October 26, 1998

Accolades

Jonathan Fox

Jonathan Fox, associate professor of Latin American and Latino studies, coordinated a two-day conference, "Lessons from Mexico-U.S. Bi-National Civil Society Coalitions," in July. The conference drew U.S. and Mexican participants from trade unions, universities, and environmental, farmer, and human rights groups, as well as immigrant and Latino rights organizations. UCSC cosponsors included LALS, the Chicano/Latino Research Center, and the Center for Global, International, and Regional Studies. The Mexico-U.S. Diálogos Program also sponsored the meeting. The event was funded by a grant the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. UC Mexus has funded the translation of the conference papers.

Manuel Pastor, chair of Latin American and Latino studies, participated in a high-level conference in Washington, D.C., on race. The meeting, "Research Conference on Racial Trends in the United States," was sponsored by

Manuel Pastor

the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and is part of the President's Initiative on Race. Pastor gave a talk about "Geography and Opportunity," discussing the flight of jobs from inner cities to the suburbs and the impacts that has on poverty. As jobs move away, poverty concentrates in inner cities where most racial minorities live, weakening the very social networks that help people find jobs. Moreover, although jobs move out, industrial waste is typically left behind in central cities, contributing to the environmental degradation of urban areas. The resulting racially and socially disparate character of cities and suburbs--and the increasing importance of the suburbs in national voting--has diminished the political will to deal with poverty, race, and urban decline, said Pastor, whose work emphasizes the "economic complementarity" of cities and suburbs within regions and is contributing to the "relinking" of geographic spaces.

In a letter to participants, President Clinton wrote that he hopes to "look to the information and discussions presented during this conference as a key resource in the development of my own upcoming report on race to the American people."

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