As the title suggests, the implication is that “modernization”
or “progress” had a negative effect on the cultures of Latin America.
That within these nations, the rush to modernize or Europeanize, came at
the expense of their traditional cultures and the well being of their peoples.
But is this in fact the case? Was modernization any more disruptive
in Latin America than any other place on the globe? And can “modernization”
really be blamed for all of Latin America’s current problems? While
it will not be the intentions of an essay of this size to attempt and answer
all of these questions, we will take a closer look at the first few.
It will be our intention to examine the notion that although Latin America
suffered at the hands of unscrupulous individuals, and at the hands of “industrialized”
nations, these situations were not unique to this region of the world.
To expound on this notion, we will look at the essays of two noted historians,
E. Bradford Burns and Richard Graham, as they appear in
Elites, Masses
and Modernization in Latin America: 1850 – 1930, edited by Virginia Bernhard.
In Richard Graham’s
Popular Challenges and Elite Responses: An Introduction,
the author introduces the reader to the concept that early historians concentrated
their research on the elite or upper classes (famous men), and that these
histories differed from the history of the ordinary or lower classes of people.
These histories, Graham states, exposed the struggles the “ordinary” people
had against the elite classes in all aspects of existence, whether it was
for civil rights, land ownership or basic living conditions. Graham’s
thesis is that through the examination of the ordinary people, historians
will have to re-define and possibly re-write the histories of both the United
States and Latin America. This type of thinking is, of course, nothing
new to the historical world, having had its roots laid in the Revisionist
Movement of the 1960s.
To support his argument Graham relies on the writings of two fellow historians,
Thomas E. Skipmore and E. Bradford Burns (who will be discussed later).
Graham states “both writers are critical of the liberal developmentalism
that characterized North America thinking about Latin America in the 1960s.
That was the period when social scientists…believed in the…steady and gradual
change toward a polity model…built on the principles of individual liberties
derived from John Locke.”¹ Graham writes, near the top of page
4, that
Thomas E. Skidmore points to the emerging field of labor history
in twentieth-century Latin American and suggests the historical roots of
today’s …tensions in that area. The torture, terror and violence practiced
by military leaders today are put in context of secular struggle of army
against workers. At the same time he specifies how union leaders have
been systematically co-opted and disciplined to serve as tools of the dominant
classes. The problem is that we cannot easily say whether or not
this is in fact the case, and if so, does it not also apply to most of the
“western” world? Surely this would also apply to the old Soviet-block
nations of the Cold War.
Graham then goes on to state that social scientists of the past tended to
favor the “desires of an American ruling class”² in shaping third world
nations. To this effect Graham suggests that the distinctions between
the elite and the masses actually varied from nation to nation, a fact that
both Burns and Skipmore failed to point out. As Graham states on pages
4 and 5, while discussing both Skidmore’s and Burns’ theories,
They saw
modernization…as only a “cosmetic” that did not include profound alterations
of those inherited structures that benefited the elite. But did
this really benefit only the elite? Infant the mortality rate dropped
on average from 120 deaths to 30 deaths per 1000 births and the life expediency
age rose from 52 to 71 years of age.³ Surly the decreased in infant
death rates and the increase in life expectancy brought about by improved
urban living benefited everyone. Later, on page 7 Graham asks the question:
Is it fair to define culture as a set of ideas for the elite but as a
set of beliefs and attitudes for the common folk? This is a very
important point, as one can see how one social standing may influence “ideas,”
and “attitudes”. But do not “beliefs” transcend all social and economic
distinctions?
Graham sums up his arguments by stating (on page 8), that
as may many
of Burn’s readers, I share his skepticism about “progress,” especially since
in Latin America it has so often meant that a lot of the common people has
worsened. But has it really worsened sine the 1850s, or has it
stayed the same? Can one see no improvements, even just a little, since
the colonial period? And if not, what is the alternative?
Overall Graham has provided an excellent overview of the problems historians
faced in understanding the history of Latin America. Unfortunately
while expounding on these problems Graham fails to acknowledge that most
of the situations faced by the Latin American “common” class, were also faced
in every nation where the old tradition gave way to “modernization.”
And while one may not see the kinds of improvements in the lower classes
that one sees in “western” nations (and the comparison may not even be a
fair one to make), one does find some form of improvement.
We now turn our attention to E. Bradford Burns, writing in
Cultures in
Conflict: The Implication of Modernization in Ninetieth-Century Latin America.
Burns concentrates on “cultural conflict,” the division between the elite
and the “popular classes” which change the face of Latin America. According
to Burns the elites embraced modernization, attempting to impose the industrialization
of Europe and then the United States on their own “fledging nations.”
This of course was countered by the popular classes move to resist these
changes and hold onto “their long established living patterns.” In
support of his argument Burns looks at the elite preferences, indicating
how European philosophies (like those of Darwin and Spencer) shaped Latin
American “progress.”
Unfortunately many of the arguments Burns puts forth, many of the patterns
he sees, can also be seen as occurring in other ex-colonial nations, including
the United States. For example Burns states that the importation of
capitalism “profoundly [altered] the concepts of land and labor…the lands
the folk once used, often lands which served entire communities and constituted
a fundamental factor in personal…relationships, became a commodity to be
bought and sold.”
4 This situation however,
was not isolated to Latin America, and can easily be applied to North American
Indian populations. Of course one can argue that the situation the
North American Indian finds oneself in today is very similar to that of the
lower classes in Latin America. However there are several social and
political considerations to be considered, one of which is the problem Indians
face not being considered citizens of the United States.
Burns continues on this train of thought, writing (at the bottom of page
14),
in most cases rapid modernization threatened the more static folk
societies, and as the thrust to modernize intensified, a clash between its
advocates and the folk became inevitable. Violence emerged as a leitmotif
of the nineteenth century. The question, like with Graham, has
to be asked, is this situation unique to only Latin America? Was this
not the case with most cultures that “modernized?” And should we be
looking at “static folk societies,” the key term in that statement being
“static,” as a model culture to emulate?
In discussing the influences of the Enlightenment, Burns later states, in
the last line on page 16 that:
…the United States represented in their
eyes the success of Europeanization in the New World. Europeanization
(or…Westernization, modernization or progress) meant to them, as the experience
of the U.S. emphasized, the implementation of patterns from France, England,
and Germany, since they ignored or deprecated Iberian and Mediterranean Europe
as “backward.” One must ask however, if in fact this is true, or
was this “ignoring [of] Iberian and Mediterranean Europe” more a result of
immigration patterns to the U.S. at this time period? Italians and
other from Southern Europe did not begin to immigrate to the United States
until the very late, 18, early 1900s. Surely one cannot argue the influences
these cultures had on American society all throughout the 20th century.
In examining the “Elite Counterpoint,” Burns quotes (on page 31) Juan Bautista
Alberdi, who wrote:
Civilization is neither gas or steam nor electricity
as those who are impressed with exterior appearances like to think.
Surly however, that while “civilization” may not be “gas or steam or electricity,”
the latter defines the term “modern.” Neolithic man had a form of civilization,
but he was nowhere close to being “modern.” Burns later presents criticism
of the historic disciplines (on page 34) by stating:
…Brazilian literature
and history had placed excessive emphasis on the elite to neglect of the
people, whom [is] considered the basic force of society. But is
this any different of any society’s history before the revisionist period?
And is the history of the “elite” class also not worth knowing?
Later, while assessing the issues of “Modernization and Impoverishment,”
and its relation on the elite’s unwillingness to reform colonial institutions,
Burns writes in the middle of page 71,
the cosmetic effects of modernization…frightened
them. This is understandable: they profited from their relationship
with the metropolis. In fact, the elites enjoyed the best of two words:
the superficial modernization enhanced their immediate comforts and flattered
their image of themselves, while at the same time it permitted them to blame
the “barbaric” masses for delaying or frustrating further modernization.
Yet one cannot see that this situation, this aspect of “modernization” also
held true under the old colonial system. Are not the poor always blamed
for the shortcomings of the rich?
Burns then goes on, a few lines later on the same page, to sum up:
Thus
the implementation of modernization, either chosen by Latin America elites
or imposed by outside capital investment, actually debilitated Latin America.
The new railroads, ports, steamships, technical aid, and loans tied and subordinated
the Latin American economy to England and the United States and to a lesser
degree to France and Germany. But why was this the case with Latin
America and not other places? Or do not we see the same trends in other
ex-colonial nations? Can the same not also be said of Africa and parts
of South-East Asia? Corruption of elected, and especially non-elected
officials is a universal problem. And many of the working or “common”
class have suffered either the loss of property, and even liberties at the
hands of the “powers-that-be.” So why should this situation be exclusive
to Latin America?
Unfortunately Burns seems to be making excuses for the current condition
of Latin America. Few if any of the situations presented in his thesis
were isolated to Latin American culture, several having parallels within
our own country’s history. Surly the whims of the rich or elite classes
have always taken preference over the concerns of the poor or masses.
And yet America, an ex-colony established as an agrarian nation, dealing
with its own issues of civil war and slavery, contending with an ex-slave
population, “modernized” to become the richest and most powerful nation in
the history of the world. What was it about America’s past that was
so different?
Endnotes:
¹ Bernhard, Vrrginia, ed. "Elites, Masses and Modernization in Latin
America: 1850 - 1930." Austin. UT Press. Page 4.
² Ibid. Page 5.
³ Data from
Population Bulletin. Population Reference Bureau.
Vol. 58, No. 3, March 2003.
4 Bernhard, Vrrginia, ed. "Elites, Masses and
Modernization in Latin America: 1850 - 1930." Austin. UT Press. Page
12.
Essay © 2005 John Rocco Roberto.