The Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean

416 Pages·2019·16.377 MB·English

by  Harry Sanabria

The Anthropology of
Latin America and the
Caribbean
This wide-ranging introduction to the anthropology of Latin America
and the Caribbean offers broad coverage of culture and society in
the region, taking into account historical developments as well as the
roles of power and inequality. The chapters address key topics such
as colonialism, globalization, violence, religion, race and ethnicity,
gender and sexuality, health, and food, and emphasize the impact of
Latin American and Caribbean peoples and cultures in the United
States. The text has been thoroughly updated for the second edition,
including fresh case studies, and new chapters on independence,
neoliberalism and immigration, and popular culture and the digital
revolution. Students are provided with a solid overview of the major
contemporary trends, issues, and debates in the field. Each chapter
ends with a summary, up-to-date recommendations for viewing
films/ videos and websites, and a comprehensive bibliography for
further reading and research.
Harry Sanabria is Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

The Anthropology of Latin
America and the Caribbean
Second Edition
Harry Sanabria
Second edition published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Harry Sanabria
The right of Harry Sanabria to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Pearson 2007
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-67582-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-67581-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-56042-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Dedication
Para mis padres, Luis Manuel y Adelaida, For my parents, Luis Manuel and
quienes me enseñaron en el diario vivir Adelaida, who taught me in the course of
que sin una apreciación del pasado y la everyday life that without an appreciation
cultura corremos el riesgo de deambular of the past and culture we run the risk of
por la vida sin sentido. straying aimlessly through life.
Y a mi hija Katarina Sophía, para que And to my daughter Katarina Sophía, so
nunca corra ese riesgo. she will never run that risk.
C O N T E N T S
List of figures xv
List of tables xvii
Preface to the second edition xviii
1
Anthropology, Latin America, and the Caribbean 1
Why study the anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean? 1
Documenting and explaining everyday life 4
Imagining and inventing Latin America and the Caribbean 6
Countries and peoples 8
Landscapes and physiographic regions 12
South America 13
Andes 13
Altiplano 15
Llanos 16
Guiana and Brazilian Highlands 16
Amazon Basin 18
Pampas/Patagonia 19
Mexico and Central America 20
Central Plateau 22
Southern Highlands 22
Gulf Coastal Plains 22
Yucatán Peninsula 22
Central American Highlands 23
Concluding thoughts 25
Films/videos 26
Websites 27
References 27
2
Before the Europeans 31
Perspectives on social complexity 31
Paleo-Indian 32
vi
ContEntS vii
Archaic 34
South America 35
Mesoamerica 37
Formative 38
South America and Caribbean 38
Mesoamerica 43
The Maya region 44
Mesa Central 46
Horizon 49
South America and the Incas 49
Mesoamerica 55
The Maya region 55
Mesa Central and the Aztecs 57
Gender and empire 63
Concluding thoughts 64
Films/videos 64
Websites 65
References 65
3
Conquest, colonialism, and resistance 69
The conquest 69
Voyages and explorations 69
How did (and could) it happen? 70
Incas and Aztecs 71
Maya 74
Entrenching colonialism and technologies of rule 75
Pillars of the colonial economy 80
Resisting colonialism 82
Rebellions 82
Andean rebellions 82
Haiti’s slave revolution 83
“Everyday” forms of resistance 84
Ethnogenesis 85
Gendered colonialism 87
Sexuality, marriage, and power 88
Towards a male and heterosexual-centered cosmology 90
viii ContEntS
Remembering Columbus 91
Concluding thoughts 94
Films/videos 94
Websites 95
References 95
4
Independence and nation-building 99
Independence and nationalisms 99
Forging nation-states 101
Print media and schools 102
Gendered states of mind 104
Cuisine, cookbooks, and nation-building 106
Bridging the racial and ethnic divide 108
Health and the diseased nation 112
Syphilis 112
Tuberculosis 113
Smallpox 113
In the United States: the invention of Cinco de Mayo 116
Concluding thoughts 120
Films/videos 120
Websites 120
References 120
5
Cultural politics of race and ethnicity 123
Race: biological fallacy, socially constructed – or both? 123
Race during the colonial period 126
Blood and colonial race-like thinking 126
Castes, the colonial body, and casta paintings 129
Race and cultural miscegenation at the “bottom” 133
Pseudo-racial identities 133
Ethnicity and culture: moving away from race 136
ContEntS ix
Indigenous movements and the multicultural turn 137
Chile’s Mapuche 137
Evo Morales and Bolivia’s indigenous state 139
Ethnic mobilizations in Colombia 140
Genetics and the revival of “scientific” racial thinking in Mexico and
Brazil 142
In the United States: race, culture, and the making of “Hispanics” 144
Concluding thoughts 147
Films/videos 147
Websites 147
References 148
6
Gender, sexuality, and reproduction 151
Gender and sex 151
Pre-colonial gender and sexuality 152
the fluidity of gender and sexual identities 152
Mesoamerica 152
Andes 153
Parallelism and complementarity 154
Femininities 155
Marianismo 155
Engaging politics 156
Bridging the house–street divide 158
Heading households 160
Same-sex desires 161
Masculinities 163
Machismo 163
Masculinities 165
Gay masculinities 166
Transgender(ed) 167
Brazilian travestis 168
Zapotec muxe 170
Policing reproduction 172
The politics of same-sex marriage: Argentina and Mexico 174