1st Edition
The Political Economy of Latin American Independence
Although historians usually trace its origins to the Haitian Revolution of the late 18th Century, Latin American political, economic and cultural emancipation is still very much a work in progress. As new national identities were developed, fresh reflection and theorising was needed in order to understand how Latin America related to the wider world. Through a series of case studies on different topics and national experiences, this volume shows how political economy has occupied an important place in discussions about emancipation and independence that occurred in the region.
The production of political economic knowledge in the periphery of capitalism can take on many forms: importing ideas from abroad; translating and adapting them to local realities; or else producing concepts and theories specifically designed to make sense of the uniqueness of particular historical experiences. The Political Economy of Latin American Independence illustrates each of these strategies, exploring issues such as trade policy, money and banking, socio-economic philosophy, nationalism, and economic development. The expert authors stress how the originality of Latin American economic thought often resides in the creative appropriation of ideas originally devised in different contexts and thus usually ill-suited to local realities.
Taken together, the chapters illustrate a fertile methodological approach for studying the history of political economy in Latin America. This book is of great interest to economic historians specialising in Latin America, as well as those who study history of economic thought, political economy and Latin American history.
Preface Joseph L. Love
Introduction Alexandre Mendes Cunha & Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak
Part 1: "International Dissemination of Economic Ideas"
Chapter 1-
Political Economy and Latin American Independence from the 19th to the 20th Century Alexandre Mendes Cunha & Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak
Chapter 2-
Circulating economic ideas: adaptation, appropriation, translation José Luís Cardoso
Part 2: "Protectionism and Free Trade in the 19th Century"
Chapter 3- Latin America and the nineteenth-century British free trade project Anthony Howe
Chapter 4- Silva Lisboa on Free Trade and Slave Labor: the fate of liberalism in a colonial country Maurício C. Coutinho
Chapter 5- The (Far) Backstory of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Stephen Meardon
Chapter 6- The Treaties of 1810 and the Luso-Brazilian Empire Crisis Milena Fernandes de Oliveira & Nelson Mendes Cantarino
Part 3: "Ideas from Abroad"
Chapter 7- Julio Menadier: A Listian Economist in the Economic Policy Debate in Chile (1860-1880) Claudio Robles Ortiz
Chapter 8- Jean-Baptiste Say’s Social Economics and the Construction of the 19th Century Liberal Republic in Colombia Jimena Hurtado
Chapter 9- From "social economy" to "national political economy": German economic ideas in Brazil Luiz Felipe Bruzzi Curi
Part 4: "Doing Political Economy in Latin America"
Chapter 10- An outline of the economic thinking of José Joaquim Rodrigues Torres and the economic policy of the Brazilian Empire (1848-58) Thiago Fontelas Rosado Gambi
Chapter 11- From free-banking to paper money: ideas behind the building of a National Bank in Colombia at the end of 19th century Andrés Álvarez
Chapter 12- The econom
Biography
Alexandre Mendes Cunha is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department and currently the Director of the Center for European Studies at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil.
Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. His research interests include the history of economic thought, economic history, and economic methodology.
