Urban Social Movements In Latin America:
             Latin America is made up of diverse countries, peoples and cultures. It is a continent rich in resources; however, it has many problems facing its people, such as; debt, urbanization, environmental issues, multinationals and continuing wars and unrest. Many people in Latin America withstand sever hardship because of these issues and how their governments lack the ability to respond. This essay will examine 1 key issue facing Latin America urbanization. This issue will be analyzed on more micro level through local social movements and how particular communities have come together to meet their needs and face an often-imposing government. This essay will concentrate on the time during the 1980s, however, will have to add some historical context leading up to this period.
             The last half of the 20-century saw many rural third world nations become rapidly urbanized. Latin America was one of these continents to transform. Most of this is due to migration after the Second World War where migrants from rural areas were forced to leave to find work in order to survive. Many countries in this area couldn't cope with this urban growth, which led to people living in conditions well below the poverty line. Families migrating to the city centers quickly erected independent houses through squatting or claiming land through land invasions on land surrounding the city that was either owned by the government or privately. Food, shelter and community services were the main issues that these people dealt with everyday often with little or no help from their government.
             Urbanization is caused by many factors, studies have been done in 'modernization theories, dependency theories and urban bias all to analyze how and why urbanization exists. This essay doesn't explore how urbanization has come about but more how different communities have coped and organized social movements to change th...