Sovereign limits and regional opportunities for global civil society in Latin America

In this article, we evaluate whether Latin American participation in intern ational arenas reinforces traditional divides between state and society in global politics or transforms state-society relations in ways compatible wi th the concept of global civil society. We examine the participation and in teraction of Latin American nongovernmental organizations and states at thr ee recent United Nations conferences: the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, and the 1995 F ourth World Conference on Women. We conclude that Latin Americans are full participants in any emerging global civil society. Their experiences at the 1990s issue conferences closely track those of NGOs of the Northern Hemisp here, notwithstanding the much more recent appearance of NGOs in Latin Amer ica. At the same time, Latin Americans bring a regional sensibility to thei r participation in global processes that reflects recent political developm ents and debates in the region.