Latin American Studies Publishing

“Now one of the world’s premier publishers of books about Latin America, Penn State Press has acquired an admirable record of presenting cutting-edge work by both senior and junior scholars, often taking a risk in the process, but just as often helping establish new directions in diverse fields ranging from political economy to gender studies. ‘Innovative’ and ‘distinguished’—two adjectives that are not often used in the same sentence—may best capture the contribution Penn State Press has made to Latin American studies.”

—Lars Schoultz, University of North Carolina

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Before 1990 the Press published only a few books about Latin America, mainly in history and political science, and had virtually no visibility in the field. But this was a field that Sanford Thatcher had cultivated during his years as an editor at Princeton University Press, and when he came to Penn State as director in mid-1989, he saw an opportunity to build a strong program at the Press (partly because Princeton had decided not to put much effort into continuing the program he had built there). Beginning in that year and extending to the present, the Press has consequently made a reputation for itself as a publisher of Latin American studies that ranks it among the leading publishers in the world. Press books have received numerous honors, including six named as Outstanding Academic Books by Choice and several that have won major awards. A number have become staple reading in college classrooms around the country.

Latin American studies has been characterized by interdisciplinary communication of the highest order, which makes it an exciting and rewarding field in which to publish. One often cannot tell from the title or subject matter whether a book in the field has been written by a scholar from anthropology, economics, history, political science, or sociology. In subfields where the Press has published most, such as political economy, gender studies, and social movements, contributions have come from people in all of these disciplines. Not only does interdisciplinarity contribute to the advancement of scholarship, but for a publisher it provides opportunities to sell books in a wide range of disciplinary markets.

Also characteristic of the field, as evident from attendance at the meetings of the Latin American Studies Association, is the strong cooperative relationship that exists between North American and South American scholars. Many of the edited volumes published by the Press, such as Argentine Democracy, Out of the Shadows: Political Action and the Informal Economy in Latin America, and Rethinking Development in Latin America, are the results of just such cooperation. This cross-fertilization of scholarship between North and South ensures, among other things, that theories generated by U.S. and Canadian scholars quickly get put to the test of empirical research carried on in Latin America.

Hitherto the Press has not published any series in this field, but as part of an effort to work more closely with the interdisciplinary Latin American program at Penn State, the Press has recently launched a new series titled Latin American Originals: Colonial and Nineteenth-Century Primary Sources, edited by Matthew Restall. This series will also help establish the Press as a major publisher in colonial Latin American history, complementing the Press’s strength in nineteenth- and twentieth-century history.

While aiming to maintain its primary focus in the social sciences and in history (extending the breadth of the list more into the colonial era), the Press in the future will likely try to do some innovative publishing in cultural studies, particularly art history and literature, as exemplified by the recent publication of The Social and the Real: Political Art of the 1930s in the Western Hemisphere, edited by Alejandro Anreus, Diana L. Linden, and Jonathan Weinberg.

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“Penn State Press has created a space for a new model of interdisciplinary social science and historical research. Covering a vast area of Latin American history and current events, Penn State can boast an impressive list of cutting-edge work that will chart future directions of scholarly frontiers.”

—Jeremy Adelman, Princeton University

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Choice Outstanding Academic Books

José Itzigsohn, Developing Poverty: The State, Labor Market Deregulation, and the Informal Economy in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic (2001)

Christine Hunefeldt, Liberalism in the Bedroom: Quarreling Spouses in Nineteenth-Century Lima (2000)

Peter M. Siavelis, The President and Congress in Postauthoritarian Chile: Institutional Constraints to Democratic Consolidation (2000)

Cliff Welch, The Seed Was Planted: The São Paulo Roots of Brazil’s Rural Labor Movement, 1924–1964 (1999)

Gerardo L. Munck, Authoritarianism and Democratization: Soldiers and Workers in Argentina, 1976–1983 (1998)

Miguel Angel Centeno, Democracy Within Reason: Technocratic Revolution in Mexico (1994)

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“Penn State Press has developed from a minor publisher of works on Latin America to a leading force in the field. The Press now publishes a large, interesting, diverse range of books in the social sciences and history that focus on Latin America, including prize-winning books and important studies by young scholars along with internationally renowned scholars. Its publications now include ‘must-reads’!”

—Susan Eckstein, Boston University

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Book Prizes

Francie R. Chassen-López, From Liberal to Revolutionary Oaxaca: The View from the South, Mexico, 1867–1911 (2004 Thomas F. McGann Prize, Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies)

Miguel Angel Centeno, Blood and Debt: War and the Nation-State in Latin America (Honorable Mention, 2003 Mattei Dogan Award, Society for Comparative Research)

Javier Corrales, Presidents Without Parties: The Politics of Economic Reform in Argentina and Venezuela in the 1990s (Runner-up, 2003 Best Book Prize, New England Council of Latin American Studies)

Charles D. Ameringer, The Caribbean Legion: Patriots, Politicians, Soldiers of Fortune, 1946–1950 (1997 Arthur P. Whitaker Book Award, Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies)

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Best Sellers

Robert Edgar Conrad, ed., Children of God’s Fire (1993): 4,500+

Miguel Angel Centeno, Democracy Within Reason (1994; 2nd ed. 1997): 4,000+

Luis Alberto Romero, A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century (2002): 3,000+

Eldon Kenworthy, America/Américas (1995): 2,000+

Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, Drugs and Security in the Caribbean (1997): 2,000+

Philip D. Oxhorn, Organizing Civil Society (1995): 2,000+