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Description
A classic anthology of primary documents in Latin American history, Keen’s Latin American Civilization introduces readers to the sweeping panorama of Latin American history. More than 140 readings, organized chronologically and placed in context by insightful introductory notes and essays, provide vivid glimpses of life in Latin America from the conquest to the colonial, national, and contemporary eras, making Keen’s Latin American Civilization eminently suitable for one- or two-term survey courses. In the ninth edition, editors Robert Buffington and Lila Caimari document dramatic recent changes in Latin America, including the resurgence of leftist governments, the feminization of politics from the grassroots to the presidency, the devastating effects of narco-trafficking and political corruption on law and order, and growing concerns about the environment.
Robert Buffington is an associate professor in the Women and Gender Studies program at the at the University of Colorado.
Lila Caimari is a researcher at CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
About the Authors
Robert Buffington is an associate professor in the Women and Gender Studies program at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Lila Caimari is a researcher at CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Reviews:
“Buffington and Caimari have done what may have seemed impossible: to make a classic even better. This new, updated edition of Keen’s extremely useful and popular reader of sources and documents has no rival among college textbooks. Latin American Civilization offers a wealth of information on the history of the region from pre-Hispanic times to the twenty-first century.”
—Carlos Aguirre, University of Oregon
“I am very grateful to see this classic classroom resource updated and improved. This text has been among the most useful classroom tools since its introduction. This edition builds on this strong foundation, providing wonderful coverage of recent political events and social movements and offering the student careful guidance through section introductions.”
—Lyman Johnson, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
“Keen's classic volume is better than ever. In this up-to-date edition, Robert Buffington and Lila Caimari offer fascinating new material on the history of gender and society along with invaluable insights on the changes now sweeping through Latin America.”
—Jeffrey M. Pilcher, University of Minnesota
Praise for previous editions:
“A classic reader reinvented. Benjamin Keen’s anthology of lively essays and documents spoke to a generation of college studies. Buffington and Caimari have brought to this edition no only the requisite updates, but thoughtful new excerpts and fresh analytical insights that make the collection more engaging than ever.”
—John W. Sherman, Wright State University
“From the Maya to the Subcomandante Marcos, from Columbus to Hugo Chavez, this comprehensive collection of primary readings adds content and color to Latin American history. A timely and valuable update of a classic text.”
—Suzanne Pasztor, Professor of Latin American History, University of the Pacific
“Since its original appearance in 1955, [this book] has offered the finest selection of readings available for the survey course. Offers selections of all aspects of Latin American civilization. Like fine wine, Keen’s reader has aged well.”
—Latin American Research Review
Part One: Indian and Hispanic Origins
Chapter 1: Ancient America on the Eve of Conquest
1 Aztec Warfare
2 The Halls of Moctezuma
3 Aztec Industry and Commerce
4 The Condition of the Aztec Peasantry
5 An Aztec Mother Advises Her Daughter
6 Mayan Industry, Commerce, and Agriculture
7 The Mayan Social Order
8 Mayan Religious Life
9 Mayan Origin Myth
10 How the Inca Formed a Nation
11 The Village Basis of Incan Society
12 Two Views of the Incan Empire
13 War and Cannibalism among the Brazilian Indians
Chapter 2: Hispanic Society on the Eve of the Conquest
1 The Catholic Sovereigns
2 The Spanish Inquisition
3 The Spanish Character
4 The Man Columbus
5 Columbus Sets the Stage
6 The Portrait of the Conqueror
Part Two: Conquest and Colonization
Chapter 3: Conquest
1 October 12, 1492
2 The Discovery of the Pacific
3 The Meeting of Cortés and Moctezuma
4 Twilight over Tenochtitlán
5 Rendezvous at Cajamarca
6 How the New Laws Were Received in Peru
7 The Man Who Would Be King
8 Advice to a Would-Be Conqueror
9 Lope de Aguirre: Disillusioned Warrior
10 Journey’s End
Chapter 4: Colonization
1 The Strange Sermon of Father Montesinos
2 The Laughter of Doctor Palacios Rubios
3 Bartolomé de las Casas: God’s Angry Man
4 All Humankind Is One
5 The Portuguese Colonizer
6 The Slave-Hunters
7 Aimoré: Word of Terror
8 Indian Forced Labor in Guatemala
9 Debt Peonage in Peru
10 Dialogue in Yucatán
11 Guaman Poma Assesses the Conquest
Part Three: The Colonial Political Economy
Chapter 5: The Colonial Economy
1 The Indian Agricultural Heritage
2 Spain’s Contributions to New World Agriculture
3 The Potosí Mine
4 The Colonial Factory
5 On the Sea-Road to the Indies
6 The Great Fair at Portobello
7 A Foreign View of the Spanish Commercial System
8 The Rise and Fall of Villa Rica
Chapter 6: Colonial Political and Religious Institutions
1 The Structure of Colonial Government
2 “I Have Seen Corruption Boil and Bubble … ”
3 The Corregidor: Enemy of the People
4 “These Laws Are Obeyed and Not Enforced”
5 City Government in the Spanish Indies
6 The Sources of Catholic Power
7 The Administration of Colonial Brazil
8 Local Government: The Capitão-Môr
9 The Jesuit Indian Policy
Part Four: Colonial Society and Culture
Chapter 7: Colonial Society
1 The Structure of Class and Caste
2 The Colonial City: Mexico City
3 The Mestizo: Seed of Tomorrow
4 The Indian Town
5 The World of the Sugar Plantation
6 The Free Population
7 The Social Consequences of Slavery
Chapter 8: Colonial Culture
1 The Colonial University
2 The Tenth Muse
3 On the Foolishness of Men (Sor Juana)
4 Gaucho Entertainment
5 Indians and the Environment
6 Sexual and Racial Politics
Part Five: Late Colonial Developments
Chapter 9: The Bourbon Reforms
1 The Bourbon Commercial Reforms
2 The Revival of Mining
3 The New Experimental Sciences and Catholic Education
4 Colonial Industry in Decline
5 Political Reform: The Intendant System
6 The More It Changes … ,
Chapter 10: Winds of Change
1 Colonial Journalism in Action
2 A Colonial Freethinker
3 A Plan for Democratic Education
4 The Plan of Tupac Amaru
5 A Heroine of the Tupac Amaru Revolt
6 A Charter of Liberty
7 Brazilian Slaves Resist
Part Six: Independence and Its Aftermath
Chapter 11: The Struggle for Independence
1 The Cleavage Within
2 The Forging of a Rebel
3 Man of Destiny
4 The Army of the Andes
5 Hidalgo: Torchbearer of the Mexican Revolution
6 The Reforms of Hidalgo
7 The Plan of Iguala
8 A Letter to Dom Pedro
Chapter 12: Searching for a New Road
1 The Fatal Legacy
2 In Defense of Spain
3 Bolívar’s Ideal Republic
4 The Age of Violence
5 Facundo: Barbarian Caudillo
6 Mexico City Under Santa Anna
7 Dom Pedro II: A Political Portrait
Part Seven: Constructing the Nation-State
Chapter 13: Real and Imagined Communities
1 Roads to the Future
2 The Guano Boom
3 Flora Tristan: Pioneer Feminist and Socialist
4 Reform By Revolution
5 A Mexican Radical
6 Black Slavery Under the Empire
7 The Antislavery Impulse
8 On Racial Miscegenation in Brazil
Chapter 14: Modernity and the Emergence of the Nation-State
1 Political Stability and Economic Development
2 Buenos Aires: First Impressions
3 A Different Model of Economic Development: A New Program for Chile
4 Porfirio Díaz Assesses His Legacy
5 Porfirio Díaz, Viceroy of Mexico
6 The Popular Perspective on Modernity
7 “The Old Order Changeth … ”
8 “… Yielding Place to New”
9 Our America
Part Eight: Consolidating the Nation-State
Chapter 15: The Rise of Mass Politics and Culture
1 For Land and Liberty
2 The Indian Problem
3 Teaching and Telling Stories
4 What is APRA?
5 Cárdenas Speaks
6 On the Protection of the Brazilian Worker
7 Perón Appeals to the People
8 Eva Perón: On Women’s Right to Vote
9 Letter to President Perón
10 Of Man, Woman, and Time
Chapter 16: Democracy, Dictatorship, and “Development”
1 The New Latifundio
2 Economic Dependency
3 “History Will Absolve Me”
4 Advice for Urban Guerrillas
5 Prelude to Dictatorship
6 The Death of Victor Jara
7 Open Letter to the Military Junta
8 Mothers of the Disappeared
9 The Church in the Nicaraguan Revolution
10 Death of the “Mexican Economic Miracle”
11 Communiqué from Subcommander Marcos
Part Nine: Challenges to the Nation-State
Chapter 17: Globalization and its Discontents
1 Lula Speaks Out
2 Citizens Talk about the Police
3 Sex and Revolution
4 Latin America’s Left Turn
5 Women Take Charge
6 The New Populism
7 Challenging the Nation-State
Chapter 18: The Two Americas
1 The Vision of Bolívar
2 The United States as Model
3 The Monroe Doctrine
4 The Two Americas
5 “On the Uniqueness of Latin American Spirit”
6 The White Man’s Burden
7 Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
8 To Roosevelt
9 Mexico’s President Looks North
10 National Security
11 Operation Guatemala
12 Dissent Within the Ranks
13 Covert Operations
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