|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
This volume presents a selection of the most compelling political
writings from early colonial Latin America that address the themes
of conquest, colonialism, and enslavement. It will be invaluable
for students and scholars of Latin American political thought and
other fields in the social sciences and humanities. Katherine Hoyt
prepared extensive introductory material that introduces readers to
each of the writers, contextualizing their ideas and the
controversies surrounding them. The anthology centers the voices of
Indigenous peoples, whose writings constitute six of the fifteen
chapters while also including women's, African, and Jewish
perspectives. Included among the writings are the foundation
narrative of the Kaqchiquel Maya and an example of "mirror of
princes" literature in which Inca writer Guaman Poma advises the
King of Spain on how to better govern Peru. Spanish priests
Bartolome de Las Casas and Alonso de la Vera Cruz make
contributions to the philosophical writings of the School of
Salamanca on natural law as they relate to the peoples of the
Americas. Other writers protest the inhumanity of the trade in
enslaved Africans and the Inquisition. A volume such as this one
brings greater nuance to our understanding of the continent's past,
helping us to envision a more inclusive future.
In an effort to understand how and why democratically elected
governments evade the limitations that democratic accountability
and popular participation place on them, Undoing Democracy examines
how democratic rule was undermined in Nicaragua in the 1990's.
David Close and Kalowatie Deonandan focus their analysis on the
pact struck between the country's two main parties, the Liberals
and the Sandinistas, which allowed the passage of the
constitutional amendments that weakened Nicaragua's basic political
institutions. The authors also consider, in detail, the country's
political economy as well as the roles played by civil society, the
Catholic Church, and NGOs. Undoing Democracy will sharpen our
understanding of democratic transition and consolidation, and will
serve as an important contribution to the literature on Nicaragua,
Latin American politics, and democratization.
In an effort to understand how and why democratically elected
governments evade the limitations that democratic accountability
and popular participation place on them, Undoing Democracy examines
how democratic rule was undermined in Nicaragua in the 1990's.
David Close and Kalowatie Deonandan focus their analysis on the
pact struck between the country's two main parties, the Liberals
and the Sandinistas, which allowed the passage of the
constitutional amendments that weakened Nicaragua's basic political
institutions. The authors also consider, in detail, the country's
political economy as well as the roles played by civil society, the
Catholic Church, and NGOs. Undoing Democracy will sharpen our
understanding of democratic transition and consolidation, and will
serve as an important contribution to the literature on Nicaragua,
Latin American politics, and democratization.
Taking power in Nicaragua in 1979 as a revolutionary party, the
Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was willing to put its
fate in the hands of the Nicaraguan people twice, in 1984 and 1990.
The party wrote a democratic constitution and then, remarkably,
accepted the decision of the majority by relinquishing power upon
its defeat in the 1990 election.
"The Many Faces of Sandinista Democracy" explores the conflicts
involving different visions of political and economic democracy, as
well as new radical thought on participatory democracy. The latter
addresses the problems popular organizations encountered as they
moved from subservience to the FSLN in the 1980s to the liberating
but disorientating electoral defeat of 1990. Up until the moment of
defeat, the Sandinistas saw themselves as the true vanguard of the
Nicaraguan people, able to submit themselves to free elections,
because they felt they truly represented the general will of the
people.
Dr. Hoyt brings to an international audience for the first time a
study of the ideas of several Nicaraguan thinkers. She examines the
conflicts surrounding the development of ideas within the FSLN, as
well as the strengths and weaknesses of its rare combination of
democratic and vanguard principles.
|
|