Latin American and Caribbean History

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Scholars of the Latin American past examine the multiple histories of the hemisphere, starting with some of the world’s oldest urban societies, moving through some three centuries of European colonial rule, and ending in the diverse paths of some of the world’s oldest democracies. Links between the Americas and the rest of the world laid the basis for the modern world, funding the world through its wealth and feeding the world with indigenous staple crops—while also introducing ethnocide and massive forced migration. The study of these and other processes demands interdisciplinary approaches, and historians of Latin America have been central to the formation of scholarly currents ranging from professional archaeology through world systems theory to subaltern studies and beyond.