Propondo uma História Ambiental Latinoamericana

Book Review John Soluri, Claudia Leal and José Augusto Pádua, eds., A Living Past: Environmental Histories of Modern Latin America (New York: Berghahn Books, 2018).

Left socialists in contemporary Latin America: ideology and politics

This scientific article is devoted to the phenomenon of left-wing socialists in modern Latin America. The article shows the continuity of the left-wing socialist ideology and at the same time highlights the elements of its novelty. The author turns to plots related to the historical aspects of the activities of radical socialists in Latin America. The author examines the various forms of organized activities of radical socialists, pointing as examples of the functioning of the independent left-wings socialist parties ant the participation of left socialists in Latin American countries in broader political projects. An important place is given to the consideration of the left socialist proposals for politico-institutional and socio-economic areas. Here analysis confirms that today the radical socialists continue to be in the political area between the radical left and social reformism. The author comes to the conclusion that the left socialists actively advocate strengthening the unity of the left forces both in Latin America as a whole and at the national level.

Religious Conflict in Brazil

This innovative study explores the transition in Brazil from a hegemonically Catholic society to a religiously pluralistic society. The book shows that the rise of religious pluralism was fraught with conflict and violence, as Catholic bishops, priests, and friars organized intense campaigns against Protestantism. These episodes of religious violence were not isolated outbursts of reactionary rage, but rather formed part of a longer process through which religious groups articulated their vision for Brazil's national future. The book begins with a background on Catholic–Protestant relations in the Brazilian Northeast. It suggests a new religious history of modern Latin America that puts religious pluralism at the center rather than at the margins of historical analysis. In doing so it seeks to understand the ways in which religious competition and conflict redefined traditional relationships between church and state, lay and clergy, popular and official religion, and local and national interests.

The Battle Has Already Begun

This chapter provides a background on Catholic–Protestant relations in the Brazilian Northeast. It talks about how the Brazilian Northeast became famous as a place of economic backwardness, political feuds, crippling droughts, popular unrest, and, religious fanaticism following the publication of Euclides da Cunha's Os sertões in 1902. It also looks into da Cunha's account of the Brazilian military's confrontation and eventual destruction of the allegedly fanatical millenarian community of Canudos, which made regional and national elites continuously fearful of the violent potential of northeastern religiosity. The chapter suggests a new religious history of modern Latin America that puts religious pluralism at the center rather than at the margins of historical analysis. It seeks to understand the ways in which religious competition and conflict redefined traditional relationships between church and state, lay and clergy, popular and official religion, and local and national interests.

El Salvador

El Salvador stands out as exceptional in the history of modern Latin America for some tragic reasons: its duration of military rule (1931–1979), the scale of its government-ordered mass execution of citizens (1932), and its distinctly brutal civil conflict (1980–1992). These episodes, and many others like them, are the consequence of modern El Salvador’s history as a deeply divided society. This division has its origins in a racially charged ethnic differentiation coming out of the colonial era, which then survived into the twentieth century as conflict between ethnically homogenous classes. Consequently, shared concepts of the public good have been all too rare. Instead, rivaling stakeholders have defined politics as a zero-sum game, such that any sacrifice on one group’s part is seen inherently as an advantage for a rival. In general, El Salvador has been a place where authoritarian conservatives have won the day, meaning the people who wish to maintain their privilege and preserve the status quo have successfully done so, but not without facing significant challenges and having to grant some concessions along the way.