On Our Own Terms - (New Cold War History) by Sarah Foss (Paperback)

About the Book

"During the Cold War, U.S. intervention in Latin American politics, economics, and society grew in scope and complexity, with diplomatic legacies evident in today's hemispheric policies. Development became a key form of intervention as government officials and experts from the United States and Latin America believed that development could foster hemispheric solidarity and security. In parts of Latin America, its implementation was especially intricate because recipients of these programs were diverse Indigenous peoples with their own politics, economics, and cultures. Contrary to project planners' expectations, Indigenous beneficiaries were not passive recipients but actively engaged with development interventions and, in the process, redefined racialized ideas about Indigeneity. Sarah Foss illustrates how this process transpired in Cold War Guatemala, spanning democratic revolution, military coups, and genocidal civil war"--]cProvided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

During the Cold War, U.S. intervention in Latin American politics, economics, and society grew in scope and complexity, with diplomatic legacies evident in today's hemispheric policies. Development became a key form of intervention as government officials and experts from the United States and Latin America believed that development could foster hemispheric solidarity and security. In parts of Latin America, its implementation was especially intricate because recipients of these programs were diverse Indigenous peoples with their own politics, economics, and cultures. Contrary to project planners' expectations, Indigenous beneficiaries were not passive recipients but actively engaged with development interventions and, in the process, redefined racialized ideas about Indigeneity.

Sarah Foss illustrates how this process transpired in Cold War Guatemala, spanning democratic revolution, military coups, and genocidal civil war. Drawing on previously unused sources such as oral histories, anthropologists' field notes, military records, municipal and personal archives, and a private photograph collection, Foss analyzes the uses and consequences of development and its relationship to ideas about race from multiple perspectives, emphasizing its historical significance as a form of intervention during the Cold War.

Review Quotes

"A pivotal contribution to the study of development and Indigenous history in Guatemala. Foss's account places Indigenous communities at the center of the global Cold War, revealing them as purposive participants in development initiatives over a half-century of Guatemalan history." --A Contracorriente

"An extensively researched and thoughtful volume. . . . a necessary intervention in how we examine development, as it moves away from a focus on policy and toward how development was implemented, contested, and negotiated on the ground."--Hispanic American Historical Review

"An innovative study of Cold War-era development projects in rural Guatemala. . . . Foss skillfully weaves a chronological narrative that spans significant national, regional, and global shifts, integrating them into her history with such grace that her reader might overlook this accomplishment."--The Americas

"Creatively researched and thoughtfully written and analysed, On Our Own Terms is a welcome contribution to the historiography of the Cold War in Guatemala."--Journal of Latin American Studies

"Excellent. In this well-researched book . . . Foss shows readers how states used development to forge a politically useful populace. On Our Own Terms is a praiseworthy contribution."--Journal of Social History

"Foss's study provides a devastating analysis. . . . The breadth of her sources, the depth to which she mines them, and the complex ways she interweaves them is impressive. On Our Own Terms is a multilayered study of development thinking and practice on Guatemala's Indigenous people, sufficiently historicized to provide a valuable contribution to Cold War historiography."--Journal of American History