Intellectuals and Dictators in the Dominican Republic

• Published in: European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe Vol. 84; no. 84; pp. 101 - 105
• Main Author: Baud, Michiel
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Centro de Estudios y Documentación Latinoamericanos (CEDLA) 01-04-2008; Centrum voor Studie en Documentatie; CEDLA - Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation; CEDLA
• Subjects: 20th century; Area studies; Caribbean studies; Dictators; Dictatorship; Dominican Republic; Essays; Heads of state; Hegemony; Historical development; Ideology; Intellectuals; Land reform; Language culture relationship; Latin American studies; Migrants; Modernization; National identity; Peasants; Political regimes; Politics; Power; Privilege; Racial identity; Review articles; Review Essays/Ensayos de Reseña; Spanish; Technical assistance; Dominican Republic; Haiti; Hispaniola
• ISSN: 0924-0608; 1879-4750
• DOI: 10.18352/erlacs.9628

In the long and most interesting essay, 'Visiones historicas del Caribe', San Miguel further pursues his analysis of the relation between intellectuals and national identity, extending it to the historical development of the Spanish Caribbean in general. Added to this was the influx of migrant labour that was necessary to bring about the desired modernization, but caused its own set of problems of race and national identity. The books reviewed here restrict themselves to the realm of knowledge production and do not answer the question regarding its societal consequences. While in the tobacco region peasants took advantage of the new control of the intermediate commercial class and the technical assistance the regime provided, in the southern regions where Turits did his research, it was land reform that directly appealed to the peasant producers.