Latin American Studies : Contemporary Latin America

Contemporary Latin America presents the epochal political, economic, social, and cultural changes in Latin America over the last 40 years and comprehensively examines their impact on life in the region, and beyond. Provides a fresh approach and a new interpretation of the seismic changes of the last 40 years in Latin America. Introduces major themes from a humanistic and universal perspective, putting each subject in a context that readers can understand and relate to.

Anthropologists, historians, and sociologists consider the experiences and representations of Andean and Mesoamerican indigenous peoples from the early colonial era to the present. The contributors compare the interplay of race and racism with class, gender, nationality, and regionalism in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru.

Presents a fresh interpretative survey of Latin-American history from pre-Columbian times to the present. It examines the many institutions that Latin-Americans have built and rebuilt, families, governments, churches, political parties, labor unions, schools and armies, through the everyday lives of the diverse people who forged these institutions and later altered them to meet changing circumstances.

Latin America since Independence begins with the assumption that our efforts to imagine a common past for nearly thirty countries are deeply problematic. Without losing sight of chronology or regional trends, this text offers glimpses of the Latin American past through eleven carefully selected stories. From Publisher

The authors provide up-to-date, thorough analyses not only of history, politics and economics, but also of class, ethnicity, the role of women, religious beliefs, education and cultural expression, and the environment. From Publisher

Pedagogy of Hope is a testimonial to the inner vitality of generations denied prosperity and to the often-silent, generous strength of millions throughout the world who refuse to let hope be extinguished. From Publisher

The book takes the social contract as a metaphor for understanding the challenges to education within a context of paradigmatic transition, and of profound social and political transformations. From Publisher

Through the right kind of education, the book suggests, avoiding authoritarian teacher-pupil models and based on the actual experiences of students and on continual shared investigation, every human being, no matter how impoverished or illiterate, can develop a new awareness of self, and the right to be heard. From Publisher

After Neoliberalism? offers the first systemic explanation of why left-wing governments across the region have acted in the way that they have. From Publisher

Latin American and Caribbean economies performed relatively robustly in the 2008–2009 financial crisis. The authors of this overview urge these states to now focus their attention on long-term development goals. From Publisher

Combining thematic analysis with country case studies including Mexico, Bolivia, and Brazil, an international group of scholars discuss the expectations, threats and responses to globalization in Latin America. From Publiser

The first detailed historical account of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, this book covers the genesis of the project in the early 1990s to its demise in late 2003. From Publisher

The contributors are leading researchers that belong to different schools of economic thought and most come from countries throughout Latin America, representing a range of views and recognizing the diversity of the region. From Publisher

How does the rise of China affect the trade and investment of Latin American economies? In this volume, the contributors present expert analysis of these important effects. From Publisher

JV6350 .E95 2012

This text does not focus on presidents, generals, and other well-known figures, but rather on the ordinary individuals who faced challenges common to all Mexicans of their generation. Editor Jeffrey M. Pilcher uses these vignettes to explore three significant themes: nationalism and globalization, modernization and its effects on ordinary people, and the struggle for the self. From Publisher

Revised and updated throughout, this multidisciplinary survey of Latin American history, politics, and society features chapters on individual countries by invited authorities. From Publisher

This volume includes contributions of scholars from various fields - the social sciences, journalism, the humanities and the arts - whose work offers insightful and innovative ways to understand the devastating and unprecedented forms of violence currently experienced in Latin America. From the Publisher

The book uses case studies to discuss the major countries and themes of the region over the past 200 years. For each country, Thomas E. Skidmore, Peter H. Smith, and James N. Green examine such central themes as European-New World interaction, racial mixtures, military takeovers, and U.S. intervention in the area. From Publisher

The book’s well-rounded and accessible analysis includes discussions of borders and migration, transnationalism and globalization, urbanization and landscapes of cities, the connections between economic development and political change, the physical environment and human-environment interactions, and natural resources in the context of a global economy. From Publisher

Drawing on examples from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Bolivia, the authors demonstrate that there is widespread variation in the performance of Latin America's constitutional courts… The authors deploy a range of methods, including qualitative case studies, paired country comparisons, statistical analysis, and game theory. From Publisher

This book disrupts the traditional narrative of Latin America's legally benign racial past by comprehensively examining the existence of customary laws of racial regulation and the historic complicity of Latin American states in erecting and sustaining racial hierarchies. From Publisher

At the turn of the twentieth century, the rise of diverse social movements protesting the free market and advocating socialization ushered in governments in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela that supported these policy shifts. Eduardo Silva offers the first comprehensive comparative account of these events, analyzing both the motive for the protests and the power of the movements behind them. From Publisher

Comparative Public Policy in Latin America offers guidelines for refining current theories to suit Latin America’s contemporary institutional and socio-economic realities. The contributors accomplish this task by identifying the features of the region that shape public policy, including informal norms and practices, social inequality, and weak institutions.

To what extent do courts in Latin America protect individual rights and limit governments? This volume answers these fundamental questions by bringing together today's leading scholars of judicial politics. Drawing on examples from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Bolivia, the authors demonstrate that there is widespread variation in the performance of Latin America's constitutional courts.

Addresses the question of why institutions meant to attract citizen participation succeed in strengthening civil society and improving state responsiveness and transparency in some places, but fail in others. Focuses on urban politics in Porto Alegre (Brazil), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Caracas (Venezuela).

Democracy in Latin America provides an in-depth and accessible survey of processes of democratization in Latin America from 1900 to the present. Examines the origins and evolution of democracy in Latin America; the adoption and reform of electoral institutions; the policy performance of contemporary democracies; the political representation of women, workers, and indigenous peoples; and trends in public opinion.

This comparative analysis, focusing on Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, explores the complex relationship between executive politics and judicial action, showing that judicial independence is a crucial factor in prosecution. From Publisher

Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History brings together the most important documents on the history of the relationship between the United States and Latin America from the nineteenth century to the present. From Publisher

The first part of the text is composed of thematic chapters that outline the region's geographic setting, history, economics, society, gender, race, and religion, setting the stage for a more detailed analysis of the politics, democratization, political culture, political movements, and revolution in Latin America. The second part of the book consists of carefully constructed case studies of ten representative Latin American nations: Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Bolivia.

Populism in Latin America examines the notion of populism in the political and social culture of Latin American societies as expressed through the populist leaders of several Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. From Publisher

This text provides the basic economic tools for students to understand the problems facing the countries of Latin America. In this third edition, Patrice Franko analyzes challenges to the neoliberal model of development and highlights recent macroeconomic changes in the region. From Publisher

The Rise of Ethnic Politics in Latin America explores why indigenous movements have recently won elections for the first time in the history of the region.

Drawing upon important findings of Latin American scholars and researchers, he explores and analyzes the origins of the most important Catholic movement in Latin America and its notable expansion to all countries of the region, bringing with it unusual vitality and notable controversy about its practices. From Publisher

Drawing from a wide spectrum of disciplines, the essays in this collection examine in different national contexts the consequences of the "Latin American multicultural turn" in Afro Latino social movements of the past two decades. From Publisher

Drawing on a wealth of data, Huber and Stephens present quantitative analyses of eighteen countries and comparative historical analyses of the five most advanced social policy regimes in Latin America, showing how international power structures have influenced the direction of their social policy. From Publisher

This book argues that women are gaining political voice and bringing women's issues to state agendas, but they are not gaining political power. From Publisher

This book tells the story of popular resistance in its multiple forms with and against the new post-neoliberal regimes and of the changing social conditions in an era of globalization and worldwide crisis. From Publisher

Comparing cases in Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru, Babb shows how tourism is a major force in remaking transitional nations. ... This work presents the diverse stories of those linked to the trade and reveals how interpretations of the past and desires for the future coincide and collide in the global marketplace of tourism. From Publisher

This book surveys Latin American and Caribbean women's contributions throughout history from conquest through the 20th century.