Contemporary Latin America: 1970 to the Present

Contemporary Latin America presents the epochal changes in the cultures, governments, economies and societies of Latin America at a critical moment in the region’s history. Beginning in 1970, a decade before the tumultuous changes of the 1980s, Holden and Villars analyze the decline of the old era in order to fully highlight the significance of later developments. The authors identify the central tendency of these changes as liberalization or openness, and present them in the context of the Latin American nations’ rich history both as overseas kingdoms of the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies, and as self–emancipated republics. They emphasize the global, national and local dimensions of the region’s recent past, while highlighting the persistence of deep–seated historical legacies that have continued to shape contemporary Latin America. Each chapter is divided into sections covering relevant pre–1970s trends, post–1970s trends and the particular experiences of individual countries. The book focuses on “Ibero–America” – Brazil and the eighteen countries that were formerly Spanish possessions – while offering valuable comparative views of the non–Iberian areas of the Caribbean.

List of Maps, Figures and Tables vii Series Editor’s Preface viii Acknowledgments x Part I Latin America in a World Setting 1 Introduction 3 1 What Is Latin America? 5 2 Beliefs 20 Part II Government 41 Introduction 43 3 The Demise of Social Revolution 48 4 The Armed Forces Bow to Civilian Rule 67 5 The Turning toward Democracy 97 6 Religion, Politics and the State 113 7 Lawless Violence, Impunity and the Democratic Transition 127 Part III Wealth 143 Introduction 145 8 The Challenge of Sustained Growth 148 9 Poor Countries, Rich Countries 161 10 Agonies of Underdevelopment 185 Part IV Culture 207 Introduction 209 11 Education 211 12 Research and Communications 225 13 Literature and the Visual Arts 249 14 Cinema and Sports 263 Part V Communities 275 Introduction 277 15 The Family, Women and Sexuality 281 16 Indigenous Peoples and Their Movements 304 17 Toward a Latin American Community of Nations? 322 Sources Consulted 332 Index 342

Robert H. Holden teaches Latin American history at Old Dominion University in Norfolk Virginia.  He is the author of amongst others, Armies Without Nations: Public Violence and State Formation in Central America, 1821–1960 (2004), and co–editor of Latin America and the United States:  A Documentary History (with Eric Zolov, 2010) as well as numerous scholarly articles.  Rina Villars is the author of three books in Spanish on the history and political culture of Central America, and scholarly articles on Spanish linguistics and women.

“Summing Up: Recommended.  General readers and undergraduate students.”  ( Choice , 1 November 2013)