Synopses & Reviews
Since the early nineteenth century, the United States has repeatedly intervened in the affairs of Latin American nations to pursue its own interests and to andldquo;protectandrdquo; those countries from other imperial powers or from internal andldquo;threats.andrdquo; The resentment and opposition generated by the encroachment of U.S. power has been evident in the recurrent attempts of Latin American nations to pull away from U.S. dominance and in the frequent appearance of popular discontent and unrest directed against imperialist U.S. policies. In
Empire and Dissent, senior Latin Americanists explore the interplay between various dimensions of imperial power and the resulting dissent and resistance.
Several essays provide historical perspective on contemporary U.S.andndash;hemispheric relations. These include an analysis of the nature and dynamics of imperial domination, an assessment of financial relations between the United States and Latin America since the end of World War II, an account of Native American resistance to colonialism, and a consideration of the British governmentandrsquo;s decision to abolish slavery in its colonies. Other essays focus on present-day conflicts in the Americas, highlighting various modes of domination and dissent, resistance and accommodation. Examining southern Mexicoandrsquo;s Zapatista movement, one contributor discusses dissent in the era of globalization. Other contributors investigate the surprisingly conventional economic policies of Brazilandrsquo;s president, Luiz Inandaacute;cio Lula da Silva; Argentinaandrsquo;s recovery from its massive 2001 debt default; the role of coca markets in the election of Boliviaandrsquo;s first indigenous president, Evo Morales; and the possibilities for extensive social change in Venezuela. A readersandrsquo; guide offers a timeline of key events from 1823 through 2007, along with a list of important individuals, institutions, and places.
Contributors: Daniel A. Cieza, Gregory Evans Dowd, Steve Ellner, Neil Harvey, Alan Knight, Carlos Marichal, John Richard Oldfield, Silvia Rivera, Fred Rosen, Jeffrey W. Rubin
Review
andldquo;You canandrsquo;t have one without the other: empire and dissent have defined American politics for nearly two centuries, producing, in Latin America, an enduring social democracy and, in the United States, an equally persistent evangelical liberalism. Fred Rosenandrsquo;s knowledge of Latin American politics is formidable, and in this edited collection of essays he has given us an indispensable guide to a critical topic.andrdquo;andmdash;Greg Grandin, author of Empireandrsquo;s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism
Review
andldquo;Empire and Dissent is uniformly informative, insightful, and often provocative in the best of senses. This outstanding collection pairs a conceptually innovative and historiographically superior set of essays on empire in the Americas (Spanish, British, and United States) with country-specific chapters on resistance, dissent, and negotiation in contemporary Latin America. These insightful chapters reach beyond traditional course material on Latin American history and politics to address questions of globalization, social movements, and the conceptualization of resistance in an era of U.S. hegemonic power.andrdquo;andmdash;Steven Volk, Oberlin College
Synopsis
This collection examines the question of Empire, the various forms of resistance, dissent and/or accomodation it generates, and the ways it has manifested itself in the Americas, analyzing U.S. hemispheric relations at the turn of the 21st century from an
About the Author
Fred Rosen is an independent journalist and political economist based in New York and Mexico City. He is a contributing editor to the NACLA Report on the Americas, a political columnist for the Mexico edition of The Miami Herald, and a co-editor of Latin America after Neoliberalism: Turning the Tide in the Twenty-first Century?
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
A Reader's Guide ix
Introduction / Fred Rosen 1
Part I. Empire in the Americas: Historical Reflections
1. U.S. Imperialist/Hegemony and Latin American Resistance / Alan Knight 23
2. andquot;We Are Heirs-apparent to the Romansandquot;: Imperial Myths and Indigenous Status / Gregory Evans Dowd 53
3. The Finances of Hegemony in Latin America: Debt Negotiations and the Role of the U.S. Government, 1945-2005 / Carlos Marichal 90
Part II. Empire and Resistance in the Twenth-First Century
5. Beyond Hegemony: Zapatismo, Empire, and Dissent / Neil Harvey 117
6. Colonialism and Ethnic Resistance in Bolivia: A View from the Coca Markets / Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui 137
7. High Stakes in Brazil: Can Democracy Take on Empire? / Jeffrey W. Rubin 162
8. From Menem to Kirchner: National Autonomy and Social Movements in Argentina / Daniel A. Cieza 188
9. The Hugo Chavez Phenomenon: Anti-imperialism from Above or Radical Democracy from Below? / Steve Ellner 205
Bibliography 229
Contributors 251
Index 253