Handbook of Latin American Studies


Book Description

Contains scholarly evaluations of books and book chapters as well as conference papers and articles published worldwide in the field of Latin American studies. Covers social sciences and the humanities in alternate years.




A Reference Guide to Latin American History


Book Description

A guide to Latin American history includes a chronology of key events from pre-Columbian history through the present, a thematic survey following each topic (economic change, cultural development, politics and government) across time, and 300 biographies of Latin Americans throughout history.




The Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean


Book Description

The first single-authored comprehensive introduction to major contemporary research trends, issues, and debates on the anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean. The text provides wide and historically informed coverage of key facets of Latin American and Caribbean societies and their cultural and historical development as well as the roles of power and inequality. Cymeme Howe, Visiting Assistant Professor of Cornell University writes, “The text moves well and builds over time, paying close attention to balancing both the Caribbean and Latin America as geographic regions, Spanish and non-Spanish speaking countries, and historical and contemporary issues in the field. I found the geographic breadth to be especially impressive.” Jeffrey W. Mantz of California State University, Stanislaus, notes that the contents “reflect the insights of an anthropologist who knows Latin America intimately and extensively.”




The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean


Book Description

Now in a larger format and fully revised, with new maps and photographs, this new edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean remains the essential reference for anyone concerned with the region. Copiously illustrated, lucidly written, and comprehensive in its coverage, the Encyclopedia has been developed for the general reader by an international team of seventy scholars. Structured in six parts, it explores the regional trends and general trends that will provide nonspecialists with the necessary overview. The Encyclopedia examines both urgent contemporary issues such as economic and population growth, trade and international debt, tourism and the environment, and the longer term factors that have molded Latin America as we find it today: the native flora and fauna, the emergence of early civilizations in Mexico and Peru, imperial domination over three centuries by Spain and Portugal, the struggle for independence in the nineteenth century, and then the political turbulence of the twentieth. Coverage is provided of music and literature, architecture, painting, and intellectual life, for this is equally the region of the tango and the samba, Borges and Neruda, García Márquez and Diego Rivera, Villa Lobos and Bob Marley.










The Legacy of the Monroe Doctrine


Book Description

Each chapter features a timeline of events in the history of U.S. involvement in that country and a list of suggested readings on the country and its relationship with the U.S. A glossary explains key terms used throughout the book. Comparative tables and charts put inter-American relations in perspective. A selection of editorial cartoons from the 1980s offers biting commentary on U.S. relations with its Latin American neighbors. Designed to meet the information needs of high school and college students and the general public, this reference work provides both historical perspective and timely analysis of current problems confronting the U.S. and its neighbors to the south.




Saving for Development


Book Description

Why should people - and economies - save? This book on the savings problem in Latin America and the Caribbean suggests that, while saving to survive the bad times is important, saving to thrive in the good times is what really counts. People must save to invest in health and education, live productive and fulfilling lives, and make the most of their retirement years. Firms must save to grow their enterprises, employ more workers in better jobs, and produce quality goods. Governments must save to build the infrastructure required by a productive economy, provide quality services to their citizens, and assure their senior citizens a dignified, worry-free retirement. In short, countries must save not for the proverbial rainy day, but for a sunny day - a time when everyone can bask in the benefits of growth, prosperity, and well-being. This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.




Latin American and Caribbean Trade Agreements


Book Description

Latin American and Caribbean Trade Agreements: Keys to a Prosperous Community of the Americas is the essential reference guide for companies trading with Latin America and the Caribbean or wishing to use a country in the region as an export platform. This work fills the void in academic texts that are used to teach courses on economic integration in the Western Hemisphere. It provides a road map for the Obama Administration to launch an ambitious project designed to encourage economic growth, promote energy security, and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time realistically meeting the development needs of Latin America and the Caribbean. Latin American and Caribbean Trade Agreements: Keys to a Prosperous Community of the Americas posits that the myopic focus of past United States administrations on free markets to spur economic development in the Western Hemisphere is not enough. A bolder and more ambitious project that also seeks to redress many of the deep-seated problems that have long plagued the region is required. The Community of the Americas proposed in this book rests upon the important work that has already been done at the sub-regional level in terms of economic and political reform, identifying infrastructure and human capital needs, and regulating migration. It provides a new and cohesive vision for U.S. policy in Latin America and the Caribbean.




Law and Employment


Book Description

Law and Employment analyzes the effects of regulation and deregulation on Latin American labor markets and presents empirically grounded studies of the costs of regulation. Numerous labor regulations that were introduced or reformed in Latin America in the past thirty years have had important economic consequences. Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman and Carmen Pagés document the behavior of firms attempting to stay in business and be competitive while facing the high costs of complying with these labor laws. They challenge the prevailing view that labor market regulations affect only the distribution of labor incomes and have little or no impact on efficiency or the performance of labor markets. Using new micro-evidence, this volume shows that labor regulations reduce labor market turnover rates and flexibility, promote inequality, and discriminate against marginal workers. Along with in-depth studies of Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica, and Trinidad, Law and Employment provides comparative analysis of Latin American economies against a range of European countries and the United States. The book breaks new ground by quantifying not only the cost of regulation in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in the OECD, but also the broader impact of this regulation.