Description
Book SynopsisUncovers the National and Transnational Negotiation of Expertise, including the Role of Latin American Experts in these Processes
Trade ReviewItineraries of Expertise is a stimulating collection on the making of expertise and the dialectic of knowledge production and application. The breadth of topics combined with state-of-the-field framing essays give it an intellectual heft that traverses multiple historiographies, from the long Cold War and science and technology studies to political ecology and environment. By following itineraries, the authors blur stubborn distinctions between foreign and domestic, finding experts in unexpected places along the way. More than the sum of its parts, this is a volume that sets an intellectual agenda." —Raymond B. Craib, Cornell University
"This collection of papers decenters the study of the relationship between technology, environment and power away from the US and Europe. It examines Latin American scientists, engineers, medical doctors, agronomists and other professional and lay experts who helped to define modernity in their countries, became active participants of larger transnational networks, and sometimes, challenged the imperialistic motivations of superpowers. A sound contribution that intertwines the fields of science and technology studies, Latin American history and environmental history." —Marcos Cueto, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro.
"As Chastain and Lorek’s outstanding volume shows, we must move beyond the spheres of diplomacy and culture in order to understand fully the Cold War in Latin America. Drawing on science, technology and environmental studies and foregrounding the role of experts and expertise,
Itineraries of Expertise shifts the focus onto dams, radios, housing, agricultural experimentation, forest trails, transport infrastructure, NASA, and cows in order to offer new and compelling perspectives on Latin America’s Cold War." —Paulo Drinot, University College London
