Professor Eduardo Canel (BA Spec. Hons. '82, MA '84, PhD '93), director of York’s Centre for Research on Latin America & the Caribbean (CERLAC), was recently named one of the 10 most influential Hispanic Canadians of 2009 by the Hispanic Business Association (HBA).
A professor in York’s Department of Social Science teaching in the International Development Studies and Latin American & Caribbean Studies Programs, Canel was chosen from 34 nominees, representing 10 countries of origin, and from seven different provinces across Canada.
The winners were selected by a panel of judges comprised of past winners and executives from the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, Canadian Hispanic Congress and the Hispanic Press Association of Canada, as well as journalists from The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Canadian Business and the CBC. The results were audited by an independent lawyer.
Right: Eduardo Canel
Canel’s current research focuses on the changing nature of state-civil society relations in Latin America resulting from neo-liberal restructuring and democratization. His forthcoming book, Barrio Democracy in Latin America: Participatory Decentralization and Community Activism in Montevideo (Penn State University Press), will examine the contrasting experiences of participatory decentralization in three working class neighbourhoods in Montevideo city, highlighting how local conditions have shaped participatory processes and the outcome of institutional reforms.
He has been involved in the International Development Studies Program since it began in 2001, acting as its coordinator in 2006-2007. Canel is a director and Fellow at CERLAC and was the coordinator of the Latin American & Caribbean Studies Program from 1995 to 2001. He is also a member of the board of the Canadian Association for Latin American & Caribbean Studies.
In addition, Canel has participated in two institutional cooperation projects involving CERLAC and Latin American partner institutions in Chile and Nicaragua. He has designed and delivered intercultural effectiveness and pre-departure workshops for the Canadian International Development Agency and the Canadian Foreign Service Institute in the Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade Canada. He also assisted in the production of several CBC television documentaries on Central America and Cuba in the 1980s. In 1998, he won a York University teaching award and received mention in the most popular professors list in the Maclean's Guide to Canadian Universities in 2000 and 2001.
The awards ceremony for the 10 most influential Hispanic Canadians was held Nov. 20 at the St. Andrews Club in Toronto, where Peter Kent, Canada’s minister of state of foreign affairs for the Americas, addressed some 300 executives, community leaders, diplomats, journalists, entrepreneurs as well as the winners. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with the award winners next spring in Ottawa.