This article delves into the history of medical institutions, birthing practices, and reproductiv... more This article delves into the history of medical institutions, birthing practices, and reproductive rights in Vieques. The exploration exposes contradictions at the heart of Puerto Rico’s colonial modernity. Around the middle of the twentieth century, Puerto Ricans were encouraged to depend on the colonial state and medical establishment for guarantee of life, health, and general well-being. This encouragement clashed with the militarized colonialism imposed on Viequenses. The 1940s expropriations—through which the U.S. Navy gained control over three-fourths of Vieques—devastated the community. And the interventions by the colonial state and medical establishment proved at times meek, complicit, and ineffective. In 2003, unruly colonial citizens evicted the Navy. Their actions were part of a struggle for the survival and well-being of the Viequense island community. In this article, the author argues that la lucha viequense has been fundamentally shaped by the concerns and actions of women who placed reproductive rights at the center of the struggle.
After centuries of colonialism, bombings, and lack of basic services, residents of Vieques demand... more After centuries of colonialism, bombings, and lack of basic services, residents of Vieques demand the right to survive and thrive on the Puerto Rican island they call home.
Op. Cit.: Revista del Centro de Investigaciones Históricas, 2014
En el 1514, los conquistadores españoles exterminaron la población indígena en Vieques. La isla s... more En el 1514, los conquistadores españoles exterminaron la población indígena en Vieques. La isla se convirtió en una posesión imperial deshabitada que fue colonizada en el siglo 19 y ocupada por Estados Unidos en el 1898. O así se cuenta la historia. Sin embargo, los viequenses han retado la narrativa dominante brindándole vida a los temidos caribes. A finales del siglo 20, por ejemplo, opositores a la presencia militar estadounidense promulgaron una sensibilidad temporal alterna dentro de la cual lo indígena es parte integral de la identidad viequense. Este reclamo caribe enfatizó a través de diferentes performances una relación orgánica entre comunidad e isla y un carácter indómito legado por quienes se piensa sacrificaron todo antes que doblegarse. La articulación de una identidad indígena viequense es entonces un posicionamiento contestatario que complica la historia, cuestiona sus métodos y evidencia sus efectos. Es también parte de una lucha por sobrevivencia en el Caribe (pos)colonial.
This article is based on different papers written for a two-part conference exploring the impact ... more This article is based on different papers written for a two-part conference exploring the impact of the cultural turn in the historical discipline, and more precisely in the work of a young generation of historians shaped by the University of Puerto Rico and the University of Michigan. In these conferences I broadly delineated my research project titled Inhabting Isla Nena, 1514-2003: Imperial Formations, Historical Narrations and Vieques, Puerto Rico, and then focused on chapter four titled Labor and Birth: The Spanish Colony of Vieques, 1800s. The current article, accordingly, provides an overview of the project and the history of 19th century Vieques; history is to be understood as the past and as the narration of the past. The essay, furthermore, engages 19th century Vieques to delve into the politics of historical narrations, and their centrality in imperial claims over colonized landscapes and bodies. The essay, moreover, questions the privileging of written documentation and imperial archives that can ignore the rationales behind knowledge production and storage, not to mention reproduce inaccurate accounts that can validate imperial projects to the detriment of colonized populations.
Centro: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, 2008
This essay examines how Vieques has been geographically imagined as Isla Nena through the struggl... more This essay examines how Vieques has been geographically imagined as Isla Nena through the struggles of communities to inhabit and of empires to claim the island. The study traces such struggles from the 16th to the 21st century in order to historicize Isla Nena as the gendered and infantilized representation of an island-community negotiating complex colonial relationships with different metropolises. The study further portrays, through the longue durée framework, how this island-community has for centuries been caught in the midst of imperial dramas and how such dramas have influenced definitions of the Vieques-Puerto Rico relationship.
This article delves into the history of medical institutions, birthing practices, and reproductiv... more This article delves into the history of medical institutions, birthing practices, and reproductive rights in Vieques. The exploration exposes contradictions at the heart of Puerto Rico’s colonial modernity. Around the middle of the twentieth century, Puerto Ricans were encouraged to depend on the colonial state and medical establishment for guarantee of life, health, and general well-being. This encouragement clashed with the militarized colonialism imposed on Viequenses. The 1940s expropriations—through which the U.S. Navy gained control over three-fourths of Vieques—devastated the community. And the interventions by the colonial state and medical establishment proved at times meek, complicit, and ineffective. In 2003, unruly colonial citizens evicted the Navy. Their actions were part of a struggle for the survival and well-being of the Viequense island community. In this article, the author argues that la lucha viequense has been fundamentally shaped by the concerns and actions of women who placed reproductive rights at the center of the struggle.
After centuries of colonialism, bombings, and lack of basic services, residents of Vieques demand... more After centuries of colonialism, bombings, and lack of basic services, residents of Vieques demand the right to survive and thrive on the Puerto Rican island they call home.
Op. Cit.: Revista del Centro de Investigaciones Históricas, 2014
En el 1514, los conquistadores españoles exterminaron la población indígena en Vieques. La isla s... more En el 1514, los conquistadores españoles exterminaron la población indígena en Vieques. La isla se convirtió en una posesión imperial deshabitada que fue colonizada en el siglo 19 y ocupada por Estados Unidos en el 1898. O así se cuenta la historia. Sin embargo, los viequenses han retado la narrativa dominante brindándole vida a los temidos caribes. A finales del siglo 20, por ejemplo, opositores a la presencia militar estadounidense promulgaron una sensibilidad temporal alterna dentro de la cual lo indígena es parte integral de la identidad viequense. Este reclamo caribe enfatizó a través de diferentes performances una relación orgánica entre comunidad e isla y un carácter indómito legado por quienes se piensa sacrificaron todo antes que doblegarse. La articulación de una identidad indígena viequense es entonces un posicionamiento contestatario que complica la historia, cuestiona sus métodos y evidencia sus efectos. Es también parte de una lucha por sobrevivencia en el Caribe (pos)colonial.
This article is based on different papers written for a two-part conference exploring the impact ... more This article is based on different papers written for a two-part conference exploring the impact of the cultural turn in the historical discipline, and more precisely in the work of a young generation of historians shaped by the University of Puerto Rico and the University of Michigan. In these conferences I broadly delineated my research project titled Inhabting Isla Nena, 1514-2003: Imperial Formations, Historical Narrations and Vieques, Puerto Rico, and then focused on chapter four titled Labor and Birth: The Spanish Colony of Vieques, 1800s. The current article, accordingly, provides an overview of the project and the history of 19th century Vieques; history is to be understood as the past and as the narration of the past. The essay, furthermore, engages 19th century Vieques to delve into the politics of historical narrations, and their centrality in imperial claims over colonized landscapes and bodies. The essay, moreover, questions the privileging of written documentation and imperial archives that can ignore the rationales behind knowledge production and storage, not to mention reproduce inaccurate accounts that can validate imperial projects to the detriment of colonized populations.
Centro: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, 2008
This essay examines how Vieques has been geographically imagined as Isla Nena through the struggl... more This essay examines how Vieques has been geographically imagined as Isla Nena through the struggles of communities to inhabit and of empires to claim the island. The study traces such struggles from the 16th to the 21st century in order to historicize Isla Nena as the gendered and infantilized representation of an island-community negotiating complex colonial relationships with different metropolises. The study further portrays, through the longue durée framework, how this island-community has for centuries been caught in the midst of imperial dramas and how such dramas have influenced definitions of the Vieques-Puerto Rico relationship.
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Papers by Marie Cruz Soto