Description
Book SynopsisIn Where Cultures Meet, editors Weber and Rausch have collected twenty essays that explore how the frontier experience has helped create Latin American national identities and institutions. Using ''frontier'' to mean more than ''border,'' Weber and Rausch regard frontiers as the geographic zones of interaction between distinct cultures. Each essay in the volume illuminates the recipro-cal influences of the ''pioneer'' culture and the ''frontier'' culture, as they contend with each other and their physical environment. The transformative power of frontiers gives them special interest for historians and anthropologists. Delving into the frontier experience below the Rio Grande, Where Cultures Meet is an important collection for anyone seeking to understand fully Latin American history and culture.
Trade ReviewBy focusing theoretical attention on perhaps the most significant force during the past 500 years of Latin American history—cultures in contact and conflict with each other—Where Cultures Meet offers readers an illuminating handle for comprehending global processes and historical developments. Students of Latin American history and anthropology will find this anthology an important addition to their libraries. -- Jeffrey David Ehrenreich, Cornell College
In Where Cultures Meet, David Weber and Jane Rausch have assembled a remarkable set of insightful essays on the very different roles frontiers have played in shaping both North American and latin American development. By standing on 'the outside looking in,' the essayists not only provide a new perspective on our own frontier experience, they mount a compelling argument for the value of the comparative approach to frontier history. By treating both contemporary Latin American urban frontiers and the transformation in the Brazilian Amazon, this collection of essays brings dramatic relevance and urgency to the discussion. A truly significant contribution. -- Howard R. Lamar, Yale University
Table of ContentsPart 1 I the Significance of the Frontier Chapter 2 The Significance of the Frontier in American History Chapter 3 Latin-American Frontiers Chapter 4 Frontier Barbarism Chapter 5 The Frontier in Hispanic America Chapter 6 The Frontiers of Hispanic America Part 7 II Latin America as a Frontier of Europe Chapter 8 The Great Frontier Chapter 9 The Great Frontier: Freedom and Hierarchy Chapter 10 New World Frontiers: Comparisons and Agendas Part 11 III Frontier Peoples and Institutions Chapter 12 Reflections on the Ibero-American Frontier Mission as an Institution in Native American History Chapter 13 The Encomienda in Paraguay Chapter 14 Frontier Warfare in Colonial Chile Chapter 15 "Black Transfrontiersmen:" The Caribbean Maroons Chapter 16 Family, Frontiers, and a Brazilian Community Part 17 IV Frontier Peoples and National Identity Chapter 18 National Identity and the Frontier Chapter 19 The Gaucho in Argentina's Quest for National Identity Chapter 20 Bandeirantes and Pioneers Part 21 Contemporary Frontiers Chapter 22 "Two-Step" Migration and Upward Mobility on the Frontier: The Safety Valve Effect in Pejibaye Chapter 23 Violence on the Frontier Chapter 24 Frontier Expansion and Indian Peoples in the Brazilian Amazon Chapter 25 Social Change on the Latin American Frontier
