Latin America and the Caribbean

David L. Clawson is Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of New Orleans. Benjamin F. Tillman is Chair of the Geography Department at Texas Christian University.

Each chapter ends with a Summary, Key Terms, and Suggested Readings.
Lists of Maps:
Lists of Tables:
Preface:
Chapter 1: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean
Geography and Regional Studies
Delimiting Latin America and the Caribbean
Latin American and Caribbean Subregions
PART I: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Chapter 2: Landform Regions of Latin America and the Caribbean
The Eastern Highlands
The Central Lowlands
The Western Alpine System
Recent Earthquake and Volcanic Activity:
Case Study 2.1: The 2010 Haitian and Chilean Earthquakes
Physiographic Regions of the Andes:
Physiographic Regions of Central America:
Physiographic Regions of Mexico and the Caribbean:
Chapter 3: Weather and Climate
Controls of Climate
Temperature:
--Altitude
--Ocean Currents
--Latitude
Precipitation:
--Continentality
--Atmospheric Pressure Belts
--Prevailing Winds and Orographic Effects
Hurricanes
Case Study 3.1: The 2008 Caribbean Hurricane Season
Chapter 4: Natural Regions
Tropical Rain Forest
Case Study 4.1: Biodiversity and the Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical and Temperate Savanna
Desert
Steppe
Humid Subtropical
Mediterranean
Marine West Coast Rain Forest
Highland
PART II: CULTURAL PATTERNS
Chapter 5: Iberian Heritage, Conquest, and Institutions
Latin America's Roman Heritage
Islam in Iberia
Spanish Responses to Islamic Rule
The Spanish Reconquest
The Conquest and Settlement of Latin America
Mexico and Central America:
South America:
The Colonial Era
The Mercantile System:
The Encomienda System:
Decline of Spanish Influence in the Greater Caribbean Basin:
Peninsular-Creole Divisions:
Independence and the Republican Period
Conservative-Liberal Schisms:
Caudillismo:
Case Study 5.1: The 2009 Honduran Coup d'État
Political Maturation in the Late Twentieth Century
Chapter 6: Political Change
Mexico
Central America
Guatemala:
Belize:
Honduras:
El Salvador:
Nicaragua:
Costa Rica:
Panama:
The Greater Antilles
Cuba:
Jamaica:
Haiti:
Dominican Republic:
Puerto Rico:
Andean South America
Venezuela:
Colombia:
Ecuador:
Case Study 6.1: Columbia's Violent Drug War
Peru:
Bolivia:
Southern South America
Chile:
Paraguay:
Argentina:
Uruguay:
Brazil:
The Guianas
Guyana:
Suriname:
French Guiana:
Chapter 7: Race, Ethnicity, and Social Class
Native Population Levels at the Time of the Conquest
Native American Civilizations on the Eve of the Conquest
Western Highland Peoples:
--The Aztecs
--The Maya
--The Chibcha
--The Inca
Case Study 7.1: Native Animals of the Andes
--The Southern Andean Indians
Eastern Lowland Peoples:
--The Southern Hunters
--The Tropical Forest Dwellers
Common Indian Traits:
Impacts of European Conquest and Settlement:
Causes of Indian Depopulation:
Aftermath of the Conquest:
Blacks in the New World
Antecedents of Latin American Black Slavery:
The African Slave Trade:
Living Conditions in the New World:
Forms of Slave Resistance:
Abolition:
Case Study 7.2: Maroon Societies in Latin America
East Asians in the Caribbean
Racial Mixing
The Evolution of Social Races:
Racial Whitening
Racism and Its Ramifications
Case Study 7.3: Indian Homelands and the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor
Current Racial Patterns
Mexico and Central America:
South America:
The Caribbean:
Chapter 8: Latin America as a Culture Region
Honor and Shame: Individual Identity and Self-Worth
Machismo:
Marianismo:
Reproduction and Honor:
Personalismo
Socioeconomic Classes
The Upper Class:
Case Study 8.1: The Hidden Costs of Corruption
The Middle Class:
Case Study 8.2: The Perpetuation of Oligarchical Power in a Central American Nation
The Lower Class:
Consequences of Social Rigidity:
Fatalism and Luck:
Dual Educational Systems:
Family Life
Street Children:
--Possible Responses
Status of Women:
Case Study 8.3: Women and the Informal Economic Sector
Other Elements of Culture
Literature and Poetry:
Architecture, Painting, and Sculpture:
Music:
Sports:
Mass Media and Tempo of Living:
Chapter 9: Religion
Religious Practice in Indigenous America
Medieval Iberian Catholicism on the Eve of the Conquest
The Spiritual Conquest of the New World
Religious Syncretism
Marianism and the Cult of the Virgin Mother:
Challenges to Colonial Catholicism:
Case Study 9.1: Cuzco's Lord of The Earthquakes
The Economic and Political Power of the Church in the Colonial and Republican Periods
The Current Status of Latin American Catholicism
Subtypes of Latin American Catholicism:
--Forms of African Folk Catholicism
Non-Catholic Faiths in Latin America and the Caribbean
Hinduism and Islam:
Case Study 9.2: Jamaican Rastafarianism
Judaism:
Case Study 9.3: Venta Prieta: A Jewish Community in Mexico
Protestantism:
--Characteristics of and Challenges to Latin American Protestantism
The Catholic Counter-Reformation:
PART III: ECONOMIC PATTERNS
Chapter 10: Agriculture and Agrarian Development
Case Study 10.1: Waru Waru Agriculture
Impact of the European Conquest
Enclave Economies
Haciendas:
Estancias:
Plantations:
--Sugar Cane in the Caribbean
--Coffee in Colombia, Central America, and Brazil
--Bananas in Central America and Ecuador
--The Plantation Controversy
Smallholder Agriculture
Common Attributes of Smallholder Agriculturists:
Slash and Burn Agriculture:
Peasant Agriculture:
Agrarian Reform
New Land Colonization:
Agriculture Modernization
Expansion of Commercial Agriculture
Plant Crop Production:
Animal Husbandry:
Tree Farming:
Fishing:
Case Study 10.2: Harvest Strip Forestry
Narcotic Drug Production:
Chapter 11: Mining, Manufacturing, and Tourism
Pre-Conquest Mining and Manufacturing
Mining and Manufacturing in Colonial Latin America
Silver Mining:
--Impact of Amalgamation
--Labor Supply
Gold and Diamond Mining in Colonial Brazil:
Other Colonial Mining Centers:
Impacts of Mining:
Manufacturing in Colonial Latin America
Case Study 11.1: Mining and Regional Development in Colonial Latin America
Mining and Manufacturing During the Early Republican Period
Beginnings of Modern Manufacturing
Case Study 11.2: "Big Bill" Greene and American Industrialization in Northern Mexico
The Great Depression and Import Substitution Industrialization
Growth Poles and the Spatial Concentration of Industry
Chile and the Arica Automobile Manufacturing Experiment:
Brazil: Large-Scale Regional Development and Underdevelopment:
Venezuela: Growth Pole Development in a Frontier Setting:
State Ownership and Privatization
Export Promotion Manufacturing: An Alternative Development Model
Puerto Rico's Operation Bootstrap:
The Mexican Maquiladora Industry:
Other Export Promotion Initiatives:
Case Study 11.3: Offshore Caribbean Financial Services Industries
Current Industrialization Patterns
Current Mining Developments
Energy Reserves and Development
Hydroelectric Power Generation:
Renewable Organic Fuels:
Tourism
Chapter 12: Urbanization, Population Growth, and Migration
Native American Urbanization
Colonial European Settlement
Colonial Urban Primacy:
Functional Classification of Cities:
Morphology of the Colonial City:
Settlement in Portuguese America:
Rural Settlements:
Late Colonial Population Levels:
The Republican Period
The Twentieth Century
Case Study 12.1: Confederate Settlements in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Demographic Transition Model:
Urbanization:
City Size in the Modern Era:
Urban Primacy:
Morphology of the Modern City
The Inner City: Zone of Commercial High-Rises and Low-Income Tenements:
Case Study 12.2: Social Expressions of the Latin American Plaza
Peripheral Squatter Settlements:
Urban Population Densities:
Case Study 12.3: Planned Squatter Settlement Invasions
New Cities
Migration
Interregional Flows:
Migration between Latin American and Caribbean Countries:
Migration to Europe, Asia, and Anglo America:
Political Refugees
The Brain Drain
Remittances:
Conclusions: Are Latin America and the Caribbean Overpopulated?
Chapter 13: Development and Health
Economic Development and Underdevelopment During the Colonial and Republican Periods
The International Financial Cycle:
Recurring Economic Crises:
The Lost Decade
Foreign Indebtedness:
Inflation:
Currency Devaluation:
Economic Stagnation and Human Suffering:
Fiscal Restructuring and Austerity
Case Study 13.1: IMF Austerity Measures and Civil Unrest in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Found Decade
Regional and Subregional Economic Unions
Case Study 13.2: Structural Reform and Argentine Economic and Political Turmoil
Central American Common Market:
Andean Community:
Caribbean Community:
Southern Cone Common Market:
North American Free Trade Association:
Free Trade Area of the Americas:
Health and Nutritional Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
Provision of Clean Water and Sewage Treatment:
Food and Nutrition:
Case Study 13.3: The Latin American Cholera Epidemic
Child Mortality Rate:
Health and the Physical-Cultural Environment
Tropical Lowlands:
Highlands:
Case Study 13.4: Environment and Health in Mexico City
Urban Centers:
Rural Regions:
Glossary:
Credits:
Index: