Research Guides: HIST 291: Indigenous Women: Gender, Ethnicity and Feminism in Latin America (HC): Background Information

Background Information

The following sources provide overviews of ideas, people's lives, social movements and more in the history of modern Latin America. They are a quick way to find out the basic facts and current points of debate.

When using an article in an handbook or literature review, always check the bibliography for further reading at the end of the article. It will provide a selective list of the books, articles, and, frequently, Web resources considered to be the most up-to-date and reliable.

Handbooks and Histories

Cambridge History of Latin America
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Choose the relevant time period from this eleven-volume history which explores issues including social history, politics and economics. Published 1984-2008.
Companion to Latin American History
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Collects the work of leading experts in the field to create a multi-topic overview of the diverse history and current trends in the study of Latin America. Published 2008.
Handbook of Indigenous Peoples' Rights
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Pertinent essays include: "Indigenous Women's Rights and International Law" and "Human Rights and Indigenous Feminisms." Published 2018.
On order for Haverford.
Handbook of Social Movements across Latin America
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This handbook covers social movement activities in Latin American countries that have had profound consequences on the political culture of the region. Published 2015.
Oxford Handbook of Latin American Christianity
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Explores pertinent issues including liberation theology, Christian activism, and indigenous Christianities. Published in 2020.
Oxford Handbook of Latin American History
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The essays in this handbook survey recent historiography and span Mexico, Spanish South America, and Brazil. Relevant essays cover popular religion, labor movements and indigenous peoples. Published 2010.
Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Latin America
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Essays of interest include: "Latin American Women's Movements: A Historical Overview" and "Indigenous Movements in Latin America: Tensions, Contradictions, Possibilities." Published 2021.
Political Handbook of the World
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A collection of comprehensive country profiles containing detailed information on each nation's political history, government, leadership structure, elections, and political party system. Updated every two years.
Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Colonial Latin America and the Caribbean (1492-1898)
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Relevant essays include: "It comes with the territory: indigenous materialities and western knowledge" and "The (dis)continuities of decolonized gender and sexual identity in the Andes." Published 2021.

Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are a particularly useful resource when doing research. They address the issues involved in a particular question and the debates among scholars. They map out the intellectual terrain succinctly and give you the major landmarks in terms of key authors and significant titles for greater understanding.

History Compass
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Offers interpretive essays highlighting recent scholarship. Titles of interest among the literature reviews include:
"Conversion of Indigenous People in the Peruvian Andes: Politics and Historical Understanding" 2016
"The Historical Maya and Maya Histories: Recent Trends and New Approaches to Reconstructing Indigenous Pasts in Guatemala" 2011
"Women and War in Latin America, 1950–2000" 2009
See also in Sociology Compass
"States, Elites, and Inequality in Latin America" 2018

Annual Reviews
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A searchable collection of literature review articles in the social and natural sciences. Look for areas covering politics, law, economics and anthropology. Articles of interest include:
"Indigenous Peoples' Politics in Latin America" (Annual Review of Political Science, 2010)
"Latin America, a Continent in Movement but Where To? A Review of Social Movements' Studies in the Region" (Annual Review of Political Science, 2018)
"Psychology and Indigenous People" (Annual Review of Psychology, 2022)
"Religious Studies in Latin America" (Annual Review of Sociology, 2016)

Oxford Bibliographies Online.
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Extensive annotated bibliographies on specific topics in different subject areas (including Latin American Studies and Political Science) written by scholars in the field. New entries are added twice a year. Essays of interest now available include:
"Contemporary Indigenous Social and Political Thought" In Latin American Studies section.
"El Salvador" Essays on other countries also available.
"Gender and History in the Andes"
"Gender in Postcolonial Latin America"
"Indigenous Politics and Representation in Latin America "
"Land Reform in Latin America"
"Latino Indigenismo in a Comparative Perspective"
"Religion and Politics in Latin America"
"Revolution and Reaction in Central America"
"Women in Colonial Latin American History"

Dissertations & Theses
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ProQuest Dissertations and Theses is a collection of scholarly research in the Humanities and Social Sciences that consists of 2.7 million searchable citations to dissertations and theses from around the world, and 1.2 million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. Coverage is from 1861 to the present day.