Comic Strips Books

United, States, Nature, America, Myths, Civilization, Latin, stereotypes

The United States and Latin America: Myths and Stereotypes of Civilization and Nature

". . . this is a brilliant book . . . It approaches the subject of U.S.-Latin American relations from a totally fresh and unique perspective. " --Thomas M. Davies, Jr., Professor of History and Director, Center for Latin American Studies, San Diego State University The lazy greaser asleep under a sombrero and the avaricious gringo with money-stuffed pockets are only two of the negative stereotypes that North Americans and Latin Americans have cherished during several centuries of mutual misunderstanding. This unique study probes the origins of these stereotypes and myths and explores how they have shaped North American impressions of Latin America from the time of the Pilgrims up to the end of the twentieth century. Fredrick Pike's central thesis is that North Americans have identified themselves with "civilization" in all its manifestations, while viewing Latin Americans as hopelessly trapped in primitivism, the victims of nature rather than its masters. He shows how this civilization-nature duality arose from the first European settlers' perception that nature--and everything identified with it, including American Indians, African slaves, all women, and all children--was something to be conquered and dominated. This myth eventually came to color the North American establishment view of both immigrants to the United States and all our neighbors to the south. For everyone interested in understanding and improving relations between North and Latin America, this book will be required reading.

List Price: $ 40.00

Price: $ 40.00

For Crying Out Loud: Women's Poverty in the United States

Welfare has long been a thorn in the side of American conservatives and liberals alike. A pitched battle has been fought over whether payments to unemployed women and their children constitute charity or a basic right. In the '80s and '90s, politicians, the media, and citizens, tapping into taxpayer anger, helped bolster draconian cutbacks by waving the banner of the welfare queen, a shadowy figure appearing sometimes as a lady who buys steak with food stamps, sometimes as a pregnant teen who lazes about while the rest of society pays for her mistakes. For Crying Out Loud breaks into the barrage of statistics and myths with humanizing portraits of people who live on the margins.

Shifting between personal testimony and academic inquiry, these essays vividly explore the links between all women and connect families who draw public funds with those who don't. By addressing self-defeating actions as well as cultural conditions that strip away options, the book helps defuse certain arguments aimed against welfare activists. Homelessness, single motherhood, battering, immigration, and building coalitions are among the issues discussed. --Francesca Coltrera

List Price: $ 22.00

Price: $ 8.00

Comic Strips Books

Sunday, March 27, 2011

The United States and Latin America: Myths and Stereotypes of Civilization and Nature

No comments:

Post a Comment