Latin American Silhouettes – serie

Although Mexico began its national life in the 1821 as one of the most liberal democracies in the world, it ended the century with an authoritarian regime. Examining this defining process, distinguished historians focus on the evolution of Mexican liberalism from the perspectives of politics, the military, the Church, and the economy. Based on extensive archival research, the chapters demonstrate that—despite widely held assumptions—liberalism was not an alien ideology unsuited to Mexico's traditional, conservative, and multiethnic society. On the contrary, liberalism in New Spain arose from Hispanic culture, which drew upon a shared European tradition reaching back to ancient Greece.This volume provides the first systematic exploration of the evolution of Mexican liberal traditions in the nineteenth century. The chapters assess the changes in liberal ideology, the nature of federalism, efforts to create stability with a liberal monarchy in the 1860s, the Church's accommodation to the new liberal order, the role of the army and of the civil militias, the liberal tax system, and attempts to modernize the economy in the latter part of the century. Taken together, these essays provide a nuanced and comprehensive analysis of the transformation of liberalism in Mexico.Contributions by: Christon I. Archer, William H. Beezley, Marcello Carmagnani, Manuel Chust, Brian Connaughton, Robert H. Duncan, Aldo Flores-Quiroga, Alicia Hernández Chávez, Sandra Kuntz Ficker, Andrés Reséndez, Jaime E. Rodríguez O., and José Antonio Serrano Ortega

Set in the larger context of the evolution of international human rights, this cogent book examines the tragic development and ultimate resolution of Latin America's human rights crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Thomas Wright focuses especially on state terrorism in Chile under General Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990) and in Argentina during the Dirty War (1976–1983). The author probes the background of these regimes, the methodology of state terrorism, and the human rights movements that emerged in urgent response to the brutality of institutionalized torture, murder, and disappearance. He also discusses the legacies of state terrorism in the post-dictatorial period, particularly the bitter battle between demands for justice and the military's claim of impunity. Central to this struggle was the politics of memory as two radically different versions of the countries' recent history clashed: had the militaries conducted legitimate wars against subversion or had they exercised terrorism based on a misguided concept of national security? The book offers a nuanced exploration of the reciprocal relationship between state terrorism and its legacies, on one hand, and international human rights on the other. When the Chilean and Argentine militaries seized power, the international human rights lobby was too weak to prevent the massive toll of state terrorism. But the powerful worldwide response to these regimes ultimately strengthened international human rights treaties, institutions, and jurisprudence, paving the way for the Rwanda and Yugoslavia genocide tribunals and the International Criminal Court. Indeed, Chile and Argentina today routinely try and convict former repressors in their own courts. This compelling history demonstrates that the experiences of Chile and Argentina contributed to strengthening the international human rights movement, which in turn gave it the influence to affect the outcome in these two South American countries. Ironically, the brutal regimes of Chile and Argentina played the major role in transforming a largely dormant international lobby into a powerful force that today is capable of bringing major repressors from anywhere in the world to justice. These intertwined themes make this book important reading not only for Latin Americanists but for students of human rights and of international relations as well.

Set in the larger context of the evolution of international human rights, this cogent book examines the tragic development and ultimate resolution of Latin America's human rights crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Thomas Wright focuses especially on state terrorism in Chile under General Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990) and in Argentina during the Dirty War (1976–1983). The author probes the background of these regimes, the methodology of state terrorism, and the human rights movements that emerged in urgent response to the brutality of institutionalized torture, murder, and disappearance. He also discusses the legacies of state terrorism in the post-dictatorial period, particularly the bitter battle between demands for justice and the military's claim of impunity. Central to this struggle was the politics of memory as two radically different versions of the countries' recent history clashed: had the militaries conducted legitimate wars against subversion or had they exercised terrorism based on a misguided concept of national security? The book offers a nuanced exploration of the reciprocal relationship between state terrorism and its legacies, on one hand, and international human rights on the other. When the Chilean and Argentine militaries seized power, the international human rights lobby was too weak to prevent the massive toll of state terrorism. But the powerful worldwide response to these regimes ultimately strengthened international human rights treaties, institutions, and jurisprudence, paving the way for the Rwanda and Yugoslavia genocide tribunals and the International Criminal Court. Indeed, Chile and Argentina today routinely try and convict former repressors in their own courts. This compelling history demonstrates that the experiences of Chile and Argentina contributed to strengthening the international human rights movement, which in turn gave it the influence to affect the outcome in these two South American countries. Ironically, the brutal regimes of Chile and Argentina played the major role in transforming a largely dormant international lobby into a powerful force that today is capable of bringing major repressors from anywhere in the world to justice. These intertwined themes make this book important reading not only for Latin Americanists but for students of human rights and of international relations as well.

This book reinvigorates the debate on the Mexican Revolution, exploring what this pivotal event meant to women. The contributors offer a fresh look at women's participation in their homes and workplaces and through politics and community activism. They show how women of diverse backgrounds with differing goals were actively involved, first in military roles during the violent early phase of civil war, and later in the state-building process. Drawing on a variety of perspectives, the volume illuminates the ways women variously accepted, contested, used, and manipulated the revolutionary project in Mexico.All too often, attention has been limited to elite, pro-revolutionary women's formal political activities, particularly their pursuit of suffrage. This timely volume broadens traditional perspectives, drawing on new scholarship that considers grassroots participation in institution building and the contested nature of the revolutionary process. Recovering narratives that have been virtually written out of the historical record, this book brings us a rich and complex array of women's experiences in the revolutionary and post-revolutionary era in Mexico.

The only substantive study of Plutarco El'as Calles and the Mexican Revolution, this book traces the remarkable life story of a complex and little-understood, yet key figure in Mexico's history. JYrgen Buchenau draws on a rich array of archival evidence from Mexico, the United States, and Europe to explore Calles's origins and political trajectory. He hailed from Sonora, a border state marked by fundamental social and economic change at the turn of the twentieth century. After dabbling in various careers, Calles found the early years of the revolution (1910-1920) afforded him the chance to rise to local and ultimately national prominence. As president from 1924 to 1928, Calles embarked on an ambitious reform program, modernized the financial system, and defended national sovereignty against an interventionist U.S. government. Yet these reforms failed to eradicate underdevelopment, corruption, and social injustice. Moreover, his unyielding campaigns against the Catholic Church and his political enemies earned him a reputation as a repressive strongman. After his term as president, Calles continued to exert broad influence as his country's foremost political figure while three weaker presidents succeeded each other in an atmosphere of constant political crisis. He played a significant role in founding a ruling party that reined in the destructive ambitions of leading army officers and promised to help campesinos and workers attain better living conditions. This dynastic party and its successors, including the present-day Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI, or Party of the Institutional Revolution), remained in power until 2000. Many of the institutions and laws forged during the Calles era survived into the present. Through this comprehensive assessment of a quintessential politician in an era dominated by generals, entrepreneurs, and educated professionals, Buchenau opens an illuminating window into the Mexican Revolution and contemporary Mexico.

The first serious biography of Francisco Solano López in English for decades, this richly researched book tells the dramatic story of Paraguay's most notorious ruler. Despite the heroic stature he gained after his death, López was a monumentally flawed leader who made the disastrous decisions in 1864 and 1865 to invade Paraguay's powerful neighbors, Brazil and Argentina, initiating the most devastating interstate conflict in South American history. Drawing on a trove of primary sources, James Schofield Saeger offers a critical analysis of López's personality and often-irrational persecution of enemies, adherents, and siblings. He traces López's preparation for high public office, work habits, control of his nation and army, propaganda, and execution. Concluding with an examination of López's posthumous rehabilitation, Saeger shows how the tyrant who ruined his nation became its most highly honored hero, crowning a campaign by revisionist publicists from 1870–1936, and a useful symbol for later authoritarians. Still largely unchallenged in Paraguay today, this glorification of a martial president is definitively put to rest in Saeger's meticulous study.

This innovative volume traces Brazil's singular character, exploring both the remarkable richness and cohesion of the national culture and the contradictions and tensions that have developed over time. What shared experiences give its citizens their sense of being Brazilian? What memories bind them together? What metaphors and stereotypes of identity have emerged? Which groups are privileged over others in idealized representations of the nation? The contributors—a multidisciplinary group of U.S. and Brazilian scholars—offer a fresh look at questions that have been asked since the early nineteenth century and that continue to drive nationalist discourse today. Their chapters explore Brazilian identity through an innovative framework that brings in seldom-considered aspects of art, music, and visual images, offering a compelling analysis of how nationalism functions as a social, political, and cultural construction in Latin America.Contributions by: Cristina Antunes, Dain Borges, Valéria Costa e Silva, James Green, Efrain Kristal, Ludwig Lauerhass Jr., Cristina Magaldi, Elizabeth A. Marchant, José Mindlin, Carmen Nava, José Luis Passos, Robert Stam, and Valéria Torres

For supplementary documentation and useful websites, click here.This perceptive book critically explores why the United States continues to pursue failed policies in Latin America. What elements of the U.S. and Latin American political systems have allowed the Cold War, the war on drugs, and the war on terror to be conflated? Why do U.S. policies—ostensibly designed to promote the rule of law, human rights, and democracy—instead contribute to widespread corruption, erosion of government authority, human rights violations, and increasing destabilization? Why have the war on drugs and the war on terror neither reduced narcotics trafficking nor increased citizen security in Latin America? Why do Latin American governments, the European Union, and U.S. policymakers often work at cross-purposes when they all claim to be committed to "democratization" and "development" in the region?Leading scholars answer these questions by detailing the nature of U.S. economic and security strategies in Latin America and the Andean region since 1990. They analyze the impacts and responses to these strategies by policymakers, political leaders, and social movements throughout the region, explaining how programs often generate or exacerbate the very problems they were intended to solve. Reviewing official policy and its defenders and critics alike, this indispensable book focuses on the reasons for the failure of U.S. policies and their disastrous significance for Latin America and the United States alike.Contributions by: Adrián Bonilla, Pilar Gaitán, Monica Herz, Kenneth Lehman, Brian Loveman, Enrique Obando, Orlando J. Pérez, Eduardo Pizarro, Philipp Schönrock-Martínez, and Juan Gabriel Tokatlian

For supplementary documentation and useful websites, click here.This perceptive book critically explores why the United States continues to pursue failed policies in Latin America. What elements of the U.S. and Latin American political systems have allowed the Cold War, the war on drugs, and the war on terror to be conflated? Why do U.S. policies—ostensibly designed to promote the rule of law, human rights, and democracy—instead contribute to widespread corruption, erosion of government authority, human rights violations, and increasing destabilization? Why have the war on drugs and the war on terror neither reduced narcotics trafficking nor increased citizen security in Latin America? Why do Latin American governments, the European Union, and U.S. policymakers often work at cross-purposes when they all claim to be committed to "democratization" and "development" in the region?Leading scholars answer these questions by detailing the nature of U.S. economic and security strategies in Latin America and the Andean region since 1990. They analyze the impacts and responses to these strategies by policymakers, political leaders, and social movements throughout the region, explaining how programs often generate or exacerbate the very problems they were intended to solve. Reviewing official policy and its defenders and critics alike, this indispensable book focuses on the reasons for the failure of U.S. policies and their disastrous significance for Latin America and the United States alike.Contributions by: Adrián Bonilla, Pilar Gaitán, Monica Herz, Kenneth Lehman, Brian Loveman, Enrique Obando, Orlando J. Pérez, Eduardo Pizarro, Philipp Schönrock-Martínez, and Juan Gabriel Tokatlian

This classic history of the Mexican hacienda from the colonial period through the nineteenth century has been reissued in a silver anniversary edition complete with a substantive new introduction and foreword. Eric Van Young explores 150 years of Mexico's economic and rural development, a period when one of history's great empires was trying to extract more resources from its most important colony, and when an arguably capitalist economy was both expanding and taking deeper root. The author explains the development of a regional agrarian system, centered on the landed estates of late colonial Mexico, the central economic and social institution of an overwhelmingly rural society. With rich empirical detail, he meticulously describes the features of the rural economy, including patterns of land ownership, credit and investment, labor relations, the structure of production, and the relationship of a major colonial city to its surrounding area. The book's most interesting and innovative element is its emphasis on the way the system of rural economy shaped, and was shaped by, the internal logic of a great spatial system, the region of Guadalajara. Van Young argues that Guadalajara's population growth progressively integrated the large geographical region surrounding the city through the mechanisms of the urban market for grain and meat, which in turn put pressure on local land and labor resources. Eventually this drove white and Indian landowners into increasingly sharp conflict and led to the progressive proletarianization of the region's peasantry during the last decades of the Spanish colonial era. It is no accident, given this history, that the Guadalajara region was one of the major areas of armed insurrection for most of the decade during Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain. By highlighting the way haciendas worked and changed over time, this indispensable study illuminates Mexico's economic and social history, the movement for independence, and the origins of the Mexican Revolution.

This classic history of the Mexican hacienda from the colonial period through the nineteenth century has been reissued in a silver anniversary edition complete with a substantive new introduction and foreword. Eric Van Young explores 150 years of Mexico's economic and rural development, a period when one of history's great empires was trying to extract more resources from its most important colony, and when an arguably capitalist economy was both expanding and taking deeper root. The author explains the development of a regional agrarian system, centered on the landed estates of late colonial Mexico, the central economic and social institution of an overwhelmingly rural society. With rich empirical detail, he meticulously describes the features of the rural economy, including patterns of land ownership, credit and investment, labor relations, the structure of production, and the relationship of a major colonial city to its surrounding area. The book's most interesting and innovative element is its emphasis on the way the system of rural economy shaped, and was shaped by, the internal logic of a great spatial system, the region of Guadalajara. Van Young argues that Guadalajara's population growth progressively integrated the large geographical region surrounding the city through the mechanisms of the urban market for grain and meat, which in turn put pressure on local land and labor resources. Eventually this drove white and Indian landowners into increasingly sharp conflict and led to the progressive proletarianization of the region's peasantry during the last decades of the Spanish colonial era. It is no accident, given this history, that the Guadalajara region was one of the major areas of armed insurrection for most of the decade during Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain. By highlighting the way haciendas worked and changed over time, this indispensable study illuminates Mexico's economic and social history, the movement for independence, and the origins of the Mexican Revolution.

This innovative history argues that we can understand important facets of the Mexican Revolution by analyzing the architecture designed and built in Mexico City during the formative years from 1920 to 1940. These artifacts allow us to trace and understand the path of the consolidation of the Mexican Revolution. Each individual building or development, by providing indelible evidence of the process by which the revolution evolved into a government, offers important insights into Mexican history. Seen in aggregate, they reveal an ongoing urban process at work; seen as a "composition," they reveal changes over time in societal values and aspirations and in the direction of the revolution.This book focuses on structure, change, and process for this remarkable city "in the true image of the gigantic heaven." The changes described in Fuentes' narrative are man-made, not wrought by impersonal or natural forces except on the rare occasions of earthquake and flood. Patrice Elizabeth Olsen views Mexico City as an artifact of those who created it—representing their ardor, humanity, and religion, as well as their politics. Individual chapters detail the expression of revolutionary values and aims in the physical form of Mexico City's built environment between 1920 and 1940, examining direction and meaning in terms of who is given license to design and build structures in the capital city, and equally important, who is excluded. Through the reshaping of the capital the revolution was extended and institutionalized; physical traces of the process of negotiation that enabled the revolution to be "fixed" in the Mexican polity appear in the city's skyline, parks, housing developments, and other new construction, as well as in modifications to existing colonial-era buildings. In this manner, the author argues, Mexico City's urban form crystallized as a product of the revolution as well as a part of the revolutionary process, as it has been of other conquests throughout its history.

This acclaimed book explores popular politics during Mexico's tumultuous post-independence decades. Focusing on Mexico City during the chaotic early years of the nineteenth century, Richard Warren offers a compelling narrative of the defining period from King Ferdinand VII's abdication of the Spanish crown in 1808 to the end of Mexico's first federal republic in 1836. Clearly written and meticulously researched, this book is the first to demonstrate that the relationship between elites and the urban masses was central to Mexico's political evolution during the fight for independence and after. Mexico City, capital of both the old viceroyalty and the new nation, often witnessed the first wave of 'public opinion' to respond to competing political proposals in both traditional and new forms that ranged from riots to electoral campaigns. Warren explains the direct effects of these actions on political outcomes, as well as their influence on elite perceptions of the new nation's problems and potential solutions. Vagrants and Citizens explores the impact of urban mass mobilization on crucial issues of the era, such as the evolution of electoral practices, the conflict between federalists and centralists, and social control programs. Shedding new light on a poorly understood era, Warren demonstrates the importance of the urban masses both as actors in their own right and as objects of elite discourse and programs. His compelling narrative offers an ideal supplement for courses on Mexican and Latin American history.

The Birth of Modern Mexico, 1780–1824 investigates the roots of the Mexican Independence era from a variety of perspectives. The essays in this volume link the pre-1810 late Bourbon period to the War of Independence (1810–1821), analyze many crucial aspects of the decade of conflict, and illustrate the continuities with the first years of the independent Mexican nation. Christon I. Archer has assembled the most important scholars of the Independence era in Mexican history. Each essay addresses a central theme and brings new perspectives to the topics under consideration. They all contribute to a nuanced view of the period from roughly the 1790s to the 1830s: the different conceptions of legitimacy between the popular masses and the elite; the skill and importance of pro-Spanish propaganda; the process of organizing conspiracies; the survival and thriving of a mercantile family before, during, and after the creation of the republic; the causes of failing mines; the role of religious thought in the supposed secular state; an exhortation to recall the positive contributions of Iturbide; the viceroy's military strategy; and differing conceptions of authority by the legislature and the executive. The authors address the basic issues that are key to students' understanding: Who fought in the Independence movement, why, and where? Yet the cutting-edge interpretations in the essays make the book equally valuable for more advanced study. In addition, information is provided on the major personalities, including Augustín Iturbide, Félix Calleja, and Father Hidalgo, giving The Birth of Modern Mexico a fascinating human dimension. Unlike many edited volumes, the essays in this book offer a seamless approach to the period that underscores new research and innovative ideas that will reinforce the significance of the Independence era. One of the few readable, concise books on the topic of independence, this volume probes the birth of modern Mexico in a crisply written style that is sure to appeal to historians and students of Mexican history.Contributions by: Timothy E. Anna, Christon I. Archer, Virginia Guedea, Hugh M. Hamill, John E. Kicza, Jaime E. Rodríguez O., Anne Staples, Paul J. Vanderwood, and Eric Van Young.

Simón Bolívar was without a doubt the most famous and most controversial leader of the Spanish American wars of independence. Much is known of his biography: he led an army that liberated an expanse of South America equivalent to that conquered by Napoleon; crafted the union of Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador into the republic of Gran Colombia; outlined the plan for a defensive league of former Spanish-American colonies; and wrote the first Bolivian constitution. He also died in exile after the rejection of his arbitrary and dictatorial rule in Colombia. This volume takes a step back from both glorification and vilification to reassess Bolívar's life and legacy. A distinguished group of historians takes a fresh look at the impact of "the Liberator" as warrior, political thinker and leader, internationalist, continentalist, reformer, and revolutionary. They make a powerful statement about the importance of biography and the relevance of the individual in explaining historical events. A balanced yet critical appraisal of Bolívar's role in the Spanish-American wars of independence, this in-depth collection offers a persuasive explanation of why the Bolívarian legend and cult has persisted. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Simón Bolívar—the man and the legacy.Contributions by: David Bushnell, Germán Carrera Damas, Simon Collier, Judith Ewell, Iván Jaksic, Lester D. Langley, John V. Lombardi, Karen Racine, Frank Safford, and Hermes Tovar Pinzón

This unique book traces Mexico's eventful years from 1910 to 1952 through the experiences of its state governors. During this seminal period, revolutionaries destroyed the old regime, created a new national government, built an official political party, and then discarded in practice the essence of their revolution. In this tumultuous time, governors—some of whom later became president—served as the most significant intermediaries between the national government and the people it ruled. Leading scholars study governors from ten different states to demonstrate the diversity of the governors' experiences implementing individual revolutionary programs over time, as well as the waxing and waning of strong governorship as an institution that ultimately disappeared in the powerful national regime created in the 1940s and 1950s. Until that time, the contributors convincingly argue, the governors provided the revolution with invaluable versatility by dealing with pressing issues of land, labor, housing, and health at the local and regional levels. The flexibility of state governors also offered test cases for the implementation of national revolutionary laws and campaigns. The only book that considers the state governors in comparative perspective, this invaluable study offers a fresh view of regionalism and the Revolution.Contributions by: William H. Beezley, Jürgen Buchenau, Francie R. Chassen-López, Michael A. Ervin, María Teresa Fernández Aceves, Paul Gillingham, Kristin A. Harper, Timothy Henderson, David LaFrance, Stephen E. Lewis, Stephanie J. Smith, and Andrew Grant Wood.

This unique book traces Mexico's eventful years from 1910 to 1952 through the experiences of its state governors. During this seminal period, revolutionaries destroyed the old regime, created a new national government, built an official political party, and then discarded in practice the essence of their revolution. In this tumultuous time, governors—some of whom later became president—served as the most significant intermediaries between the national government and the people it ruled. Leading scholars study governors from ten different states to demonstrate the diversity of the governors' experiences implementing individual revolutionary programs over time, as well as the waxing and waning of strong governorship as an institution that ultimately disappeared in the powerful national regime created in the 1940s and 1950s. Until that time, the contributors convincingly argue, the governors provided the revolution with invaluable versatility by dealing with pressing issues of land, labor, housing, and health at the local and regional levels. The flexibility of state governors also offered test cases for the implementation of national revolutionary laws and campaigns. The only book that considers the state governors in comparative perspective, this invaluable study offers a fresh view of regionalism and the Revolution.Contributions by: William H. Beezley, Jürgen Buchenau, Francie R. Chassen-López, Michael A. Ervin, María Teresa Fernández Aceves, Paul Gillingham, Kristin A. Harper, Timothy Henderson, David LaFrance, Stephen E. Lewis, Stephanie J. Smith, and Andrew Grant Wood.

In "The Argentine Right: Its History and Intellectual Origins" scholars of Argentine and Latin American history chart the growth of the Right from its roots in 19th-century European political theory through to the collapse of the conservative government in the 1980s. The contributors describe the Right's development, uneasy alliance with Peronists, years of triumph and subsequent retreat to opposition status. Arguing that the Right was unified, if at all, by no more than a fear of the Left, the essays distinguish the many groups and individuals prominent in the conservative and "nacionalista" movements. The discussions refer frequently to parallel events in Europe, identifying differences and similarities, and allowing the reader to make comparisons. In the process, the authors refute the myth that the right was substantially influenced by the Nazi party and convincingly document instead the more prevalent relationship between the ideology of the Spanish Falangists and that of like-minded activists struggling for a purifying Argentine renewal.

In this work, Professor Blanchard examines why slavery managed to survive for more than three decades after Peru declared its independence despite anti-slavery legislation passed by the liberators at that time. The book focuses on the economics of Peruvian slavery, slave life and the abolition movement. Slavery and Abolition aims to offer an alternative example of a slavery system to the more familiar examples of the US, Brazil and Cuba.

This reissue of Prof. Vanderwood's groundbreaking study-available again for the first time in a decade-examines bandits, police, and Mexican politics as a whole, showing how different groups used the agents of order and disorder to serve their interests. Originally published in 1981, Disorder and Progress was subsequently revised and updated in 1992. Added to the enlarged 1992 edition and included here in this reissue are the entirely new introduction, material on the period of the independence wars and on Pancho Villa, and an updated bibliography. This book also incorporates additional data and interpretations regarding bandits and instruments for maintaining order that were included in the 1992 edition. Maps and illustrations will help readers appreciate the issues under discussion.

This biography was written by two-time Pulitzer winner Marquis James in 1948, but was never published. W.R. Grace's son commissioned James to write it when the author was at the height of his career. However, as Viking Press was about to print the book, the Grace company decided not to release it. It then lay in the firm's archives until it was uncovered by Lawrence Clayton of the University of Alabama. "Merchant Adventurer" tells the story of one of America's most successful immigrants. First arriving in America in 1846, Irish-born William R. Grace worked his way up from ordinary seaman to become master of a vast commercial empire, reformer of the Democratic party and New York City's first Catholic mayor. Grace's fortune quickly rose once he began supplying ships in the Peruvian guano trade. By the late 1860s, Grace was a rich man; his firm, headquartered in New York, operated vessels all over the world, helped build railroads in Latin America, and ran guns to Peru for its disastrous war against Chile. Yet Grace's energies did not stop with his business dealings. In the 1880s he served twice as mayor of New York, successfully fighting the corruption of Tammany Hall.As the century waned, he battled to control the rubber market and nearly won a contract to build what is now the Panama Canal.

The eighteenth century in New Spain witnessed major changes: among these, one of the most significant was the adoption of French customs among the upper groups of society in response to the spreading ideas of the Enlightenment. In addition, New Spain's economy and culture were also changing radically. The spread of these French-inspired ideas and customs soon reached the rest of urban society. These new ideas, it has been assumed, brought a relaxation of social customs. But Viqueira Alban takes this assumption, and raises the question: Was it really a period of relaxation of social customs, in this age of 'growth without development?' He discovered that the movement of rural workers and their families to urban centers created a concern within the church and government hierarchy about the threat of disorder, leading to the need for new social restraints. By the end of the eighteenth century, New Spain was characterized by a very rich, agitated, and varied social life. This book explores the history of Mexico City in the eighteenth century, focusing on society, social classes, elite culture and popular culture. Propriety and Permissiveness examines how the elite culture in Mexico City attempted to create more space between themselves and the masses. Their anxiety about their status encouraged laws and practices that enforced social space. Bullfighting, the theater, street diversions, and the game of pelota (called jai-alai in the United States today) are all examined as part of the culture of this period. This new text is ideal for colonial Latin American survey courses, courses on the history of Mexico and Latin American literature, and courses on the popular culture and social history of Latin America.

Revolutionizing Motherhood examines one of the most astonishing human rights movements of recent years. During the Argentine junta's Dirty War against subversives, as tens of thousands were abducted, tortured, and disappeared, a group of women forged the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and changed Argentine politics forever. The Mothers began in the 1970s as an informal group of working-class housewives making the rounds of prisons and military barracks in search of their disappeared children. As they realized that both state and church officials were conspiring to withhold information, they started to protest, claiming the administrative center of Argentina the Plaza de Mayo for their center stage.In this volume, Marguerite G. Bouvard traces the history of the Mothers and examines how they have transformed maternity from a passive, domestic role to one of public strength. Bouvard also gives a detailed history of contemporary Argentina, including the military's debacle in the Falklands, the fall of the junta, and the efforts of subsequent governments to reach an accord with the Mothers. Finally, she examines their current agenda and their continuing struggle to bring the murderers of their children to justice.

This selection of excerpts and essays delineates Brazilian culture as exemplified by its people. Two pieces that provide a general overview of Brazilian peoples are followed by four chronological sections, each of which is preceded by a historical sketch of the period under examination.

Focusing on Nicaragua after the 1990 Sandinista electoral defeat, this book is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary study of one of the most unusual cases of regime transition in the late 20th century. It shows the similarities and differences between Nicaragua's regime and those of other countries.

The goal of Riots in the Cities, editors Silvia Marina Arrom and Servando Ortoll contend, is to encourage Latin Americanists to rethink standard notions of urban politics before the populist era. The actual political power wielded by the underprivileged city dwellers before the twentieth century has received little scholarly attention or has been downplayed. Researchers often described urban inhabitants as having little influence over both their lives and on the politics of their day. The elite were perceived as having firm control over the political process. The seven essays in this reader analyze urban riots that broke out in major Latin American population centers between 1765 and 1910. Inspired by the works of Eric Hobsbawm and George Rud,, the authors find that the participants in these riots were far from irrational. The crowds responded to specific social provocation and attacked property rather than people. When taken together these essays challenge the notion that prior to 1910 power was strictly in the hands of the elite. Lower-class city residents, too, held strong opinions and acted on their convictions. Most important, their voices were not unheeded by those who officially wielded power and implemented social policies.

The United Fruit Company (UFCO) developed an unprecedented relationship with Guatemala in the first half of this century. By 1944, UFCO owned 566,000 acres, employed 20,000 people, and operated 96% of Guatemala's 719 miles of railroad, making the multinational corporation Guatemala's largest private landowner and biggest employer. In Doing Business with the Dictators, Paul J. Dosal shows how UFCO built up a profitable corporation in a country whose political system was known to be corrupt. His work is based largely on research of company documents recently acquired from the Justice Department under the Freedom of Information Act-no other historian researching this topic has looked at these sources. As a result, Dr. Dosal is able to offer the first documentary evidence of how UFCO acquired, defended, and exploited its Guatemalan properties by collaborating with successive authoritarian regimes.

Latin America is moving toward democracy. The region's countries hold elections, choose leaders, and form new governments. But is the civilian government firmly in power? Or is the military still influencing policy and holding the elected politicians in check under the guise of guarding against corruption, instability, economic uncertainty, and other excesses of democracy? The editors of this work, Brian Loveman and Thomas M. Davies, Jr., argue that with or without direct military rule, antipolitics persists as a foundation of Latin American politics. This study examines the origins of antipolitics, traces its nineteenth- and twentieth-century history, and focuses on the years from 1965 to 1995 to emphasize the somewhat illusory transitions to democracy. This third edition of The Politics of Antipolitics has been revised and updated to focus on the post-Cold War era. With the demise of the Soviet state and international Marxism, the Latin American military has appropriated new threats including narcoterrorism, environmental exploitation, technology transfer, and even AIDS to redefine and relegitimate its role in social, economic, and political policy. The editors also address why and how the military rulers acceded to the return of civilian-elected governments and the military's defense against accusations of human rights abuses.

Two decades ago the mere notion of examining local elections in Latin America would have produced a puzzled look and a simple question: ?Why?? Elections of any sort were limited and suspect if they occurred at all, and local elections were for the vast majority of countries nonexistent. Latin America?s return to democracy in the 1980s marked a new chapter in its political history. During this movement from military to civilian regimes, local elections played a key role in democratization. They represented the breadth and depth of political change occurring in the region. Urban Elections in Democratic Latin America explores the electoral politics of several of the major urban centers and capital cities of democratic Latin America. The primacy of urban centers throughout Latin America magnifies the importance of this study. Latin America is over two-thirds urban, and two of the world?s three largest cities are now in Latin America: the metropolitan areas of Mexico City and Sao Paulo. Previous discussions on electoral politics have focused exclusively on presidential elections. However, democratization requires more than presidential elections; indeed, ultimately it may depend on the presence and vitality of local elections. This text examines the neglected topic of these elections. The chapters analyze the electoral process in ten Latin American countries, including an examination of how local elections have either paralleled or diverged from national election patterns. _Each essay begins with an introduction to the country and city in question, followed by a close examination of the electoral experience at the local level. Conclusions focus on identifying patterns and on the importance of local elections in the democratic life of the nation. The following countries are examined: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Contributors to this text include Angel E. Alvarez, Peter Calvert, Henry Dietz, Eduardo Gamarra, Gary Hoskin, Ricardo C_rdova Mac_as, Christopher Mitchell, Aidan Rankin, Victoria Rodr_guez, Gil Shidlo, and Andrew J. Stein.