Institute of Latin American Studies – serie

Since independence at the beginning of the 19th century, Latin America has maintained close links with Britain. This book examines the cultural and social implications of the relationship through a series of case studies that focus on British, Irish and West Indian immigrants and their descendants in Mexico, Central and South America. The contributors - historians, anthropologists and sociolinguists - explore the past, present and putative future of English-speaking communities in Latin America and the relationships with their host societies.

Since independence at the beginning of the 19th century, Latin America has maintained close links with Britain. This book examines the cultural and social implications of the relationship through a series of case studies that focus on British, Irish and West Indian immigrants and their descendants in Mexico, Central and South America. The contributors - historians, anthropologists and sociolinguists - explore the past, present and putative future of English-speaking communities in Latin America and the relationships with their host societies.

The analysis of gender and political inequality, and the women's movements that have contested it, have concentrated on the West. In this wide-ranging re-evaluation, incorporating development studies and political sociology, the author redresses this balance by analyzing Latin American women's movements within liberal, authoritarian and revolutionary states. These studies of Argentina, Nicaragua and Cuba, alongside comparative discussions of socialism, women's movements and citizenship, examine the complex, and persistent, interaction of states and women's movements, and the diversity of responses engendered.

This text focuses on a key period in Latin American history, the transition from colonial status, via the revolutions for independence, to national organization. The essays provide in-depth studies of 18th-century society, the colonial state, and the roots of independence in Spanish America. The relation of Spanish America to the age of democratic revolution and the reaction of the Church to revolutionary change are newly defined, and leadership of Simon Bolivar is subject to particular scrutiny. National organization saw the emergence of new political leaders, the "caudillos", and the marginalization of many people who sought relief in popular religion and millenarian movements.

Since 1985, Latin American governments have reformed their constitutions to recognize indigenous rights. The contributors to this book argue that these changes post fundamental challenges to accepted notions of democracy, citizenship and development in the region. Using case studies from Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia and Peru, the authors analyse the ways in which new legal frameworks have been implemented, appropriated and contested within a wider context of accelerating economic and legal globalization, highlighting the key implications for social policy, human rights and social justice.

Since 1985, Latin American governments have reformed their constitutions to recognize indigenous rights. The contributors to this book argue that these changes post fundamental challenges to accepted notions of democracy, citizenship and development in the region. Using case studies from Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia and Peru, the authors analyse the ways in which new legal frameworks have been implemented, appropriated and contested within a wider context of accelerating economic and legal globalization, highlighting the key implications for social policy, human rights and social justice.

These studies of Argentina, Nicaragua and Cuba, alongside comparative discussions of socialism, women's movements and citizenship, examine the complex, and persistent, interaction of states and women's movements, and the diversity of responses engendered.