The essays in this book constitute an analytic survey of the last two centuries of Afro-Bahian history, with a focus squarely on the difficult relationship between Afro- and Euro-Bahia and on the continual Afro-Bahian struggle to create a meaningful culture in an environment either hostile or suffocating in its ability to absorb elements of Afro-Bahian culture.

This collection of articles focuses on the Afro-Brazilian culture of the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil and its linkage to politics during the 19th century up until modern times. Central issues facing Afro-Brazilians are examined, including their relationship with the State.

Focusing on the military institutions (army, militia, and National Guard) of Bahia, Brazil, this book analyzes the region's transition from Portuguese colony to province of the Brazilian Empire. It examines the social, racial, and cultural dimensions of post-independence state-building in one of the principal slave plantation regions of the Americas. Contrary to those who stress the autonomy of the Brazilian state, this book documents the close connections between the locally-organized armed forces and society in the late colonial period. Racially segregated and mirroring the class...

Negotiating Identities in Modern Latin America explores some of the ways in which people define their membership in groups and their collective identity, as well as some of the challenges to the definition and maintenance of that identity. This interdisciplinary collection of essays, addressing such diverse topics as the history of Brazilian football and the concept of masculinity in the Mexican army, provides new insights into questions of identity in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Latin America. The essays cover a wide range of countries in the region, from Mexico to Argentina, and...

Focusing on the military institutions (army, militia, and National Guard) of Bahia, Brazil, this book analyzes the region's transition from Portuguese colony to province of the Brazilian Empire. It examines the social, racial, and cultural dimensions of post-independence state-building in one of the principal slave plantation regions of the Americas. Contrary to those who stress the autonomy of the Brazilian state, this book documents the close connections between the locally-organized armed forces and society in the late colonial period. Racially segregated and mirroring the class...

Official and popular celebrations marked the Brazilian empire's days of national festivity, and these civic rituals were the occasion for often intense debate about the imperial regime. Hendrik Kraay explores the patterns of commemoration in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, the meanings of the principal institutions of the constitutional monarchy established in 1822-24 (which were celebrated on days of national festivity), and the challenges to the imperial regime that took place during the festivities. While officialdom and the narrow elite sought to control civic rituals, the urban lower...