Indelible Inequalities in Latin America: Insights from History, Politics, and Culture

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Studies Vol. 36; no. 71; pp. 311 - 314
• Main Author: Chase, Jacquelyn
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kingston Taylor & Francis 01.01.2011; Taylor & Francis Group LLC; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: American culture; Book publishing; Cultural instruction; Culture; Globalization; Gootenberg, Paul; Historical analysis; Inequality; Irony; Language history; Latin America; Latin American history; Music; Negotiation; Nonfiction; Political activity; Political aspects; Politics; Racism; REVIEWS / RECENSIONS; Reygadas, Luis; United States; Latin America
• ISSN: 0826-3663; 2333-1461

[Paul Gootenberg]'s co-editor, [Luis Reygadas], follows up with a longer chapter on "The Construction of Latin American Inequality." Reygadas understands the process as involving the historical reproduction of conditions that lie at the base of various dualisms such as rural/urban, traditional/modem, formal/informal, and, of course, rich/poor. Although these conditions are "mutually reinforcing" (37), they are destabilized by protests and political negotiations, by struggles at family and community levels, and by political irony aimed at the privileged classes. Reygadas favours moving beyond static condemnations of imperialism as the source of inequalities and echoes Gootenberg's invitation to study the elite. He offers a short but fascinating glimpse at the super-rich of Latin America and their highly adaptable transnational networking, a form of behaviour that is a long way from the dependista's comprador class. Odette Casamayor's chapter on Afro-Cuban art, music, and protest is an example of what Reygadas refers to in his chapter as a way that the powerless "delegitimize . . . privilege" through culture (37). In this case, the musicians and artists that Casamayor studies take aim at the persistent racism in Cuba that has defied the ostensible egalitarian ethos of the regime. By "unmasking with lyrics" (163) the persistence of racism, these musicians and artists demonstrate the enduring character of Cuban inequality despite efforts by the Revolution to undermine it. The inclusion of the final case study by Margaret Gray on Latin American farm workers in the United States takes a broad view of area studies. This view acknowledges the existence of networks of culture and economy that are shaped by people's mobility at different scales, as well as by the globalization of agriculture, a sector that adheres to its own complex networks and movements.