The main premise of the volume Negotiating Space in Latin America is outlined in ‘Dis/locating Space in Latin America’, a beautifully written introduction by Patricia Vilches, which really enticed me to read the book. The volume stands out for its innovative and highly original approach to the study of space in Latin America using the lens of cultural, literary and artistic works as well as demographic issues. The volume harnesses a variety of theoretical perspectives to explore social space in Latin America. It considers the intersection of the cultural with the geographic (the urban, the rural and the demographic) and considers the way spatial processes are shaping social form. It also explores the relationship between different spaces, the market, education and the political body as well as reflecting on the link between gender and urban space. The authors invoke a variety of theorists from Edward Soja to Pierre Bourdieu and so the volume contributes to our understanding of diverse theories on space, culture, gender and nation-building. The theoretical perspectives that are invoked and developed in the chapters are fascinating. Jorge Saavedra Utman's exploration of the relationship between time and space in ‘Occupying Space and Time: Enabling Communicative Ecologies for Democracy’ (Chapter 1) is particularly interesting and ambitious. The case studies of Chile, Peru and Mexico are informative.

In ‘The Commodification of History and the Spectacle of Late Capitalism’ (Chapter 6), Silvia Nagy-Zekmi explores the colonising dichotomy of Europeanness and alterity in the Incan space. The theories referenced in this chapter, and indeed throughout the volume, add to the depth and intellectual value of the volume. This includes theories such as Soja's concept of thirdspace and the notion of dead space. The chapters deal with diverse topics, are rigorously researched and well referenced. They engage with and extend existing scholarship in new and interesting ways. In ‘Urban Renewal and Emerging Spaces for Art and Identity: The Development of Murals in San Martín, Argentina’ (Chapter 3), Silvia Hirsch and Carolina Di Próspero discuss the values of the murals in San Martín. This chapter is brought to life by quotations by members of the public speaking about the transformative effect of murals.

The chapters make a strong contribution to a variety of fields. Lucía Melgar's chapter on gender and the urban environment, ‘Reclaiming the Streets: Feminicidio and the Space of Women's Rights in Mexico’ (Chapter 2), is particularly outstanding, well researched and meaningful. It explains the social, political and terrorist facets of violence in a nuanced yet comprehensible manner. Melgar's analysis of the relationship between gender-based violence and the city space is insightful. One drawback is that the ‘darker’ aspects of the gender violence – such as the relationship between the violence and sexual fetishes – are touched upon but not expanded upon. Gail A. Bulman's chapter on theatre, ‘Framed: Barrio Yungay and Chilean Immigrants take Center Stage in Fulgor’ (Chapter 4), is particularly engaging. Bulman weaves an analysis of migration and the district in the city where migrants live with an analysis of the play Fulgor and an explanation of the the way the play allows spectators to see a barrio that they thought they knew with new eyes. The literal and intellectual device of framing that is at the heart of the play is deconstructed. This chapter addresses a subject that is currently very topical in an interesting way, weaving the analysis of the frames in the theatre with reflections on the urban environment and demographics in Santiago, Chile. Likewise, the reflections on the building of La Moneda in Santiago in Patricia Vilches’ own chapter ‘La Moneda in Ruins: The Palace Tomb and Epitaph of Salvador Allende’ are fascinating. Considering this building as a locus of Chilean national identity and using it as an optic through which to consider Salvador Allende's presidency and demise is particularly innovative.

The research methodologies employed by the book are diverse and impressive. Ana María Burdach Rudloff and Jennifer Hayward describe their innovative methodology in ‘The Star of Chile: Modernity and National Identity in the Contact Zone’ (Chapter 9). Their work combines digital methods of linguistic analysis with traditional close reading. The variety of topics covered is another great strength of this volume. Another striking feature of the book is the inclusion of material from different periods in Latin America's history. Some essays focus on the Independence and Early National Period, while others focus on twentieth- and twenty-first-century history. In ‘The Body and Incorporeal Signifier of “Andrés Bello”, and the 2011 Chilean Student Movement’ (Chapter 11), Angela N. DeLutis-Eichenberger identifies synergies between the history of different centuries. This exploration of different temporalities is a key aspect of the book, which will ensure that it has a wide readership. The volume unites work from a wide range of disciplines under one unifying theme. Overall, this works extremely well, and the result is a body of inter-disciplinary work that will be of interest to scholars in a number of fields. Most of the chapters can be considered within the realm of cultural studies as well as other sub-disciplines. Some of the chapters seem to move towards cultural studies, from other disciplines, such as social geography. An example is Jackiewicz Edward, Craine James and Trujillo Tera's ‘Differentiated Market Spaces of Lifestyle Migration: A View from Belize’ (Chapter 7), which is principally a work of social geography.

Gareth Wood's ‘Temporal and Geographical Markers of Civilization in Patricio Guzmán's El botón de nácar’ (Chapter 5) is nicely written and the comments made about the film are insightful, particularly regarding the effect of including fiction within documentary. However, the analysis, at times, seems a little off-topic or outside the spatial remit of the volume. The other chapter on film, Rosa Tapia's ‘The Space of Horror in Pablo Larraín's Post Mortem (2010)’ is also excellent. Burdach Rudloff and Hayward's chapter ‘The Star of Chile’ works very well in the volume, and the conclusion clearly explains the links with the concept of space in Latin America. Similarly, Juan de Dios Torralbo Caballero explores the links with the concept of space in his ‘Social Space in Fanny Calderón de la Barca's Life in Mexico’ (Chapter 10).