"Nothing is more important than to communicate up-to-date scholarship to students in a lucid and reasonable manner. It seems to me that [this] textbook is remarkably successful in both these respects." ( The New York Times , 1 October 2012)
- Illustrates and analyzes the major and minor events that shape history, the triumphs and defeats, and the everyday lives of people of varied classes and racial and ethnic backgrounds
- Intersperses accounts of the lives of prominent figures with those of ordinary people
- Emphasizes gender's role in influencing political and economic change and shaping cultural identity
Student and instructor resources available at http://minerva.union.edu/meadet/modernlatinamerica/index.html
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List of Figures xi
List of Maps xiii
Preface xiv
Acknowledgments xvii
Cover image xix
1 Introduction to the Land and Its People 1
Geography 2
People 2
Economies 6
Politics 8
Culture and Entertainment 12
Latin America: Past and Present 20
2 Latin America in 1790 23
Colonial Background 24
Power and Privilege 28
Land 29
Colonial Administration 32
Enlightened Monarchy 33
The Agents of the Reform 35
Disorder and Rebellion 37
Discontent and Disorder in Brazil 39
Changing Gender Roles 40
On the Road to Independence 42
Nationalism and American Culture 42
Conclusion 46
3 Competing Notions of Freedom 49
Five Roads to Independence 50
African Slavery in the Americas 51
Slavery and the Countryside 55
Slavery in the Cities 55
Treatment and Punishment 57
Slavery and the Church 58
African Medicine and Religious Practices 59
Resistance and Rebellion 60
The Sugar Colony of Saint-Domingue 62
The Slave Revolt 64
The Revolution Betrayed 66
Brazil’s Independent Empire 67
Independence in Mexico 68
South American Independence 70
Post-independence Changes in Racial and Gender Status 74
The Last Holdout of Slavery in Spanish America 75
Latin America in a Changing World Order 77
Conclusion 78
4 Fragmented Nationalisms 81
Searching for Political and Economic Unity 81
New World “Feudalism” 82
Post-independence Politics 86
Argentina and the Tyrants 87
Populist Caudillismo: Paraguay and Bolivia 89
After Caudillismo 91
Race, Race Mixture, and Liberalism 93
Gender and Liberalism 96
Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class 98
Nationalism 101
Conclusion 101
5 Latin America’s Place in the Commodity Chain 105
The Guano Boom 106
Nitrates in Chile 108
Sugar and Coffee 109
The Growth of São Paulo 111
Colombian Coffee 113
The Rubber Boom 114
Expanding Exports 115
Mexico and US Expansionism 117
The North American Invasion 118
General López de Santa Anna 120
The New Age of Imperialism 121
Central America and the Panama Canal 122
Ecuador and the “Panama” Hat 125
Independence at Last? Cuba and Puerto Rico 128
Conclusion 133
6 Immigration, and Urban and Rural Life 135
Asian Immigration 136
European Immigration 137
The Southern Cone 138
Life on the Pampas 141
British Investment 142
The Changing Cultural Landscape 144
Urban Renewal 147
Mexico and Benito Juárez 149
French Invasions 150
The Rise of Porfirio Díaz 151
Intellectual Theories: Positivism and Eugenics 152
Conclusion 154
7 Revolution from Countryside to City: Mexico 157
The Porfiriato 158
Opposition to the Porfiriato 160
Constitutional Opposition 161
Madero Assassinated 163
US Intervention 163
Women in Combat 164
Carranza as President 165
The Constitution of 1917 169
Aftermath of Struggle 170
Agrarian Revolts in Latin America 171
Conclusion 174
8 The Left and the Socialist Alternative 175
Socialism on the World Stage 175
Social Reform and the Middle Class 176
Anarchism, Socialism, and Anarcho-syndicalism 177
Women in the Workforce 178
Colombia: Resistance to the United Fruit Company 179
The Labor Movement 181
Socialism and the Arts 182
Tenentes Revolt and Brazilian Communism 183
Modern Art Week in Brazil 185
Women in the Arts 187
Socialism vs. Capitalism 189
José Carlos Mariátegui 190
Conclusion 191
9 Populism and the Struggle for Change 193
Getúlio Vargas and “New State” Politics 195
Juan Perón and Peronism 197
Perón’s Fall from Grace 200
Politics Engendered 201
Revolutionizing Mexico: Lázaro Cárdenas 203
Populism in Colombia and Peru 204
Central America 206
The Long Twentieth Century 210
Conclusion 211
10 Post-World War II Struggles for Sovereignty 213
World War II 213
Temporary Worker Program 215
Post-war Latin America 217
Military vs. Civilian Rule 219
The Absolute Dictator: Rafael Trujillo 221
Americas in Transition: Guatemala and Bolivia 225
Guatemala 225
Revolution in Bolivia 227
Mining and the Voice of Bolivian Activism 229
The Revolution in Decline 231
Conclusion 232
11 Cuba: Guerrillas Take Power 235
“History Will Absolve Me” 236
Causes for Discontent 237
The Revolutionary War 238
The Special Period in Peacetime 241
Cuba and the World 242
Ernesto “Che” Guevara 243
What Difference Did the Revolution Make? 246
Democratic Shortcomings 248
Conclusion 249
12 Progress and Reaction 251
Modernization and Progress 251
Brazil’s Military Coup 252
The National Security State 254
Latin America’s Youth Movement 255
Mexico 255
The Massacre at Tlateloco 256
The Chilean Road to Socialism 257
The Chilean Road to Socialism Dead Ends 259
Urban Guerrilla Warfare: Uruguay 260
Urban Guerrilla Warfare: Argentina 262
Dictatorship and State Terror 264
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo 266
The War of the Malvinas/Falkland Islands 267
Movements for Revolutionary Change: Peru 269
Sendero Luminoso, the Shining Path 270
Women and Shining Path 272
Repression and Fujimori 273
Conclusion 274
13 Revolution and Its Alternatives 277
A Changing Catholic Church 278
Marxism and Catholic Humanism 279
The Opposition 281
The Somozas versus Sandino: the Next Generation 281
The Sandinista Opposition 282
Sandinistas in Power 285
United States and the Sandinistas 288
Effects of the Contra War 289
Central America in Turmoil: El Salvador and Guatemala 291
Politics of Repression in El Salvador 292
The Opposition 293
The Fighting Ends 294
Guatemala: The Bloodiest War 295
The Evangelical Alternative 297
Colombia: The Longest War 299
The War on Drugs in Latin America 300
Conclusion 303
14 The Americas in the Twenty-first Century 305
The Washington Consensus 305
Brazil and the Workers’ Alternative 306
The Workers’ Party in Power 308
Bolivia: Twenty-first-century Indigenismo 309
Venezuela and Hugo Chávez 310
The Bolivarian Mission 312
Chávez and “the Pink Tide” 313
Complicating Social Ties 314
Chile’s Transition to Democracy 315
New Social Movements 317
Movements for Racial and Gender Equality 319
Women and Politics 320
The Latin Americanization of the United States 322
Immigration and Free Trade 325
Opponents Confront Free Trade 327
Immigration and Neoliberalism 330
Sharing the Environment and the Cost of Stewardship 331
Notes 335
Glossary 341
Further Reading 345
Index 359
Many of the broad themes of recent Latin American history – modernization, dependency, revolution, and neoliberalism – are constantly challenged by attention to the area’s diversity. By interspersing accounts of the prominent and well known with the more commonplace, this new history enriches Latin America’s master narrative with vivid and revealing portraits of ordinary people. In particular, Meade addresses the role of gender and its influence on stimulating political and economic change. Also examined is the crucial role of popular culture – music, art, sports, and the movies – in shaping a broad and vibrant Latin American cultural identity. With an engaging combination of personal histories interwoven with historical analysis, A History of Modern Latin America strikes a perfect balance in its presentation of the tumultuous years of post-colonial Latin America.
"Teresa Meade’s A History of Modern Latin America brings a new approach to introducing students to the region. Using exciting themes like class, gender and ethnicity, she compares and contrasts places and peoples, some well known and others less familiar. In doing so Meade makes connections between events that are often ignored, showing readers that history is not simply hero worship and that historians are not simply document readers."
Jeffrey Lesser, Emory University
"Clearly written, conceptually accessible, comprehensive, and broad in scope, Teresa Meade’s text is an excellent alternative for survey courses on Latin America. Meade both reflects recent conceptual innovations in the field, and provides a consistent and comprehensive narrative and periodization. Not only will this text provide a reliable guide for undergraduates, but professors will also find themselves stimulated to rethink their own assumptions about the main issues in the field. I heartily recommend it."
Florencia E. Mallon, Julieta Kirkwood Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"This is the rare history of modern Latin America that does justice to the crucial political and economic trends of the last two centuries while exploring in-depth the social and cultural aspects of Latin American societies."
Barbara Weinstein, New York University