O inimigo interno foi uma figura central na cena social e Política da América Latina na segunda metade do século XX. Ele se apresentou como a razão de uma necessária mudança no Sistema político e econômico de muitos países, um objeto cuja busca requereu a adaptação das instituições e, mais em geral, uma série de mudanças estruturais nas sociedades latino -americanas. Para o Brasil, como também para outros países, este objeto que apareceu nos anos sessenta - setenta tão claro e sólido não surgius, depois da Segunda Guerra Mundial, com o advento da Guerra Fria. Pode dizer - se que a preocupação com o perigo relacionado com um inimigo posicionado dentro do próprio território, já estava presente nos Governos populistas dos anos 30, se não antes. Isto não quer dizer que o “inimigo interno” dos anos 30 ou anteriores, corresponderia ao inimigo interno que vai ser o protagonista dos anos 60 e 70; mesmo encontrando semelhanças, eles envolvem diferentes lógicas de aparição. Estas diferenças salientam, portanto, a necessidade de, uma vez escolhido como objeto o inimigo, indagar sobre alguns temas, de entre os quais a relação entre a Instituição Militar e o Estado, entre o “mundo” militar e o mundo civil, bem como o conceito de segurança e o seu uso, mantendo bem claro que qualquer uma destas construções é histórica (sujeita, portanto, as mudanças do tempo) e que ganha seu sentido somente se posta em relação com as outras.

Cuba’s post-1960 political and economic relationship with the USSR has long been debated, especially the extent to which the connection shaped the Cuban Revolution. Consequently, readings of the occasionally conflictive relationship between Cuba’s state authorities and its cultural world have often relied on stereotypes inherited from Western interpretations of the USSR or the 1948-89 Socialist Bloc; such readings assuming that cultural policy was clearly defined and enforced by Soviet-style apparatchiks or Castro. While perhaps understandable for 1971-6, when the National Cultural Council (CNC) was led by ex-members of the pre-1959 communist party, recent research suggests that we look beyond the surface to see that ‘policy’ was often empirically formed and constantly challenged. Yet, perhaps due to those common assumptions, little has been written about real Soviet influence on Cuban culture, and different sub-periods during the 30-year Cuban-Soviet alliance have largely been ignored. This thesis seeks to address this oversight in the scholarship of Cuba and the USSR by examining the Soviet influence on Cuban culture, specifically the theatre and the visual arts, between 1961 and 1986. It interrogates the ways in which culture was linked to the political priorities and nation building goals of the revolutionary leadership and how these differed from, or coincided with, the aims of the Soviet government. In doing so, it analyses the way in which culture and cultural interactions between the two countries were organised. Using evidence from materials (magazines, pamphlets, work plans, declarations) gathered from archival work in Havana and Moscow, and supported by interviews with Cuban artists and intellectuals, this study establishes that culture acted as a discursive space in which deliberations about the nature of the Cuban Revolution could take place in a way that they could not in other spheres. It also concludes that, throughout the period studied, the USSR occupied a conflicting position, acting as both a model to be learned from but also a force to be resisted. Furthermore, this thesis makes two important contributions to existing knowledge of the Cuban-Soviet relationship. First, that the 1970s, and the period known as the quiquenio gris in particular, were not ‘Soviet’ but rather nationalist and macho. Second, that the most ‘Soviet’ period in terms of structure, organisation and demands placed on artists was the 1980s when the component roles of art were separated as part of the revolutionary government’s ongoing fight for independence.

The present study theorises and empirically investigates the transformations of the Bolivian state between 1985 and 2005, from a historical materialist perspective. It argues that state transformations have formed part of the latest phase of capital globalisation, and hypothesises that these transformations are captured effectively by concepts of ‘internationalisation’, ‘polyarchy’ and ‘depoliticisation’. Relying on substantive dialectical logic and qualitative methods (documentary analysis and interviewing), the thesis investigates reflexively whether, how and why processes of internationalisation and liberalisation of the Bolivian state, concurrent to the depoliticisation of economic management, have been taking place in the period under focus. I argue that the internationalisation of the Bolivian state was not superimposed upon an ‘endogenous’ process of political and economic liberalisation by external forces; rather, by consolidating a transnationalised elite fraction in Bolivia and the depoliticisation of economic management, the internationalisation of the state sustained polyarchy after the hyperinflationary crisis of 1985. The engagement of Multilateral Development Institutions (MDIs) and transnational private banks by a nucleus of competitive and ‘denationalised’ Bolivian elites in 1985, and in turn their unconditional integration into an expanding transnational historic bloc of elite social forces drove the internationalisation of the Bolivian state. Internationalisation, in turn, consolidated the structural power of the transnational bloc in Bolivia by concurrently locking-in the depoliticisation of central government agencies and polyarchy. Polyarchy was an attempt to legitimise elite domination and the restructuring of society and state through a procedural conception of democracy. Following the more ‘open’ tradition of historical materialist thinking, the research conceptualises the state as a contradictory organisation of subjection, a social relation embedded in broader production relations, which both reflects and constitutes a particular configuration of forces within the social space bound by its institutions. The state is a terrain of intra-elite and class struggle. Aforementioned processes of state transformation have thus been shaped by the confrontation between a transnational elite bloc, domestically-oriented elites and labour forces, in ‘civil society’ but also within the institutions of the Bolivian state itself. The radical program of social and state restructuring engineered by the staffs of MDIs in collaboration with a transnational fraction of Bolivian businessmen and technocrats from 1985 to 2005 was systematically undermined by social resistance. Equally, efforts to depoliticise state agencies – to functionally relate them to capital reproduction – contained their antithesis in recurrent attempts by domestic forces to capture and instrumentalise them.

My doctoral research is an examination of the pioneering nature of Martha Warren Beckwith’s writings on Jamaican folk religion. Beckwith, an American anthropologist and folklorist, visited Jamaica four times between 1919 and 1924. During her visits she recorded aspects of African-Jamaican folk life ranging from stories, songs and proverbs to rites of passage, children’s games and plant lore, as well as various forms of folk religion. She is regarded as pioneering in choosing Jamaica for her fieldwork at a time when the Caribbean was overlooked by many American and British anthropologists. In this thesis, I argue that in her methodology and treatment of her subject matter she was also ahead of her time. Beckwith is still often cited in modern writings on African-Jamaican religions with little or nothing in the way of background or context. Using close textual analysis, I examine both the nature of Beckwith’s research and exactly how ground-breaking it was when compared to those commenting on African-Jamaican spiritual beliefs in the same era. Although a variety of people wrote about African-Jamaican folk religions, my focus is on the way these faiths were covered by anthropologists and folklore collectors as a distinct group. This was also a period when both anthropology and folklore studies had moved away from being the preserve of amateurs and were developing as academic disciplines. An analysis of the works of late post-emancipation researchers such as Beckwith gives an insight not only into how African-Jamaican folk religions were practised and perceived at that time but also how changes in folklore and anthropology theory and practice impacted on such perceptions.

This thesis examines how rival national interests and relations between European states, principally France and Britain, affected ethnic relationships on the island of Grenada, West Indies throughout the period of 1763-1800. The arguments postulated are: 1. Imperial ideologies reinforced assumed superiority and right to rule that relegated all other groups to inferior status. 2. An ethnic model rather than a racial model is the best way to study Grenada plantation society. 3. The stigmatised in society fractured into ethnic groups, forming dynamic relationships, not fixed structures, that were flexible to fit their needs, value,s and beliefs. 4. The need to dominate or participate in that society coerced inter-ethnic alliances across boundaries (considered anathema), creating reprisals from the ruling group. 5. British government policies and officers‘ lack of leadership created a vacuum for constitutional conflict and inter-ethnic internal feuding and contributed to Fédon‘s revolt. Chapter One is an introduction to outline the pre-history of the area of study to explain differences between groups. It will outline the topography of the island, explain the system of government, and describe the composition of the initial resident population. Chapter Two establishes the concepts ‗ethnicity‘ and ‗race‘ and its importance. The European ethnic groups and their relationships are examined using this model. The concept of ‗whiteness‘ is addressed and its external and internal effects. An argument postulated is white hegemony existed as a fractious union where coerced whites perceived to be complicit with Catholics, were targeted and socially ostracised. Another important focus is the roles of governors and their relationships and alliances with the planter class within society. The term Creole and their standing vis-á-vis with European whites provides another layer within society in conjunction with the critical delineation of social class across white groups in society. Chapter Three defines the concept of Coloured and the range of perceived physical characteristics and legal differences, i.e., the concepts free and un-free. As the largest social grouping the role of Africans is pivotal, viz. their place in society and relationships with other groups. African differences are assessed, particularly the Grenada Maroons and their position and interaction within society and with another ethnic group, the Caribs. Chapter Four examines the status of governors and employs a case study of the last decade of Ninian Home: an examination of his character, lifestyle, his attempts to became governor, political lobbying, relationship with his family, his administration and how it contributed to the Fédon Rebellion. Chapter Five summarises the thesis and explains how the postulated arguments are met.

This thesis examines the crisis of the Argentinian state during the period of the 1983-1989 democratic government. It suggests that the 1976 military dictatorship attempted to resolve the crisis of the Argentinian state by implementing an economic structural reform and State Terrorism. The consequences of the economic structural reform and State Terrorism constrained the margin of manoeuvre of the 1983 democratic government. The main economic constraints were the huge external debt and the impoverishment of the working class. The main political constraint was the need to bring the military to trial while avoiding a direct confrontation with the Armed Forces. The huge external debt constrained not only Argentina's economic growth but also the Radical government's economic strategies. A 'monetarist' restructuring of the state was imposed on debtor countries through IMF 'conditionality' loans. While the Radical government initially opposed such a restructuring, it later gradually began to implement the IMF's requirements. The impoverishment of the working class intensified the government's confrontation with the trades union movement. The Radical government unsuccessfully attempted to control and demobilise the working class. The trades union movement and the workers were able to block state policies, becoming the ultimate barrier to the restructuring policies adopted by the state. The attempt to bring the military to trial exacerbated the relationship between the Radical government and the Armed Forces. The government was unable to implement its own policies towards human rights violations, which prevented a definitive solution to this problem. In addition, the failure to resolve this problem intensified internal unrest within the Armed Forces, fostering the breakdown of the Army's hierarchy. The main political objective of the Radical government was to consolidate democracy. The economic legacy of the military dictatorship obliged the government to deepen the 'monetarist' restructuring of the state and the impoverishment of the workers while consolidating democracy. Implementing 'market-oriented' reforms made the transition to democracy more difficult. The thesis suggests that the Radical government, although unable to resolve the crisis of the Argentinian state, was able to begin the path towards consolidating democracy due to its policies towards human rights violations, which undermined the political role of the Armed Forces.

The thesis develops a Central Americanised model of regional integration by building on neofunctionalist concepts through the use of a constructivist approach. Distortions, strategic modification and stagnation phases of integration in that region are conventionally attributed, often implicitly, to the “unwillingness” of the governments. The problem with this approach, however, is that it neglects the role of what I identify as Normative Elites in the process. In order to overcome this limitation, the thesis formulates the concept of Social Will, conceptualised as the interplay of the ideas, identity and interest of the Central American normative elites—and it refers to the predisposition or disinclination of these elites to support the integration process. The formulation of social will leads the analysis to re-conceptualise the interaction between the state and normative elites. This reconsideration necessitates the elaboration of modified models of socialisation and norm diffusion—which I label Ideational Drive and Circumscribed-Statist respectively—to reflect certain Central American specificities. Empirically, the thesis assesses the existence and role of both political will and social will in Central America by using discourse analysis of a series of interviews and detailed readings of published position documents. Regarding political will, it identifies a latent integrative strategy and a significant ideational convergence among the participants in the study. It concludes that indeed in that region there is a fair degree of political will. This conclusion is partially supported by the uncovering of Constitutional Regionalism, or the constitutional bestowals of special citizenship status on nationals of other Central American countries, and the inclusion of specific constitutional provisions conducive to integration. The thesis contemplates the existence of social will at two points: the reactivation of the Central American integration process during the 1990s, and in the 2005-08 period. In the first instance, the thesis identifies the leading role that normative elites, through economic groups, played in the reactivation of the process. In that sense, it argues that at that time there existed a degree of social will. In the second instance, the thesis identifies discursive differences among normative elites. One discourse conceives of the region from a Central Americanist view striving for the development of the region and crucially, its people. The other discourse is Instrumentalist aiming at improving the region’s competitive positioning in the global economy. This ideational incongruence signals a limited degree of social will. The thesis concludes by arguing that partial social will delimits and imposes meaning on the spaces wherein the political will could thrive. Hence the process experiences distortions, strategic modifications and stagnant phases.

This research project investigates the sources of legitimacy in hegemonic Cuban discourse, understood to have supported the stability of the Cuban system during crises and challenging times, such as the end of the Cold War and the 1990s Special Period. Evidence was drawn from the Cuban press, namely Granma, Bohemia and Verde Olivo, in two critical periods: the 1980 Mariel episode and the 1994 Maleconazo disturbances as two examples before and after 1989 in order to compare the sources of legitimacy and identify continuities and shifts. The two periods represent recent examples of instability, which dominated the attention of the whole nation. The evidence is based on textual examination using discourse analysis as the method of investigation. The research is written in the discipline of political history, with elements taken from cultural studies and political communication. The project is based on the assumption that the sources of legitimacy represented a significant, but not exclusive factor which may have encouraged the population's loyalty by reflecting their attitudes and concerns and channelling them in a particular direction. The discourse also interpreted reality to support the legitimacy of the system. This might have contributed significantly to the stability of the whole system, and its ability to survive the post-1989 transitions experienced in other communist countries. The research examines the content and internal mechanics of the discourse, its assumptions and endogenous references, taking into account the specific context of the single-party communist state in control of the country's media and mass organisations. By suppressing alternative discourses, the system increased the impact of the hegemonic discourse, especially if compared to pluralist political systems. The discourse might have contributed to the continuing loyalty of the population by explicitly and implicitly stressing endogenous sources of legitimacy intelligible to the Cuban audience, reflecting its particular historical experience and political culture. The research investigates the sources of legitimacy traceable in the discourse, to demonstrate what made it tick internally and why some Cubans might have decided to remain loyal to a system that they perceived as legitimate and defending their interests, attitudes, concerns and identities. Collaterally, the research addresses the topic of migration, which was a main issue during both crises, and the way the perceptions of migration shifted over time in order to protect the legitimacy of the system confronting large outflows of discontented people. The research demonstrates how the system interpreted events in its favour, and how it prioritised different sources of legitimacy, such as independence, patriotism, socialism, material prosperity, social provision, culturalism and the US embargo in order to encourage loyalty. The research takes into account the regional Hispano-Caribbean context, reflecting the identities of the Cuban population in their perceived difference from Anglo-Saxon America and its socio-political model. The research looks in more detail at the key sources of legitimacy during the challenging 1990s when the system was near a possible collapse. The research enhances our understanding of how the sources of legitimacy shifted over time to reflect new realities and to support the system. The research sheds further light on the system and the structure of the system's endogenous ideology in a post-structuralist sense, stressing the role of language and the complex and extended definition of ideology. For this reason it takes into account Cuban semantics, linguistics and endogenous meaning of words and concepts. The existing academic literature focuses on explaining the stability of the system before and after 1989 by analysing Cuban history, institutions, culture, international relations and other aspects, but there is insufficient focus on legitimacy, politics and media addressed to the population as a possible factor in the system's stability. It does not investigate sources of legitimacy in relation to the content and internal mechanics of the discourse constructed to appeal to Cubans. This research answers these questions and thus enhances our understanding of the system. The research provides one possible answer to the question of how the system might have maintained stability, what sources of legitimacy it argued for, how it argued for them and how it interpreted current issues to encourage loyalty. It demonstrates how the system interpreted migration to cancel its potentially destabilising impact, and how it shifted the interpretations of the sources of legitimacy over time, especially in relation to the different global context before and after 1989.

This thesis proposes a new paradigm for understanding the historical roots of the myth of racial democracy in Brazil. In order to better comprehend the co-existence of race discrimination and racial democracy in Brazil it is argued that the myth itself needs to be subjected to an analysis which foregrounds the historically unequal relations of both race and gender. This study demonstrates how the enigma that is Brazilian race relations is the result of two major oversights in the scholarly work to date. First, the lack of critical attention to the historical processes and practices which gave rise to the so-called unique version of race relations in Brazil: manumission and miscegenation. Second, the sidelining of the role of gender and sex, as well as the specific and central place of black women’s labour, in theoretical formulations about Brazilian race relations. The overarching intellectual aim of this thesis is to invert the way notions of familiarity and intimacy have been represented in the history of miscegenation and manumission in Brazilian slave society. The role of intimacy in the social history of race relations is instead shown to be firmly located within a hierarchy of race and gender inequalities predicated on the inferiority of blacks and women. In turn, this thesis explores how these race and gender inequalities intersected to inform and shape enslaved women’s versions of resistance and visions of freedom. In doing so this study unpicks some of the notions of advantage and privilege traditionally associated with women in general and light skin colour in particular in the processes of manumission and miscegenation; notions that are foundational to the myth of racial democracy. Through an examination and analysis of primary sources pertaining to the lives of enslaved and freedwomen and their descendants in nineteenth-century Bahia, this study brings together different areas of their lived experiences of enslavement, manumission, miscegenation and freedom as these women came into contact with the authorities at pivotal moments in their lives. Collectively, these sources and the analysis thereof expose the limitations of advantage or privilege that have been associated with being female, parda or mulatta in the historiography of Brazilian slave society in general and the literature on manumission in particular. By foregrounding and highlighting the ways in which overlapping inequalities of race, gender and status determined experiences of enslavement and expectations of freedom during slavery, this study produces a new approach to interpreting race and gender history in Brazil, and a more comprehensive understanding of Brazilian slave labour relations.

The Colombian conflict is one of the world’s longest running civil wars. The country is home to the highest number of internally displaced people in the world, estimated to be up to 5.5 million in 2012. Spanning almost seven decades, the undeclared war has cost the lives of millions. However, despite these alarming figures, Colombia remains one of the least studied of the major Latin American countries. The conceptualisation of the Colombian conflict has been overwhelmingly shaped by two theories of civil conflict, “New Wars” and “Greed vs. Grievance”. Whilst these studies have provided an insight into some of the dynamics of Colombian conflict, such as the drugs trade, the historical continuities of violence and internal drivers of insecurity have been largely ignored. This study re-interprets the long-standing Colombian conflict with an emphasis on a history ‘from below’. It addresses this lacuna in the current literature and offers an alternative historical analysis of the conflict by exploring government policies and local dynamics. This research contributes the existing literature by providing local nuances to the two parallel theories of civil war that have dominated the discourse of violence in Colombia. The “new” characteristics of modern civil war are not new to Colombia. For almost seven decades, Colombia has seen high levels of violence against a civilian population, paramilitary and criminal activity. The idea that “greed” fuels violent conflict fails to explain why thousands have joined various guerrilla movements and endure harsh living conditions in which they risk their lives for a political cause. Importantly, this theory neglects the internal socio-economic problems in countries with persistent levels of violence. Using an area studies approach and drawing upon recently declassified material from the US and UK governments, press clippings and fieldwork in Colombia, this study highlights the historical continuities of violence in Colombia, which are characterised by economic and security grievances. It examines the conflict from the ‘forgotten civil war’, known as la Violencia, and goes on to illustrate how persistent failures by the Colombian government to solve the rural and agrarian problem and the political exclusion of those claiming to represent the rural population have constituted the fundamental motor of violence over several decades.