The Other Mirror or Glass Ceilings and Asian Americans

The Other Mirror: Grand Theory Through the Lens of Latin America

Author: Miguel Angel Centeno

If social science's "cultural turn" has taught us anything, it is that knowledge is constrained by the time and place in which it is produced. In response, scholars have begun to reassess social theory from the standpoints of groups and places outside of the European context upon which most grand theory is based. Here a distinguished group of scholars reevaluates widely accepted theories of state, property, race, and economics against Latin American experiences with a two-fold purpose. They seek to deepen our understanding of Latin America and the problems it faces. And, by testing social science paradigms against a broader variety of cases, they pursue a better and truly generalizable map of the social world.

Bringing universal theory into dialogue with specific history, the contributors consider what forms Latin American variations of classical themes might take and which theories are most useful in describing Latin America. For example, the Argentinian experience reveals the limitations of neoclassical descriptions of economic development, but Charles Tilly's emphasis on the importance of war and collective action to statemaking holds up well when thoughtfully adapted to Latin American situations. Marxist structural analysis is problematic in a region where political divisions do not fully expresses class cleavages, but aspects of Karl Polanyi's socioeconomic theory cross borders with relative ease.

This fresh theoretical discussion expands the scope of Latin American studies and social theory, bringing the two into an unprecedented conversation that will benefit both. Contributors are, in addition to the editors, Jeremy Adelman, Jorge I. Domínguez, Paul Gootenberg,Alan Knight, Robert M. Levine, Claudio Lomnitz, John Markoff, Verónica Montecinos, Steven C. Topik, and J. Samuel Valenzuela.

What People Are Saying

Charles Tilly
No previous review of theory comes close to this book's range and daring. Its audience should include not only Latin Americanists,but students of social theory and of development in general.

Mauricio A. Font
The Other Mirror succeeds in providing a highly stimulating account of the dialectics between general theory and history. It will have a much-needed positive impact on Latin American studies and its place in general social theory.

Table of Contents:

PREFACE ix
CONTRIBUTORS xi
INTRODUCTION: Miguel Angel Centeno and Fernando Lopez-Alves
PART I: Creating an Economy 25
CHAPTER ONE Jeremy Adelman: Institutions, Property, and Economic Development in Latin America 27
CHAPTER TWO Paul Gootenberg: Hijos of Dr. Gerschenkron: "Latecomer" Conceptions in Latin American Economic History 55
CHAPTER THREE Steven Topik: Karl Polanyi and the Creation of the "Market Society" 81
CHAPTER FOUR Veronica Montecinos and John Markoff: From the Power of Economic Ideas to the Power of Economists 105
PART II: The State and Democracy 151
CHAPTER FIVE Fernando Lopez-Alves: The Transatlantic Bridge: Mirrors, Charles Tilly, and State Formation in the River Plate 153
CHAPTER SIX Alan Knight: The Modern Mexican State: Theory and Practice 177
CHAPTER SEVEN Jorge I. Dominguez: Samuel Huntington and the Latin American State 219
CHAPTER EIGHT J. Samuel Valenzuela: Class Relations and Democratization: A Reassessment of Barrington Moore's Model 240
PART III: Living and Belonging 287
CHAPTER NINE Miguel Angel Centeno: The Disciplinary Society in Latin America 289
CHAPTER TEN Robert M. Levine: Michel de Certeau and Latin America 309
CHAPTER ELEVEN Claudio Lomnitz: Nationalism as a Practical System: Benedict Anderson's Theory of Nationalism from the Vantage Point of Spanish America 329
INDEX 361

Interesting textbook: The Jossey Bass Academic Administrators Guide to Meetings or Understanding Hospital Coding and Billing

Glass Ceilings and Asian Americans: The New Face of WorkPlace Barriers

Author: Deborah Woo

Throughout the history of the United States, fluctuations in cultural diversity, immigration, and ethnic group status have always been closely linked to shifts in the economy and labor market. Over three decades after the beginning of the civil rights movement, and in the midst of significant socioeconomic change at the end of this century, scholars search for new ways to describe the persistent roadblocks to upward mobility that women and people of color still encounter in the workforce. In Glass Ceilings and Asian Americans, Deborah Woo analyzes current scholarship and controversies on the so-called glass ceiling and labor market discrimination in conjunction with the specific labor histories of Asian American ethnic groups. She then presents unique, in-depth studies of two current sites—a high tech firm and higher education—to argue that a glass ceiling does in fact exist for Asian Americans, both according to quantifiable data and to Asian American workers' own perceptions of their workplace experiences. Woo's studies make an important contribution to understanding the increasingly complex and subtle interactions between ethnicity and organizational cultures in today's economic institutions and labor markets.