O'Brien, Thomas F. 1947-

views updated

O'Brien, Thomas F. 1947-

PERSONAL:

Born 1947. Education: University of Connecticut, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, University of Houston, 540 Agnes Arnold Hall, Houston, TX 77204-3083. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

University of Houston, Houston, TX, professor of Latin American history, former chair of department of history.

AWARDS, HONORS:

University of Houston Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Service award; Robertson Prize, Conference on Latin American History, for the best article in the Hispanic American Historical Review.

WRITINGS:

The Nitrate Industry and Chile's Crucial Transition, 1870-1891, New York University Press (New York, NY), 1982.

The Revolutionary Mission: American Enterprise in Latin America, 1900-1945, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Corporations and Communities, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)/Center for Latin American Studies, Brown University (Providence, RI)/Latin American Studies Program, University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA), 1997.

The Century of U.S. Capitalism in Latin America, University of New Mexico Press (Albuquerque, NM), 1999.

Contributor to scholarly journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Historian Thomas F. O'Brien has written several books focusing on his primary interest in Latin American history, culture, politics and labor. In The Nitrate Industry and Chile's Crucial Transition, 1870-1891, O'Brien focuses on the "relationship between the Chilean nitrate industry and patterns of Chilean economic and social development in the late nineteenth century," according to Donna J. Guy in Business History. The author discusses how Chile won control of nitrate areas previously claimed by other countries, and he also discusses other historical works related to the topic. Guy further noted: "Buttressed by substantial primary data, O'Brien's analysis of the nitrate business is well worth reading."

The Revolutionary Mission: American Enterprise in Latin America, 1900-1945 reviews how American businesses and their corporate culture impacted both Latin American societies and the South American populist nationalist movements of the time. The author presents several case studies focusing on different South American countries. These studies illustrate how American corporations influenced both labor and wages, as well as control of the workplace. O'Brien also delves into how this influence went beyond the workplace to impact the social hierarchy. In addition, the author discusses the role that agencies of the U.S. government played in U.S.-Latin American entrepreneurial efforts and government responses in these Latin American countries. Helen Shapiro, writing in the Business History Review, commented that she "found the book's historical material compelling." Shapiro added that "the book's relevance extends beyond its historical contribution to the current globalization debate in which the role of multinational firms in less-developed countries is hotly contested." In a review in the Historian, Timothy E. Anna commented: "This is a sophisticated book, espousing no single theoretical frame, and focusing on the social rather than the economic impact of U.S. corporate culture." Referring to the book as a "clear-headed study of inter-American interactions outside diplomatic channels" in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Paul W. Drake predicted: "This book will become a standard source about the economic role of the United States in Latin America."

O'Brien draws from his earlier books on Latin America to present a more student-oriented discussion of similar topics in The Century of U.S. Capitalism in Latin America. Paul Henderson, writing in the Journalof Latin American Studies, commented that the author "provides a concise and timely summary of the evolution of U.S. business involvement in Latin America from the late eighteenth century to the present day." Henderson added that O'Brien should "be praised for his skill in summarising a considerable amount of research, both his own and that of others." In the Hispanic American Historical Review, Mira Wilkins called the book a "short and very readable history," adding that the author "has provided a neat, compact narrative on the history of U.S. business in Latin America that is remarkably complete."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Business History Review, summer, 1985, Donna J. Guy, review of The Nitrate Industry and Chile's Crucial Transition, 1870-1891, p. 335; winter, 1997, Helen Shapiro, review of The Revolutionary Mission: American Enterprise in Latin America, 1900-1945, p. 629.

English Historical Review, November, 2000, Nicola Miller, review of The Revolutionary Mission, p. 1358.

Hispanic American Historical Review, May, 2000, Mira Wilkins, review of The Century of U.S. Capitalism in Latin America, pp. 393-395.

Historian, winter, 1998, Timothy E. Anna, review of The Revolutionary Mission, p. 401.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, summer, 1997, Paul W. Drake, review of The Revolutionary Mission, p. 162.

Journal of Latin American Studies, November, 2001, Paul Henderson, review of The Century of U.S. Capitalism in Latin America, p. 904.