Routledge Projections of Power in the Americas (Routledge Studies in the History of the Americas)

Two phenomena are of central interest in the nine contributions that make up this volume: one is the question of power and its multiple forms, and the other is that geographical, political and cultural multifaceted unity we call the ‘the Americas’. The book is a multidisciplinary effort, written by scholars from the fields of history, political science, anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, who all share an interest in the ways in which power is projected in the Americas. Some contributors focus on the sources of power, while others are more concerned with how it is presented and legitimized by those who hold it. Likewise, some investigate the relations between government and citizens, while others look at more informal structures of power. Common to all contributions, however, is that they attempt to trace the forms that political and social power take in different American contexts – from the highest echelons of political power in Washington, D.C. to the local politics of a small village in Mexico. Common to all contributions is a nuanced exploration of the various manifestations of political and social power in the Americas. Review "In analyzing the projections of power by nations and groups in places ranging from eastern Canada to Chile and traversing the Mexico – United States borderlands and Cuba, this book addresses four major areas where power manifests itself, namely, in the state, the struggles for memory, the empowerment of marginalized groups, the challenge of transnational agents. The articles focused on each major area provide nuanced insights into the complexities of power and allow the reader to attain a global perspective of its manifestations in the continent across time. Projections of Power in the Americas is the kind of contribution that many scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences are eager to find. It is an exciting book, is up-to-date in intellectual terms and fills gaps in the study of the Americas." – Jorge Carlos Guerrero, University of Ottowa, Canada About the Author Helene Balslev Clausen is a researcher and external lecturer at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has published widely in the field of migration studies. Niels Bjerre-Poulsen is Associate Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of the Americas at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. His major fields of research are American political culture and the American presidency. Jan Gustafsson is Associate Professor at the Center for the Study of the Americas, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. His main areas of research and academic interest are Latin American politics and culture, including popular culture and identity constructions, identity theory, and semiotics.