Description
Book SynopsisA reshaping of traditional understandings of Costa Rica and its national identity. The Saints of Progress chronicles the development of the Tarrazú Valley, a historically remote coffee-growing region. Carmen Kordick traces the development of this region from the early nineteenth century to the first decades of the twenty-first century.
Trade ReviewKordick makes a substantial contribution to the literature on Costa Rica and joins an ongoing discussion (especially among Costa Rican scholars) of the prevalent Costa Rican national myths by debunking the idea of the nation as a timelessly peaceful land of primarily white yeoman farmers."" - Julie A. Charlip, author of
Cultivating Coffee: The Farmers of Carazo, Nicaragua, 1880–1930 and coauthor of
Latin America: An Interpretive HistoryTable of Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction. Tarrazú: A Place, a Coffee, and a People
- Chapter 1. Tarrazú’s Founding and Settlement
- Chapter 2. Coffee, Downward Mobility, and Political Power in Tarrazú
- Chapter 3. Maintaining the Order: Gender, Class, State Authority, and Violence
- Chapter 4. Revolt in Tarrazú
- Chapter 5. The Civil War and Its Consequences
- Chapter 6. Migration and Shifting Class, Racial, and National Identities
- Chapter 7. National Belonging and Exclusion beyond Costa Rica’s Borders
- Conclusion. Costa Rica’s Cold War Exceptionalism
- Notes
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
