Palace intrigues and clientelism drove politics at the viceregal court of colonial Mexico. By carefully reconstructing social networks in the court of Viceroy Duke of Alburquerque (1702-1710), Christoph Rosenmuller reveals that the Duke presided over one of the most corrupt viceregal terms in Mexican history.

Alburquerque was appointed by Spain's King Philip V at a time when expanding state power was beginning to meet with opposition in colonial Mexico. The Duke and his retainers, though seemingly working for the crown, actually built close alliances with locals to thwart the reform...

During the past twenty years, Latin American cinema has experienced an enormous upsurge, prompting film critics and scholars to hail the onset of a new era. What this signals, more than thriving financial or production infrastructures, is a renovated cinematic vision connected more closely to everyday experience and social and cultural concerns. The films analyzed in this new collection reflect and examine contemporary lives in their diversity and singularity, through their focus on identity politics, sexuality, the body, the family, and/or community.

Drawing especially on Jean-Luc...

Journalism in a Small Place explores the changes and challenges in journalism and communication in the Caribbean in the twenty-first century. Tracing the history of media in the English speaking Caribbean, this book provides insight into the development of these industries from their inception under British imperial rule to their current focus on advancing national development in the post-independence period. The influence of US media on media content and cultural tastes, and the lingering effects of colonialism on media are also investigated, drawing on globalization theories of hybridity....