Repeating Islands

Authors CésarJ. Ayala and Rafael Bernabé offer a comprehensive overview of Puerto Rico’s history and its evolution since the installation of U.S. rule in Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History since 1898. First published in 2007, the book is now available in paperback format (University of North Carolina Press, 2009). Exploring the interconnections between the island’s economic, political, cultural, and social past and U.S. policies towards the island, Ayala and Bernabé look at the challenges Puerto Ricans face in terms of self-definition in the context of the island’s colonial legacy and survival in this era of globalization. They investigate literary and cultural debates, social and labor movements, migrations, economic dependence and its social consequences, and the limits of free-market capitalism, among other concerns, giving fresh perspectives to debates on Puerto Rico’s political status.

Puerto Rico in the American Century focuses on Puerto Ricans on the island and abroad, and the difficulties in sorting out the contradictions of being a distinct people with ties to the U.S., of being U.S. citizens with minimal voting rights and no representation in the U.S. Congress, and living on an island that is neither independent nor part of the United States.

In his superb article “La Isla y la diáspora: una historia transnacional” (Diálogo Digital), professor of anthropology Jorge Duany praises the breadth and inclusiveness of the book, calling it “a coherent, well documented and eloquently developed discussion that does not shy away from ideological confrontation and polemics.”

For full article by Jorge Duany (in Spanish), see http://www.dialogodigital.com/node/1033

For UNC Press release, see http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=1226