Dependency theory is by no means a monolithic explanation of Latin American history, nor should it be considered a panacea for contemporary social problems. Taken as one of numerous factors, however, it provides a useful perspective for viewing some of the unities of experience in the nations south of the United States, and Professors Keen and Wasserman have used it effectively as the focal point of their work.
The generalized scenario drawn from these pages is one in which ruling elites repeatedly adopt policies that create or intensify neocolonial economies—that is, economic structures with excessive reliance on the exportation of primary products. This dependency, frequently on one or two major items, leads to some combination of resource exhaustion, market saturation, concentration of wealth, and stagnation of the economy. In turn, this results in the elites’ use of force and political repression to maintain their dominant position in a deteriorating situation. The chapter on inter-American relations highlights the role of the United States in fostering and defending neocolonialism in Latin America. Only in the cases of Cuba and Peru do the authors speak with guarded optimism about constructive efforts to eliminate the social ills caused by this historical legacy. Their treatment of Mexico is somewhat more ambiguous, but their descriptions of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile leave little expectation of progressive reform within the near future.
A Short History of Latin America is a selective, interpretive survey. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru are treated at length in the text while the rest of the hemisphere is discussed only in brief comparative comments. Proportionally, the colonial period is given 143 pages; the nineteenth century, 113; the twentieth century, 193; and inter-American relations, 27. There is also a 26-page bibliographical essay, mostly of works in English, and an index. Maps are generally clear and useful, but readers would benefit from more detailed drawings of the individual countries emphasized.
In the classroom, students are likely to find this book pleasing because it carries major events through the late 1970s. There are special sections on literature, historiography, and the development of the social sciences. The writing style is clear, and the interpretive focus gives the work an overall coherence. On the other hand, one will not find in this work much dramatic writing, anecdotal narrative, or vivid biographical sketches. (The role of Eva Perón in Argentina, for example, is dismissed with the comments that she was largely responsible for giving women the right to vote and that she served as “her husband’s ambassador to the workers ... at the head of the Social Aid Foundation, a vast philanthropical organization that distributed food, clothing, and money to the needy.” Pp. 316, 319.)
The general thrust of this work is reformist. As an illustration, the authors do not accept some recent suggestions that the regime of Victoriano Huerta made any genuine effort at contributing to the reforms generated by the Mexican Revolution. Nevertheless, they admirably avoid the pitfalls of demagogic tones and prescriptive ideological rigidity. Their case is stated unmistakably, but with restraint. In short, they have produced a current, readable, provocative introduction to the history of Latin America.
