A Nicaraguan exceptionalism? : debating the legacy of the Sandinista revolution

In recent years, childmigrants from Central America have arrived in the United States inunprecedented numbers.

But whilst minors from Honduras, Guatemala and ElSalvador make the perilous journey to the north, their Nicaraguan peers haveremained in Central America. Nicaragua also enjoys lower murder rates andfar fewer gang problems when compared with her neighbours. Why is Nicaragua so different? The presentgovernment has promulgated a discourse of Nicaraguan exceptionalism, arguingthat Nicaragua is unique thanks to heritage of the 1979 Sandinista revolution. This volume critically interrogates that claim, asking whether the legacy ofthe revolution is truly exceptional.

An interdisciplinary work, the book bringstogether historians, anthropologists and sociologists to explore themultifarious ways in which the revolutionary past continues to shape publicpolicy - and daily life - in Nicaragua's tumultuous present.