Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Las venas abiertas de América Latina by Eduardo Galeano

6 reviews

historicalmaterialgirl's review against another edition

It's one thing to think colonialism is bad and another to study it, feel your jaw drop and blood boil at the details, at the complete and utter destruction of an entire continent. Saying you hate colonialism is an understatement. 

Galeano writes history with the flourish of a novelist's pen; I was as hooked as I was horrified. He illustrates with historical-modern day parallels that colonialism hasn't died, it's become abstracted. It's relegated to confusing economic terms that control entire countries, ecologies and human populations. How important is the difference between leading a war against a country and, decades later, funding and arming a war against that country? How important is the difference between running a country as a colony and then, later, making it economically dependent on you (and helping a coup in it if they nationalize a resource you want)? 

After reading (most of) this, it's now plain to me how capitalism really is the root of all evils, it's not an "equal set of oppression" to homophobia, ableism, etc that the term intersectionality had me thinking. That isn't to dismiss the material, life-ending effects of homophobia and racism, but just that those don't explain why. The primitive accumulation of someone else's economy is why there are deadly, poisonous, unnecessary mines across the world. Capitalism is why the colonizers were there. Capitalism is why there is a global south. Capitalism is what has destroyed the land and wiped out entire cultures. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Colonisation

michaelion's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

"In Caracas they are called toderos because they do a bit of everything (todo)." and "The technical ability of these people was of no interest to the colonial economy. They were treated as so many skilled workers." Two quotes from the book I found so moving I had to add them in my review.

Large sections of this book should be taught in schools. Not all of it though, some of it can be scrapped and the point will still be the same. The main thing that takes you out of the book is how much of it is really long examples.

Other than that, no notes. The book really touches on everything. Even though it was published 51 years ago, what's changed? Too much has stayed the same. Although, talking about the USSR as if it was still an ever-present thing threw me off my rocker a couple times.

If you're reading this review, by the way, please watch the film Sleep Dealer (dir. Alex Rivera, 2008). Thank you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, Blood, and Antisemitism

I tagged body horror for the title alone. It itself invokes the feeling of flesh being torn apart to get to the beating heart, under the skin, where the veins and life is. Which I'm sure was purely intentional.

chicopato's review

informative reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, and Colonisation

cemeterygay's review against another edition

informative reflective

4.0

An interesting perspective and introduction to looking at Latin America through a decolonial lens but definitely does not hold up to any level of academic scrutiny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Medical trauma

CW: Racial Caste System, Systemic Violence

quickermorequickly's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

ginpomelo's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Violence