Time and Location
MWF 7 (1:55-2:45), NRN 0331
Description and Goals
In the words of the award-winning Puerto Rican music duo Calle 13, Latin America is “un pueblo sin piernas, pero que camina” (literally: “a people without legs, but who walks”). We may take this as a metaphor for the region as a whole: as a place that has survived recurring economic crises, years of authoritarian rule, and heavy-handed domination by numerous outside powers, but that continues to flirt with a more promising future.
Unsurprisingly, the region’s famously turbulent and perhaps dialectical political and economic histories – ranging from trailblazing democratic experiments to tidal waves of authoritarianism, and including both spectacular economic booms and devastating busts – have long been of interest to scholars. Indeed, outside of Europe, Latin America seems to have attracted more attention in the field of comparative politics than any other region.
The aim of this course is to present a broad overview of the culture, history, politics, and economics of Latin America. In so doing, we will engage with the long history of intellectual works that have analyzed and critiqued the region’s trajectory. We will place particular emphasis on how thinkers from a variety of fields, perspectives, and locations have sought to make sense of the Latin American experience. Throughout, we will highlight the diversity of Latin America and link the region to broader debates and conversations in the field of comparative politics as well as in the humanities and social sciences more broadly.
Syllabus