Enrique Rivera

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Enrique Rivera profile picture

Enrique Rivera

Lecturer

Biography

Enrique S. Rivera is a lecturer in the Departments of African American Studies and History at UCLA. His research and teaching focus on the intersections of imperialism, political economy, race, and resistance in Latin America and the Caribbean. His book, The Untold History of Capitalism: Primitive Accumulation and the Anti-Slavery Revolution, examines the dynamics of the Atlantic world’s racial economy through the lens of the 1795 anti-colonial and anti-slavery revolution in Coro, Venezuela.

Dr. Rivera is also an award-winning journalist, writer, and documentary producer whose work has been featured in mainstream outlets such as BBC and NPR, as well as independent platforms like The Black Agenda Report and People’s World. He is also the founder of January 1st Films, a production company dedicated to the dramatic telling of true stories through critical perspectives.

Education

  • Ph.D., Latin American History, UCLA
  • M.A., Latin American History, University of Maryland, College Park
  • B.A., Communication Studies, American University

Publications

  • The Untold History of Capitalism: Primitive Accumulation and the Anti-Slavery Revolution (New York: International Publishers, 2021).
  • La historia no contada del capitalismo: La acumulación originaría y la insurrección anti-esclavista (Caracas: Centro Nacional del Libro, 2022).
  • “La revolución legal: alterando el neoliberalismo en El Salvador, 2009-2017,” in La Universidad 37, April-June 2018.
  • “Whitewashing the Dutch Atlantic,” in Social & Economic Studies 64:1, March 2015.

Awards, Honors, and Fellowships

  • ACLS Emerging Voices Research Grant, American Council of Learned Societies.
  • Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship, UCLA Graduate Division and the Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles.
  • John S. Knight Fellowship, National Association of Hispanic Journalists.