Notable Family Networks is an important work in that it redefines our approach to understanding nineteenth-century Latin America, describes and generalizes family strategies and behavior for the first time, and presents a valuable historiographic essay on family studies pertaining to the nineteenth century. Chapter 1 describes in general terms the political, economic, and social activities of notable families, and chapters 2-4 give specific examples from Central America, Mexico, and Argentina. The authors present clear patterns of rural and urban or national and regional conflict. They emphasize the importance of local political power: the caudillo becomes part of a family network, as does individual entrepreneurship.
A problem with the first four chapters is that they seldom go beyond description. On page 81 questions are raised as to why certain strategies are adopted in marriage, the economy, and politics. But such analytical questions are considered only in the chapter on northern Mexico. We know what families did, but not why they did it or if the family was an active or a passive actor in law, politics, and the economy. Further, there is no comparison to European or United States models. For example, in Latin America the family dominated society for a much longer period than is true elsewhere. The most important part of the book is the historiographic essay. This survey of much of the literature on the family not only helps to define and describe its economic, political, and social patterns, but demonstrates the wide area in which general patterns occurred. Again, however, there are some problems. There is no definition of family, so that no distinctions are made between works that are based on kindred families and those based on households. Further, no distinction is made between urban and rural families. Such differentiations are important because they clearly affect family behavior. Overall, this work should be mandatory reading for those interested in family history, for those seeking a better understanding of nineteenth-century Latin America or a descriptive overview of family strategies, and as the first synopsis study on family history in Latin America.
