New Resources

LATIN AMERICA R6mulo Betancourt, Venezuela: Oil and Politics (Houghton Mifflin, 1979). $14.95 cloth, 448 pgs. First published in Spanish in 1956, this book chronicles the rise of Venezuela’s oil economy. Betancourt, who served as president from 1945-47 and 1959-63, paints a rosy picture of his own role in “taming the multinational oil companies”–a picture which doesn’t particularly jive with reality. Nonetheless, the book does contain much useful information. (Houghton Mif- flin, Wayside Rd., Burlington, MA 01803.) Theotonio dos Santos, Pio Garcia et al., Iglesia y Estado en Amdrica Latina (Seminario Permanente sobre America Latina, 1979). Write for price, paper, 131 pgs. Transcript of a seminar on Church-State relations in the period from the Latin American Bishop’s conference in Medellin (1968) to the recent Puebla conference. (Cen- tro de Reflexi6n Teol6gica, Augusto Rodin No. 355, Mexico 19, DF, Mexico.) Winston Leyland, ed., Now the Volcano: An Anthology of Latin American Gay Literature (Gay Sunshine Press, 1979). $20 cloth, $7.95 (plus 75t postage), paper, 288 pgs. A collection of gay male short stories, poems (bi-lingual), excerpts from two novels, and one long memoir. The selections are primarily drawn from Brazil (which, of all Latin American countries has the richest gay literary tradition and the most active contemporary gay cultural life), excellently edited and handsomely, if sparingly, il- lustrated. The material, drawn also from Mexico and Colombia, ranges from nineteenth and early twentieth century precursors to the most contemporary fiction poetry, and confirms the editor’s “belief that the Gay Cultural Renaissance is a world-wide phenomenon.” (Gay Sunshine Press, PO Box 40397, San Francisco, CA 94140.) Howard J. Wiarda, Jr., The Continuing Struggle for Democracy in Latin America (Westview Press, 1980). $24.50 cloth, 313 pgs. Fourteen essays of uneven character which seek to examine the “viability” of democracy in Latin America given the current predominance of military dictatorships. While the essays condemn a U.S. ethnocentric-based approach, their alternative, examining coups in “light of Latin American expectations and political behavior,” is often just as unsatisfactory. (Westview Press, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301.) DEVELOPMENT IN THE THIRD WORLD CETRAL (Centre de Recherche Sur I’Amerique 48 Latine et le Tiers Monde), Transnationales et Agriculture (1979). Last year the Paris-based research organiza- tion, CETRAL, published its first eight monographs in a series on agriculture and agribusiness. Included are studies of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Honduras, as well as particular studies of Nestle in Colombia and a theoretical and methodological overview. All are in French but are to appear in a Spanish edition from the Centro de Estudios Economicos y Sociales del Tercer Mundo (Mexico). (For more information, write CETRAL, 35 rue des Jeuneurs, 75002 Paris, France.) Fernando Henrique Cardoso, El desarrollo en el banquillo (ILET, 1979: DEE/D/241e). Write for price, 71 pgs., typescript. Hecent study by noted Brazilian sociologist summarizes previous discussions of Latin American development theory, critiques “dependency theory,” and presents a new approach to the issue (Instituto Latino Americano de Estudios Transnacionales, Apto. 85-025, Mexico 20, DF, Mexico.) MISCELLANEOUS Ulrich Albrecht, et al., A Short Research Guide on Arms and Armed Forces (Croom Helm, 1978). L8.95 cloth, 112 pgs. Very useful reference guide on arms and armed forces including up-to-date reference sources, monographs, newsletters, etc. (Utrikespolitiska In- stitutet, Lilla Nygatan 23, 11128 Stockholm, Sweden.) Laurence H. Shoup, The Carter Presidency and Beyond: Power and Politics in the 1980s (Ramparts Press, 1980). $11.95 cloth, 319 pgs. Interesting reading on how a wealthy Georgia businessman was brought into the leading centers of national and international policy planning. Of particular importance are the long documentary chapters on Carter and the Trilateral Commission. Good study written in the political expose style. (Ramparts Press, Box 50128, Palo Alto, CA 94303,) Paul Zarembka, ed., Research in Political Economy, Vol. II (JAI Press, 1979). $28.50 institutions; $14 individuals, cloth, 289 pgs. This volume is the second in an annual series devoted to examining society via class struggle within a mode of production and the relation between modes of production. The eight essays in this volume range from a study of “Hegemony and Ideology in Gramsci,” to four essays on aspects of imperialism, to studies of small peasant production in Ecuador and agriculture in Cuba. (JAI Press, PO Box 1285, 321 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830.)