Extractions: INGRID E. FEY and KAREN RACINE (eds.): Strange Pilgrimages: Exile, Travel, and National Identity in Latin America, 1800-1900s. Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 2000. Those who have spent a substantial amount of time outside of their homelands know that living abroad can give fresh perspective on one's personal and even national identity. Are those insights gleaned abroad of a purely individual nature, or do they in their recorded forms hold promise for the scholarly study of national identity formation? The editors and authors of Strange Pilgrimages: Exile, Travel, and National Identity in Latin America, 1880-1900s answer that question in the affirmative. The volume, a collection of fourteen essays and three short primary texts about Latin Americans' experience abroad, aims to provide "case studies not only for intellectual and social historians but also for all people concerned with the issue of national identity formation"(xi). The book also includes a short but useful bibliography and filmography. The appearance of this book appears timely, given the growing academic focus on transnationalism, which includes the movement of people, capital, and ideas across borders and oceans. The editors rightly point out that while historians are familiar with the travel experiences of North Atlantic explorers, scientists, capitalists, and writers in Latin America, rarely have we plumbed the vast body of literature recounting Latin Americans' extensive journeys abroad. There exist rich accounts of Latin American political exiles, students, artists, and adventurers who lived in Europe and North America for periods spanning a few months to decades. Their diaries, novels, travel stories, and oral accounts contain valuable insights into the lives of those individuals many of whom returned to their countries of origin and took on influential roles in politics, literature, and society as well as their changing ideas about Latin America and its place in the world system.
Extractions: Dallas, Texas U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson today stressed the importance of education and foreign policy to a group of Hispanic Americans meeting in Dallas, Texas. In an address to the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the largest and oldest Hispanic organization in the country, Ambassador Richardson said with today's growing global economy, education and a better understanding of foreign affairs will be critical requirements for today's young people. The U.S. Ambassador the United Nations said that part of the focus on education must also include particular attention to a strong and committed Hispanic role in international affairs. Ambassador Richardson believes Latinos are in a perfect position to participate in international affairs, both throughout Latin America and in other locations around the world.
Introduction And Summary: Views Of A Changing World 2003 Views of the American people, while still largely favorable, In most of LatinAmerica and Africa, there is more of a preference for democracy. http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=185
