The Human Condition in Latin America

by Wolf, Eric R.; Hansen, Edward C.

• ISBN13: 9780195015690
• ISBN10: 019501569X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1972-03-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The existential conditions under which most Latin Americans live are explored in this book in a systematic dialectic between primary documents and social science analysis. The authors develop their own interpretations in an ongoing argument, drawing on data from historical accounts, ethnographic reports, and essays by observers of Latin America. One of the major themes of this book is the growing polarization of masses and elites in Latin America, and the forms of conflict such polarization entails.

Table of Contents

Briefing on Latin America	3	(25)
First Words
The Export Economy
Economic Enclaves
Ups and Downs of the Economy
Enclave Economies and Siphon Economies
The Latin American Traffic Pattern
Obstacles: Andes and Amazon
The Great Plains
Uneven Distribution of Traffic Lanes
Uneven Distribution of People
City vs. Countryside
The Agricultural Population
Big Landowners and Managers
People of the Hinterland
Uneven Involvement in National Life
Summary
Indians and Europeans	28	(43)
The Expansion of Europe
Indians with States and Without
The Inca
The Aztecs
``Political'' Indians and Savages
The Tupinamba
Communities	71	(29)
Indians and Creoles
A Closed Community: Hualcan in Peru
An Open Community: Saucio in Colombia
Conflict and Its Settlement in Hualcan and Saucio
Once Again: Closed and Open Communities in Mexico
The Role of Religion	100	(18)
Religion in Closed and Open Communities
Latin American Catholicism
The Human Side of the Enclave Economy	118	(87)
Stores
Rubber Trapping
Large Estates: The Slave-Owning Fazenda
Large Estates: Haciendas and Peonage
The Cattle Ranch
Industry
Cities
The Problem of Economic Development
The Growing Middle Class
Patterns of Social Relationships
Politics	205	(145)
The Caudillo
Background to Caudillo Rule: Venezuela
The Paradox of Caudillo Power
Violence in Politics
The Role of the Military in Modern Latin American Politics
The Politics of Interventionism: the U.S. in the Dominican Republic
Aspects of Popular Revolution: Mexico and Cuba
Concluding Remarks	350	(9)
Bibliographical Notes	359	(6)
Index	365