Nicaragua - the Imagining of a Nation - from Nineteenth-century Liberals to Twentieth-century Sandinistas

Analyzing Nicaragua's post-colonial history, the author studies the Sandinista Revolution in the context of Nicaragua's ongoing efforts at nation-building. At the nexus of politics, sociology, development studies, nationalism studies and Latin American studies, this work takes Nicaragua as a case study to engage and advance upon on Benedict Anderson's ideas on the origins and spread of nationalism and illustrates his theories on nations as imagined political communities. The author provides an account of how nationalism has worked in Nicaragua on a routinized and daily basis. The book is based on research of various sources from the archives of the Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamerica, Central American University Managua, and on interview evidence taken from leading figures from within the Sandinista government (1979-90). The empirical application of these ideas to national literacy campaigns and popular nationalist literature illustrate how the Sandinistas attempted to complete a process of nation building that had been initiated by liberals during the nineteenth century, yet had remained an unfinished task largely due to the successive interventions of the United States in the political and economic affairs of Nicaragua. It also illustrates how Sandinista nationalism departed from its nineteenth-century Liberal version, by re-imagining the nation in terms of an anti-imperialist political identity that would serve the revolutionary government's developmental objectives. The book provides insights into the evolution of states in post-colonial Latin America and their struggle to strike an acceptable balance between sovereignty issues and the imperatives of global politics.* Luciano Baracco holds an MA in Development Studies from the University of Leeds and a PhD in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford; he has taught courses on social theory, postmodernism, development studies, and social research at the University of Bradford (UK) Nottingham Trent University (UK) and No. 7 Middle School, Chengdu (People's Republic of China). He spent one year conducting research at the Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamerica, Managua, and has been an observer of conflict resolution projects sponsored by the Organization of American States in post-war conflict zones in northern Nicaragua for the reintegration of former Contras. He has published articles on Sandinista nationalism and am currently researching the history of the Creole community on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast.