Elena Jackson Albarran, "Good Neighbor Empires: Children and Cultural Capital in the Americas" (Brill, 2024)

Elena Jackson Albarran, "Good Neighbor Empires: Children and Cultural Capital in the Americas" (Brill, 2024)

Author: New Books Network June 26, 2025 Duration: 39:42
A class of child artists in Mexico, a ship full of child refugees from Spain, classrooms of child pageant actors, and a pair of boy ambassadors revealed facets of hemispheric politics in the Good Neighbor era. Good Neighbor Empires: Children and Cultural Capital in the Americas (Brill, 2024) by Dr. Elena Jackson Albarran explores how and why culture-makers in the Americas tuned into to children as producers of cultural capital to advance their transnational projects. In many instances, prevailing conceptions of children as innocent, primitive, dependent, and underdeveloped informed perceptions of Latin America as an infantilized region, a lesser "Other Americas" on the continent. In other cases, children's interventions in the cultural politics, economic projects, and diplomatic endeavors of the interwar period revealed that Latin American children saw themselves as modern, professional, participants in forging inter-American relationships. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

Dive into the vibrant and complex world of Mexico through its latest scholarship. New Books in Mexican Studies, part of the New Books Network, moves beyond textbook summaries to bring you the authors themselves. Each conversation is a direct line to the research shaping our understanding of Mexico's past and present, covering everything from ancient history and revolutionary politics to contemporary art, social movements, and scientific inquiry. You'll hear two experts engage in a detailed, thoughtful discussion about a recently published book, unpacking its arguments, sources, and contributions to the field. This podcast serves as an academic audio library, making cutting-edge scholarship accessible to anyone curious about the depth and diversity of Mexican life and culture. The discussions are substantive yet approachable, offering listeners the chance to eavesdrop on the kind of dialogue that usually happens in university corridors or at academic conferences. Whether you're a seasoned scholar, a student, or simply an intellectually curious listener, these episodes provide a rich, nuanced perspective that challenges simplistic narratives. It’s about hearing the stories behind the studies and understanding why this work matters now. Tune in to discover the people and ideas currently defining Mexican studies, one new book at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

New Books in Mexican Studies
Podcast Episodes