A history of the concept of Latin America in the United States: Misrecognition and social scientific discourse.
Item
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Title
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A history of the concept of Latin America in the United States: Misrecognition and social scientific discourse.
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Identifier
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AAI3074651
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identifier
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3074651
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Creator
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Feres, Joao, Jr.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Joan Tronto
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Political Science, General | History, Modern
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Abstract
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This dissertation is a study of the construction of Latin America as an object of the social sciences in the United States. Its guiding hypothesis is that Latin America has been historically defined in American English in opposition to a self-congratulatory image of the United States of America. This constitutes, in itself, an act of misrecognition because it overlooks the ways those perceived as Latin Americans actually live their lives as political and social beings. As a result of this practice, "Latin Americans" have historically been ascribed the most contemptible characteristics and been treated in ways that suit this derogatory representation.;The theoretical part of the dissertation is intended as an original contribution to the debate about the problem of recognition. Leaning on Reinhart Koselleck's notion of asymmetrical counterconcepts, I devise an original typology of forms of misrecognition to be used in the analysis of rhetoric. This approach to the problem of recognition has many advantages in relation to the competing neo-Hegelian theory, advocated by the likes of Axel Honneth and Charles Taylor. It can be used as a tool to resist misrecognition without having to rely on a positive substantive conception of recognition. Furthermore, contrary to the neo-Hegelian approach, it is able to address practices of misrecognition that have as an object people who are not part of the "national" linguistic/political community.;The dissertation's narrative follows a chronological order in which discourses and theories about Latin America are placed in their historical context and examined in search of rhetorical strategies that perpetuate forms of misrecognition. In the end, I demonstrate that long-standing North American pejorative perceptions about the peoples and countries seen as Latin American survived in social scientific discourse despite reiterated claims of objectivity and value-neutrality.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
