Drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives on conviviality, this book considers the ways in which Latin America, a continent marked by deep inequalities, has managed to afford, create, sustain, and contest forms of living together with difference across time and space. Interdisciplinary in approach and presenting studies from various nations across the continent - from the medieval period to the present day - it considers the ways in which Latin America might contribute to our understanding of the relationship between inequality, difference, diversity, and sociability. As such, it will appeal to scholars of history, sociology, geography, anthropology, development studies, postcolonial and social theory with interests in Latin American studies, and in the contingencies and contradictions of living together in profoundly unequal societies.

Drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives on conviviality, this book considers the ways in which Latin America, a continent marked by deep inequalities, has managed to afford, create, sustain, and contest forms of living together with difference across time and space. Interdisciplinary in approach and presenting studies from various nations across the continent - from the medieval period to the present day - it considers the ways in which Latin America might contribute to our understanding of the relationship between inequality, difference, diversity, and sociability. As such, it will appeal to scholars of history, sociology, geography, anthropology, development studies, postcolonial and social theory with interests in Latin American studies, and in the contingencies and contradictions of living together in profoundly unequal societies.

One of the primary challenges facing researchers and practitioners in their efforts to address issues of poverty and environment is the need to deepen our understanding of the logic that guides people's decisions over resource use, particularly among the rural poor whose livelihoods often depend on fragile and dynamic environments. This study seeks to identify the set of factors that influences how people respond to abrupt environmental disturbances and resource scarcity through changes in livelihood and resource management practices in two riverine communities of the Peruvian Amazon. The results reveal that socioeconomic characteristics such as forest knowledge and access to agricultural land explain striking differences among households in livelihood responses to environmental change, particularly concerning resource use behavior, resilience to disturbance, and the propensity to adopt more sustainable resource management strategies. This book should be especially useful to researchers, NGOs, policy makers, and community leaders working towards - or anyone else concerned about - poverty alleviation and sustainable resource use in tropical humid environments.