Our research identifies another possibility: more women elected to office.…  Seguir leyendo »

Una América Latina sin presidentas

En el momento en que la presidenta chilena, Michelle Bachelet, abandone el cargo en marzo, no habrá ninguna presidenta en América Latina.

En un momento de 2014, la región llegó a tener cuatro presidentas: Laura Chinchilla en Costa Rica, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner en Argentina, Dilma Rousseff en Brasil y Bachelet. Ahora, no parece muy probable que tengamos presidentas en América Latina en el futuro cercano.

América Latina ha aprovechado las leyes de acción afirmativa para reducir la brecha de género en el liderazgo político como ninguna otra parte del mundo. No obstante, si esta región pretende conservar el terreno avanzado y contribuir a garantizar que las mujeres sigan ascendiendo a las principales posiciones de la política, América Latina debe tener muy claro hasta qué punto sirven los recursos legales para impulsar el ascenso de las mujeres.…  Seguir leyendo »

Latin America’s Female Leadership Void

After President Michelle Bachelet of Chile leaves office in March, Latin America will have no female presidents.

There was a time in 2014 when the region had four: Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina, Dilma Rousseff in Brazil and Ms. Bachelet. Now, Latin America is left with few prospects for female presidents in the near future.

More than most regions, Latin America has used affirmative-action laws to close the gender gap in political leadership. But to hold these gains, and to help ensure that women continue to rise to top political positions, Latin America needs to understand the limits of legal remedies for pulling women up.…  Seguir leyendo »