Coffee & Power – Revolution & the Rise of Democracy in Central America: Revolution and the Rise of Democracy in Central America - Hardcover

Paige, Jeffery

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674136489 ISBN 13: 9780674136489

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Between 1979 and 1992 it would have been difficult to find three political systems as different as death-squad-dominated El Salvador, peaceful social-democratic Costa Rica, and revolutionary Sandinista Nicaragua. Yet when the fighting was ended by a peace plan initiated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, all three had found a common destination in democracy and free markets. This book aims to explain this turn of events, exploring political, economic and cultural analysis. Both the divergent political histories and their convergent outcome were shaped by a single commodity that has dominated these export economies since the 19th century - coffee. The book explores the crisis of the 1980s and its roots, compares the history, economics, and class structures of all three countries, and presents interviews with the leaders of the elite dynasties, who tell their story of the Central American revolution. The book aims to challenge contemporary approaches to "transitions to democracy", and shows that a focus on either political economy or culture alone cannot account for the transformation of elite ideology.

About this title

Review:

A detailed, comprehensive work on the complex relationship between coffee and political and financial might in this region...Coffee is evidently not the sole influence propelling these nations along the democratic path, but this volume demonstrates how ideologies and crises are interrelated, an important factor for a region with such an uncertain political future. "Coffee and Power" makes an important contribution to the literature on transitions to democracy. Paige notes with irony that the establishment of parliamentary democracies may represent the most important achievement of the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan Left of the 1980s, as it was for the Costa Rican Left of the 1930s and 1940s. -- Laurie Medina "American Anthropologist" A sweeping historical analysis of the encouraging yet still fragile emergence of democracy in Central America...Through exhaustive historical research and enterprising interviews, the author penetrates the worlds of the most powerful families of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica...Paige has illuminated a path for comprehending countries whose histories have often been caricatured by polemicists and ignored by policy makers. -- Thomas Carothers "New York Times Book Review" The main lesson from this thoughtful, well-written book: if coffee is grown with less repression, with social welfare programs, with more owned by small-holders, then the poor are less likely to join revolutions... Paige's conclusions are reasonable and it is important to have them documented in this fair, well-researched book. This book will appeal to people interested in the history of Central America, to students of peace and war, to scholars of coffee economics and politics, and to political ecologists. -- Jeffery W. Bentley "Agriculture and Human Values" war, to scholars of coffee economics and politics, and to political ecologists. represent the most important achievement of the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan Left of the 1980s, as it was for the Costa Rican Left of the 1930s and 1940s. path, but this volume demonstrates how ideologies and crises are interrelated, an important factor for a region with such an uncertain political future. of the most powerful families of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica...Paige has illuminated a path for comprehending countries whose histories have often been caricatured by polemicists and ignored by policy makers.

About the Author:

Jeffery M. Paige is Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0674136489
• ISBN 13: 9780674136489
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 442