Book Talk with Eduardo Elena: "Emerging El Dorado: Steam Age Expansionism and the Social Worlds of Growth in Argentina"

Presented in partnership with Books & Books, please join the University of Miami Center for Humanities for our first Book Talk of the 2026-2027 academic year with author Eduardo Elena where he will discuss his latest book, Emerging El Dorado: Steam Age Expansionism and the Social Worlds of Growth in Argentina. 

 

Eduardo Elena’s new book is titled Emerging El Dorado: Steam Age Expansionism and the Social Worlds of Growth in Argentina (University of California Press, 2026).  Spanning an arc from the 1850s to the early 1900s, it profiles the promoters in Argentina and Europe who convinced others that this was a “rising country.”  At the same time, the book showcases the experiences of those swept along in the scramble (like migrant families and overseas investors) and those who defended other ways of living (like paisanos and Indigenous peoples).  Engaging with the scholarship on the history of capitalism and an expanding West, this study provides a new perspective on our fascination with growth in the Global South. 

 

Eduardo Elena is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Miami.  He specializes in the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Latin America, with a particular interest in the societies of the South Atlantic region.  His publications include Dignifying Argentina: Peronism, Citizenship, and Mass Consumption (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011) and the co-edited volume of essays Rethinking Race in Modern Argentina (Cambridge University Press, 2016).  Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he grew up in the United States and has lived in Miami for the past two decades.

 

For additional information, please also see the program listing with Books & Books!