H212 Latin American Culture and Civilization II Spring 1994

Woodburn 009 4-5:15 T-Th Dr. Peter Guardino Office: Ballantine 708 Phone 5-6108

This course will survey the history of Latin America from the early nineteenth century to the present. This period witnessed both the construction of polities based on national states and the evolution of capitalist economies. The course will focus on how social movements both reflected and drove these two major transformations. Areas of concern will include the social implications of various models of economic development, the opportunities and problems which result from economic ties to wealthy countries, changing ethnic, gender, and class relations in Latin America, and the diverse efforts of Latin American people to construct stable and equitable political systems. The general approach of the course will be thematic but examples will be drawn from the histories of various Latin American countries, including Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador and Cuba.

Required Books (Available at the Bookstore)

Benjamin Keen. A History of Latin America: Vol. II National Period to Present 4th ed. 1991. Houghton Mifflin.** Sandra Lauderdale Graham. House and Street: The Domestic World of Servants and Masters in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro. Austin: University of Texas Press 1992. Isabel Allende. The House of Spirits. Bantam 1986. Alicia Partnoy. The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival in Argentina. Pittsburgh: Cleis Press 1986. Sonia Alvarez. Engendering Democracy in Brazil: Women's Movements in Transition Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

**Don't be fooled by the chapter numbers listed below. We will be reading almost all of this volume of Keen.

Requirements:

You are required to complete reading assignments by the day on which we will discuss them. In addition there will be two essay exams and a short paper. The first essay exam will be held on FEB. 17 in class. The second will be held during finals week.

The short paper for this class will be due during our class meeting on MARCH 24. You will be penalized for each day this assignment is late. Your paper should be 4-6 pages long.

 Grading:        Midterm 20%                                                    
                 Paper   30%                                                    
                 Final           50%                                            

Week 1: The Colonial Legacy

Reading: Lauderdale Graham, House and Street, 1-58

Jan. 11 Introduction Jan. 13 Production and Politics in Colonial Latin America

Week 2 Colonialism and Independence

Reading: Keen Chapter 9

Jan. 18 Class, Ethnicity and Gender in Early Latin America Jan. 20 Latin American Independence

Week 3: The Search for Order

Reading: Lauderdale Graham, House and Street, 59-137

Jan. 25 Mexico: Rural Unrest and Foreign Interventions Jan. 27 Brazil: Empire and Social Control

Week 4: The Promise of Export-Oriented Development

Reading: Keen, Chapter 10

Feb. 1 Discussion of House and Street Feb. 3 Argentina's Revolution on the Pampas

Week 5 The Costs and Perils of Export-Oriented Development

Reading: Keen, Chapter 12

Feb. 8 Chile and Peru: Development and Foreign Intervention Feb. 10 The Mexican Revolution

Week 6: Food for Thought

Feb. 15 Export-Oriented Development Reprised Feb. 17 Midterm Exam

Week 7: Urbanization, Populism, and Import Substitution

Keen, Chapter 12; Begin Allende, The House of Spirits

Feb. 22: Argentina: Peronism Feb. 24 Mexico, 1930-1960s

Week 8: Revolutions and U.S. Intervention

Keen, Chapter 17; Continue Allende, The House of Spirits

March 1 Guatemala: Revolution, Intervention, Aftermath March 3 The Cuban Revolution

Week 9 Reform and Response

Finish Allende, The House of Spirits

March 8 Chile, 1950-1973 March 10 Discussion of The House of Spirits

Week 10: Dictatorship and Repression

Reading: Begin Partnoy, The Little School

March 22 Film: The Official Story March 24 Film: The Official Story

Week 11 Dictatorship and Repression, cont.

Reading: Finish Partnoy, The Little School

March 29 "El Proceso" in Argentina March 31 Discussion of The Little School and The Official Story

Week 12 Crisis in Central America

Reading: Keen, Chapter 18

April 5 Civil War in El Salvador April 7 The Nicaraguan Revolution

Week 13 Authoritarianism and Foreign Debt

Reading: Start Alvarez, Engendering Democracy

April 12 Video: Capital Sins: Authoritarianism and Democratization April 14 Debt and Liberalization

Week 14 Gender and Migration

Reading: Continue Alvarez, Engendering Democracy

April 19 Video: Continent on the Move: Migration and Urbanization April 21 Gender in Contemporary Latin America

Week 15 Review and Speculation

Reading: Finish Alvarez, Engendering Democracy

April 26 Discussion of Engendering Democracy April 28 Review

Information provider:
Unit: H-Net program at UIC History Department Email: H-Net@uicvm.uic.edu
Posted: 9 Sep 1994