Profitable Offices
Corruption, Anticorruption, and the Formation of Venezuela's Neopatrimonial State, 1908-1948
Published on 22. April 2025
Book
Hardback
296 pages
978-0-8229-4850-6 (ISBN)
Description
During the crucial period of its formation, the opposing forces of corruption and anticorruption shaped Venezuela's new national state and its relationship with society. National strongman Juan Vicente Gomez, who ruled from 1908 to 1935, fastened control over key areas of the economy, extracted wealth from the Venezuelan people, and distributed resources to favorites. Utilizing a variety of discursive strategies, Venezuelans denounced this profiteering, and in 1945 reformers seized power in an attempt to create a new political system free from the last remnants of Gomez's government. The tragic unraveling of that attempt at reform led to the continuation of corruption, setting the stage for the political crises of the late twentieth century. Combining methods from the humanities and social sciences, Profitable Offices offers a fresh interpretation of Venezuelan history during the first half of the twentieth century while also pioneering a new approach to the historical study of corruption and the struggle against it.
Reviews / Votes
Doug Yarrington has written an intellectually fascinating history of Venezuela. He mines new sources, chisels out well-written prose, and unveils novel arguments about the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gomez. Profitable Offices surefootedly explores the conundrum of corruption. -- Christoph Rosenmuller, Middle Tennessee State University Yarrington has written an impressive book that explores methods and provides valuable insights that go beyond the Venezuelan case. His analysis enriches the new historiography of corruption and anticorruption. * American Historical Review * Yarrington offers a compelling account of corruption and anticorruption as engines of state formation, grounded in official correspondence, diplomatic dispatches, newspapers, and congressional debates. * The Americas * Yarrington delivers a novel framework for understanding the causes and effects of corruption-related controversies in modern Venezuela and beyond. . .this well-written book provides insights that go well beyond the Venezuelan case and will be of interest to anyone studying the question of corruption. * Hispanic American Historical Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Pittsburgh PA
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
5 b&w
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
635 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8229-4850-6 (9780822948506)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Doug Yarrington is associate professor of history at Colorado State University, where he teaches Latin American and world history.