LATIN AMERICA FACING CHINA

South-South Relations beyond the Washington Consensus

more

YOUNG, DAMNED AND BANDA: THE WORLD OF YOUNG STREET PEOPLE IN MEXICO CITY, 1990-1997

The World of Young Street People in Mexico City, 1990-1997

more

FOODSCAPES, FOODFIELDS AND IDENTITIES IN YUCATÁN

ISBN: 978-0-85745-220-7  Hardback

more

SUGARLANDIA REVISITED

Sugar and Colonialism in Asia and the Americas, 1800-1940

“The book is an invaluable contribution to the study of the political economies of these regions and offers fresh perspectives on metropolis-colony interactions. It challenges the Euro/US-centric historiography… introduces the reader to a variety of archival sources.”  ·  The Newsletter of the International Institute for Asian Studies

Sugar was the single most valuable bulk commodity traded internationally before oil became the world’s prime resource. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, cane sugar production was pre-eminent in the Atlantic Islands, the Caribbean, and Brazil. Subsequently, cane sugar industries in the Americas were transformed by a fusion of new and old forces of production, as the international sugar economy incorporated production areas in Asia, the Pacific, and Africa. Sugar’s global economic importance and its intimate relationship with colonialism offer an important context for probing the nature of colonial societies. This book questions some major assumptions about the nexus between sugar production and colonial societies in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia, especially in the second (post-1800) colonial era.

more

SLIPPING AWAY

Banana Politics and Fair Trade in the Eastern Caribbean

"(G)racefully written - a pleasure to read ... This is a fine example of how ethnographic and historical research might be used to advance our understanding of contemporary globalization."  ·  Marc Edelman, CUNY, Graduate Center

During the 1990s, the Eastern Caribbean was caught in a bitter trade dispute between the US and EU over the European banana market. When the World Trade Organization rejected preferential access for Caribbean growers in 1998 the effect on the region’s rural communities was devastating. This volume examines the “banana wars” from the vantage point of St. Lucia’s Mabouya Valley, whose recent, turbulent history reveals the impact of global forces. The author investigates how the contemporary structure of the island’s banana industry originated in colonial policies to create a politically “stable” peasantry, followed by politicians’ efforts to mobilize rural voters. These political strategies left farmers dependent on institutional and market protection, leaving them vulnerable to any alteration in trade policy. This history gave way to a new harsh reality, in which neoliberal policies privilege price and quantity over human rights and the environment. However, against these challenges, the author shows how the rural poor have responded in creative ways, including new social movements and Fair Trade farming, in order to negotiate a stronger position for themselves in the in a shifting global economy.

more

RETHINKING THE INFORMAL CITY

Critical Perspectives from Latin America

Latin American cities have always been characterized by a strong tension between what is vaguely described as their formal and informal dimensions. However, the terms formal and informal refer not only to the physical aspect of cities but also to their entire socio-political fabric. Informal cities and settlements exceed the structures of order, control and homogeneity that one expects to find in a formal city; therefore the contributors to this volume - from such disciplines as architecture, urban planning, anthropology, urban design, cultural and urban studies and sociology - focus on alternative methods of analysis in order to study the phenomenon of urban informality. This book provides a thorough review of the work that is currently being carried out by scholars, practitioners and governmental institutions, in and outside Latin America, on the question of informal cities.

more

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, CIVIL SOCIETY, AND THE NEO-LIBERAL STATE IN LATIN AMERICA

In recent years the concept and study of “civil society” has received a lot of attention from political scientists, economists, and sociologists, but less so from anthropologists. A ground-breaking ethnographic approach to civil society as it is formed in indigenous communities in Latin America, this volume explores the multiple potentialities of civil society’s growth and critically assesses the potential for sustained change. Much recent literature has focused on the remarkable gains made by civil society and the chapters in this volume reinforce this trend while also showing the complexity of civil society - that civil society can itself sometimes be uncivil. In doing so, these insightful contributions speak not only to Latin American area studies but also to the changing shape of global systems of political economy in general.

more

IMAGES OF POWER

Iconography, Culture and the State in Latin America

"Such a brief overview cannot do the essays in this collection justice. Amply illustrated and nicely organised, the collected essays represent some of the most innovative work being done in the field of visual culture in Latin America. Of particular value is the range of theoretical interests and perspectives brought to bear on visual culture by the contributors. This is theoretical and disciplinary eclecticism at its best. Each essay is refreshing and original and there is little redundancy despite the length of the book…For scholars working on visual culture, the state and cultural history, this is an essential volume."  Journal of Latin American Studies

more

ANTI-AMERICANISM IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

”…an excellent collection…Like any good collection, the articles raise as many questions as they answer… highlight the value of the collection for use in undergraduate courses on Latin American history, inter-American relations or U.S. foreign policy. Liberal use of appropriate political cartoons adds spice to the readings.”  ·  Hispanic American Historical Review

“….a very interesting collection of nine original essays, plus an extensive introduction by the editor…concluding remarks leave room for future debates.. could help undergraduate students in many disciplines, from international relations and American Studies to history and geopolitics… must be seen as a fundamental addendum to any bibliography on the study of anti-Americanism.”  ·  The Latin Americanist

more

FETISHES AND MONUMENTS

Afro-Brazilian Art and Culture in the 20th Century

“In all, this is an exciting study on a consolidated historiographic and anthropological theme such as Afro-Brazilian culture, since it does not take for granted the established truths, or the political practices and though, that both history and anthropology have set out to support in twentieth-century Brazil.”  ·  Canadian Journal of History/Annales canadiennes d’histoire

“…the impressive research and sensitive analyses…make this book an important and original contribution to the cultural history of the region. Anthropologists and historians interested in the development of Candomblé …and in the processes of objectification and appropriation of everyday practices and things as symbols of collective identity, will certainly find much of interest in Sansi’s work.”  ·  Journal of Latin American Studies

more

Regions and Cohesion

Regiones y Cohesión / Régions et Cohésion

The journal of the Consortium for Comparative Research on Regional Integration and Social Cohesion (RISC), a cross-regional, interdisciplinary, and multi-lingual network of socially conscious and prestigious research institutes in Europe, North America, South America and Africa.

Due to the dramatic changes in global affairs related to regional integration, studies can no longer be limited to the analysis of economic competitiveness and political power in global geopolitics. Regions and Cohesion is a needed platform for academics and practitioners alike to disseminate both empirical research and normative analysis of topics related to human and environmental security, social cohesion, and governance. It covers themes, such as the management of strategic resources, environment and society, social risk and marginalization, disasters and policy responses, violence, war and urban security, the quality of democracy, development, public health, immigration, human rights, organized crime, and cross-border human security.

Interdisciplinary in nature and multi-lingual in character (English, French, Spanish), the journal promotes the comparative examination of the human and environmental impacts of various aspects of regional integration across geographic areas, time periods, and policy arenas.

Volume 1 (2011), 3 issues pa (Spring, Summer, Winter)

ISSN: 2152-906X (Print)

ISSN: 2152-9078 (Online)

more