Beneath the United States

Beneath the United States
Author: Lars Schoultz
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 497
Release: 1998-06-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0674256042

In this sweeping history of United States policy toward Latin America, Lars Schoultz shows that the United States has always perceived Latin America as a fundamentally inferior neighbor, unable to manage its affairs and stubbornly underdeveloped. This perception of inferiority was apparent from the beginning. John Quincy Adams, who first established diplomatic relations with Latin America, believed that Hispanics were "lazy, dirty, nasty...a parcel of hogs." In the early nineteenth century, ex-President John Adams declared that any effort to implant democracy in Latin America was "as absurd as similar plans would be to establish democracies among the birds, beasts, and fishes." Drawing on extraordinarily rich archival sources, Schoultz, one of the country's foremost Latin America scholars, shows how these core beliefs have not changed for two centuries. We have combined self-interest with a "civilizing mission"--a self-abnegating effort by a superior people to help a substandard civilization overcome its defects. William Howard Taft felt the way to accomplish this task was "to knock their heads together until they should maintain peace," while in 1959 CIA Director Allen Dulles warned that "the new Cuban officials had to be treated more or less like children." Schoultz shows that the policies pursued reflected these deeply held convictions. While political correctness censors the expression of such sentiments today, the actions of the United States continue to assume the political and cultural inferiority of Latin America. Schoultz demonstrates that not until the United States perceives its southern neighbors as equals can it anticipate a constructive hemispheric alliance.

Neighborly Adversaries

Neighborly Adversaries
Author: Michael J. LaRosa
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2007
Genre: Latin America
ISBN: 0742540472

Providing a balanced and interdisciplinary interpretation, this comprehensive reader traces the troubled U.S. Latin American relationship from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the post 9/11 period. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition includes original essays on critical issues such as immigration and the environment. In addition, a new section helps students understand the most important themes and topics that unify and divide the United States and Latin American nations today. The readings are framed by the editors' opening chapter on the history of the relationship, part introductions, and abstracts for each selection. Methodologically interdisciplinary, yet comparative and historical in organization and structure, this collection will benefit students and specialists of Latin America's complex historical, social, and political relationship with its northern neighbor."

Readings in Latin American Politics

Readings in Latin American Politics
Author:
Publisher: Wadsworth
Total Pages: 590
Release: 2006
Genre: Education
ISBN:

This new and innovative reader focuses on challenges to the establishment, maintenance and deeping of democracy in Latin America. It is divided into two parts - the first focuses on important themes in the study of Latin American politics, while the second explores issues related to these themes in the context of specific countries. The text incorporates a variety of articles, from scholarly works that provide theoretical grounding on importat issues to more accessible pieces that provide immediacy and contectual detail.

Modern Political Economy And Latin America

Modern Political Economy And Latin America
Author: Jeffry A Frieden
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2018-05-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0429967446

This is a reader that applies the newest debates in political economy to the analysis of Latin America in a way that is thematically and theoretically cohesive.. Modern Political Economy and Latin America consists of carefully selected, edited readings in Latin American political economy. The editors, Jeffry Frieden and Manuel Pastor, Jr., include an introductory chapter, and a concluding article as well as brief introductions to all sections. These inclusions will make explicit the theoretical underpinnings of each article, and will highlight their respective contributions to the ongoing debates in Latin America. } Modern Political Economy and Latin America consists of carefully selected, edited readings in Latin American political economy. The editors, Jeffry Frieden and Manuel Pastor, Jr., include an introductory chapter, and a concluding article as well as brief introductions to all sections. These inclusions will make explicit the theoretical underpinnings of each article, and will highlight their respective contributions to the ongoing debates in Latin America.Latin American economies are undergoing profound transformations. And, in the wake of a decade-long debt crisis, the statist models of the past are giving way to a reliance on the market even as authoritarian rule seems to have ebbed in favor of new or reborn democratic institutions. As a result, the policy framework guiding economic and political development is likely to be fundamentally different. The analysis of Latin America needs a strong dose of modern political economy--one that can bring the area studies field up to date with the recent developments on the theoretical end of the economics and political science professions. This book helps fill that need. }

Neighborly Adversaries

Neighborly Adversaries
Author: Michael J. LaRosa
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2015-03-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442226471

The history of U.S.–Latin American relations has been characterized by a complex fusion of tensions, collaboration, misperceptions, and intervention. Offering a balanced and interdisciplinary interpretation, this comprehensive reader traces the often-troubled relationship from the beginnings of the nineteenth century to the presidency of Barack Obama. Completely revised and updated, this third edition includes original essays on critically important issues such as immigration, the environment, and the Obama administration’s policy toward the region. In addition to this added policy section, another new section explores cultural issues such as tourism, soccer, and the media. The readings are framed by the editors’ opening chapter on the history of the relationship, introductory essays for each of the seven parts, and abstracts for each selection. Students who use this book will learn that U.S.–Latin American relations have been deeply influenced by dynamic, continuously evolving scholarly interpretations in both hemispheres. Sixteen years after the first edition was published, the editors are more optimistic as the hemisphere unites around trade, culture, tourism and an evolving mutual appreciation. Methodologically interdisciplinary, yet comparative and historical in organization and structure, this text will benefit all readers interested in the rich historical, social, and political “American” relationship.

In the Name of Democracy

In the Name of Democracy
Author: Thomas Carothers
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 334
Release: 1993-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780520082601

"The most balanced and sophisticated account currently available of U.S. policy toward Latin America in the 1980s, and of the complexities, tensions and difficulties inherent in making democratization in a foreign policy objective. A 'must read.'"--Ambassador Viron P. Vaky, former Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs "The most balanced and sophisticated account currently available of U.S. policy toward Latin America in the 1980s, and of the complexities, tensions and difficulties inherent in making democratization in a foreign policy objective. A 'must read.'"--Ambassador Viron P. Vaky, former Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs

Politics And Social Change In Latin America

Politics And Social Change In Latin America
Author: Howard J. Wiarda
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 536
Release: 2019-07-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 100030745X

Since the appearance of the first edition of this text in 1974, the book has stimulated an ongoing debate about the nature of the Latin American development process. Although the essays discuss a wide range of historical, economic, political, and social issues, they are unified in arguing that the Latin American experience of development is subject to special imperatives of analysis and interpretation not generally offered in the Western literature on development and social change. Arguing that West ern models are often inappropriate when applied to Latin America, the authors explore alternative approaches to understanding the Latin American pattern of development and change. The third edition retains classic essays from earlier editions but has been extensively revised to take account of the dramatic changes in the region over the last ten years. Looking particularly at the challenges presented by redemocratization and the new pluralism, the book raises the question of whether a "distinct tradition" still remains. New readings discuss the implications of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, the changing role of the church, the process of democratization, and human rights issues and speculate on the permanence of Latin America's more pluralistic political structures.