The Other Mirror

by Centeno, Miguel Angel

• ISBN13: 9780691050171
• ISBN10: 0691050171
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-11
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

If social science's "cultural turn" has taught us anything, it is that knowledge is constrained by the time and place in which it is produced. In response, scholars have begun to reassess social theory from the standpoints of groups and places outside of the European context upon which most grand theory is based. Here a distinguished group of scholars reevaluates widely accepted theories of state, property, race, and economics against Latin American experiences with a two-fold purpose. They seek to deepen our understanding of Latin America and the problems it faces. And, by testing social science paradigms against a broader variety of cases, they pursue a better and truly generalizable map of the social world. Bringing universal theory into dialogue with specific history, the contributors consider what forms Latin American variations of classical themes might take and which theories are most useful in describing Latin America. For example, the Argentinian experience reveals the limitations of neoclassical descriptions of economic development, but Charles Tilly's emphasis on the importance of war and collective action to statemaking holds up well when thoughtfully adapted to Latin American situations. Marxist structural analysis is problematic in a region where political divisions do not fully expresses class cleavages, but aspects of Karl Polanyi's socioeconomic theory cross borders with relative ease. This fresh theoretical discussion expands the scope of Latin American studies and social theory, bringing the two into an unprecedented conversation that will benefit both. Contributors are, in addition to the editors, Jeremy Adelman, Jorge I. Domiacute;nguez, Paul Gootenberg, Alan Knight, Robert M. Levine, Claudio Lomnitz, John Markoff, Veroacute;nica Montecinos, Steven C. Topik, and J. Samuel Valenzuela.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Contributors	xi
Introduction	3	(22)
Miguel Angel Centeno
Fernando Lopez-Alves
PART I: CREATING AN ECONOMY	25	(126)
Institutions, Property, and Economic Development in Latin America	27	(28)
Jeremy Adelman
Hijos of Dr. Gerschenkron: ``Latecomer'' Conceptions in Latin American Economic History	55	(26)
Paul Gootenberg
Karl Polanyi and the Creation of the ``Market Society''	81	(24)
Steven Topik
From the Power of Economic Ideas to the Power of Economists	105	(46)
Veronica Montecinos
John Markoff
PART II: THE STATE AND DEMOCRACY	151	(136)
The Transatlantic Bridge: Mirrors, Charles Tilly, and State Formation in the River Plate	153	(24)
Fernando Lopez-Alves
The Modern Mexican State: Theory and Practice	177	(42)
Alan Knight
Samuel Huntington and the Latin American State	219	(21)
Jorge I. Dominguez
Class Relations and Democratization: A Reassessment of Barrington Moore's Model	240	(47)
J. Samuel Valenzuela
PART III: LIVING AND BELONGING	287	(74)
The Disciplinary Society in Latin America	289	(20)
Miguel Angel Centeno
Michel de Certeau and Latin America	309	(20)
Robert M. Levine
Nationalism as a Practical System: Benedict Anderson's Theory of Nationalism from the Vantage Point of Spanish America	329	(32)
Claudio Lomnitz
Index	361