Abstract
This work aims at providing a regional look at the origins of the critical discourse within Latin American geography. It discusses the contributions made by two authors of the region, who worked on geography identifying and analyzing conditions of poverty, marginalization, lack of democracy, and denouncing the power holders who, consequently, were responsible for the inequality conditions that deprived the region. Under a critical look, several proposals were developed, proposals which exposed imperial, dependency and unequal relationships in Latin America. That is the case with the geographical writings by Josué de Castro and Antonio Núñez Jiménez, who, through their work, marked a milestone in territorial, regional and spatial knowledge of Brazil, Cuba and Latin America.
Résumé
Ce chapitre vise à établir un regard régional sur les origines du discours critique dans la géographie latino-américaine. Cela contribue à la reconnaissance des contributions réalisées par deux auteurs de la région qui travaillèrent des thèmes de la géographie en identifiant et analysant ses conditions de pauvreté, marginalisation, manque de démocratie. Ils dénoncèrent notamment les détenteurs du pouvoir y pour cela les responsables des conditions d’inégalité qui sévissaient dans la région. A travers d’un regard critique, on développa des propositions qui exposèrent les relations impériales, inégales et dépendantes de l’Amérique latine. C’est le cas des textes géographique de Josué de Castro et Antonio Núñez Jiménez, lesquels, par leurs travaux, marquèrent une distance et une ligne de discussion sur la connaissance territoriale, régionale et spatiale du Brésil, de Cuba et de l’Amérique latine
Resumen
Este trabajo tiene por objetivo brindar una mirada regional a los orígenes del discurso crítico dentro de la geografía Latinoamericana. Contribuye al reconocimiento de las aportaciones que realizaron dos autores de la región que trabajaron temas de la geografía e identificaron y analizaron las condiciones de pobreza, marginación, falta de democracia, así como a la denuncia de los detentores del poder y, por ende, de los responsables de las condiciones de desigualdad que privaban en la región. Bajo una mirada crítica se desarrollaron propuestas que exhibieron las relaciones imperiales, de dependencia y desiguales en América Latina. Este es el caso de los textos geográficos de Josué de Castro y Antonio Núñez Jiménez, que por medio de sus obras marcaron una distancia y línea de discusión sobre el conocimiento territorial, regional y espacial de Brasil, Cuba y de América Latina.
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Notes
- 1.
As an example of this, it is necessary to remember the debates that took place at the Peace Conference in Paris, 1919, where geographers attended: Isaiah Bowman, Jean Brunhes, Emmanuel de Martonne, Albert Demangeon and Alan G. Ogilvie (Geoffrey 1980).
- 2.
In August, 1969, a group of academics and students of Clark University founded the journal Antipode. A Radical Journal of Geography. It aimed at making a critique of the status quo and the conservative positions of geography and social sciences at that time. Its purpose was not just the academic critique, but the social transformation following the ideals of social justice through radical change. In this way, the founders of the magazine, Ben Wisner, David Stea, J. Richard Peet, Richard Morrill, J. M. Blaut, Karen Thompson, Bill Emerson, Fred Donaldson, Reed F. Stewart, Ruby Jarrett, Robert W. Kates and Jeremy Anderson stressed the necessity of being radical in the etymological sense of the word. Linguistically, this comes from the Latin word radix, which means ‘root’, to reveal the essence of the phenomena that would allow presenting alternatives of change is society (Castree et al. 2010: 3–4).
- 3.
Books which practically produced a great impact in all the countries of the world, which is why they were translated into 24 languages in consecutive edition. Being the first time, in the international public opinion, it alerted on the problem of hunger, a stigma of underdevelopment and residue of the social and economic structures inherited from colonialism (De Castro 1984: 334).
- 4.
This was an appendix to the Constitution of Cuba of 1901, imposed by the United States, in order to regulate relations between the two republics. Its name came from the American senator Orville H. Platt, who wrote it. Platt presented the aforementioned amendment in the US House and was accepted as a law was imposed on Cuban under the threat the United States not vacating the Island (Macías 2001: 111).
- 5.
As a public servant, he was the First General Secretary of the National Institute of the Land Reform from 1959 to 1961 and the General Secretary of the Academy of Sciences between 1961 and 1970.
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Ibarra García, M.V., Talledos Sánchez, E. (2020). Pioneers of Latin American Critical Geography: Josué de Castro and Antonio Núñez Jiménez. In: Schelhaas, B., Ferretti, F., Reyes Novaes, A., Schmidt di Friedberg, M. (eds) Decolonising and Internationalising Geography. Historical Geography and Geosciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49516-9_2
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