From Development to Dictatorship

Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress in the Kennedy Era

Nonfiction, History, Americas, South America, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book From Development to Dictatorship by Thomas C. Field, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas C. Field ISBN: 9780801470448
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: May 8, 2014
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: Thomas C. Field
ISBN: 9780801470448
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: May 8, 2014
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

During the most idealistic years of John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress development program, Bolivia was the highest per capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid in Latin America. Nonetheless, Washington’s modernization programs in early 1960s Bolivia ended up on a collision course with important sectors of the country’s civil society, including radical workers, rebellious students, and a plethora of rightwing and leftwing political parties. In From Development to Dictatorship, Thomas C. Field Jr. reconstructs the untold story of USAID’s first years in Bolivia, including the country’s 1964 military coup d’état.

Field draws heavily on local sources to demonstrate that Bolivia’s turn toward anticommunist, development-oriented dictatorship was the logical and practical culmination of the military-led modernization paradigm that provided the liberal underpinnings of Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress. In the process, the book explores several underappreciated aspects of Cold War liberal internationalism: the tendency of "development" to encourage authoritarian solutions to political unrest, the connection between modernization theories and the rise of Third World armed forces, and the intimacy between USAID and CIA covert operations. At the same time, the book challenges the conventional dichotomy between ideology and strategy in international politics, and it engages with a growing literature on development as a key rubric for understanding the interconnected processes of decolonization and the Cold War.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

During the most idealistic years of John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress development program, Bolivia was the highest per capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid in Latin America. Nonetheless, Washington’s modernization programs in early 1960s Bolivia ended up on a collision course with important sectors of the country’s civil society, including radical workers, rebellious students, and a plethora of rightwing and leftwing political parties. In From Development to Dictatorship, Thomas C. Field Jr. reconstructs the untold story of USAID’s first years in Bolivia, including the country’s 1964 military coup d’état.

Field draws heavily on local sources to demonstrate that Bolivia’s turn toward anticommunist, development-oriented dictatorship was the logical and practical culmination of the military-led modernization paradigm that provided the liberal underpinnings of Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress. In the process, the book explores several underappreciated aspects of Cold War liberal internationalism: the tendency of "development" to encourage authoritarian solutions to political unrest, the connection between modernization theories and the rise of Third World armed forces, and the intimacy between USAID and CIA covert operations. At the same time, the book challenges the conventional dichotomy between ideology and strategy in international politics, and it engages with a growing literature on development as a key rubric for understanding the interconnected processes of decolonization and the Cold War.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book New Deal Ruins by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book The Smile of the Human Bomb by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book Channels of Power by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book Gender and Genre in the Folklore of Middle India by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book Running the Rails by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book Writing History for the King by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book In the Words of E. B. White by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book To the Tashkent Station by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book Unfinished Business by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book War, States, and Contention by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book The Sanctity of Louis IX by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book The Memory of All Ancient Customs by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book Art of the Ordinary by Thomas C. Field
Cover of the book The Informed Patient by Thomas C. Field
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy