During the 1960s and 1970s, most Latin American republics saw their democratic systems ousted by ruthless military dictatorships. Whether in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, or Uruguay, these regimes alleged to purge society from communism – thus averting an imminent “civil war” – only thereafter to enact profound neo-liberal reforms in their economies. “Bureaucratic Authoritarianism” is how […]
Read MoreI have been writing about Cuban music and popular culture for some time, as an outsider. It is a fraught position: being based in the United States, strongly attracted to Cuban heritage, trying to undertake rigorous research and pursue sensitive topics while frequently being perceived as someone who may have an ax to grind as […]
Read MoreThe past ten years have been surprising, to say the least, for observers of the Latin American right. There was a time where the left was the star of the show in the region; in the 2000s and 2010s, leaders of the “Pink Tide,” such as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, and Michelle […]
Read MoreCapable states that enforce the rule of law, secure property rights, and provide public goods are prerequisites for development, but where do they originate? Last year’s Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to scholars who argued for the role of colonial institutions. Opportune as the reckoning with colonialism might be, it has diverted our attention […]
Read MoreHow many witches did the Spanish Inquisition burn in Mexico? My name is Martin Nesvig and my new book The Women Who Threw Corn: Witchcraft and Inquisition in Sixteenth-Century Mexico discusses witchcraft in Mexico. The answer to the question above is: ZERO. There were no mass witch panics in Mexico. Rather, witchcraft was a kind […]
Read MoreWhy is our edited volume devoted exclusively to Latin America and the Caribbean, some might ask. After all, antifascism was born in Europe, and many scholars regard this continent as the main arena where it developed. They also have described Latin America as “peripheral” to Europe, the antifascist center. Until recently, writings on antifascism in […]
Read MoreWe live now in a time in which more and more people vouch for building up walls and barriers to deter the movement of people as it is seen with suspicion; as if mobility were the cause of all contemporary problems, a harmful activity that would break up societies and transform them away from their […]
Read MoreHow did Indigenous people in the New World understand their encounters with Europeans during the colonial era? This question is at the centre of ongoing debates among anthropologists and historians and its answers vary as much as the differences between the groups involved in these historical encounters. The topic can be expanded to include questions […]
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