HIS.2083 Latin American Social Change and Revolution
Twentieth century Latin America was a period of intense political, social, and economic transformation. Traditional historical approaches have emphasized the centrality of elites and state structures in fostering revolution while downplaying the essential role women, peasants, workers, and indigenous peoples played in shaping revolutionary activity and post revolutionary state structures. A more complete understanding of revolutionary processes can only be attained through incorporating subalterns' visions and ideas as they sought to shape their own revolutionary agenda. We will focus primarily on the revolutions in Guatemala 1944-1954, Cuba 1959, Chile 1973, and Nicaragua 1979. Key questions we will explore in this course include: Were social relationships transformed in all of the revolutions examined? Why or why not? If so how? How did race and gender factor into revolutionary activity? Who benefited and why? What role did foreign powers play in spurring revolutionary activity and why? This course will emphasize the theoretical questions behind social change that led to the violent transformations in Latin American societies.
LA