La Geografía en América Latina: visión por países

As a Latin American geographer who has been a higher education administrator, a faculty and a visiting scholar in several universities since the 1970s I was eager to check this particular vision of Latin America.

La Geografía en América Latina: visión por países is a compilation of thirteen countries’ geography written by 20 authors; six of the countries co-authored. It gives a wide variety of approaches as a result of the editors’ intention to show the contemporary Latin American geography. Even when the editors consider themselves as compiladores they did not put together pieces of information from the countries involved in this production. In fact, as the editors explained in the prologue, the authors had total freedom to select and present their personal visions of each country’s geography.

The book is organized by chapters, each one devoted to one country. An alphabetical order to consider an equal treatment and condition placed Argentina first; followed by Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The thirteen chapters focus their attention mostly on higher education, curriculum formation, teaching and learning, and professional activities. Some authors consider the educational reforms in their countries as important milestones in the construction of secondary and higher education in geography; while others concentrate on the profession to prepare geographers. A third group of authors give extra importance to their professional associations and scientific meetings to analyze the development of geography. In general, all the authors explain how education in geography has evolved in their countries. Historical sequence of facts and achievements by native and, in some cases, foreign geographers precedes descriptions of curricular development in higher education. Some contributors create a useful relationship between research and publication to explain the evolution and progress of various academic institutions.

Geography books on Latin America published by scholars in the region are not common. This example may represent a good endeavor by the editors and authors who have spent a great deal of time to produce a publication of multinational characteristics. Even when the objective stated by the editors to deal with “the contemporary situation of geography in the different Latin American contexts” is not totally reached, the authors make a clear effort to describe their countries’ formal education in geography. Yet, it is interesting to notice a lack of profound analysis to understand and address important scientific trends in Latin American geography. Certainly, any person interested in knowing the ‘Geography of Latin America’ will expect to learn more than just a mere description of geography education in several countries. A vision of contemporary geography related to theoretical work and scientific advance in geographic thoughts is almost absent and it may represent important sources of knowledge in this book. The incomplete visualization of Latin American geography is magnified by the exclusion of Brazil from those countries invited to show their experiences. There is no possible justification to the absence of this South American giant. Brazil played a critical role in the building process of the Latin American geography in the past. Likewise, Brazilian geographers and institutions devoted to the field have had, and will continue to have, a strong influence in the construction of the contemporary geography in Latin America.

The last part of this review focuses on the importance of quality when a book is published to demonstrate facts based upon reliable information. In particular, this book shows in some chapters a lack of consistency to present bibliographic sources in which authors or years do not match with those presented in several paragraphs. Other mistakes are incomplete references in a bibliography and total absence of bibliography in several chapters. In some cases, their authors consider an erroneously convenient replacement by using a list of Internet websites with no reference to authors or institutions.

Facts and information need to be supported by clear and proved sources to be considered reliable-- otherwise, they fall into the category of simple opinions. This is the case when the reader is exposed to several extensive chapters and tables with no reference to original sources of information. It goes without saying that this kind of evidence represents both a lack of the authors’ academic preparation as well as an inefficient work conducted by the editors. A complete peer-review process cannot be avoided in any academic production that is published and exposed to the scrutiny of the academic world. Unfortunately, there is still a misinterpretation among so many geographers in Latin American countries of what academic quality is considered as standard around the world. In this regard, this work produced by scholars in the region, with the exception of the excellent chapter written by the authors on Mexico, could not be placed at the same level of similar books on Latin America published abroad.