Colonial Legacies: The Problem of Persistence in Latin American History / Edition 1

by Jeremy Adelman

Overview

More than other Atlantic societies, Latin America is shackled to its past. This collection is an exploration of the binding historical legacies—the making of slavery, patrimonial absolutist states, backward agriculture and the imprint of the Enlightenment—with which Latin America continues to grapple.

Leading writers and scholars reflect on how this heritage emerged from colonial institutions and how historians have tackled these legacies over the years, suggesting that these deep encumbrances are why the region has failed to live up to liberal-capitalist expectations. They also invite discussion about the political, economic and cultural heritages of Atlantic colonialism through the idea that persistence is a powerful organizing framework for understanding particular kinds of historical processes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415921527
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/18/1999
Pages:	330
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jeremy Adelman is the Director of the Program of Latin American Studies and Professor of History at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Preface1. Jeremy Adelman—Introduction: The Problem of Persistence in Latin American History2. Philip D. Curtin—Europe and the Atlantic World3. Robert L. Tignor—Colonial Africa through the Lens of Colonial Latin America4. Barbara Hadley Stein and Stanley J. Stein—Financing Empire: The European Diaspora of Silver by War5. Kenneth R. Maxwell—Hegemonies Old and New: The Ibero-Atlantic in the Long Eighteenth Century6. Robert W. Patch—Dependency and the Colonial Heritage in Southeastern Mesoamerica7. Richard J. Salvucci—Agriculture and the Colonial Heritage of Latin America: Evidence from Bourbon Mexico8. Steve J. Stern—The Tricks of Time: Colonial Legacies and Historical Sensibilities in Latin America9. Tulio Halperin Donghi—Argentines Ponder the Burden of the Past10. Stuart B. Schwartz—The Colonial Past: Conceptualizing Post-Dependentista Brazil11. Joseph L. Love—Furtado, Social Science, and History12. Michael F. Jiménez—The Elision of the Middle Classes and Beyond: History, Politics, and Development Studies in Latin America's Short Twentieth Century

Editorial Reviews

"Adelman has assembled an impressive group of historians to address the issue of why Latin America's past looms so heavily in the present...This collection deserves attention from both policymakers and scholars." — Foreign Affairs
"An exceptional anthology that tackles a classic problem in Latin American studies with a plethora of fresh insights. It transcends traditional narratives of the region's colonial past as destiny to analyze the interaction between historical continuity, disruption, and contingency. A book that is scholarly sound, intellectually satisfying, and a great pedagogical tool." — Jose Moya, Associate Professor of History, UCLA
"This superb collection of essays, brilliantly framed by Jeremy Adelman's introduction, offers consistently insightful and thought-provoking confrontations with the colonial past of Latin America. Colonial Legacies makes bulky course packets obsolete — an essay a week from this book will make every discussion worth attending." — John Coatsworth, Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University
"Students of world history will find the opening chapters of interest, as the authors reject Eurocentricism in favor of an Atlantic view embracing the complexities of three diverse continents. Other essays round out the collection and pull it in different, but generally appropriate ways." — Journal of World History

From the Publisher

A collection of 12 essays addressing the legacy of writing on colonial formations in Latin America. Topics include colonial Africa through the lens of colonial Latin America; the European diaspora of silver by war; dependency and the colonial heritage in southeastern Mesoamerica; evidence from Bourbon Mexico on agriculture and the colonial heritage of Latin America; the Argentinian historical burden; and conceptualizing post- Brazil. Contributors are US- based scholars of Latin American history. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

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