The University of Wisconsin Press

---

Latin America / History / Sociology / Children

---

 

Minor Omissions Children in Latin American History and Society Edited by Tobias Hecht Living in Latin America "Unique and pioneering. There is no volume that compares with its 500-year historical scope."—Dain Borges, University of Chicago Latin American history—the stuff of wars, elections, conquests, inventions, colonization, and all those other events and processes attributed to adults—has also been lived and partially forged by children. Taking a fresh look at Latin American and Caribbean society over the course of more than half a millennium, this book explores how the omission of children from the region's historiography may in fact be no small matter. Children currently make up one-third of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean, and over the centuries they have worked, played, worshipped, committed crimes, and fought and suffered in wars. Regarded as more promising converts to the Christian faith than adults, children were vital in European efforts to invent loyal subjects during the colonial era. In the contemporary economies of Latin America and the Caribbean—where 23 percent of people live on a dollar per day or less—the labor of children may spell the difference between survival and starvation for millions of households. Minor Omissions brings together scholars of history, anthropology, religion, and art history as well as a talented young author who has lived in the streets of a Brazilian city since the age of nine. The book closes with the prophetic dystopian tale "The Children's Rebellion" by the noted Uruguayan writer Cristina Peri Rossi. Tobias Hecht is the author of At Home in the Street: Street Children of Northeast Brazil. A freelance writer, editor, and literary translator, he holds a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge. Media & bookseller inquiries regarding review copies, events, and interviews can be directed to the publicity department at publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu or (608) 263-0734. (If you want to examine a book for possible course use, please see our Course Books page. If you want to examine a book for possible rights licensing, please see Rights & Permissions.)

September 2002 304 pp.    6 x 9 27 illus. Paper $26.95 s ISBN 978-0-299-18034-8 ADD TO CART

Home | Books | Journals | Events | Textbooks | Authors | Related | Search | Order | Contact

If you have trouble accessing any page in this web site, contact our Web manager. E-mail: webmaster@uwpress.wisc.edu or by phone at 608-263-0733. Updated June 30, 2011 © 2010, The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System