What role does war play in political development? Our understanding of the rise of the nation-state is based heavily on the Western European experience of war. Challenging the dominance of this model, Blood and Debt looks at Latin America's much different experience as more relevant to politics today in regions as varied as the Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa.

The book's illuminating review of the relatively peaceful history of Latin America from the late eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries reveals the lack of two critical prerequisites needed for war: a political and military culture oriented toward international violence, and the state institutional capacity to carry it out. Using innovative new data such as tax receipts, naming of streets and public monuments, and conscription records, the author carefully examines how war affected the fiscal development of the state, the creation of national identity, and claims to citizenship. Rather than building nation-states and fostering democratic citizenship, he shows, war in Latin America destroyed institutions, confirmed internal divisions, and killed many without purpose or glory.

About the Author

Miguel Angel Centeno is Professor of Sociology at Princeton University. His Democracy Within Reason (Penn State, 1994; revised edition, 1997) was named an "Outstanding Academic Book" by Choice.

Reviews

"Blood and Debt is much too rich in concepts and supporting descriptive events to give deserved justice in a brief review. Clearly, it is an outstanding study, destined to be the standard work in the area for some time to come."

-Robert Looney Journal of Political and Military Sociology

"However, Centeno's path breaking book will stimulate a wealth of follow-on studies."

-Robert Looney Journal of Political and Military Sociology

"Amid today's impenetrable postmodern jargon, it is a joy to discover a sociologist who not only writes good English but who opens up important questions previously neglected by scholars. . . . Based on wide historical reading, Centeno has broken much new ground in this major contribution."

-Foreign Affairs

Book Information
ISBN 9780271023069
Author Miguel Angel Centeno
Format Paperback
Page Count 344
Imprint Pennsylvania State University Press
Publisher Pennsylvania State University Press
Weight(grams) 590g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm