Aufsätze über den biologischen Lebensstandard in Lateinamerika und der Karibik

Defining welfare in a society has always been of the utmost interest among the most different scholarly disciplines that sought to develop an adequate measure to determine differences between and within countries of this world, populations as well as regions. Hereby, the question concerning the causes of the development of welfare of particular units of investigation always comes to the fore because it is in everyone’s interest to improve their personal situation. This thesis makes use of the biological standard of living as a means to measure welfare which is used to describe social, ethnic, and economic differences in various Latin American countries. The author focuses on the usage of heights to measure the biological standard of living. Heights are influenced directly by one’s nutritional habits, the disease environment they grew up as well as their work intensity. These factors played an important role in the past which is why this measure is very adequate in describing social and economic structures as well as possibly resulting inequalities. The thesis is divided into five research papers that deal with the topic of the development of the biological standard of living in 19th-century Latin America. In depth studies on Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Cuba are presented for which new data sets were collected to further highlight the causes of the development of welfare in Latin America. Additionally, one chapter deals with the topic of mass migration to Argentina at the beginning of the 20th century. Heights are used as a selectivity measure which shows their usefulness when it comes to explaining the quality of life and migration patterns.Das Interesse am Wohlstand einer Gesellschaft existiert seit jeher in den unterschiedlichsten wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, die darum bemüht sind, ein geeignetes Maß zu entwickeln, um Unterschiede zwischen und innerhalb von Ländern dieser Erde, Bevölkerungsgruppen oder auch Regionen herauszufiltern. Dabei steht die Frage nach den Ursachen der Wohlstandsentwicklung der einzelnen Untersuchungsobjekte im Vordergrund, da eine Verbesserung in jedermanns Erstreben liegt. In dieser Arbeit soll das Wohlstandsmaß der biologische Lebensstandard sein, der dazu dient, soziale, ethnische und ökonomische Differenzen am Beispiel diverser lateinamerikanischer Länder zu beschreiben. Die Verwendung von Körpergrößen zur Messung des biologischen Lebensstandards steht im Fokus dieser Arbeit. Körpergrößen werden direkt durch die Ernährung, das Krankheitsumfeld und auch die Arbeitsintensität beeinflusst. Diese Faktoren spielten in der Vergangenheit eine entscheidende Rolle, aus welchem Grund dieses Maß soziale und ökonomische Strukturen und daraus mögliche resultierende Ungleichheiten besonders gut erklären kann. Diese Arbeit besteht aus fünf Forschungspapieren, die von der Entwicklung des biologischen Lebensstandards im 19. Jahrhundert in Lateinamerika handeln. Es werden die Länder Argentinien, Brasilien, Peru und auch Kuba näher betrachtet, für welche bisher unveröffentlichte Datenquellen herangezogen worden sind, um Ursachen für die Wohlstandsentwicklung in Lateinamerika näher zu beleuchten. Des Weiteren wird in dieser Arbeit die Massenmigration nach Argentinien am Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts thematisiert. Hierfür dienen Körpergrößen als Selektivitätsmaß, mit denen gezeigt werden kann, dass diese vielseitig einsetzbar sind, um Wohlstand zu messen

The seed of abundance and misery: Peruvian living standards from the early republican period to the end of the guano era (1820-1880)

This paper examines 19th-century Peruvian heights from the early republican period to the end of the guano era (1820-1880). Analyzing male and female prisoner heights from the Lima penitentiary, we find that the physical stature of the lower classes stagnated throughout the period. In spite of the substantial profits generated by Peru's chief export product, guano, these revenues apparently did not filter down to benefit ordinary laborers.Anthropometric history Inequality Heights Peru Ethnicity Regional inequality

The anthropometric history of Argentina, Brazil and Peru during the 19th and early 20th century

This anthropometric study focuses on the histories of three important Latin American countries - Brazil, Peru, and Argentina - during the 19th century, and tests hypotheses concerning their welfare trends. While non-farm Brazil and Lima, Peru, started at relatively low height levels, Brazil made substantial progress in nutritional levels from the 1860s to the 1880s. In contrast, Lima remained at low levels. Argentinean men were tall to begin with, but heights stagnated until 1910. The only exception were farmers and landowners, who benefited from the export boom.Anthropometrics Height Welfare Brazil Peru Argentina