The Information Society in Latin America This research program concentrates on the impact of new
information and communications technology on the transformation of
Latin America's education system, public space and democratic life. Recently the
Edelstein Center has completed a research on the use of computers and
Internet by public school teachers in
Rio de Janeiro. The study indicates that even when they have a positive impact, they cannot be separated from the educational and human context. A comprehensive policy needs to properly training teachers, in particular confronting the difficulties of the older generation, use monitored software, and adequate maintaining the physical infrastructural and technical support for school computer labs.
Civil Society and Globalization Agendas The
Civil Society and Globalization Agendas research program focuses on the current changes in
Latin America’s
civil society. Civil society played an important role in the promotion of
democracy during the period of
military dictatorships. However, more recently, civil society organizations have expanded and changed profoundly. While continuing to play an important role in the defense of
human rights, in many countries civil society has become a vehicle for political parties, individual politicians, unions and social movements to channel public funds for their own benefit and/or political cooptation.
Virtual Libraries The Edelstein Center Virtual Library of Human Sciences develops and offers
free access to a set of
virtual libraries with 55.000 titles in constant expansion. The virtual library includes: 1) Brazilian Books which makes freely available re-editions of books already published by Brazilian authors or residents, in Portuguese as well as other languages, with 220 titles. 2) The Information Society Library, with more than 30.000 academic texts about the
information society. 3) SciELO Social Sciences English Edition, in partnerships with SciELO contains 30
journals from
Brazil and other
Latin American countries translated into English. 4) Plataforma Democrática Virtual Library with 15.000 academic texts on
democracy in
Latin America.
Democratic Platform Plataforma Democrática is a joint initiative of the
Edelstein Center and the
Instituto Fernando Henrique Cardoso devoted to strengthening Latin American
democratic institutions and
culture by fostering pluralistic debate on the social and political transformations of the region and the world.
Plataforma Democrática includes 21 associated institutions in
Latin America. Its current areas of
research and policy papers are:
a) Global Geopolitical Transformations and Latina America Democracies; and
b) Media and Democracy.
Plataforma Democrática site's includes a
virtual library of
free access with 15.000 academic titles, more than hundred original papers and the book series
The State of Democracy in Latin America.
Other activities The
Edelstein Center did participated in the Secretariat of the
Latin American Initiative on Drugs and Democracy. and of the
Global Commission on Drug Policy. == Select Publications ==