of cultural independence struggles in developing countries,but it falls short in not drawing a more generalizable theoreti-cal and analytical framework for this problem. Nevertheless,the book is well-written and provides asolid basis for exploringthe legal, political, and moral aspects of the problems of thesestruggles.

The Catholic Church and Politics in Nicaragua andCosta Rica. PHILIP J.WILLIAMS. Pittsburgh: Uni-versity of Pittsburgh Press, 1989. 244 pp. $34.95(cloth). ISBN 0-8229-1155-8.

LES W. FIELDUniversity of New Hampshire

Philip Williams proposes in this book that the church hier-archy in both countries has only advocated orcooperated withsocial reforms when conflict within these two nations hasthreatened the entire social fabric within which the church hasoperated. While much of the literature of the last ten years hasfocused upon changes within the church that have led topolitically progressive social orientations, particularly in Nica-ragua, Williams has found a stronger current of continuity inthe church's recent historical behavior. The author acknowl-edges important changes in church policy in both countriestowards both elite and popular sectors. At the same time hesets out to prove that these changes are "strategic" ones thathave left the fundamental objectives of the church intact.According to Williams, these overriding objectives are: (1) theinstitutional preservation and expansion of church influencewithin existing society, and (2) the maintenance of the church'sinternal stability, unity, and hierarchy.

The analytic framework used to address this thesis,which Williams calls an "institutional approach,"contextualizeschurch policies-given its objectives-within historicalsociopolitical structures. Within the context of the tightlywoven interdependent relationship between the church andsociety, Williams describes three "models" of Christendomwhich embody the different "social insertions" of the church inLatin American history. "Colonial Christendom" reigned dur-ing the colonial period when the church enjoyed a monopolyover education, acquired immense properties, and obtainedstatus as the official religion, all in exchange for completechurch support of the colonial state. In this model, the churchhierarchy ruled supremely. "Conservative Christendom" tookshape after independence when the church still supported thestate in exchange for a broad social space to evangelize, andexercise a powerful, if not completely monopolistic, influenceover education and culture. In this model, the hierarchy alsoconcentrated all power within itself. The last model, "Reform-ist Christendom," is the historical expression of a churchposition favorable to human rights, social change, and layparticipation while critical of existing social structures. Re-formist Christendom received enormous impetus from theformulation of the theology of liberation during the Vatican IICouncil of 1962-65 and the Medellin Conference of 1968.According to Williams, reformist Christendom in Nicaraguaand Costa Rica has been used, perhaps even manipulated,by the conservative Christendom hierarchy. The reformistproject, he writes, "failed to penetrate" the structures andobjectives of the church.

The LATIN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW 3(1) 21

Williams has sensibly oriented his argument around theNicaraguan case, which has received a great deal of publicitybecause of the split between the hierarchy and radicalized,pro-Sandinista clergy. The Costa Rican case is also toldagainst this backdrop. At various points in the book, it isdifficult to separate "the church" from "the church hierarchy,"but this is perhaps intentional given the stranglehold thehierarchy has exercised over power within the church. Whilehis analysis and his use of the Christendom models togetherproduce convincing results, it remains unclear whether re-formist Christendom is no more than a temporary tactic forpursuing church goals. In particular, Williams' discussion ofthe radical Nicaraguan priests places them both inside andoutside reformist Christendom. Did the radical priests set outto create an autonomous popular church, as the hierarchyaccused them of doing? Or were they reformists pushed intoincreasingly radical positions by both intrasigent conservativeChristendom and the exigencies of social revolution and war?Williams has provided an excellent analytic framework topursue these and related questions. Despite the recentelectoral defeat of the FSLN, Williams' book remains animportant document for those studying the church's role insocial stability and change in Central America.

A Brief History of Central America. HECTOR PEREZ-BRIGNOLI. Berkeley: University of California Press,1989 (First Spanish language edition published in1985). 239 pp. $45.00 (cloth), $10.95 (paper). ISBN0-520-06832-7, ISBN 0-520-06832-7.

PHILIP A. DENNISTexas Tech University

Perez-Brignoli's book fills an important gap in trying tounderstand a region which had dominated United Statessecurity concerns until the Middle East crisis. In just over 200pages Perez-Brignoli sketches the histories of all five CentralAmerican countries, with brief references as well to Panamaand Belize. He tries to emphasize significant differencesbetween the countries as well as common themes and pro-cesses. For North American readers, it is well to rememberthe constant presence of history in the lives of Latin Ameri-cans, since it is often ignored or considered irrelevant from aUnited States point of view. Ronald Reagan's war againstNicaragua, for example, took place almost without referenceto years of occupation by United States Marines and UnitedStates support for the 40-year dictatorship which followed.

Perhaps the high point of Perez-Brignoli's book is hiseloquent description of the transformation of Central Ameri-can society by liberal institutions and thought in the latenineteenth century. With coffee as a lucrative export crop, forthe first time a process of capital accumulation could takeplace in the region. In El Salvador, communal Indian landswere appropriated to become the property of a small wealthyelite, while the majority of the population was transformed intoa poor rural proletariat. In Guatemala, the highland Indiancommunities retained their lands, but laws assigning laborersto particular growers forced the Indian population to journeyto the coffee fincas each year. Costa Rica, as in other ways,was a significant exception. Small-scale coffee producerswere able to prosper and compete in the new system, al-

22 The LATIN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW 3(1)

though coffee marketing remained in the hands of a wealthyelite. Only in Costa Rica did efforts at education, democracy,and some degree of social justice really succeed. Elsewhere,the liberal ideas of secular progress and a new order gave wayto a series of military dictatorships which defended the wealthand privilege of the elites. In United States writings on LatinAmerica, it is commonplace to find the roots of currentproblems in the colonial era, but in the view of Perez-Brignoli,the decisive period was really the late nineteenth century, aperiod he describes with the ironic phrase "impoverishinggrowth."

It is interesting that a Latin scholar like Perez-Brignoli doesnot see United States policy toward the region as the domi-nant explanatory factor. For example, he devotes only oneparagraph (p.82) to William Walker, the North Americanfilibuster who tried to take over Nicaragua from 1855 to 1857.Walker, of course, became a key symbol of United Statesdomination to the Sandinistas, as well as to other nationalistgroups in Central America. Perez-Brignoli prefers to look forexplanations that do not depend on foreign devils, although hedoes comment that in terms of United States policy, an "everpresent blend of contempt, pity, and superiority has alwaysbeen an ideological trait too strong for any other intentions toemerge" (pp. 122-123).

In the final chapters, Perez-Brignoli draws a soberingpicture of the problems faced by contemporary CentralAmerica. He sees the major problem as broadening theopportunity base for the mass of the population, a process inwhich only Costa Rica has made significant progress. Perez-Brignoli evidently has little faith in revolutionary socialism asespoused by guerrilla groups in El Salvador and Guatemala,but he also regards electoral reforms and the formal mecha-nisms of democracy imposed from above, presumably withUnited States support, as hopelessly naive. He commentsthat "democracy has never emerged from suffering anddesperation" (p. 176). A final positive note is provided byCentral Americans themselves, led by Costa Rican PresidentOscar Arias, who seized the initiative with a regional PeacePlan in 1987, and was subsequently awarded the NobelPeace Prize.

Perez-Brignoli's history is quite readable, although thetranslation fromthe Spanish seems somewhat turgid attimes.He is able to move at crucial points from the abstract viewpointof a historian to moving descriptions of personal experiences.For example, in the early pages he describes sitting on anairplane next to a Mayan Indian woman, who tells him she isnot from Guatemala, but from Totonicapan, thus indicatingthe completely different cultural world within which this Cen-tral American lives. He ends the book with descriptions of theextreme violence which Guatemalan Indian communitieshave suffered in recent years. Overall this is an excellentsmall history which will be highly useful to scholars andstudents studying Central American issues.

Central America: The Future of Economic Integra-tion. GEORGE IRVIN and STUART HOLLAND, edi-tors. Series in Political Economy and EconomicDevelopment in Latin America. Boulder: WestviewPress, 1989. 200 pp. $29.50 (paper). ISBN 0-8133-7687-4.

LYNN MORGANMount Holyoke College

Ever since the demise of the short-lived and tenuousFederation of Central America (1823-1838), optimists periodi-cally extol the economic benefits that might result fromreintegratingthefive Central American republics. But antinomybetween nations has always foiled any such plans, including,most recently, the Central American Common Market (CACM)inspired by the Commission for Latin America (ECLA). Thiscollection of essays analyzes the development and failure ofthe CACM. It argues that the time is ripe to plan, again, for thepossible imminent economic reintegration of Central America.

The editors, both European economists, argue that theEuropean Community should play a substantial role in financ-ing and planning for reintegration, which they say should bebased on a "regional growth strategy in which industrialintegration plays a central role" (p. 19), By their own admis-sion, their collection does not address agricultural policy orland reform (although they acknowledge that these are criticalaspects of successful social change); nor does it deal in anydetail with political impediments to reintegration. Rather, theauthors confine their debates to the finer details of appropriategrowth strategies, specifically the debate over import-substi-tuting industrialization versus export-oriented growth. Con-vinced that agro-export models of growth hold no future, mostchapters focus on the industrial and financial sectors throughdiscussions of trade, debt, and monetary policy.

Most contributors are guardedly optimistic about the pros-pects for reintegration with the exception of John Weeks, who,in his essay on the region's macroeconomy, concurs with myown cynical assessment that the current historical juncture isno time to contemplate reintegration. Intractable civil conflictsand regional animosities simply will not allow the requireddegree of cooperation. To this extent, the book's narroweconomic focus is frustrating for the reader who is wary ofdivorcing the economic from the political. Because mostauthors base their economic predictions on the prospect of apeaceful, democratic political context, they give insufficientattention to the precise mechanisms that would be required toimplement their proposals.

Despite its optimistic tone, the book is an important re-source for the anthropologist interested in contemporaryissues of Central American economics, as well as thoseinterested in European/Latin American cooperation. Nearlyall the chapters are accessible to the noneconomist, althoughsome familiarity with development economics would make foreasier reading. The advantage of using Westview Press isthat it can publish timely pieces relatively quickly. Thedisadvantage, of course, is that its editions, including this one,are soon out-of-date. Most of the many tables include datacurrent only to 1985 (rarely to 1987), and more recent devel-opments in debt renegotiation and political events alreadywarrant an updated edition. Nonetheless, while there aremany books analyzing Central American politics, there arefewthat give this degree of detailed attention to contemporaryCentral American economies.

Alabi's World. RICHARD PRICE. Baltimore: JohnsHopkins University Press, 1990. xx + 444pp. $59.95(cloth), $18.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8018-3862-2, ISBN 0-