- Paperback: 489 pages
- Publisher: Random House USA Inc; Vintage Books ed edition (28 Feb 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679751416
- ISBN-13: 978-0679751410
- Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 3.1 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,007,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > Central America & Caribbean > 20th Century
- #4 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > South America > 20th Century
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Castro's Cuba is isolated; the guerrillas who once spread havoc through Uruguay and Argentina are dead, dispersed, or running for office as moderates. And in 1990, Nicaragua's Sandinistas were rejected at the polls by their own constituents. Are these symptoms of the fall of the Latin American left? Or are they merely temporary lulls in an ongoing revolution that may yet transform our hemisphere?
This perceptive and richly eventful study by one of Mexico's most distinguished political scientists tells the story behind the failed movements of the past thirty years while suggesting that the left has a continuing relevance in a continent that suffers from destitution and social inequality. Combining insider's accounts of intrigue and armed struggle with a clear-sighted analysis of the mechanisms of day-to-day power, Utopia Unarmed is an indispensable work of scholarship, reportage, and political prognosis.
This perceptive and richly eventful study by one of Mexico's most distinguished political scientists tells the story behind the failed movements of the past thirty years while suggesting that the left has a continuing relevance in a continent that suffers from destitution and social inequality. Combining insider's accounts of intrigue and armed struggle with a clear-sighted analysis of the mechanisms of day-to-day power, Utopia Unarmed is an indispensable work of scholarship, reportage, and political prognosis.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
This book was originaly written in 1992. An introduction added to account for important developments in 1994 that seem to contradict the main thesis.
The book itself has 2 parts arifitially glued together. The first chapters present an excellent historiography of the last 60 years of left movements in Latin America. Parallels, connections and similarities are drawn between different groups in different times and places. All this is very informative, given the numerous references for further reading. One of the main arguments is that armed movements did not succeed in changing the politics of the region (except for a very small number of cases), that the transition to social-democracy activism is much more effective and that all of the democratically elected leftist governments failed to implement workable alternatives.
The events in southern Mexico during January 94 contradict the general trend, hence the need for the new introduction.
The last part of the book is programatic. Castaneda presents _the_ solution to the problems that plague the continent in the form of "recommendations" for the left (since the right will never do that). The program includes democratization, socially oriented government policies, regulated free-market, etc. As a whole the program is well presented and congruent. However, the apparent intent is to show how these policies are the only alternative based on the experience drawn from the first part of the book.
On the last point I find the book lacking. The connection between the different historic cases and trens and the program for the future is not clear enough. Also, some internal contradictions are pointed out but not resolved (as to how the left will be elected with a corrupt polling process, etc)
The book itself has 2 parts arifitially glued together. The first chapters present an excellent historiography of the last 60 years of left movements in Latin America. Parallels, connections and similarities are drawn between different groups in different times and places. All this is very informative, given the numerous references for further reading. One of the main arguments is that armed movements did not succeed in changing the politics of the region (except for a very small number of cases), that the transition to social-democracy activism is much more effective and that all of the democratically elected leftist governments failed to implement workable alternatives.
The events in southern Mexico during January 94 contradict the general trend, hence the need for the new introduction.
The last part of the book is programatic. Castaneda presents _the_ solution to the problems that plague the continent in the form of "recommendations" for the left (since the right will never do that). The program includes democratization, socially oriented government policies, regulated free-market, etc. As a whole the program is well presented and congruent. However, the apparent intent is to show how these policies are the only alternative based on the experience drawn from the first part of the book.
On the last point I find the book lacking. The connection between the different historic cases and trens and the program for the future is not clear enough. Also, some internal contradictions are pointed out but not resolved (as to how the left will be elected with a corrupt polling process, etc)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Historiography of left movements and progressive program
3 July 1997
Format:Paperback
This book was originaly written in 1992. An introduction added to account for important developments in 1994 that seem to contradict the main thesis.
The book itself has 2 parts arifitially glued together. The first chapters present an excellent historiography of the last 60 years of left movements in Latin America. Parallels, connections and similarities are drawn between different groups in different times and places. All this is very informative, given the numerous references for further reading. One of the main arguments is that armed movements did not succeed in changing the politics of the region (except for a very small number of cases), that the transition to social-democracy activism is much more effective and that all of the democratically elected leftist governments failed to implement workable alternatives.
The events in southern Mexico during January 94 contradict the general trend, hence the need for the new introduction.
The last part of the book is programatic. Castaneda presents _the_ solution to the problems that plague the continent in the form of "recommendations" for the left (since the right will never do that). The program includes democratization, socially oriented government policies, regulated free-market, etc. As a whole the program is well presented and congruent. However, the apparent intent is to show how these policies are the only alternative based on the experience drawn from the first part of the book.
On the last point I find the book lacking. The connection between the different historic cases and trens and the program for the future is not clear enough. Also, some internal contradictions are pointed out but not resolved (as to how the left will be elected with a corrupt polling process, etc)
The book itself has 2 parts arifitially glued together. The first chapters present an excellent historiography of the last 60 years of left movements in Latin America. Parallels, connections and similarities are drawn between different groups in different times and places. All this is very informative, given the numerous references for further reading. One of the main arguments is that armed movements did not succeed in changing the politics of the region (except for a very small number of cases), that the transition to social-democracy activism is much more effective and that all of the democratically elected leftist governments failed to implement workable alternatives.
The events in southern Mexico during January 94 contradict the general trend, hence the need for the new introduction.
The last part of the book is programatic. Castaneda presents _the_ solution to the problems that plague the continent in the form of "recommendations" for the left (since the right will never do that). The program includes democratization, socially oriented government policies, regulated free-market, etc. As a whole the program is well presented and congruent. However, the apparent intent is to show how these policies are the only alternative based on the experience drawn from the first part of the book.
On the last point I find the book lacking. The connection between the different historic cases and trens and the program for the future is not clear enough. Also, some internal contradictions are pointed out but not resolved (as to how the left will be elected with a corrupt polling process, etc)
Dated, but still very useful
18 April 2008
Format:Paperback
The best part of this book for me was the detailed analysis of the relationship between the Cuban Revolution and the rest of Latin America. The author is particularly good at explaining the differences in Cuban support to the various guerilla movements in the region during the 1970s and 1980s. The discussion of intellectuals in Latin America, especially their role in bridging the gap between the state and civil society, is also quite lucid.
The suggestions for where the left should head now seem dated, given that the book was written more than a decade ago, but that does not diminish the overall quality of this author's scholarship. Simply stated, it is still one of the best histories of the Latin American left.
The suggestions for where the left should head now seem dated, given that the book was written more than a decade ago, but that does not diminish the overall quality of this author's scholarship. Simply stated, it is still one of the best histories of the Latin American left.
4 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Poor disenchanted Jorge!
9 Sep 2001
Format:Paperback
Or should I say poor Mr. Secretary! I read this book right after it was published as someone gave it to me as a gift. The book itself represents a turning point in Castañeda's life: from a progressive Mexican academician to a disenchanted US visiting professor. It is as if the ignominious Berlin Wall fell upon his head. The book transpires the "I was so wrong!" message from the beginning. However, I must admit that on the first part there is a lot of useful raw material that can help us understand the failure of armed movements in Latin America. Particularly accurate is the piece on Montoneros, the Argentine urban guerrilleros. However, it is Castañeda's analysis what is wrong. Then his proposal for the "left" (the "left" HE has in his own confused mind) proved wrong just some months after the publication of the book with the coming of the Zapatistas onto Mexican political arena. No wonder Catañeda's posterior attempts to discredit the movement: these irreverent Zapatistas were not following HIS proposal based on well-thought academic premises, conceived in a clean professor's office away from (social) reality. His current appointment as the Secretary of Foreign Relations in a right wing administration demonstrates clearly Castañeda's solid convictions that he had already gave off in this book.
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