The Costa Rica Reader

<div>Long characterized as an exceptional country within Latin America Costa Rica has been hailed as a democratic oasis in a continent scorched by dictatorship and revolution; the ecological mecca of a biosphere laid waste by deforestation and urban blight; and an egalitarian middle-class society blissfully immune to the violent class and racial conflicts that have haunted the region. Arguing that conceptions of Costa Rica as a happy anomaly downplay its rich heritage and diverse population <i>The Costa Rica Reader</i> brings together texts and artwork that reveal the complexity of the country's past and present. It characterizes Costa Rica as a site of alternatives and possibilities that undermine stereotypes about the region's history and challenge the idea that current dilemmas facing Latin America are inevitable or insoluble.<p>This essential introduction to Costa Rica includes more than fifty texts related to the country's history culture politics and natural environment. Most of these newspaper accounts histories petitions memoirs poems and essays are written by Costa Ricans. Many appear here in English for the first time. The authors are men and women young and old scholars farmers workers and activists. <i>The Costa Rica Reader</i> presents a panoply of voices: eloquent working-class raconteurs from San José's poorest barrios English-speaking Afro-Antilleans of the Limón province Nicaraguan immigrants factory workers dissident members of the intelligentsia and indigenous people struggling to preserve their culture. With more than forty images the collection showcases sculptures photographs maps cartoons and fliers. From the time before the arrival of the Spanish through the rise of the coffee plantations and the Civil War of 1948 up to participation in today's globalized world Costa Rica's remarkable history comes alive. <i>The Costa Rica Reader</i> is a necessary resource for scholars students and travelers alike.</p></div>