Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean / Edition 1

by Harry Sanabria

Overview

Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean

By: Harry S. Sanabria (University of Pittsburgh)

Overview:

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 role of power and inequality in this development.

What Reviewers Are Saying:

“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.”

--Cymene Howe, Cornell University

“[The contents] reflect the insights of an anthropologist who knows Latin America intimately and extensively.”

--Jeffrey V. Mantz, California State University, Stanislaus

"I applaud the author on a holistic approach to the study of Latin America. The various features introduce students to the complexity of this topic and its relevance in their studies. By providing a single-authored, integrated perspective, it serves as an excellent required text for the classroom, allowing the professor to build upon this work with any additional areas of expertise that are brought to the class. In addition, the features “In Their Own Words” and “Controversies” provide a multi-dimensional format that encourages students to see culture as a living and changing force instead of a homogeneous collection of artifacts.”

--Marjorie Snipes, State University of West Georgia

"... The overall strength of the text rests on the excellent choice of subject matter and the synthesis and presentation of research within each area… The topical coverage…, is excellent, and probably, the most compelling reason for me to consider changing my own course to incorporate this text… I am particularly impressed with the excellent synthesis of materials, concepts and examples from Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean…The author has achieved a solid balance between providing a general explanatory framework, and examples of specific cases… The choice of chapter topics (food, popular culture, violence, and the global economy) is refreshing, insightful, and important."

--Anne Woodrick, Northern Iowa University

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780205380992
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/21/2006
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.75(w) x 9.75(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Harry Sanabria is Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

Table of Contents

Each chapter ends with a "Summary," "Issues and Questions" and "Key Terms and Concepts."

Preface

Analytical Approach

Strengths and Features

Organization and Themes

1. ANTHROPOLOGY, LATIN AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN

Why Study the Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean?

Doing Cultural Anthropology and Documenting Everyday Life

Controversies: The Culture of Poverty and Perspectives on the Poor

2. INTRODUCING LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Delimiting and Imagining Latin America: Ideas, Spaces, and Places

Countries and Population

Migration and Cities

Languages

Landscapes, Culture and Society

Major Landscapes

Landscape Transformations Before and After the Europeans

Controversies: Is the Culture Area Concept Still Useful?

3. SOCIETY AND CULTURE BEFORE THE EUROPEANS

Anthropological Perspectives on the Evolution of Social Complexity

Phases in the Emergence of Societal Complexity in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Incan and Aztec States

Controversies: The Peopling of the Americas

4. CONQUEST, COLONIALISM, AND RESISTANCE

The European Conquests

The Colonial Period

Ethnogenesis

Colonial Legacies, Independence, and the Coalescence of Nation-States

Controversies: The Quincentennial, or Remembering Columbus

5. CULTURAL POLITICS OF RACE AND ETHNICITY

Racial Categories and Racial Fluidity in Latin America

Colonialism, Empire, and the Invention of Race

Mestizos and Mestizaje: Class, Race, and Nation

The Rise of Ethnicity and Ethnic Movements

Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Gender

Controversies: Intellectual Property Rights and Indigenous Peoples

In the United States: Race and Respect in the Streets of New York City

6. CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Pre-European Gender Systems

The Conquest and Colonial Period

Gender and the Consolidation of Nation-States

Femininity and Masculinity: Rethinking Marianismo and Machismo

Shifting Contours of Masculinity, Femininity, and Sexual Identities

Controversies: Gender, Masculinity, and Violence in Amazonian Societies

In the United States: Courtship, Sexuality, and Love Across the Border

7. RELIGION AND EVERYDAY LIFE

Popular Catholicism

The Spread of Protestantism

The African Heritage: Candomblé, Santería, and Vodou

Controversies: Mesoamerican Civil -Religious Cargo Systems

In The United States: Re-Creating Vodou in Brooklyn

8. STRIVING FOR HEALTH AND COPING WITH ILLNESS

Medical Anthropology

The Poor Health of Latin America and the Caribbean

Folk Illnesses: Susto, Mal de Ojo, and Nervios

The Expressive and Healthy Body

Religion and Healing

Controversies: Marijuana and Coca, Health and Politics

In The United States: Susto and Mal de Ojo Among Florida Farmworkers

9. FOOD, CUISINE, AND CULTURAL EXPRESSION

Food and Culture

Historical and Cultural Sketch of Latin American Food

Food, Consumption, and Ritual

Communicating Gender and Sexuality Through Food

Cuisine, Cookbooks, and Nation-Building

Controversies: “Hot” and “Cold” Foods

In the United States: Tamales, Gender, and Survival

10. PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBALIZATION

Globalization

Tourism, Crafts, and Cultural Authenticity

Transnational Production and Labor

Global Interests and the Environment

Controversies: Global Interests and Ethnographic Representations in the Amazon

In The United States: Domestic Workers in the Midst of Affluence

11. MANIFESTATIONS OF POPULAR CULTURE

What is Popular Culture?

Sports?

Carnaval and Popular Celebrations

Music and Dance

Television and Telenovelas

Controversies: Tango and Sexuality

In The United States: Quinceañeras, Gender, and Tradition

12. VIOLENCE, MEMORY, AND STRIVING FOR A JUST WORLD

Violence and Memory

The Central American Civil Wars

Chile’s Pinochet

Argentina’s Dirty War

Colombia’s Violencia

Mexico’s Zapatista

Peru’s Shining Path

Controversies: Rigoberta Menchú, and the Politics of Memory and Culture

In The United States: Fleeing War and Reconstituting New Lives

Editorial Reviews

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.”

From the Publisher