Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Social Dimensions of Public Policy: The Case of Costa Rica

博士论文改进补助金：公共政策的社会维度：哥斯达黎加的案例

• 批准号: 0752279
• 负责人: David Harvey
• 金额: $ 0.16万
• 依托单位: CUNY Graduate School University Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-04-15 至 2009-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0752279&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Social

Graduate student Jeremy Rayner, supervised by Professor David Harvey, will study the opposition to telecommunications privatization in contemporary Costa Rica. In 2000, an unprecedented wave of protests and strikes stopped an attempt to partially privatize the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) and end its monopolies in telecommunications. Today, telecommunications privatization is again central to an upsurge in social movement activity in the context of controversy over the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, which stipulates the opening of Costa Rica's telecommunications markets. The researcher will conduct an ethnographic study of the organized opposition to telecommunications privatization, utilizing participant observation and interviews. Interviews will be conducted with representatives of four prominent categories of privatization opponents: students, urban and rural community activists, and ICE employees, in order to uncover the varied reasons and motives driving sustained opposition to privatization. Additional sources will be employed for information concerning the political, economic and historical context in which this movement has arisen. Interviews with privatization advocates will provide a basis for comparative evaluation of opponents' claims, while documentary sources will provide information on the economic performance of the ICE, its representation in Costa Rican public culture over time, and the content of key legislative debates.This research is important because the high degree of contention over telecommunications privatization in Costa Rica makes this study particularly well placed to address privatization's broader political and cultural dimensions. It has significant policy implications because it will add to understanding of the reasons behind widespread opposition to privatization in Latin America, and because it will contribute additional perspectives from a long process of debate in Costa Rica to the ongoing global policy deliberation over the provision of access to communications. This research will also make an important contribution to the education of a social scientist.

研究生杰里米·雷纳（Jeremy Rayner）在大卫·哈维教授的指导下，将研究当代哥斯达黎加反对电信私有化的情况。 2000年，前所未有的抗议和罢工浪潮阻止了哥斯达黎加电力研究所（ICE）部分私有化并结束其电信垄断的企图。 如今，在与美国签订的中美洲自由贸易协定（CAFTA）引发争议的背景下，电信私有化再次成为社会运动热潮的核心，该协定规定开放哥斯达黎加电信市场。 研究人员将利用参与观察和访谈，对有组织的反对电信私有化的活动进行人种学研究。 将对私有化反对者的四个主要类别的代表进行访谈：学生、城乡社区活动人士和 ICE 员工，以揭示持续反对私有化的各种原因和动机。 将利用其他来源来获取有关这场运动发生的政治、经济和历史背景的信息。 与私有化倡导者的访谈将为对反对者的主张进行比较评估提供基础，而文献资料将提供有关 ICE 的经济绩效、其在哥斯达黎加公共文化中的代表性以及关键立法辩论内容的信息。这项研究很重要，因为哥斯达黎加对电信私有化的高度争论使得这项研究特别适合解决私有化更广泛的政治和文化层面。 它具有重大的政策影响，因为它将加深对拉丁美洲普遍反对私有化背后原因的理解，并且因为它将从哥斯达黎加的长期辩论过程中为正在进行的有关提供通信的全球政策审议提供更多观点。 这项研究也将为社会科学家的教育做出重要贡献。