Institute for the Study of the Americas

The materials held here cover a wide variety of popular movements and issues in recent Latin American history from both internal (in the form of publications by local pressure groups, oppositional parties and governments) and external perspectives (through the reports and bulletins of NGOs, international conferences and foreign political parties). Inevitably (given the military governments, revolutionary movements and increasingly dominant neo-liberal economic policies which have marked this era in the continent's history) major topics include human rights, poverty, economic sovereignty and the condition of indigenous peoples, whilst the role of the United States in the hemisphere is also considered. Another aspect unique to Latin America is the large amount of material originating from Christian groups, many seeking to "exercise an option in favour of the poor" as promulgated by the II Vatican Council (1962-1965).