Series on Latin American Studies

Few other social phenomena are likely to impact the future character of American society as much as the ongoing wave of “new immigration.” This cross-disciplinary book brings together twelve essays by leading scholars of the most significant aspect of the new immigration: Mexican immigration to the U.S.

The fifteen essays in this volume apply the methods of the new economic history to the history of the Latin American economies since 1800. The authors combine the historian’s sensitivity to context and contingency with modern or "neoclassical" economic theory and quantitative methods.

The end of the Cold War shifted the agenda of U.S.-Latin American relations away from hemispheric security toward trade and investment, drugs and migration. The new agenda has increased pressure to eliminate anachronistic U.S. embargo on Cuba and also includes Latin America’s growing ties to the countries of the European Union and other regions. This book contains fifteen essays by distinguished U.S., Latin American, and European scholars on each of these issues, framed by overviews of the changing historical context from the nineteenth century to the end of the Cold War.

Bitter Fruit is a comprehensive and insightful account of the CIA operation to overthrow the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954. This book has become a classic, a textbook case of the relationship between the U.S. and the Third World. It is a warning of what happens when the U.S. abuses its power.

Organized by Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies with the collaboration of the Scientific Committee for Problems of the Environment, this interdisciplinary volume examines the impact of a variety of new technological, social, and economic trends on the rural environment.

The book provides a valuable overview of current problems facing indigenous peoples in their relation with national states in Latin America, from the highlands of Mexico to the jungles of Brazil. The traditional, sometimes centuries old, relations between states and indigenous peoples are now changing and being rediscussed.

This volume, the result of a conference organized by the Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies of Harvard University and the Institute for Latin American Studies at the University of London, presents new interpretations of the events in Bolivia of 1952 and compares them to social transformations in France, Mexico, Russia, China, and Cuba.

This work, based on a conference sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, examines how this free trade process is surging ahead, while at the same time taking on a broader set of issues including institutional reform, transparency, the environment, labor, and social cohesion.

An American supermarket and a Mexican food bank, an Argentine newspaper and a solidarity network, a Chilean pharmacy chain and an elder care home: the authors analyze why and how such social partnering occurs and provide a compelling framework for identifying key levers that maximize value creation for participants and society.

Cuban and American social scientists and policy experts examine Cuba’s development trajectory by delving into issues ranging from the political economy of reform to their impact on specific sectors including export development, foreign direct investment, and U.S.–Cuba trade.

Passing Lines seeks to stimulate dialogue on the role of sexuality and sexual orientation in immigration to the U.S. from Latin America and the Caribbean. The book looks at the complexities, inconsistencies, and paradoxes of immigration from the point of view of both academics and practitioners in the field.

First written in 1570, this work now published in modern Spanish with an English translation sheds light on the Inqa (Inca) world. These writings followed more than a decade of negotiations and skirmishes between Inqa rebels and Spanish officials who were receiving their orders from Spain to find a diplomatic, or alternatively violent, solution to integrate these independently governed territories under Spanish colonial rule.

Latin America is a profoundly philanthropic region with deeply rooted traditions of solidarity with the less fortunate. This volume brings together groundbreaking perspectives on such diverse themes as corporate philanthropy, immigrant networks, and new grant-making and operating foundations with corporate, family, and community origins.

Kinzer interviewed people at every level of the Somoza, Sandinistas and contra hierarchies, as well as dissidents, heads of state, and countless ordinary citizens. This is his dramatic story of the centuries-old power struggle that made headlines in 1979 with the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship, and a vibrant portrait of the Nicaraguan people.

The Other Latinos addresses an important topic: the presence in the United States of Latin American and Caribbean immigrants from countries other than Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Focusing on the Andes, Central America, and Brazil, the book brings together essays by a number of accomplished scholars, hoping that this introductory work will inspire others to construct a more complete understanding of the realities of Latin American migration into the United States.

Is Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution under Hugo Chávez truly revolutionary? Some see the president as a shining knight of socialism, while others see him as an avenging Stalinist strongman. But the Chávez government does not fall easily into a seamless fable of emancipatory or authoritarian history, as these distinguished essays make clear.

From 1865–1866, William James accompanied the director of the recently established Museum of Comparative Zoology on a research expedition to Brazil. This volume is a critical, bilingual (English–Portuguese) edition of his diaries and letters and also includes reproductions of his drawings. This original material belongs to the Houghton Archives at Harvard University and is of great interest to both William James scholars and Brazilian studies experts.

The renowned anthropologist and human rights advocate David Maybury-Lewis saw the Latin American frontiers as relatively unknown physical spaces as well as unexplored academic “territory.” The authors examine the narrative forms that stirred or rationalized expansion, and emphasize their impact on the native residents. The essays suggest a view of nationalism as a theoretical concept and of frontier expansion as a historical phenomenon.

Poverty and Poverty Alleviation Strategies in North America is a dialogue about poverty in North America, especially in Mexico and the United States. In this book, twelve poverty scholars in Mexico and the United States contribute to the understanding of the roots of poverty and build knowledge about effective policy alleviation strategies.

This book aims to demonstrate how the private sector can become part of the solution of poverty. A task force drawing on nine teams of researchers from various business schools and universities in nine countries examined 33 experiences, seeking to uncover “what’s needed” for building new business value chains that help move people out of poverty.

Latin America’s widespread poverty and multi-dimensioned inequalities have long perplexed and provoked observers. This edited volume with chapters by preeminent economists and social scientists brings together important scholarly efforts to measure and explain changes in Latin American living standards as far back as the colonial era.

The transformation of the Cuban economy over the last decade is only likely to accelerate. In this edited volume, prominent Cuban economists and sociologists present a clear analysis of Cuba’s economic and social circumstances and suggest steps for Cuba to reactivate economic growth and improve the welfare of its citizens.

In the twelve essays in Reflections on Memory and Democracy, an interdisciplinary group of contributors explores legacies of authoritarian political regimes noted for repression and injustice, questioning how collective experiences of violence shape memory and its relevance for contemporary social and political life in Latin America.

Cuba has long been a social policy pioneer, with ambitious policies to address health care, education, employment, the environment, and social inequalities. Yet facing severe economic challenges, the government may look to learn from its Latin American neighbors. Social Policies and Decentralization in Cuba analyzes these issues in depth.

The Cuban Economy in ​a New Era diagnoses the ills afflicting Cuba’s economy and examines seven areas: macroeconomic policy, central planning, small and medium private enterprises, nonagricultural cooperatives, financing options for the new private sector, state enterprise management, and relations with international financial institutions.