A monograph worth reading should provide new analysis based on solid research. Although this volume provides some useful information on colonization in Paraguay between 1960 and 1985, the research is thin and the analysis is weak. The author’s own field research lacks depth, and too many of the chapters are based on too few sources. For example, Carlos Pastore’s La lucha por la tierra en el Paraguay is the major historical source on Paraguayan land issues, and Kleinpenning’s dependence on it in chapters 4 and 5 raises questions as to what contribution Kleinpenning himself has made to these chapters. Likewise, chapter 11 on colonization in eastern Paraguay depends heavily on F. Van Buul. Although the author uses little-known Dutch and German sources on colonization, this does not compensate for the weak use of Spanish and English sources. For instance, the author failed to consult the histories of Atilio García Mellid and Juan F. Pérez Acosta. Nor did he use the monographs of Richard Alan White or John Hoyt Williams, whose revisionist and archival research has greatly aided our understanding of nineteenth-century Paraguay. Inaccuracies added to the failure to consult standard works make the historical treatment untrustworthy.
The analysis is no more satisfactory than the research. The author proposes a model which is no more than a listing of factors that should be examined (p. 41). Because his model is too dependent on weak historical data and does not weigh variables, Paraguay is not differentiated from other Latin American countries. Furthermore, the author gives too little consideration to political power in determining access to land, while assuming that private ownership in itself assures the availability of land. In effect, the weak analysis is based on false assumptions.
Kleinpenning improves when he deals with geography and colonization within the last 20 years. He has provided a large number of maps which describe the contemporary economy and agriculture of Paraguay. However, labeling was often too sketchy, assuming too great a knowledge of Paraguayan districts, towns, and rivers. Chapters 10 through 14, which deal with colonization, provide material difficult to find in English. The topics Kleinpenning has chosen to write about are important, but Latin Americanists will have to wait longer for a really adequate treatment of people and land in Paraguay.
