Latin American Revolutions:
Causes, Consequences, Myths and Memories
Professor Patrick Iber
Fall 2013 / Wed. 10-12AM / 3104 Dwinelle
This course will examine the causes, consequences, and
legacies of Latin America’s major revolutions of the twentieth century. It will
focus on the violent social revolutions of Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua, as well
as equally important experiments in social change in Guatemala, Chile, and contemporary
Venezuela. We will put these revolutions in comparative perspective, and use
more personal reflections made through memoirs and film to examine their
effects on people who experienced them.
We will try to understand what why these revolutions occurred, what they
changed in the societies that experienced them, and in what ways they satisfied
and disappointed those who fought for change.
Course requirements
Your grade will be based on the following:
20%
participation. Active participation in class is essential; our learning will be
richest as more of you become involved in the conversation and debate. You
should complete all readings before we meet, attend very week, and be an active
participant in discussion. If you know in advance that you will miss a day, you
should clear it with the instructor by email. Since we will be a large class,
it is important to note that your participation will be esteemed on the basis
of its quality, courtesy, and thoughtfulness, not on its quantity.
20% weekly
responses. Each week you should bring a brief written response, on the order of
250-350 words, to class. Use that space to reflect on the most significant
ideas of the reading, or that which you found most surprising or puzzling. You should
end your paragraphs by posing a question that you would like to take up during
class. These assignments will be collected and given a credit / no credit mark.
You can skip one week without penalty.
20% Short paper.
Prompts for a short, 4-5-page paper based on the early readings will be
distributed in class on October 2nd. It will be due in class the
following week, October 9th.
40% final paper,
8-10 pages. Your final paper will be short research paper, of between 2000 and
2500 words. You should consult books and articles outside of those used in
class with the goal of exploring in depth a topic related to the major themes
of the class. A brief paragraph explaining your plans for the final are due in
class on November 27th. For those students expecting to enroll in a
History 101 course this spring or next year, you may choose to write a paper
prospectus instead of this research paper. The prospectus should lay out the major
question of your research, the primary sources you will consult, and begin to address
the historiography on the topic. If you are planning to choose this option
instead of the research paper, you should talk directly with the instructor in
advance. The final papers are due on December 18th.
Course texts:
John Womack, Zapata
and the Mexican Revolution, New York, Vintage, 1970, $19.
Gil Joseph and Jürgen Buchenau, Mexico’s Once and Future Revolution: Social Upheaval and the Challenge
of Rule since the Late Nineteenth Century, Durham: Duke University Press,
2013, $20. Please note that this book
will be published on September 4, 2013.
Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer, Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, Boston:
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, 2005, $21.
Nick Cullather, Secret
History: The CIA’s Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala 1952-1954,
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006, $19.
Aviva Chomsky, A
History of the Cuban Revolution, Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, $20.
Reynaldo Arenas, Before
Night Falls: A Memoir, New York: Penguin, 1994, $16.
Peter Winn, Weavers of
Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile’s Road to Socialism, New York,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, $45.
Stephen Kinzer, Blood
of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua, Boston: David Rockefeller Center
for Latin American Studies, 2007, $18.
Gioconda Belli, The
Country Under my Skin: A Memoir of Love and War, New York: Anchor, 2003,
$17.
George Ciccariello-Maher, We Created Chávez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution,
Durham: Duke University Press, 2013.
Francisco Toro and Juan Cristobal Nagel, Blogging the Revolution: Caracas Chronicles
and the Hugo Chávez Era, Cognitio, 2013, $25. (I recommend the Kindle
edition at $9.)
To get good advice on what I will be looking for from your
reading and writing, I recommend the following resources:
- The Fascist octopus has sung its swan
song! Every prose writer should
read George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” at least once a
year. Simple, clear, and precise language communicates ideas better, and,
in so doing, makes ideas better. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm
- To get
the most out of your reading, I generally endorse the views of Timothy Burke,
as laid out in his “Staying Afloat: Some Scattered Suggestions on Reading
in College.” http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tburke1/reading.html
- On
plagiarism and proper citations, please see this excerpt from Charles
Lipson’s Doing Honest Work in
College. You should use
citations proper to your primary discipline in the papers you submit. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/lipson/honestcollege/citationfaq.html
Readings
Week 1, September 4:
Framework and Introduction to the Course
To read and discuss during
class:
Alan Knight, “Social
Revolution: A Latin American Perspective,” Bulletin
of Latin American Research 9, no. 2 (1990): 175-202.
Week 2, September 11: Mexico,
Week 1
Womack, Zapata and the Mexican Revolution
Week 3, Sep. 18: Mexico,
Week 2
Gil Joseph and Jurgen
Buchenau, Mexico’s Once and Future
Revolution
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS BOOK WILL BE PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2013, AND
MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY.
Week 4, Sep. 25:
Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit
Week 5, Oct. 2:
Nick Cullather, Secret History
Week 6, Oct. 9: Che:
Short paper due in class.
There is no additional reading this week.
Movie in class: The Motorcycle Diaries
Week 7, Oct 16: Cuba, Part
I
Aviva Chomsky, A History of the Cuban Revolution
Week 8, Oct 23: Cuba, Part
II
Reynaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls
Week 9, Oct 30: Chile
Peter Winn, Weavers of Revolution
Week 10, Nov 6: Nicaragua,
Part I
Stephen Kinzer, Blood of Brothers
Week 11, Nov 13: Nicaragua,
Part II
Giaconda Belli, The Country Under My Skin
Week 12, Nov. 20: Venezuela, Part I
George Cicchariello-Maher, We Created Chávez
Week 13, Nov. 27: Venezuela,
Part I [Wednesday before Thanksgiving]
Frontline Documentary: The Hugo Chávez Show
If you cannot make it to
class, you should watch the documentary online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/view/
Final paper plans due.
Week 14, Dec. 4: Venezuela,
Part II
Jon Lee Anderson,
“Slumlord,” New Yorker, 28 January
2013, pp. 40-51.
Francisco Toro and Juan
Cristóbal Nagel, Blogging the Revolution,
[selections]
Final papers due
December 18th.
