Suchergebnisse

All too frequently, national associations pay scant heed to professional activity below the university level, seeming to forget that schools and colleges are the foundation for their future success. Aware of this, the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) appointed its first committee on teaching Latin American studies on all levels in 1973. The committee, working closely with the steering committee of the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs, (CLASP), sought some means of building bridges of mutual help and understanding between teachers and professors of Latin American studies. In these efforts, two specific needs and one rather obvious fact became apparent. The needs were for some means of updating and improving the quality of teacher training for those teaching Latin American content and for the development of instructional materials that met the high standards of both Latin American scholars and professional educators. The obvious fact was that the average Latin Americanist had little understanding of the current school classroom and the problems confronting and opportunities available to the classroom teacher. To compound these, it was clear that the study of Latin America as a world culture area was diminishing. Such conditions, once recognized, cried out for action on the part of LASA/CLASP.

As practiced contemporaneously in most of Latin America, political democracy is more accurately elite governance, with many of the thornier authoritarian trappings cloaked behind an often transparent facade of "popular suffrage" and "parliamentary government." Democracy, as a normative basis for the "good life," is difficult to describe and conceptualize, especially when one assumes that the democratic prototype is to be discovered somewhere within that caldron of slippery political variables known as the Anglo-American model. I do not assume in this report that the nations of Latin America should be trying to move in the direction of the Anglo-American model (assuming we can describe, more or less generically, the constituent parts of that model). Nevertheless, I would be remiss in not stating the general outlines of what I understand political democracy to mean as related to the quinquennial survey of scholarly images to be reported herein.

It would be a truism to state that for the Latin American universities, as well as those of the Third World, questions of excellence or equality can be resolved by accepting the idea that equality also means a lack of excellence (quality). In other words, we are dealing with universities that operate in countries where the process of democracy is still precarious and consequently the universities respond in a way that produces or legitimizes dominant classes. With regard to the qualitative level, the first duty is not to create or disseminate knowledge but rather to create functions in the Weberian sense of the word. Universities of the Third World are the germinators of new classes; but in general, in small societies, the possible social participation of those "new" classes is of a limited and elitist nature. The university does not play an intellectual role but rather a social role, in terms of creating and legitimizing its operative functions within a context where professional characterization is foremost instead of knowledge. Thus, in a Third World society, although it is important for an individual to obtain a university degree, it does not necessarily mean that he will also possess the knowledge and skills that this implies. The intellectual knowledge gained through university education may well be effectively divorced from the social function.

Latin Americanists commonly stress the traditional cultural and philosophical differences between the region they study and the United States. A frequent contention holds that such historical contrasts persist to the present. For example, Howard J. Wiarda asserts, "Latin America … remains paternalistic, hierarchical, authoritarian, Catholic, corporate, personalist, and elitist to its core." In contrast, the United States is presumably more egalitarian, Protestant, and impersonal than her southern-hemispheric neighbors.

The study of political participation in Latin America has, until very recently, been too narrowly conceived by social scientists, focusing largely on elites and violence. The former is illustrated by studies of the military (Lieuwen, 1961, 1966; Johnson, 1964; Horowitz, 1967; Fagen and Cornelius, 1970; Schmitter, 1973), the Church (Dillon Soares, 1967; Solari, 1967; Petersen, 1970; Suchlicki, 1972), industrialists (Cardoso, 1967; Polit, 1968; Petras and Cook, 1973), and large landholders (Whetten, 1948; Carroll, 1966; Feder, 1971; Cockroft, 1972). Attention to violent forms of political participation is found in studies of revolution and the military coup d'état (Payne, 1965; Needler, 1968; Von Lazar and Kaufman, 1969; Moreno and Mitrani, 1971; Kohl and Litt, 1974). Those studies that have centered on nonviolent mass participation (Horowitz, 1970) have generally been limited to elections (for example, Martz, 1967; Petras, 1970), political parties (Fitzgibbon, 1957; Ciria, 1974), and labor unions (Payne, 1965; Angell, 1972; Erickson et al., 1974). As a result of the narrowness of these approaches, we have only a partial image of the faces of the Latin American citizen political activity; we have underestimated the scope of such activity and have failed to investigate its many forms.

This report on the special sessions of Latin American historical demography, at the XLI International Congress of Americanists in Mexico City (2-7 September 1974), was prepared to present some current trends and research methods in the field. The sessions, held at the National Museum of Anthropology on 5-6 September, were preceded by an informal meeting of the participants at which the presentation and discussion of papers was organized. Elsa Malvido, coordinator of the special sessions, opened it with a few brief words of welcome.

While dependency analysis has a long tradition within Latin America, only recently has it emerged from the relative obscurity of certain Latin American writers to be included among the approaches used by scholars in the United States. The dependency approach was first adopted by a group of "radicals" in the United States, partially as a reaction to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but also as part of a general attack on the capitalist system, the military-industrial complex, and U.S. imperialism. It is now evident that dependency analysis has emerged as a legitimate field of inquiry for Latin Americanists, even if some scholars refuse to acknowledge its existence. In spite of generating considerable analysis of Latin America and the inter-American system, the dependen tistas have not been subjected to the critical scrutiny they deserve, primarily because of the lack of academic respectability of the radicals and the different channels through which their publications appear. Aside from the critiques of Raul Prebisch (Flanders, 1964; Hodgson, 1966; Salera, 1971), an article by David Ray (1973), and the internal bickerings among the dependentistas themselves, systematic criticism of the dependency approach has been lacking. For this reason we felt the need to delineate the broad outlines of the dependency theory of underdevelopment; present a selective critique of the methodologies, content, and conclusions of the major writers; and identify some of the more potentially rewarding areas for subsequent research.

Central to research on Latin American politics has been the pursuit of an explanation for both the stability and the instability of its various systems. Two general modes of analysis on Latin America have emerged. One, developed on the foundations of sociology and anthropology, has evolved as structural-functional analysis and its partner, behavioralism. The second mode grew out of an economic perspective and is having a profound effect on contemporary studies. This article will give a brief review of some of the analyses that have their bases in economics and will specifically apply assumptions of human behavior drawn from microeconomic theory to the problem of explaining systems of political competition and their resultant structures.

In this paper I present the views of a Latin American sociologist, partly trained in the United States, on Latin American Studies in this country. This is not a research paper but a frank and open presentation of my impressions, however opinionated. The aim is to stimulate reflection and debate, not to appease or to compromise. Implicit in all this are the following beliefs: (a) The training of Latin Americanists in the United States today is generally poor; (b) much of the research on Latin America carried out in the United States today is second-rate; (c) this situation can be improved; and, most important, (d) it is to Latin America's advantage, and not to its disadvantage, that such improvement take place.

There has been a great deal of interest recently in problems of computation in developing countries. The Jerusalem Conference on Information Technology held in Israel in 1971 (see Bibliography Key, Jerusalem) was dedicated wholly to the topic, and since then the Rio Symposium on Computer Education for Developing Countries (see Rio), and the IBI-ICC Conference on Informatics in Government (see Florence), both held in 1972, have dealt directly with these problems. Latin America has been intent on benefiting from the application of computer technology to development, but the advent of the technology has not always met with the success that was expected. However, the lack of policy that brought about the random introduction of computers into a country, often sacrificing other equipment or services also critical to its development, is now giving way to more rational procedures. A number of countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico) are presently engaged in detailed studies of their systems and those of other developing nations in order to learn from their experiences. This article is an attempt to aid that research effort by providing an annotated bibliography and other sources of information on computation in the region.

For almost two centuries American fiction has featured crime, but its treatment in popular literature, which strokes the norms of a mass audience, has been quite different from that in high art, which examines critically the assump tions and values of our society. A study of serious fiction can, therefore, probe fundamental issues for us: How does literature define crime? Why does this definition differ occasionally from the statutory one? What crimes has fiction taken most seriously? How does fiction assess the criminal's circumstances and motivation? What is the literary attitude to criminal responsibility? What is the victim's role in crime? How is the criminal apprehended? How does the trial contribute to equity? How are legal professionals, the jury, and the insanity defense portrayed? How does litera ture rank criminal punishments? We can postulate tentative answers to these rather open-ended questions, but in a larger sense their value is heuristic, forcing us to reconsider some hypotheses we may have taken for granted.

Several years ago a single voice, representing the frustration of many of us trying to carry out research on women in Latin America, decried the "lack of core bibliography, methodological apparati, or thematic models" (item 182:125) as major problems besetting the study of women in Latin America. As of 1975, these research hurdles had not been completely overcome, but certainly steps have been and continue to be taken.An annotated bibliography on women in Spanish America will soon be published and other bibliographic guides of a more limited scope have been or are in the process of being compiled. Both in North America and Latin America, conferences, seminars, and workshops have been held to discuss methodological problems as well as recent research efforts. Associations, committees, coalitions, and centers have organized to promote the cause, lend support, gather and distribute information, and generally represent a growing concern with women's issues.

Biology, psychology, and sociology have suc cessively dominated American criminology over the last 100 years. Given that the biological and psychological ap proaches were both oriented toward the characteristics of the offender, they were easy to test in principle, and their eventual decline is now interpreted as a consequence of their failure to survive empirical tests. With the rise of the sociological view, there was a corresponding decline in testability, especially with reference to the characteristics of the offender, and there followed a lengthy period of theoretical development virtually independent of research. The sociological theories prominent during this period stressed the multiplicity of cultures in American life, on the one hand, and the differential distribution of opportunity to achieve common goals, on the other. With the rise of large- scale research conducted by sociologists, these theories were themselves subject to test, and theories more closely grounded on the results of research became possible. At the moment, sociological theorizing focuses on the effects of the processing of offenders by agencies of social control.

BIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, & SOCIOLOGY HAVE SUCCESSIVELY DOMINATED US CRIMINOLOGY OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. BIOLOGICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES WERE ORIENTED TOWARD THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OFFENDER & WERE EASY TO TEST IN PRINCIPLE; THEIR EVENTUAL DECLINE IS NOW INTERPRETED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR FAILURE TO SURVIVE EMPIRICAL TESTS. WITH THE RISE OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW, THERE WAS A CORRESPONDING DECLINE IN TESTABILITY, ESPECIALLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OFFENDER; THERE FOLLOWED A LENGTHY PERIOD OF THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT VIRTUALLY INDEPENDENT OF RESEARCH. THE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES PROMINENT DURING THIS PERIOD STRESSED THE MULTIPLICITY OF CULTURES IN AMERICAN LIFE, & THE DIFFERENTIAL DISTRIBUTION OF OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE COMMON GOALS. WITH THE RISE OF LARGE-SCALE RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY SOCIOLOGISTS, THESE THEORIES WERE THEMSELVES SUBJECT TO TEST, & THEORIES MORE CLOSELY GROUNDED ON THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH BECAME POSSIBLE. AT THE MOMENT, SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIZING FOCUSES ON THE EFFECTS OF THE PROCESSING OF OFFENDERS BY AGENCIES OF SOCIAL CONTROL. MODIFIED HA.

An examination of publishing in nineteenth century America pinpoints many of the problems faced by a country recently freed from colonial bonds and attempting to develop an indigenous culture. The problems faced are not only those of literacy rates, distribution of books and the nature of talented native authors. Cultural heritage, economic ties, political exigencies and legal traditions bind publishers in neo-colonial countries to the former mother country. A study of nineteenth century America illustrates the complexities and strength of the relation between developing and developed countries. An understanding of the difficulties faced by Americans trying to overcome intellectual dependence on British culture may help Third World countries cut to the heart of the problem more quickly than did the United States.