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Introduction to Latin American Studies >> Content Detail



Study Materials



Readings

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Weekly readings range from 75 to 130 pages, or about 100 pages on average. Readings include articles from the popular press, literary works, and scholarly research from the social sciences.

If your first language is not English, you should still try to read the non-literary works in English. For literary works (such as García Márquez and Allende), however, please feel free to read them in the original.

Readings are normally due on the first day of class of the week in which they are assigned. Where the first day is entirely occupied by a lecture, however, you may wait until later in the week.

Many weekly readings are accompanied by videos or films, which are an integral part of the course. Videos from the Americas series, produced in part by WGBH-Boston, are one hour each. Please note that the film The Battle of Chile is very long, so you should plan in advance.



Required Texts


Amazon logo Winn, Peter. Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995, ISBN: 9780520201811.

Amazon logo Spooner, Mary Helen. Soldiers in a Narrow Land: The Pinochet Regime in Chile. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994, ISBN: 9780520080836.

Amazon logo Allende, Isabel. The House of the Spirits. Translated by Magda Bogin. New York, NY: Everyman's Library, 2005, ISBN: 9781400043187 (English).

Amazon logo Colburn, Forrest D. Latin America at the End of Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, ISBN: 9780691091815.



Readings by Session


L = Lecture R = Recitation


SES #TOPICSREADINGS
L1Introduction and Pop QuizCourse Packet and Pop Quiz.
I. Historical Inheritances and Current Realities
L2Finish Pop Quiz. Latin America as a "Living Museum"

Amazon logo Márquez, Gabriel García. "Big Mama's Funeral (short story, 1962)." No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories. Translated by J. S. Bernstein. New York, NY: Harper Colophone, 1979, pp. 153-70. ISBN: 9780060907006.

Amazon logo Winn, Peter. "A View from the South," and "Legacies of Empire." Chapters 1 and 2 in Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995, pp. 2-83. ISBN: 9780520201811.

Amazon logo Colburn, Forrest D. "Latin America as a Place," "Urban Bias," and "The Poor." In Latin America at the End of Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, pp. 9-24 and 82-88. ISBN: 9780691091815.

R1Show and Tell
L3Class Discussion of Big Mama's Funeral
II. The Legacies of Conquest and Slavery
L4Conquest, Bourbon "Reconquest," and The Post-Colonial Period

Amazon logo Winn, Peter. "Children of the Sun," and "A Question of Color." Chapters 7 and 8 in Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995, pp. 234-303. ISBN: 9780520201811.

Begin reading: Allende, Isabel. House of the Spirits. (Note names of the women.)



Film


Americas Television Series: Julia, Raul, narrator. "Mirrors of the Heart: Color, Class, and Identity." Program 4. Americas. Produced by Judith Vecchione with WGBH (Boston). South Burlington, VT: Annenberg/CPB Collection, 1993, ISBN: 1559467487.

R2Americas Video: Mirrors of the Heart: Color, Class, and Identity
L5Class Discussion of Race
III. Development and Underdevelopment in Latin America
L6Lecture: Theories of Development

Amazon logo Klaren, Peter F. "Lost Promise: Explaining Latin American Underdevelopment." In Promise of Development: Theories of Change in Latin America. Edited by Peter F. Klaren and Thomas J. Bossert. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1986, pp. 3-33. ISBN: 9780813300078. [Skip part on "corporatism"]

Amazon logo Frank, André Gunder. "The Development of Underdevelopment." In Promise of Development: Theories of Change in Latin America. Edited by Peter F. Klaren and Thomas J. Bossert. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1986, pp. 111-23. ISBN: 9780813300078.

dos Santos, Teodoro. "The Structure of Dependence." The American Economic Review 60, no. 2 (May 1970): 231-6.

Haber, Steven. "Assessing the Obstacles to Industrialization: The Mexican Economy, 1830-1940." Journal of Latin American Studies 24, no. 1 (February 1992): 1-32.

Amazon logo Colburn, Forrest D. "The Business of Being in Business." In Latin America at the End of Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, pp. 45-54. ISBN: 9780691091815.

Continue reading House of the Spirits. (Be sure to read the story about the chinchillas.)

R3Prepare for Individual Class Presentations
L7Economic Development
IV. Underdevelopment and What to Do About It
L8The Latin American Debt Crisis, Structural Adjustment, and Market-oriented Reform

Gereffi, Gary. "Drug Firms and Dependency in Mexico: The Case of the Steroid Hormone Industry." International Organization 32 (1978): 237-86.

Haber, Steven "Assessing the Obstacles to Industrialization: The Mexican Economy, 1830-1940." Journal of Latin American Studies 24, no. 1 (February 1992): 1-32.

R4Breakout Groups in Preparation for Extemporaneous Presentations
L9Steroid Hormone Industry and Mexican Development Strategies Today
V. Development, Underdevelopment and Politics in Chile
R5The Battle for Chile (Part I)

Finish reading The House of the Spirits.

Amazon logo Valenzuela, Arturo. "Chile: Origins, Consolidation, and Breakdown of a Democratic Regime." In Democracy in Developing Countries: Latin America. Edited by Larry Diamond, Juan Linz, and Seymour Martin Lipset. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1989, pp. 194-216. ISBN: 9781555870447.



Film


Video: Guzmán, Patricio. The Battle of Chile (Part I). New York, NY: First Run / Icarus Films, 1978.

L10Class Discussion of The House of the Spirits
VI. Development, Democratic Breakdown, and Military Rule
L11Lecture: The Breakdown of Chilean Democracy

Amazon logo Valenzuela, Arturo. "Chile: Origins, Consolidation, and Breakdown of a Democratic Regime." In Democracy in Developing Countries: Latin America. Edited by Larry Diamond, Juan Linz, and Seymour Martin Lipset. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1989, pp. 216-226. ISBN: 9781555870447.

Amazon logo Spooner, Mary Helen. Soldiers in a Narrow Land: The Pinochet Regime in Chile. Berkeley, CA: University of California press, 1994, pp. 1-6, 56-77, 83-104, 113-159. ISBN: 9780520080836.



Film


Documentary: Guzmán, Patricio. The Battle of Chile (Part II). New York, NY: First Run / Icarus Films, 1978.

R6The Battle for Chile (Part II)
L12Class Discussion of Chilean Experience
VII. Re-Democratization in Chile (and Elsewhere)
L13Lecture: Bureaucratic Authoritarianism in Chile and Elsewhere

Amazon logo Spooner, Mary Helen. Soldiers in a Narrow Land: The Pinochet Regime in Chile. Berkeley, CA: University of California press, 1994, pp.163-267. ISBN: 9780520080836.

Amazon logo Valenzuela, Arturo. "Chile: Origins, Consolidation, and Breakdown of a Democratic Regime." In Larry Diamond, Juan Linz, and Seymour Martin Lipset, Democracy in Developing Countries: Latin America. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1989, pp. 227-240. ISBN: 9781555870447.



Film


Drama: Bortnik, Aida, and Luis Puenzo. La Historia Oficial. Directed by Luis Puenzo. Argentina: Historias Cinematograficas, 1985.

R7La Historia Oficial
L14Lecture: The Transition to Democracy in Chile and Elsewhere
VIII. Civil-Military Relations in Latin America and Accountability for Past Abuses
L15Establishing Civilian Control Over the Military and Transitional Justice

Hunter, Wendy. "Continuity or Change? Civil-Military Relations in Democratic Argentina, Chile, and Peru." Political Science Quarterly 112, no. 3 (Autumn, 1997): 453-475.

Amazon logo Colburn, Forrest D. "Fragile Democracies." In Latin America at the End of Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, pp. 33-44. ISBN: 9780691091815.

Amazon logo Langguth, A. J. Hidden Terrors: The Truth about U.S. Police Operations in Latin America. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1979, pp. 160-64. ISBN: 9780394738024.

Amazon logo Huntington, Samuel. "The Torturer Problem," and "The Praetorian Problem". In The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993, pp. 211-51. ISBN: 9780806125169.

R8Recent Events in Chile
L16Day of the Dead and Religion in Latin America
IX. Accountability for Past Abuses and the Rule of Law
L17Preparations for Class Debate

Cohen, Stanley. "State Crimes of Previous Regimes: Knowledge, Accountability, and the Policing of the Past." Law and Social Inquiry 20, no. 1 (Winter, 1995): 7-50.

R9Prosecute and Punish or Forgive and Forget?
L18Prosecute and Punish or Forgive and Forget?
X. Rule of Law: Corruption and Criminal Justice in Mexico
L19Lecture: The Rule of Law in Latin America: "Guilty Until Proven Rich"

Davis, Diane E. "Undermining the Rule of Law: Democratization and the Dark Side of Police Reform in Mexico." Latin American Politics and Society 48, no. 1 (2006): 55-86.

Montiel, López, and Angel Gustavo. "The Military, Political Power, and Police Relations in Mexico City." Latin American Perspectives 27, no. 2 (March 2000): 79-94.

Amazon logo Magaloni, Beatriz, and Guillermo Zepeda. "Democratization, Judicial and Law Enforcement Institutions, and the Rule of Law in Mexico." In Dilemmas of Political Change in Mexico. Edited by Kevin J. Middlebrook. London, UK: Institute of Latin American Studies, LSE and La Jolla, CA: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD, 2004, pp. 166-95. ISBN: 9781900039451.

Amazon logo Colburn, Forrest D. "Crime" in Latin America at the End of Politics . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, pp. 73-80. ISBN: 9780691091815.

R10Criminal Justice in Mexico
L20Lecture: One-Party Rule, Democratization, and Corruption in Mexico
XI. Policing Mexico City
L21Police Reform in Mexico City

Recent articles on police reform in Mexico. On-line sources on police reform in Mexico. See:

XII. The Rule of Law in Brazil
L22Class Discussion of de Soto's Argument. Prepare for Class Presentations

Holston, James. "The Misrule of Law: Land and Usurpation in Brazil." Comparative Studies in Society and History 33, no. 4 (October 1991): 695-725.

de Soto, Hernando. The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. London, UK: Bantam Press, 2000. pp. 1-37, 208-218. ISBN: 0593046641.



Film


Drama: Carneiro, João Emanuel, and Marcos Bernstein. Central Station. Directed by Walter Salles. New York, NY: Sony Pictures Classics, 1998.

R11Central Station
L23How Should Land Disputes in Brazil be Resolved?
XIII. The New Populism in Latin America
L24Lecture: Revolution, Reduction: The New Populism in Latin America

Amazon logo Winn, Peter. "Latin America and the Caribbean at 2000: A New Millennium?" In Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995, pp. 498-521, 527-549. ISBN: 9780520201811.

R12Venezuela
L25Discussion of Venezuela. Prepare for Final Exam
XIV. Conclusion: Latin America After Big Mama
L26Class Discussion of "Big Mama's Funeral". Lecture: Latin America after Big Mama

Amazon logo Márquez, Gabriel García. "Big Mama's Funeral (short story, 1962)." In No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories. Translated by J.S. Bernstein. New York, NY: Harper Colophone, 1979, pp.153-170. ISBN: 9780060907006.

Amazon logo Peter Winn, Epilogue, "Latin America and the Caribbean at 2000: A New Millennium?" In Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995, pp. 601-608. ISBN: 9780520201811.

Amazon logo Colburn, Forrest D. "Conclusion." In Latin America at the End of Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, pp. 127-134. ISBN: 9780691091815.

R13Optional. Discussion of Final Exam

 








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