Vol. 19, No. 2 (1992)

These essays assess the philosophical, cultural, socioeconomic, and human consequences of Columbus' "Discovery" of the Western Hemisphere 500 years ago, bringing in its train the expansion of European capitalism. The mythology of Columbus' true enterprise is revealed for what it was -- untrammeled greed unleashed upon an entire continent that was already inhabited by people of color, an enterprise that continues today as a justification for polarized and unequal relations between the North and the South. Genocide and dispossession of the indigenous peoples, disregard for treaties entered into with sovereign peoples, and disruption of the balanced ecosystem -- all are viewed in terms of past and present struggles for justice.