Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History Since 1898 - Softcover

Ayala, Cesar J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807859540 ISBN 13: 9780807859544

Publisher: University North Carolina Pr, 2009

Synopsis

Offering a comprehensive overview of Puerto Rico's history and evolution since the installation of U.S. rule, Cesar Ayala and Rafael Bernabe connect the island's economic, political, cultural, and social past. ""Puerto Rico in the American Century"" explores the history of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora as well as the island residents, who experience an unusual and daily conundrum: they consider themselves a distinct people but are part of the American political system; they have U.S. citizenship but are not represented in the U.S. Congress; and they live on an island that is neither independent nor part of the United States. Highlighting both well-known and forgotten figures from Puerto Rican history, Ayala and Bernabe discuss a wide range of topics, including literary and cultural debates and social and labor struggles that previous histories have neglected.

About this title

Review:

Academics, students, and general readers will find this book a helpful tool to probe the intricacies of Puerto Rican history. . . . A provocative. . . . [and] landmark work.--Pedro San Miguel, Centro: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies

Not only an excellent introduction to the island for the nonexpert but it is also of value to scholars who are searching for new topics to research on Puerto Rican history and the Puerto Rican diaspora. . . . An excellent contribution to the general history of Puerto Rico during the twentieth century.--Hispanic American Historical Review

An exciting . . . volume that stimulates as well as informs; students and scholars on all levels will find much to discuss. . . . Highly recommended.--CHOICE

An admirable history of Puerto Rico. . . . This book is the standard against which any other about twentieth-century Puerto Rico will be judged.--New West Indian Guide

Indispensable.--Edgardo Rodriguez Julia, Primera Revista Latinoamerican de Libros

A comprehensive overview of Puerto Rico's history and its evolution since the installation of U.S. rule.--RepeatingIslands.com

This book goes far to provide the information and analysis necessary to resolve the short shrift that Puerto Rico and its people have received in histories of Latin America and of the United States.--The Americas

Politics, economics and culture are in constant dialogue within the narrative . . . providing a complex and at many points refreshing perspective of Puerto Rican history.--Against the Current

A comprehensive historical picture of political developments in the island. . . . By taking the courageous step of restoring economic dependence and its social consequences to the heart of the argument for autonomy--and, in effect, pitting it against more inventive, and often elitist cultural perspectives that range from the neo-nationalist to the post-modern--Puerto Rico in the American Century offers a far more plausible context for understanding the status issue, while offering a far more tolerable, democratic direction for the independence movement in a globalised world.--Latin American Review of Books

About the Author:

CESAR J. AYALA is associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of American Sugar Kingdom: The Plantation Economy of the Spanish Caribbean, 1898-1934 (from the University of North Carolina Press). RAFAEL BERNABE is professor and director of the Federico de Onis Hispanic Studies Center at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. He has published three books in Puerto Rico.

About this edition

• Publisher: University North Carolina Pr
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0807859540
• ISBN 13: 9780807859544
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 446