The Idea of Latin America

Download or read book The Idea of Latin America written by Walter D. Mignolo and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Idea of Latin America is a geo-political manifesto which insists on the need to leave behind an idea which belonged to the nation-building mentality of nineteenth-century Europe. Charts the history of the concept of Latin America from its emergence in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century through various permutations to the present day. Asks what is at stake in the survival of an idea which subdivides the Americas. Reinstates the indigenous peoples and migrations excluded by the image of a homogenous Latin America with defined borders. Insists on the pressing need to leave behind an idea which belonged to the nation-building mentality of nineteenth-century Europe.