Claudio Lomnitz Books

This compelling exploration delves into the intersections of Jewish and indigenous Latin American thought through a family memoir. Eminent anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz recounts his grandparents' exile from Eastern Europe to South America, using their journey as a lens to analyze the worldview and culture of countries like Peru, Colombia, and Chile. His grandparents, both shaped by the pioneering spirit of early Zionism, engaged deeply with the Peruvian leftist intellectual scene, linking the country's indigenous heritage to a broader emancipatory internationalism that embraced Jewish culture. After facing imprisonment due to their socialist beliefs, they were exiled to Colombia, navigating its political landscape and class system. Lomnitz reflects on the limited recognition South America receives in U.S. public opinion, extending the narrative to Chile during World War II, Israel in the 1950s, and his own upbringing in Berkeley and Mexico City. With a vivid and engaging style, Lomnitz transcends the family memoir genre, creating an intellectual space that intertwines personal history with the broader context of Latin American culture and history.

This immigrant family memoir intricately weaves Jewish and Latin American cultures, presenting history with psychological depth and a thrilling immediacy. The author, an eminent anthropologist and historian, recounts his grandparents' exile from Eastern Europe to South America, using their journey as a lens to analyze the worldview and spirit of countries like Peru, Colombia, and Chile. Educated Jewish emigrants, they embodied the hope and determination of those who fled Europe in the 1920s. Both trained to challenge ghetto life through the early Zionist movement, they became deeply engaged in Peru's leftist intellectual scene, linking the country's indigenous heritage to a broader internationalism that embraced Jewish culture. After facing imprisonment for their socialist beliefs, they were exiled to Colombia, where they navigated its complex societal issues. This narrative also critiques the minimal recognition South America receives in U.S. public opinion. The story extends to Chile during World War II, Israel in the 1950s, and concludes with the author's childhood experiences in Berkeley, California, and Mexico City, enriching the exploration of identity and cultural intersections.

"Death and the Idea of Mexico is the first social, cultural, and political history of death in a nation that has made death its tutelary sign. Examining the history of death and of the death sign from sixteenth-century holocaust to contemporary Mexican-American identity politics, anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz's innovative study marks a turning point in understanding Mexico's rich and unique use of death imagery. Unlike contemporary Europeans and Americans, whose denial of death permeates their cultures, the Mexican people display and cultivate a jovial familiarity with death. This intimacy with death has become the cornerstone of Mexico's national identity." "Based on a stunning range of sources - from missionary testimonies to newspaper cartoons, from masterpieces of artistic vanguards to accounts of public executions and political assassinations - Death and the Idea of Mexico moves beyond the limited methodology of traditional historiographies of death to probe the depths of a people and a country whose fearless acquaintance with death shapes the very terms of its social compact."--Jacket

Claudio Lomnitz proposes a new theorization of the Mexican state in relation to extreme violence, showing how the current crisis represents a fundamental shift in the relationship between the state and the economy in which the rule of law has eroded.

Este libro reúne trece ensayos (diez de los ensayos de este libro fueron escritos originalmente en inglés; el resto en espanol), y un bonus ensayo, sobre México en la era del neoliberalismo y la globalización, mancomunando temas que van desde Ayotzinapa, Mamá Rosa, Oscar Lewis, el sismo del 1985, Octavio Paz, las repetidas crisis económicas, Carlos Chávez, y Memín Pinguín, entre otras