This current dissertation explores several ideas about the construction of the Nahua intellectual tradition in 19th century-Mexico. Initially, the argument of this dissertation focuses on... Show moreThis current dissertation explores several ideas about the construction of the Nahua intellectual tradition in 19th century-Mexico. Initially, the argument of this dissertation focuses on examining the intellectual tradition among Indigenous Peoples in Mesoamerica after the European invasion of the Americas. As a result of the Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica, Indigenous Peoples in the capital of New Spain continued developing their own intellectual tradition by following two possible paths. One group of indigenous intellectuals decided to continue with their intellectual production outside of the Spanish colonial institutions. A second group of indigenous intellectuals opted for continuing with their intellectual labors under the sponsorship of the colonial authorities. In this way the intellectual tradition of the Nahua people continued during the entire colonial period. However, during the first decades of the 19th century, with the issuing of the Constitution of Cadiz and the independence of New Spain, the indigenous intellectual phenomenon within the established institutions in Mexico City changed dramatically, but it did not cease. This dissertation explores the changes that Nahua intellectuals who worked within colonial institutions in Mexico City experienced during the first decades of independent government, and examines how they continued with their indigenous intellectual tradition. Show less
Bedachtzame revolutionairen (Cautious revolutionaries) analyzes debates among the opposition in Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the last fifteen years of communist... Show moreBedachtzame revolutionairen (Cautious revolutionaries) analyzes debates among the opposition in Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the last fifteen years of communist rule. It compares how during the 1970s and 1980s the East German and Czech opposition movements debated several issues (the relevance of socialism, the tension between peace and human rights, cultural criticism and environmental activism), how they reacted to the Soviet reforms that from 1985 onwards changed the political landscape in Central and Eastern Europe, and, finally, how they acted during the breakdown of the communist regimes in 1989. Contrary to what current historiography suggests, this book argues that reform socialism, cultural criticism and a critical attitude towards Western consumer society and party democracy were not themes unique for the East German opposition. However, the division of Germany and the permanent flow of emigration to the West did have a decisive impact on the social composition and political outlook of the opposition in the GDR, which, unlike the Czechs, almost completely lacked leading intellectuals and was far more optimistic about the prospects of a reformed socialism. Show less
