Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History since 1898

César J. Ayala · Rafael Bernabe

Jun 2009 · Univ of North Carolina Press

About this ebook

Offering a comprehensive overview of Puerto Rico's history and evolution since the installation of U.S. rule, Cesar Ayala and Rafael Bernabe connect the island's economic, political, cultural, and social past. Puerto Rico in the American Century explores Puerto Ricans in the diaspora as well as the island residents, who experience an unusual and daily conundrum: they consider themselves a distinct people but are part of the American political system; they have U.S. citizenship but are not represented in the U.S. Congress; and they live on land that is neither independent nor part of the United States.

Highlighting both well-known and forgotten figures from Puerto Rican history, Ayala and Bernabe discuss a wide range of topics, including literary and cultural debates and social and labor struggles that previous histories have neglected. Although the island's political economy remains dependent on the United States, the authors also discuss Puerto Rico's situation in light of world economies. Ayala and Bernabe argue that the inability of Puerto Rico to shake its colonial legacy reveals the limits of free-market capitalism, a break from which would require a renewal of the long tradition of labor and social activism in Puerto Rico in connection with similar currents in the United States.

Ratings and reviews

This is another useful book to really understand why puerto ricans are so complex people, wanting to have everything, but also capable of giving their time with no sense of selfishness.

About the author

Cesar J. Ayala is professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of American Sugar Kingdom: The Plantation Economy of the Spanish Caribbean, 1898-1934.

Rafael Bernabe is professor and director of the Federico de Onis Hispanic Studies Center at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. He has published three books in Puerto Rico.