Few fields have been revisited so thoroughly as that of political and civic life in nineteenth-century Latin America. Ideas concerning citizenship, elections, representation, participation, political groups and parties, communitarism, and civic patterns have undergone considerable revision and are the subject of ongoing research. Renewed theoretical and practical concerns have led historians and social scientists to reorient their quests, to reinterpret old data, and — most important of all — to track down repositories and information sources that have not been previously tapped. This turn has challenged long-standing views and has launched a lively re-examination of political and civic practices in the nineteenth century. The resulting debate — encompassing a broad range of scholars in the Americas and Europe — is not merely academic; indeed, it sheds light (and certain shadows) on more recent political concerns.
Carlos Foment’s analysis makes a substantial and often passionate contribution to this revisionist trend. The...
