In his introduction, Pascal Arnaud defines the central project of this book as an investigation of the nineteenth-century transition from precapitalism to capitalism in Latin America. He cogently argues that most theoretical formulations, based on European experiences, give insufficient weight to elements crucial for understanding the process in Latin America. In particular, he identifies natural resources and the state as two items that must be considered central to an interpretation of the Latin American transition to capitalism. The organization of the book reflects this: the first section deals with the exploitation of natural resources (1820-1910), the second with the public sectors (1820-1910), and the third with the establishment of national economies and the transition to capitalism (1900-1910).
His strategy is to focus on Mexican and Argentine history, because he believes that these nations represent much of the range of Latin American experience. The problem, however, is that these national histories are not developed as case studies, but used as illustrations of a very general argument. So while the regional character of the national economy and of national politics figures prominently in the entire book, the author does not delineate the specific nature of these regions in terms consistent with his own methodological tenets. For instance, his discussion of property rights in the first section is not grounded in the recognition that control of resources requires the control of people. Moreover, the significant differences among, say, Argentinian cattle raising, sheep herding, and grain cultivation are not mentioned, and repeated references to “landed elites” and “regional complexities” obscure the variety of social relationships involved in different activities. Likewise, the section on the formation of national states is devoid of political analysis; instead of identifying competing groups’ efforts to institutionalize their different visions of national political life, Arnaud concentrates on budgetary aggregates and monetary regimes. He occasionally draws on data from secondary sources, but they are presented in the text and usually as percentages.
The last section is by far the most satisfactory; there for the first time the reader is introduced to an interesting range of actors. Artisans, merchants, industrial bourgeoisies, and even industrial laborers are seen as having participated in the economic and political struggles that formed the nation-states. This section is vigorous, provocative, and rewarding. Arnaud’s interpretation of the interplay between foreign and domestic influences is especially good. The first two-thirds of the book, however, contributes little to what still remains an extremely general set of propositions.
