Elites in Latin America by Seymour Martin Lipset; Aldo Solari Review by: Charles Wagley Journal of Inter-American Studies,

Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jul., 1968), pp. 511-513 Published by: Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/165361 . Accessed: 24/09/2012 03:16
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Lipset, Seymour Martin and Aido Solari, editors. Elites in Latin America. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1967. vii, 531 pp. $2.95 (paper), $9.50 (cloth). It has been commonplace among Latin Americanists to bemoan the lack of attention given to this region by sociologists. This lacuna is about to be corrected, if the present volume is any indication of the trends. This is a symposium written mainly by sociologists; of the 15 authors represented in the volume, all but two are sociologists (a "behavioral" political scientist and a social anthropologist are the others). There are seven North Ameri? cans and eight Latin Americans represented in the volume. Although the essays are not primarily based upon survey research techniques, one senses in many of the papers the presence of studies of this kind which are in various stages of completion. Further, the basic theoretical positions of most of the authors owe much to their disciplines, although they are often very eclectic in their sources. The volume is the result of a seminar on elites and development in Latin America held in June of 1965 at the University of Montevideo. The seminar was sponsored jointly by the University of Montevideo, the Institute of International Studies of the University of California (Berkeley), and the Congress for Cultural Freedom. The elite is defined as "those positions in society which are at the summits of key social structures, i.e., the higher positions in the economy, government, military, politics, religion, mass organizations, education, and the professions" (p. vii). "A basic assumption of the book is that factors affecting the calibre of the elites play a major role in determining the propensity of different countries for economic growth and political stability and are worth analyzing in depth regardless of the impor? tance of other variables" (p. viii). As an occasional participant and editor of collaborative volumes, I was hardly surprised that most of the authors seemed not to have written to the point. Some of them did not write about the elite at all, but about other sectors of the Latin American social scene (i.e., the middle class and the peasants) or about Latin American institutions. Even those who seemed to have kept an eye on the announced theme did not describe in any detail the composition of, the attitudes of, and the role of the people who occupy such key positions, with the exception perhaps of Fernando Cardoso (The Industrial Elite) and Frank Bonilla (The Cultural Elite). Yet, many of the essays in this volume, whatever their focus, are important contributions of Latin American scholarship. Lipset, in his long introductory essay, discusses the persistence of traditional Latin American elite values and their possible relationship to economic development. He finds these values "antithetic to the basic logic of a large-scale industrial system" (p. 32). His analysis derives mainly from well known sources, but he does cast them into a very broad comparative perspective. His compari? son of Latin America with French-Canada is, for example, rich in insight.

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Three essays, however, seemed to me to be especially sound and thought? ful, namely those by Ivan Vallier on the Catholic Church, Robert Scott on political elites, and Henry A. Landsberger on labor. Vallier stresses the impor? tance of the Church as the "only formal organization that spans four and a half centuries of Spanish-American history" and "that supersedes national boundaries" (p. 222), providing a unifying force in Latin America. He de? scribes "new Catholic elites" who, in face of the traditional conservatism, are eager to make the Church an important instrument of political, social, and economic modernization. Robert Scott speaks of a "crisis of elites"?a situation in which the traditional elite powers, namely landowners, the Army, and the Church, no longer have a consensus regarding the proper political process. And, in turn, the spokesmen for the new interests, such as industry, labor, and the like, are either co-opted by the traditional elites or in compe? tition with one another. Landsberger attempts to show that Latin American labor (including its leadership) is today basically nonrevolutionary and nonideological; it is more interested in improving its immediate economic situa? tion than in a thorough-going structural change in the society. Yet, because labor was granted at least legal gains by populist or liberal governments eager to capitalize upon its potential vote, it seems to have in most Latin American countries more political than economic power. Landsberger points out that "the rank and file cannot be convinced to threaten violence on a purely ideological issue, even if labor leaders wish to do so, unless there are genuine economic grievances" (p. 295). Of course, he might have added that economic grievances are not hard to find almost anywhere in Latin America. There are other essays in this volume worthy of mention, particularly those by Fernando H. Cardoso on the industrial elite and by Frank Bonilla on the cultural elites or intellectuals. The last third of the volume is devoted to essays by Darcy Ribero, Luis Scherz-Garcia, Kenneth N. Walker, Glaucio Ary, Dillon Soares, Aldo Solari, and Aparecida Joly Gouveia on secondary schoolteachers. This latter group of papers are more descriptive, often sum? marizing research. Taken together, this last third of the volume provides an interesting and useful discussion of the process of elite formation in Latin America through education. Finally, reading this volume strengthens my conviction that studies en? compassing Latin America as a whole generally are arid, if not of dubious value, unless some systematic attempt is made to control for variations in the Latin American scene. I would be the first to admit that there is a broad similarity of culture in the societies of Latin America?even some? thing like a Latin American style in politics or in the composition and at? titudes of the elite. But it seems to me that the time has come in our studies of Latin America when what is needed are more detailed analyses of specific processes and problems in specific countries, and more limited and controlled comparative studies. Many of the authors of the essays in this book are fully aware of this shortcoming. Some of them limit their generaliza? tions with an implicit classification (i.e., the more industrialized countries); others are limited to those countries where surveys have been carried out.

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Aparecida My Gouveia limits herself to Brazilian secondary teachers, and her paper gains in doing so. But Luis Ratinoff discusses the middle class without referring to any specific country, and his vague generalizations are hard to check against any empirical situation. It is my feeling that what is otherwise an important book could have been better if the authors had written explicitly on those countries of Latin America in which they have done re? search and those for which truly comparative data existed. Charles Director Wagley, Institute of Latin American Columbia University Studies

BOOKS

RECEIVED

General

and Regional

Latin

America

Adams, Henry E., Editor. Handbook of Latin American Studies: Number 29; Social Sciences. (Prepared by a number of scholars for the His? panic Foundation in the Library of Congress.) Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1967. Introduction, bibliography and general works, acronyms and abbreviations, title list of journals indexed, subject index, author index. 720 pp. $25.00. Alba, Victor. Politics and the Labor Movement in Latin America. Stanford California: Stanford University Press, 1968. Notes, bibliography, index. 404 pp. $12.50. Elliott, Sean M. Financing Latin American Housing: Domestic Savings and U.S. Assistance Policy. (Praeger Special Studies in Mobilization International Economics and Development.) New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968. Tables, glossary, introduction, appendix, selected bibliography, About the Author. 216 pp. $12.50. Moore, John R. and Frank A. Padovano. U.S. Investment in Latin American Food Processing. (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development.) New York: Frederick A. Praeger. Acknowledg? ments, 19 tables, 11 maps, statistical appendix, bibliography, About the Author, xiii, 208 pp. $15.00. Petras, James and Maurice Zeitlin, Editors. Latin America: Reform or Revo? lution? A Reader. Greenwich, Connecticut: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1968. Introduction, index. 511 pp. $ .95 (paper). Veliz, Claudio. Latin America and the Caribbean: A Handbook. (Hand? books to the Modern World.) New York and Washington: Frederick A. Praeger. Plates, maps, editor's preface, historical introduction, notes on contributors, acknowledgments, xxiv, 840 pp. $25.00.