Suchergebnisse

In October 1975, all twenty-five Latin American and Caribbean nations created a new, exclusively Latin American regional economic organization, the Latin American Economic System (SELA). The organization's two general goals are: (1) to promote regional cooperation for economic development, mainly through the creation of Latin American multinational enterprises; and (2) to establish a system of consultation for the adoption of common economic positions vis-à-vis third countries and international organizations. This paper is an exploratory inquiry into the prospects for SELA. The method of analysis employed is to draw from the literature on Latin American integration five problem areas common to integration efforts (weak institutional structures, an unequal distribution of the benefits of integration, nationalism, competing ideologies, and external pressures) to use in assessing SELA's probable evolution. SELA has the potential to further regional integration, but faces an uphill struggle to gain the active support of key countries; it is more likely to achieve its objective of coordinating the policies of Latin American states on international economic issues.

Although the history of Latin American women has emerged only recently as a dynamic field of research, it is already shedding light on a range of social and cultural issues. Thirteen years ago, Ann Pescatello edited the first anthology of Latin American articles on gender issues,Female and Male in Latin America.One of her greatest contributions was a hefty interdisciplinary bibliography listing not only secondary sources but primary documents as well. In 1975 and 1976, Meri Knaster's excellent bibliographies appeared. "Women in Latin America: The State of Research, 1975" surveyed the research centers in Latin America with active publishing programs and assessed the state of the art.Women in Spanish America: An Annotated Bibliography from Pre-Conquest to Contemporary Times(1977) is an interdisciplinary bibliography that has become a standard reference on women in Spanish-speaking America. Asunción Lavrin's historiographic essay inLatin American Women: Historical Perspectivescharted the course taken by subsequent historical researchers and indicated new directions and resources (Lavrin 1978a). Marysa Navarro's "Research on Latin American Women" discussed the effects of economic development on gender roles in less-developed countries, pointing out that Marxist and radical feminist perspectives do not adequately analyze female society. June Hahner's article, "Researching the History of Latin American Women: Past and Future Directions," briefly reviewed scholarly trends (Hahner 1983). Her most recent report in this journal identified research centers and important interdisciplinary studies on women in Brazil (Hahner 1985).

Politics, religion, and society in Latin America -- A note on theory and method -- Transformations in Catholicism and Protestantism -- Democracy, pluralism, and religion -- Social movements and civil society -- Religion and violence -- Rights and reconciliation -- Comparative perspectives -- Looking toward Latin America's future

Americanization--the acculturation & assimilation of immigrant groups within the developing American society--has been a progressive achievement, & is unlikely to be reversed. The evolution of that process has, of course, varied from one immigrant group to another, depending on the country of origin, time of arrival, education & skills, kind of leadership, resistance to change, & place of settlement in the US. Despite great difficulties, frustrations, & contradictory pressures encountered during Americanization, there is no evidence of deprivation when immigrant groups partially or fully sublimate their former cultures for an emerging new one. Without exception, all immigrant groups want to integrate into American society & gain full access to its values. This is in sharp contrast to the experiences of ethnic minorities in other societies who, fearing extinction, seek protection from the dominant culture. The record of immigrant acculturation & assimilation supports the idea that the US is a melting-pot; further research should confirm it. There have been times when the melting pot cooled & crystallized, but the process was never in danger of ending. Some immigrant groups have been fully absorbed, leaving only symbolic residues; others, particularly the newer ones, have not. Upheavals, eg, WWI, WWII, & the Cold War, & domestic turbulence, eg, of the 1960s, have catalytic effects. In times of heightened stress, many ethnic groups that otherwise blend into American life respond to reawakened memories & pressures from their leaders & from American politicians, & react on the bases of origin, race, &, at times, creed. This is to be expected, given the nature of the American pluralistic society. Additional research is needed before an answer can be found to the role of ethnicity in American politics & diplomacy. Modified AA.

China's Latin American studies during the Cold War can be divided into five phases. Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai showed concern for the development of Latin American studies in China. These studies were suspended during the Great Cultural Revolution. The field developed significantly in the 1970s and 1980s, with three academic associations being established and the five major systems of Latin American studies beginning to take shape. After 2000, Sino–Latin American relations entered a new era, and the first 10 years of the century saw their rapid development, opening broad perspectives for the field. Los estudios latinoamericanos en China durante la Guerra Fría se pueden dividir en cinco fases. El presidente Mao Zedong y el primer ministro Zhou Enlai mostraron interés en el desarrollo de dichos estudios, pero estos se suspendieron durante la Revolución Cultural. Posteriormente, el campo se desarrolló de manera significativa durante los años setenta y ochenta gracias al establecimiento de tres asociaciones académicas y conforme se consolidaron los cinco sistemas principales de estudios latinoamericanos. Después del año 2000, las relaciones entre China y Latinoamérica entraron en una nueva fase, y la primera década del nuevo siglo atestiguó un rápido desarrollo que expandió las posibilidades en el campo.

A little more than fifty years ago, French medievalist Marc Bloch (1928) tried to persuade his fellow historians of the importance and usefulness of the "comparative method." Explanations, he argued, based on "those proverbs of common-sense psychology which have neither more nor less validity than their opposites" had to be replaced by causal explanations arrived at with the help of systematic comparison. In response to these exhortations, most historians, as Bloch himself noted, "express polite approval and then go back to work without changing their habits." Nevertheless, the last decades have seen a remarkable growth in comparative studies in history as well as in the social sciences in general. Since 1959, the journalComparative Studies in Society and Historyhas played a crucial role in this regard. Yet the results of comparative historical studies have not been such as to challenge the skepticism of many historians who associate comparative approaches with facile analogies, pseudo-similarities, and questionable generalizations. Comparison too often seems to imply the sacrifice of the unique and differentiating features of each situation in the past for the sake of some broad scheme. Many historians are put off by social scientists, such as sociologist S. N. Eisenstadt (1963), whose ambitious comparative schema seem marked by typologizing with little empirical basis. To quote Bloch once more, the empirical historian will probably never become a philosopher of history or a sociologist although "he may, according to his state of mind, grant them admiration or a skeptical smile."