tant to have a women's movement that is independent ofunions and political parties. However, if these organizationsdo not see themselves as part of a broader class struggle,there is a tendency to substitute one sectional interest loranother (for example, a women's movement competing withthe struggles for ethnic identity amongst indigenous peoples)without opening out to and incorporating other kinds of op-pressions. These social movements also have no strategy forthe assumption of power, and without such a plan, there willalways be imperialism, oppression, and a lack of autonomy forwomen.

Women and Social Change in Latin America then is a bookthat fails to explore the most interesting questions about thesemuch heralded "new" social movements. Although it providessome useful case material, the focus on identity politics is notthe most useful way to conceptualize the transformations thatare reshaping the lives of Latin American women.

Modern Latin America, THOMAS E. SKIDMORE andPETER H. SMITH. Second edition. New York:Oxford University Press, 1989. xvii +436 pp., maps,photographs, tables, figures, appendices, sugges-tions for further reading, index. $15.95 (paper).ISBN 0-19-505534-9.

DWIGHT HEATHBrown University

Having undertaken a task that is patently impossible, theseauthors demonstrate, with clear writing and a nice combina-tion of details and concepts, that it is not only possible but evenpleasant and fruitful. This is at the same time an incrediblyfact-filled volume, and a temperate exposition of a fruitful wayof looking at social, political, and economic forces, bothinternationally and locally, and a decent read as well!

In less than 100 pages, they provide a solid introduction to"the colonial foundations, 1492-1880s" and the transforma-tion of modern Latin America, 1880s-1980s." Hispanic,Portuguese, and other forces are clearly identified, with theirinterests, approaches, successes, andshortcomings all nicelysummarized. Changes during the colonial period are noted,

The LATIN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW 3(1) 31

as are the diverse paths to independence, and its aftermath.Changing involvement in the international economy can beunderstood, and we are even offered a "framework for com-parison" (pp.65-66). This highlights the importance of distin-guishing in any given context the social classes, distributionof power, coalitions among constituencies, degree of au-tonomy and the state, and prominent factors in internationalrelations (especially the United States). This scheme sets thestage for a longer section (nearly 250 pages) that shows howthe patterns described have worked out uniquely in thestrikingly different settings of selected case studies (Argen-tina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, the Caribbean, andCentral America). Each of those chapters leads the reader,in chronological sequence, through the manifold changes inpolitical parties, presidents and other major figures, economicstrategies, special relationships with other countries,demography, class and ethnic groups, and other key factors-without degenerating into a dreary catalog or indiscriminatejumble of data. A brief chapter on "Latin America, the UnitedStates, and the World" traces the changing interrelationshipsof various powers and coalitions, demonstrating the extent towhich Latin America, for better or worse, has been firmlyimbedded in the world economy for five centuries. Theauthors even venture an epilogue on "What future for LatinAmerica?" following the "framework for comparison" offeredearlier, with cautiously realistic predictions that have at leastthe value of overturning some prevalent stereotypes.

A statistical appendix lists selected social and economicindicators. There is af ull list (chronologically) of heads of statefor the nations that were discussed in detail. A discursivebibliographic essay (organized by chapters) will be helpful tothe interested reader who wants to study further. The indexis massive but includes only proper nouns. A few relevantcartoons, photographs, figures, and tables are scatteredthroughout.

In short, this is topnotch as a textbook for modern history oras a general sociocultural introduction to Latin America. It isremarkably thorough, balanced, and well written. The pro-gressively greater detail for more recent periods should fit wellwith the interests of secondary or college students, andlaypersons will find it neither difficult nor condescending.From an anthropological viewpoint, native cultures get littlecoverage, but in terms of the scope of the authors' aims-andaccomplishments-it would be caviling to ask for more.

Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Natural Rebels: A Social History of Enslaved BlackWomen in Barbados. HILARY McD. BECKLES.New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press,1989. ix+197 pp. $35.00 (cloth), $13.95 (paper).ISBN 0-8135-1510-6, 0-8135-1511-4.

JOHN O. STEWARTOhio State University

Rebellion in the slave world as drawn by Hilary Beckles isnot the rebellion of flinty-willed maroons or daring insurrec-tionists. It is instead an aspect of the everyday behavioramong slave women, in which they found ways to nurture

what human dignity and sense of selfhood they could underthe brutal terms of their survival. The book suffers from ageneral short-coming in Caribbean slave history-that thesources on which it rests tell a great deal about the conditionsthat fostered the social behavior of slaves, and practicallynothing about their actual thoughts and intentions. We aretherefore left, in this case, with the notion that the fact of theirsurvival is the best evidence of rebelliousness among Barba-dian slave women.

There are nine chapters, most of which are given to areconstruction of the world of female slaves in Barbados fromtheseventeenththroughthenineteenthcenturies. The authordraws on a variety of sources including planters' accounts,legislative records, surviving correspondence, and recent

32 The LATIN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW 3(1)

anthropological and historical studies of the period. The textis rich in demographic analyses, personal narratives, legisla-tive summaries, andaccountsof customary practices. Beckleshas collated an impressive array of information. More impor-tantly, he interprets this information to highlight the steadystream of policies and practices levelled particularly againstslave women. Thus, he frames the suggestion that theeveryday survival of Barbados slave women and their off-spring depended on the sustained deflection of these policiesand practices over which they could have no direct control.

Although he cites a number of instances in which womenconfronted the slave system openly, Beckles raises the inter-esting idea that slave resistance needs to be understood notonly as confrontational or covert subversion, but also aseveryday efforts to make the social system more responsiveto the slave's needs. Women, it would seem, were deeplyengaged in this second form of resistance.

Policy arrangements for the pursuit of pernicious profitsamong slave owning planters, the hegemonic racist ideologythat sanctioned European exploitation of the African, as wellas the disturbing effects of color and status discrimination areall interpreted from a perspective that highlights the centralityof female slave labor and the slave's womb in the develop-ment and maintenance of Barbados as a profitable plantationsociety. While making no claim for a particular politicalconsciousness among slave women-one that distinguishedthem from the slave community-Beckles argues that giventhe core importance of maternity and fertility, women's resis-tance would have had to assume forms and proportions thatare as yet poorly understood, even though it would have hadto be a pervasive aspect of the quotidian.

Ultimately, the guiding intention of Beckles' book is toachieve a history that redresses the "rather low historio-graphic profile" of women in Caribbean history (p. 153). Therecan be no question that women have been underrepresentedin the regional history thus far, and the opportunities inherentin a scholarship of redress are stimulating. Beckles makes agood argument, and the new historiography of redress-whichNatural Rebels hopes to stimulate further—is a welcomedevelopment. However, if the evidence given here is indica-tive, it will not be a historiography in the discovery of freshparticulars. It will be a reinterprete historiography, taking asits departure a perspective that places slave women at thecenter of the experience of slavery-in contrast to an earlierhistory that privileged the perspective of the planter.

Cave of the Jagua: The Mythological World of theTafnos. ANTONIO M. STEVENS-ARROYO. Albu-querque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988.282 pp., tables, figures. $27.50 (cloth). ISBN 0-8263-1102-4.

JEFFREY QUILTERRipon College

This book represents an ambitious undertaking in attempt-ing no less than the explication of the mythology of the Tamo(also known as Arawak) who inhabited the Greater Antillesand discovered Columbus on their shores. In Part I, the authorpresents an overview of his general theoretical approach(chapter 1), a thumbnail sketch of Tamo studies (chapter 2),

the environmental and economic bases of Tamo society(chapter 3), an outline of Taino religious beliefs and practicesas generally accepted (chapter 4), and a discussion of themanuscript of Ramon Pane (chapter 5) which preservedTaino myths. This section alone is worth the price of the bookas it provides the reader unfamiliar with the time, place, andpeople in question with a thoroughly enjoyable yet scholarlyoverview and introduction.

Parts II and III are the literal and figural heart of the book inwhich Stevens-Arroyo employs Levi-Straussian structuralistanalysis on a number of separate myths in order to delineatethe sagas of the Taino creation myth and hero myth, respec-tively. Part IV begins with an argument on the compatibility ofthe theories of Levi-Strauss and Carl G. Jung, and goes on todefine the "archetypes" of the Taino cosmos. An epilogueconcludes the work with a summary of the author's ideas andhis hopes for the placement of Taino belief alongside themyths of the better-known traditions of the classical world andAsia.

The author's employment of data and concepts from ar-chaeology, ethnohistory, ethnology, comparative religion,history, and, specifically, both Levi-Strauss, and Jung mayvery well expose him to criticisms from those who are expertsin one of these subjects. But this is an heroic book and effortof the kind rarely seen in these days of "sub-sub-field" special-izations, and for this reader, his argument is compelling.

Cave of the Jagua is not suitable for beginning students inanthropology and it requires careful reading even from thosefamiliar with the sources which the author employs to his ownends. But it is well worth the trouble, not only for the benefitsof exploring the fascinating world of the Tainos, but for all ofthe suggestions, leads, and ramifications it may inspire forone's own special area of interest. For example, Arroyo-Stevens suggests that despite the strong overlay of Africanand Roman Catholic religion in today's popular religions of theCaribbean, much of the mystic dualism which can be seen inmodern practices and beliefs may originate with the Tai'nos.Elsewhere, he discusses the myth of the hero, Guahayona, tochart the Taino cosmos and tie together kinship, marriage,shellfish consumption, fishing practices, meteorology, andthe seasonal movements of the constellation of Orion!

Any and all interested in the iconography, mythology, orreligions of native Americans should read this book. The caveof the jagua from which the title is taken is the mystical placeof origin of the Taino. Arroyo-Stevens has done much to catchthe images flickering upon those ancient walls, and hisreflections shine far beyond the Greater Antilles.

Conversations with Moctezuma: Ancient Shadowsover Modern Life in Mexico. DICK J. REAVIS. NewYork: William Morrow and Company, 1990. 304 pp.$19.95 (cloth), $12.00 (paper). ISBN 0-688-07999-7,ISBN 0-688-10738-9.

ROLANDO J, ROMEROUniversity of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

This book discusses issues that have appeared onnongovernment Mexican national news for the past twoyears. The well chosen "politically correct" topics confirm