When he used it, given the context, I understood it enough to understand what he was saying. When I read it in this post, I did not even recognize it.

I don’t think I had heard it before Parenti, maybe in a history class before. When he used it in the context of Cuba, I assumed it was the local word for plantation. Because I also knew about the legacy of Spanish empire plantations/estates.

Funnily enough, I just looked it up and it might be more appropriate to say “hacienda”, in that context. (Latifundium looks like it usually specifically refers to Roman and Spanish empire plantations.) But I DEFINITELY cannot say that with confidence, I don’t speak Latin or Spanish, and am not engaged with a field which might use either term. Being fair to him: back 30 years ago the locals he spoke to might have directly said latifundium (or something similar enough for him to use latifundium to the English crowd). Or his Roman history nerdiness is showing and he borrowed from it.

Jargon is fine, and some of it shouldn’t be explained in something like a paper. But I’ve struggled with reading articles before, not because the subject is difficult, but because the wording is obtuse. It sucks to engage in a new subject when you have to plow through 20 layers of jargon. As difficult to read as something like chemistry can be, at least they usually list SOME reading that is understandable to a layman (IE: the “official” name vs a chemical formula).