Robert J. Alexander Papers
An invaluable source for modern Latin America's political and labor history
Diversity of voices
This unique collection captures the opinions and ideas of an immense diversity of voices from the top to the bottom of the countries he visited. Interviews were conducted with men and women from every country and territory in the Americas, including the English-speaking Caribbean, with well over a thousand interviews each for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela. Those interviewed include the rich and well born, hundreds of professionals - including lawyers, judges, and economists - as well as a wide sampling of U.S. embassy officials, disgruntled U.S. expatriates, and U.S. academics. Yet Alexander was particularly concerned to document the views of the mass of the population, such as workers and peasants, while making room for opinionated taxi drivers and even shoeshine boys. Women constitute a respectable minority of the total interview pool.
Crossing ideological divides
As a pro-labor anti-Communist, Professor Alexander cultivated friendships with many of the region's most prominent politicians and government officials. He was an active collaborator with Jay Lovestone - the leading Cold War operative of the U.S. labor movement - and worked closely with Latin American political personalities of the "Democratic Left," such as Haya de la Torre, Romulo Betancourt, and Victor Paz Estenssoro. Whether despite or precisely because of his political militancy, Alexander actively crossed ideological divides to interview even those active in organizations and movements he bitterly opposed, such as Communists. In many cases, follow-up interviews during subsequent visits serve to document the shifting positions of these individuals within evolving national histories.
Revealing observations
The interview notes are organized by country and group, and may include: politicians (by party); businessmen, bankers, agriculturalists, and employers; trade unionists (by geographic area and/or political affiliation); government officials, police and military personnel; students, intellectuals, publishers, teachers, and religious figures; and foreign observers. All interviews are typed in English. Each begins with a full identification of the interviewee and includes the time and place of the interaction. The interviews may be as short as a few sentences or as long as ten single-spaced pages. The observations of those interviewed can be remarkably frank, often surprisingly revealing, and at times humorous as they explain their society to this knowledgeable and inquisitive foreigner.
Politics, economics, and labor relations of Latin America
The Alexander interview collection, long known to a handful of specialists, is now made available by IDC Publishers. Undergraduates, fledgling graduate students, and established scholars will benefit from this comprehensive multinational resource in English. It offers an invaluable documentary source for modern Latin America's tumultuous political and labor history, U.S. Cold War conflicts with the region, and the challenges of economic development. In its temporal sweep, the collection covers the populist heyday of the 1940s through the early 1960s, as well as the succeeding decades of military dictatorship and popular resistance. In the Series “Archival Report”, John D. French, Director, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies at Duke University has described the nature and significance of this collection in Hispanic American Historical Review 84/2 (May 2004), pp. 315-326.
An invaluable source for modern Latin America's political and labor history
Diversity of voices
This unique collection captures the opinions and ideas of an immense diversity of voices from the top to the bottom of the countries he visited. Interviews were conducted with men and women from every country and territory in the Americas, including the English-speaking Caribbean, with well over a thousand interviews each for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela. Those interviewed include the rich and well born, hundreds of professionals - including lawyers, judges, and economists - as well as a wide sampling of U.S. embassy officials, disgruntled U.S. expatriates, and U.S. academics. Yet Alexander was particularly concerned to document the views of the mass of the population, such as workers and peasants, while making room for opinionated taxi drivers and even shoeshine boys. Women constitute a respectable minority of the total interview pool.
Crossing ideological divides
As a pro-labor anti-Communist, Professor Alexander cultivated friendships with many of the region's most prominent politicians and government officials. He was an active collaborator with Jay Lovestone - the leading Cold War operative of the U.S. labor movement - and worked closely with Latin American political personalities of the "Democratic Left," such as Haya de la Torre, Romulo Betancourt, and Victor Paz Estenssoro. Whether despite or precisely because of his political militancy, Alexander actively crossed ideological divides to interview even those active in organizations and movements he bitterly opposed, such as Communists. In many cases, follow-up interviews during subsequent visits serve to document the shifting positions of these individuals within evolving national histories.
Revealing observations
The interview notes are organized by country and group, and may include: politicians (by party); businessmen, bankers, agriculturalists, and employers; trade unionists (by geographic area and/or political affiliation); government officials, police and military personnel; students, intellectuals, publishers, teachers, and religious figures; and foreign observers. All interviews are typed in English. Each begins with a full identification of the interviewee and includes the time and place of the interaction. The interviews may be as short as a few sentences or as long as ten single-spaced pages. The observations of those interviewed can be remarkably frank, often surprisingly revealing, and at times humorous as they explain their society to this knowledgeable and inquisitive foreigner.
Politics, economics, and labor relations of Latin America
The Alexander interview collection, long known to a handful of specialists, is now made available by IDC Publishers. Undergraduates, fledgling graduate students, and established scholars will benefit from this comprehensive multinational resource in English. It offers an invaluable documentary source for modern Latin America's tumultuous political and labor history, U.S. Cold War conflicts with the region, and the challenges of economic development. In its temporal sweep, the collection covers the populist heyday of the 1940s through the early 1960s, as well as the succeeding decades of military dictatorship and popular resistance. In the Series “Archival Report”, John D. French, Director, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies at Duke University has described the nature and significance of this collection in Hispanic American Historical Review 84/2 (May 2004), pp. 315-326.