Cultural Agency in the Americas

“[A] magnificent collection of essays. . . . [T]he volume contains an exciting, very well thought-out set of articles that constitute a state-of-the-art discussion concerning pressing questions in the field of culture, agency, and disciplinary studies in Latin America.” - Ileana Rodríguez, The Americas

“[T]his book represents a confirmation that culture matters, that art has a purpose, and that a relationship between creators and intellectuals could be rich and promising.” - R. Hernandez Rodriguez, The Latin Americanist

“Perhaps the biggest contribution of this book is what it tells us about the difference between Latin American public intellectuals and cultural agents and their relation to the social processes in which they are inserted, and that of American academics condemned to the radical divide that marks scholarly life from public life in American universities.” - Silvia L. López, A Contracorriente

“The project as a whole and the book as a part of it move us forward to new scholarly practice and approaches. As such, the book represents an important contribution and essential reading for those interested in taking up the challenge of being reflective cultural agents.” - Jennifer Fraser, Journal of Latin American Studies

"The collected pieces provide a sampling of the especially vibrant, generous, and hopeful cultural agency—which the older term social activism refers to to some extent—occurring in heterogeneous Latin American cultures seeking new social forms in the ambiance of postmodernism."
- Henry Berry, Midwest Book Review

“In titling itself as it does, Cultural Agency in the Americas makes a foundational gesture. The thing to be founded is a scholarly praxis, a blueprint for academic work committed to advancing energetic, creative, nonharmonious but nonviolent democratic relations.” - Mary Louise Pratt, from her afterword