Herbert S Klein
Columbia University, History, Emeritus
- I was born in New York City in the borough of the Bronx on January 6, 1936. I attended public schools in Far Rockaway... moreI was born in New York City in the borough of the Bronx on January 6, 1936. I attended public schools in Far Rockaway Queens. After graduating Far Rockaway High School I first attended Syracuse University from 1953 to 1955 and then transferred to the University of Chicago, where I obtained my BA in History in 1957, my MA in 1959 and my PhD in 1963 with a major in history and a minor in Anthropology. I taught Latin American History at the University of Chicago from 1962 to 1969 rising from Lecturer to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. I then taught at Columbia University from 1969 to 2005, being named the Gouverneur Morris Professor of History in 2003. I retired from Columbia in 2005 and was named Professor of History and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University from 2005-2011. After my retirement as Director of the Center I was named Research Fellow and Curator of Latin American Collection, of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University in 2011. Also since 2009 I have been a Visiting Scholar at the California Center for Population Research, UCLA.
My main areas of interests are in comparative social history, quantitative methods in historical research and demographic history. I have published extensively on the history of slavery, the Atlantic slave trade, colonial fiscal history, and demographic history. I have also concentrated most of my research and publications on the histories of Bolivia, Brazil and the United States. I have been a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Banco de España fellow, a Catedra Patrimonial" of (CONACYT) the Consejo Nacional para Ciencia y Tecnología of Mexico, , a Directeur d'études associé in 1987 and a Professeur Invité in 2002 at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris), and Fulbright Lecturer in numerous Latin American and European universities. I received grants from the Ford Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Tinker Foundation. My honors include the 1967 "Conference Prize" of the Conference of Latin American Historians (CLAH) for my article "Peasant Communities in Revolt, " the “Primer Premio” of the Municipality of La Paz Bolivia in 1968 for my book Orígenes de la Revolución Nacional Boliviana, the "Socio-Psychological Prize" of the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) joint with Jonathan Kelley in 1977; the 2010 “Premio em Historia e Ciencias Sociais “of the Academia Brasileira de Letras, for my book Escravismo em São Paulo e Minas Gerais (joint with Iraci Costa and Francisco Vidal Luna) , I received the Distinguished Service Award from the CLAH (Conference on Latin American History) in 2015 and in 2019 a Doctor de Honoris Causa from the University of Santiago (Usach) in Chile.. From 2003-2015, I was editor of the Cambridge University Press Series of Latin American Monographs and I am on the board of editors of several Latin American and Spanish Historical Journals.edit - I supervised 65 PhD students at Columbia Universityedit
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O Brasil de 1950 era bem diferente do que é hoje. No período que corresponde ao tempo de vida de uma pessoa, o Brasil se transformou de uma economia tradicional subdesenvolvida, dominada pela vida rural com estrutura demográfica... more
O Brasil de 1950 era bem diferente do que é hoje. No período que
corresponde ao tempo de vida de uma pessoa, o Brasil se transformou
de uma economia tradicional subdesenvolvida, dominada pela vida
rural com estrutura demográfica pré-moderna, em uma sociedade urbana
moderna. Em 1950, apenas um terço do país era urbanizado e quase três
quartos da força de trabalho estava envolvida em uma agricultura que
atendia apenas parcialmente às necessidades alimentares da nação. Hoje o Brasil é uma sociedade mais de 80% urbana, e apenas a décima
parte da sua força de trabalho atua na agricultura. Tornou-se uma sociedade mais complexa, com uma grande classe média e uma classe trabalhadora organizada e incorporada a um sistema moderno de bem-estar social. Na segunda década do século xxi, todas as crianças frequentam o ensino fundamental, as mulheres têm maior nível de escolaridade que os homens, e as taxas de natalidade e mortalidade, além da expectativa de vida, se aproximam dos padrões do primeiro mundo. A questão que se coloca nesta obra é como ocorreu essa mudança radical.
corresponde ao tempo de vida de uma pessoa, o Brasil se transformou
de uma economia tradicional subdesenvolvida, dominada pela vida
rural com estrutura demográfica pré-moderna, em uma sociedade urbana
moderna. Em 1950, apenas um terço do país era urbanizado e quase três
quartos da força de trabalho estava envolvida em uma agricultura que
atendia apenas parcialmente às necessidades alimentares da nação. Hoje o Brasil é uma sociedade mais de 80% urbana, e apenas a décima
parte da sua força de trabalho atua na agricultura. Tornou-se uma sociedade mais complexa, com uma grande classe média e uma classe trabalhadora organizada e incorporada a um sistema moderno de bem-estar social. Na segunda década do século xxi, todas as crianças frequentam o ensino fundamental, as mulheres têm maior nível de escolaridade que os homens, e as taxas de natalidade e mortalidade, além da expectativa de vida, se aproximam dos padrões do primeiro mundo. A questão que se coloca nesta obra é como ocorreu essa mudança radical.
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re-issued in 2017 and available in hardcover, paperback and ebook editions
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"Modern Brazil: A Social History documents and explains the rapid transformation of Brazilian society during the last 75 years. The outstanding research experience of Klein and Luna guarantees precise analysis about the demographic,... more
"Modern Brazil: A Social History documents and explains the rapid transformation of Brazilian society during the last 75 years. The outstanding research experience of Klein and Luna guarantees precise analysis about the demographic, economic, social, and institutional changes of Brazilian society. This book gives to the reader a robust historical perspective, which is very useful to understand the roots of Brazil's present problems." JOSÉ PASTORE Professor of Labor Relations, University of São Paulo
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Población y política en la historia de Bolivia acoge doce artículos del historiador Herbert S. Klein; escritos valiosos y difíciles de encontrar hoy en día. Los mismos fueron publicados entre 1964 y 2011 dentro de una gran reflexión sobre... more
Población y política en la historia de Bolivia acoge doce artículos del historiador Herbert S. Klein; escritos valiosos y difíciles de encontrar hoy en día. Los mismos fueron publicados entre 1964 y 2011 dentro de una gran reflexión sobre la historia de Bolivia y engloban temas agrarios, económicos y políticos. Sin perder actualidad y apegados a una estricta metodología cuantitativa y documental, estos análisis escrutan demográficamente los ayllus y haciendas durante la administración española; luego analizan aspectos de la economía extractivista boliviana referida a la plata, estaño e hidrocarburos. Especial interés suscita, para una comprensión del desarrollo político, su análisis del impacto de la guerra del Pacífico en Bolivia y aquellas pesquisas centradas en la segunda mitad del siglo XX e inicios del XXI. En su conjunto, esta compilación constituye un homenaje a H.S. Klein, quien durante décadas ha contribuido al fascinante campo de estudio de la historia.
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Bolivia, una nación creada a fuerza de conquistas imperiales y adaptaciones nativas, con una singular población acostumbrada a vivir en las alturas, es aún la más amerindia de las repúblicas americanas, al tiempo que participa de lleno en... more
Bolivia, una nación creada a fuerza de conquistas imperiales y adaptaciones nativas, con una singular población acostumbrada a vivir en las alturas, es aún la más amerindia de las repúblicas americanas, al tiempo que participa de lleno en la economía mundial. La gran parte de sus periodos colonial e independiente ha estado marcada por el auge y la caída de su industria minera, desde la exportación de plata a Europa en el siglo xvi hasta la de gas natural a Brasil y Argentina en la actualidad. Durante siglos estuvo dominada por una élite blanca que controlaba a la población campesina de origen aimara y quechua, en la cual el español era el idioma minoritario. Sin embargo, ésta ha experimentado en los últimos tiempos mayor movilidad social y económica que cualquier otra población indígena o mestiza de Hispanoamérica. Lo que es más, Bolivia es actualmente el único país latinoamericano gobernado por su población amerindia originaria y la élite mestiza. Uno de los principales intereses de esta edición es revisar cómo y por qué sucedió todo esto mediante el examen de la evolución económica, social y política de esta importante nación, desde los primeros poblamientos de la región hasta el régimen actual de Evo Morales. Éstos son algunos de los temas que se analizan en este estudio histórico que en su primera edición en español fue aceptado por los propios bolivianos como una nueva historia general de su país.
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Sinopsis: En esta historia mínima de la esclavitud en América Latina y el Caribe Hebert Klein y Ben Vinson III conjugan sus conocimientos para darnos el panorama más completo de la esclavitud en América Latina y el Caribe: Klein con sus... more
Sinopsis: En esta historia mínima de la esclavitud en América Latina y el Caribe Hebert Klein y Ben Vinson III conjugan sus conocimientos para darnos el panorama más completo de la esclavitud en América Latina y el Caribe: Klein con sus investigaciones sobre el comercio de esclavos en el Atlántico y la sociedad esclavista en Brasil; Vinson III con sus estudios sobre los negros en Mesoamérica, la economía de la esclavitud africana y el mundo de los libertos; temas sobre los cuales ambos autores han publicado mucho en los últimos 10 años. Esta nueva edición de El Colegio de México es una versión corregida y actualizada, que incorpora la abundante investigación del último lustro; la cual acogemos con gusto en nuestra colección de Historia Mínima.
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História econômica e social do Brasil – O Brasil desde a República apresenta aos leitores as tendências socioeconômicas que definiram a sociedade e a economia brasileira moderna e também mostra a história política nacional de modo a... more
História econômica e social do Brasil – O Brasil desde a República apresenta aos leitores as tendências socioeconômicas que definiram a sociedade e a economia brasileira moderna e também mostra a história política nacional de modo a orientar o leitor sobre o papel exercido pelo Estado em tais desenvolvimentos. A obra aborda a marcha do Brasil rumo à modernização, mostrando quão tumultuado foi esse processo e as transformações sociais que acompanharam as mudanças na economia ao longo desse período. Evidencia como a economia e a sociedade de um dos maiores países do mundo evoluíram e quais foram suas causas e consequências.
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Today Brazil is the world's second leading source of cotton, reprising the role it played for a brief time in the early 19th century. But this history of its production is a complex one of both growth and stagnation, and includes profound... more
Today Brazil is the world's second leading source of cotton, reprising the role it played for a brief time in the early 19th century. But this history of its production is a complex one of both growth and stagnation, and includes profound changes in the types of cotton exported and where and how it was produced. It went from being a product of small farmers to one grown primarily on large estates. Our essay explores these changes over time and offers an analysis of how production shifted from the Northeast to the Southeast and ended finally in the Center-West of the country and why it went from a being net importer of cotton to a major exporter in just the past thirty years.
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The growing wealth of the world in the past seventy five years has led to an increasing demand for cheap animal protein. While the modern chicken meat or broiler industry was first developed in the United States and Western Europe, it is... more
The growing wealth of the world in the past seventy five years has led to an increasing demand for cheap animal protein. While the modern chicken meat or broiler industry was first developed in the United States and Western Europe, it is Brazil which today is the primary world exporter of broiler chickens. We examine the origin and growth of the industry in Brazil, and explain how and why it emerged as the leading world export of broiler meat in general and of halal chicken meat in particular
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Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay today account for well over a third of world exports of cellulose, yet this industry only came into existence in the late twentieth century. The evolution of this industry across the three countries is the... more
Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay today account for well over a third of world exports of cellulose, yet this industry only came into existence in the late twentieth century. The evolution of this industry across the three countries is the object of this study. This nascent industry required direct government support in all three countries to be successful. Forestry laws and government investments in research, education, and factory construction were all needed to encourage local and foreign capital. There were differences among these countries in their linkages to other economic sectors as well as their export mix. But in all three countries, the forestry industry was part of a general modernization of agriculture that allowed for successful competition in world markets.
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Analisa-se a utilização de escravos na atividade agrícola voltada à produção de produtivos dedicados ao mercado interno
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Until the beginning of the 20th century, the history of Brazil was marked by the dynamics of agricultural activity with both large-scale export crops and agriculture aimed at supplying the domestic market, the latter sometimes confused... more
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the history of Brazil was marked by the dynamics of agricultural activity with both large-scale export crops and agriculture aimed at supplying the domestic market, the latter sometimes confused with subsistence farming. Although the international market was the dynamic element, the effects to supply the internal market are essential to explain the history, occupation and population of Brazilian territory. In this article we aim to analyze the dynamics of agriculture in the first centuries of colonization, both exporting activities and those dedicated
to the domestic market, and its situation in the mid-nineteenth century period of consolidation of coffee farming, which profoundly altered the national productive structure and the infrastructure economy and in particular the transport system.
Até o início do século XX a história do Brasil foi marcada pela dinâmica da
atividade agrícola, tanto a grande lavoura exportadora, como a agropecuária voltada ao abastecimento do mercado interno, que se confundia com a atividade de subsistência. Embora o mercado internacional fosse o elemento dinâmico, os efeitos sobre as atividades
não exportadoras são essenciais para explicar a história, ocupação e
povoamento do território brasileiro. Neste artigo objetivamos analisar a dinâmica da agricultura nos primeiros séculos de colonização, tanto as atividades exportadoras como as dedicadas ao mercado interno, e sua situação em meados do século XIX, período de consolidação da cafeicultura, que alterou profundamente a estrutura produtiva nacional e a infraestrutura econômica, em particular o sistema de transportes
to the domestic market, and its situation in the mid-nineteenth century period of consolidation of coffee farming, which profoundly altered the national productive structure and the infrastructure economy and in particular the transport system.
Até o início do século XX a história do Brasil foi marcada pela dinâmica da
atividade agrícola, tanto a grande lavoura exportadora, como a agropecuária voltada ao abastecimento do mercado interno, que se confundia com a atividade de subsistência. Embora o mercado internacional fosse o elemento dinâmico, os efeitos sobre as atividades
não exportadoras são essenciais para explicar a história, ocupação e
povoamento do território brasileiro. Neste artigo objetivamos analisar a dinâmica da agricultura nos primeiros séculos de colonização, tanto as atividades exportadoras como as dedicadas ao mercado interno, e sua situação em meados do século XIX, período de consolidação da cafeicultura, que alterou profundamente a estrutura produtiva nacional e a infraestrutura econômica, em particular o sistema de transportes
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Brazil and Argentina have emerged as leading maize producers and exporters in the past two decades. In both cases the modern maize industry is associated with the expansion of soybean production and has also had an impact on national meat... more
Brazil and Argentina have emerged as leading maize producers and exporters in the past two decades. In both cases the modern maize industry is associated with the expansion of soybean production and has also had an impact on national meat production. We examine how this transformation of maize production occurred, how it evolved in different ways in these two countries and how it relates to changes in their general agricultural development.
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In the past 50 years, South America has emerged as the dominant world producer of soybeans, a crop of no significance in the region before the middle of the 20 th century. As of the crop year 2019/2020, Brazil and Argentina produced 176... more
In the past 50 years, South America has emerged as the dominant world producer of soybeans, a crop of no significance in the region before the middle of the 20 th century. As of the crop year 2019/2020, Brazil and Argentina produced 176 million tons which is over half of all world production and these two countries alone will also account for 57 per cent of all Soybeans exported in international trade. How this new agricultural product evolved in these two principal regional producers is the aim of this study. Here we attempt to examine the historical evolution of soybean production in Brazil and Argentina and try to show the unique patterns of production in each of the two crucial states.
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O artigo analisa o processo de modernização da agricultura brasileira. Iniciado em meados do século XX, permitiu ao país transformar-se em um dos mais importantes produtores e exportadores agrícolas do mundo, ocupando posição de destaque... more
O artigo analisa o processo de modernização da agricultura brasileira. Iniciado em meados do século XX, permitiu ao país transformar-se em um dos mais importantes produtores e exportadores agrícolas do mundo, ocupando posição de destaque em inúmeros produtos, como soja, suco de laranja, açúcar, carnes, café, etanol, milho e algodão. Apesar da modernização do agronegócio brasileiro, subsiste um amplo segmento de propriedades de baixos rendimentos físico e econômico, em que vivem milhões de agricultores dedicados a uma atividade de mera subsistência.
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A utilização do trabalho escravo na América esteve associada com a agricultura para exportação. Entretanto, não houve regime escravista no qual os escravos foram utilizados somente naqueles cultivos; mesmo nas áreas mais orientadas para a... more
A utilização do trabalho escravo na América esteve associada com a agricultura para exportação. Entretanto, não houve regime escravista no qual os escravos foram utilizados somente naqueles cultivos; mesmo nas áreas mais orientadas para a exportação, houve produção de gêneros alimentícios para consumo próprio e abastecimento do mercado local. Porém, em poucos casos essa atividade foi tão marcante como na economia escravista no Brasil, em especial nas áreas pioneiras da cafeicultura em São Paulo, na primeira metade do século 19. A análise desse processo de produção é o objetivo deste artigo.
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The current analysis of slave society in Brazil has invo the traditional plantation-dominated model, with a new stress on of slaves among whites and non-whites and their involvemen economy as well as in extractive industries. This general... more
The current analysis of slave society in Brazil has invo the traditional plantation-dominated model, with a new stress on of slaves among whites and non-whites and their involvemen economy as well as in extractive industries. This general pictu detailed analysis of the economy and slavery practised in the tw
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Traditional historical literature has stressed a generalized crisis throughout the world in the 17th century. First proposed for Europe with its numerous dynastic, religious and state conflicts, it has now been expanded to include Asia... more
Traditional historical literature has stressed a generalized crisis throughout the world in the 17th century. First proposed for Europe with its numerous dynastic, religious and state conflicts, it has now been expanded to include Asia and the Middle East as well. It was also assumed that there was a significant crisis in the Americas, a theme which until recently has dominated the traditional literature. The claim that there was such a crisis was based on a series of classic studies by . Hamilton, Chaunu and Borah, among others. But new research has challenged this hypothesis and we will examine both these new
studies as well as offering our own research findings on this subject
studies as well as offering our own research findings on this subject
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ABSTRACT Journal of Social History 33.3 (2000) 743-745 There are some audiences in North America today who find it difficult to understand past societies and their value systems, and who think a transgression in the past, however distant,... more
ABSTRACT Journal of Social History 33.3 (2000) 743-745 There are some audiences in North America today who find it difficult to understand past societies and their value systems, and who think a transgression in the past, however distant, invalidates activities or ideas of the present. For these people the finding that even one Jew participated in the slave trade in the 18th century invalidates Jewish political support of civil rights or integration in the 20th century. One outcome of this has been a re-invented history of the Jewish participation in the slave trade which asserts that Jews were the majority of slave owners in the United States and played a major role in the slave trade everywhere. It is in this context that Eli Faber wrote his scholarly book on the participation of Jews in the slave trade and slavery. He has provided the basic numbers that can be established on the relation between Jews and African slaves in the English and Dutch colonial worlds. His major finding is that Jews had a minuscule role in the slave trade and played only a minor role as slave owners wherever they resided in the New World. Of course, knowledgeable historians could have predicted the results of the book, given the circumscribed role of the Jews within European and American societies from the 15th through the 18th century. As Faber shows, the Jews were not a major factor in any international trade in the Anglo-Saxon world, except possibly the diamond trade. They were also not significant as planters or slave owning farmers, except possibly in Surinam. To the extent that they owned slaves they tended to own fewer slaves on average than their non-Jewish peers. A dozen or so participated in some aspect of the Atlantic slave trade to 1800, with only about half a dozen being serious traders, and even this group moved a very tiny fraction of the total Africans brought to America. The largest group of Jewish slave traders in the British Empire, and the only ones who systematically engaged in the African trade over a long period were the three or four Rhode Island Jewish merchants who in total controlled less than 10% of the voyages and less than 10% of the slaves delivered by Rhode Island traders in the 18th century. In turn Rhode Island was one of the minor ports within the English world engaged in the slave trade. Practically no Jews within England engaged in the far larger trades coming from Liverpool, Bristol and London. That it was necessary for a scholar to provide this much detail on this issue, tells us more about our own society than it does about the Jews and Africans in this period. Indeed one can understand much of the fascination with the Jewish role in the slave trade not as a matter of scholarly interest, but as part of an attack by anti-integrationist leaders on the Civil Rights movement and the "rainbow" coalition. By the principle of condemning the participation of any single member of a particular group participating in slavery or the slave trade, it would be possible to write histories attacking the role of Catholics, Protestants, Moslems, West Africans or Mozambicans, all of whom engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. Of course it might be impolitic to antagonize these groups. This tactic even seems to have found some resonance in some liberal circles in the United States, as seen by apologies given for this past Jewish participation, or even shock from those who had no idea that Jews had ever held slaves or owned slave ships. As Professor Faber shows, the facts of limited Jewish participation in the trade and ownership of slaves have been known to historians for quite some time and has been dealt with at length by scholars. Where Faber has done all scholars a service is to gather all these specialized materials together and present them, along with his own research...
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Reflections on fifty years of studying international immigration in the Atlantic World. Paper prepared for the World Economic History Conference, Paris July 2022
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This is an updated version with more tools included, thanks to the many suggestions I have received for the first version
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A basic guide for historians on how to use and search in Google Scholar, which is available in all the languages that Google uses. I have now updated this with a few more tools available in Google Scholar. - now updated