Colección: Revista Interamericana de Bibliografía (RIB)
Número: 1-4
Título: 1997
Sección: Reseñas Criticas / Critical Reviews
Victor BULMER-THOMAS, ed. Thirty Years of Latin American Studies in the
United Kingdom 1965-1995. London: The Institute of Latin American Studies
Press, 1996. 152 p., tables, footnotes.
Historically, the British have had a special relationship with Latin America.
London played host and inspired Independence movement leaders like Francisco
Miranda, Antonio Nariño and Bernardino Rivadavia among others. By the end
of the 18th century Britain had firmly established itself as Latin America’s
number one trading partner. Later, the British Navy was responsible for transporting
the entire Portuguese court to Brazil following Napoleon’s invasion of
Portugal. These few examples illustrate the close ties that have existed between
the United Kingdom and Latin America, and therefore, it is a bit surprising
to find that the British did not earnestly embark upon an organized effort
to study the region until thirty years ago.
In 1962, the British government established the Parry Committee to study the
state of teaching and research on Latin America in the United Kingdom. The
Committee presented its report and recommendations to the government in 1965.
As a result, funding was provided for the establishment of five university
centers specializing in Latin American Studies: Cambridge, Glasgow, Liverpool,
London and Oxford. This publication is the result of a Symposium held in October
1995 celebrating the creation of the Parry Centres, and in particular, the
establishment of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London.
The book covers most of the major disciplines related to Latin American Studies
with varying levels of success. History and politics are handled by James
Dunkerley; geography by John Dickenson; anthropology by Peter Wade; economics
by E.V.K. Fitzgerald; environmental studies by Tim Allmark and Michael Redclift;
and literature by John King. Sociology and archaeology are notable absentees
among the disciplines covered. The length and breadth of each chapter is generally
related to the quality of study in the corresponding field.
In particular, Dunkerley’s chapter on history and politics is the most
detailed and complete. The strength of British academic studies of Latin America
has traditionally been in the field of history. Such luminaries as Leslie
Bethell, R.A. Humphries, Alan Knight and John Lynch have all been affiliated
with the Parry Centres. Bethell has, arguably, the highest profile of any
British Latin American Studies professor given his editorial work on the Cambridge
History of Latin America.
Dunkerley meticulously catalogs the works of the major British historians
and political scientists. He draws an interesting contrast between the pursuit
of Latin American Studies in Britain and the United States. Dunkerley rightly
states that the British, in most cases, were and are insulated from some of
the more controversial events in Latin America. This allows a level of interpretation
and analysis which is not tainted by emotion or political dogma. Similarly,
Dunkerley notes that the North American school of political science has looked
to construct models based on statistically-led social science research to
explain how Latin America works, while the British are more interested in
the interpretative aspects of analysis.
The chapter dedicated to economics is the biggest disappointment. The irony
here is that Bulmer-Thomas is one of the most important economists working
on Latin America today. Nevertheless, the chapter by Fitzgerald is extremely
brief, given the quality and quantity of work produced in Britain in the economic
field. Bulmer-Thomas himself is barely discussed, despite being the author
of The Economic History of Latin America since Independence; the only
recent English language economic history covering the whole of Latin America.
The publication candidly addresses the weaknesses of British scholarship on
Latin America. In the introduction, Bulmer-Thomas argues that Latin American
Studies needs to focus more on the larger countries of the region. This sentiment
is later echoed by Dunkerley, who points out that historically there has been
little attention paid to Brazil. However, one of the most compelling aspects
of British scholarship is its attention to those areas that are generally
ignored in the United States. Although it seems illogical to have more specialists
working on Bolivia than Argentina or Brazil, the great wealth of Bolivian
specialists in Great Britain is an underlying strength of the system.
There are real differences between how United States and British scholars
deal with the region. By providing a book which acts as a bibliography of
British academic study of Latin America, Bulmer-Thomas has provided a great
service. Considering that the organized study of Latin America in Britain
only began thirty years ago, one is struck by the sheer quality and breadth
of the scholarship produced.
Organization of American States MICHAEL
BEAULIEU
Washington, DC