Aoe Century Of Latin America Thought

Latin American Thought examines the relationship between philosophy and rationality in Latin American thought, the nature of justice, human rights, and cultural identity, and other questions that have concerned Latin American thinkers from the colonial period to the present day. From the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas to the present day, reveals the assembly of interesting philosophical arguments offered by Latin Americans. Nuccetelli traces Latin American thought through questions concerning rationality, gender discrimination, justice, human rights, reparation for historically dispossessed peoples, and relativism vs. universalism - all matters of continuing concern in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking parts of the world . Amongst issues of heated controversy from the early twentieth century to the present, also explores how Latin Americans and their descendants abroad think of their own cultural identity, of US mass-culture and philosophy, and of the vexing problem of which name, if any, to use when referring to this exceedingly diverse ethnic group. Many of the philosophical questions raised by Latin American thinkers are problems that have concerned philosophers at different times and in different places throughout the Western tradition. But in fact the issues are not altogether the same - for they have been adapted to capture problems presented by new circumstances, and Latin Americans have sought resolutions in ways that are indeed novel. This book explains how well-established philosophical traditions gave rise in the "New World" to a distinctive manner of thinking. There was no clean sweep of the past and an attempt to start over: rather, Latin American thinkers mostly welcomed European ideas at whatever pace such traditions happened to arrive. It is then no surprise that, for instance, Scholasticism became the accepted view under Spanish rule, and began to lose its grip only when the rulers did. But what does seem surprising is the radical way in which those traditions were transformed to account for problems that, though familiar, were now seen intake light of new circumstances. A distinctive Latin American way of thinking about such problems emerged from the project of "recycling" European philosophical traditions, some of which were already obsolete in Europe at the time their transplant took place. Thus theories commonly taken to be incompatible within Western traditions in philosophy were absorbed by Latin American thought-- and, in their newly acquired forms, such theories are even now at the basis of proposed solutions to many practical and philosophical problems. The book explores that recycling process. Above all, it aims to determine whether the various cultures that met in the "New World" could now be said to have come to share a common identity. This is in fact an issue which has preoccupied Latin Americans since at least the beginning of the 19th century, when their countries won their independence. But, in connection with this, it is also important to ask how Latin Americans have thought about the relationship between philosophy and rationality, and about other issues belonging to the major areas of philosophy such as epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, as well their application to vital social issues, including education and the emancipation of women. These are all taken up by the author, who pays special attention to questions of gender discrimination, justice, human rights, reparation for historically dispossessed peoples, and the role of education-- all matters of continuing concern in Latin American thought, from its earliest stirrings to the present day.

This collection of essays offers alternative readings of historical and literary texts produced during Latin America's colonial period. By considering the political and ideological implications of the texts' interpretation yesterday and today, it attempts to "decolonize" the field of Latin American studies and promote an ethical, interdisciplinary practice that does not falsify or appropriate knowledge produced by both the colonial subjects of the past and the oppressed subjects of the present. Using recent developments in postcolonial theory, the contributors challenge traditional approaches to Hispanism. The colonial situation under which these texts were composed, with all its injustices and prejudices, still lingers, and most studies have consistently avoided the connection between this colonial legacy and the situation of disenfranchised groups today. Colonialism Past and Present challenges discursive strategies that celebrate only European cultural traits, dismiss non-European cultural legacies, and solidify constructions of national projects considered natural extensions of European civilization since independence from Spain.

Periods of World History: a Latin American Perspective is the first serious attempt to write a world history narrative in which Latin America receives serious consideration. The chronology of the work covers the normative period of world history to date?1800 B.C. to 1800 A.D. During this time, differentiation of world societies was at its height. The six civilized core areas of the ecumene interacted but were not moving toward uniformity as was characteristic of the first phase of world history?Theocratic civilizations 3500-1500 B.C. Over the last two centuries, global societies have also tended to coalesce because of westernization, industrialism, nationalism, ideology, and the media. During the normative phase of human history, Latin America moved from being a periphery of Afro-Eurasia to the status of becoming the economic crucible of Spain's vast Catholic monarchy, which was the ecumene's first global power (1492-1648 A.D.), Latin America was again reduced to peripheral status. Periods of World History explains these processes in the larger context of a truly global historical narrative, and as such makes an extraordinary contribution to understanding human social development. Charles Truxillo is a professor of Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He received his Ph.D. in Latin American history at UNM, and has published two other books, History of Islam, and By the Sword and the Cross. Dr. Truxillo is dedicated to teaching Chicano Studies in the context of Latin America and world history.

New concerns with the intersections of culture and power, historical agency, and the complexity of social and political life are producing new questions about the United States' involvement with Latin America. Turning away from political-economic models that see only domination and resistance, exploiters and victims, the contributors to this pathbreaking collection suggest alternate ways of understanding the role that U.S. actors and agencies have played in the region during the postcolonial period. Exploring a variety of nineteenth- and twentieth-century encounters in Latin America, these theoretically engaged essays by distinguished U.S. and Latin American historians and anthropologists illuminate a wide range of subjects. From the Rockefeller Foundation's public health initiatives in Central America to the visual regimes of film, art, and advertisements; these essays grapple with new ways of conceptualizing public and private spheres of empire. As such, Close Encounters of Empire initiates a dialogue between postcolonial studies and the long-standing scholarship on colonialism and imperialism in the Americas as it rethinks the cultural dimensions of nationalism and development.

Building on the foundation of his classic work, The Public Man, Glen Dealy delineates here a pervasive "caudillaje" attitude toward life that is common to the Catholic part of the Western Hemisphere. Focusing on certain constants of Latin America's civic life, he offers implicit and explicit juxtapositions to Protestant-capitalist society, arguing that Latin America is a dualistic society that clearly distinguishes public and private realms. The book provides an exegesis of the Latin American mode of existence, illustrating the goals that are inherent in every Latin American's hope for deference and respect. Drawing on examples from everyday life, Dealy shows how behaviors that might seem curious to North Americans are quite rational within Latin Americans' own frame of reference. He also furnishes a thumbnail description of how and where these behavioral virtues may be learned and practiced to one's advantage. In this provocative and fascinating study of thought, attitude, and behavior, Dr. Dealy illuminates Latin American exceptionalism. North Americans could learn much from Latin habits of private life, just as Latin Americans could profit from adapting some of our public institutions.