HOW TO READ
MODERN LATIN AMERICA
LATI 50
Introduction to Latin America
… and learn to love it!
CASE STUDIES
• Mexico: The Taming of a Revolution
• Central America and the Caribbean: Within the U.S.
Orbit
• Cuba: Key Colony, Socialist State
• The Andes: Soldiers, Oligarchs, and Indians
• Colombia: Civility and Violence
• Venezuela: The Perils of Prosperity
• Argentina: Progress and Stalemate
• Chile: Repression and Democracy
• Brazil: The Awakening Giant
ANALYTICAL THEMES
• economic transformations induce social changes
which, in turn, lead to political consequences
• shifting alliances among social class groups give
shape to patterns of political conflict over time
• a country’s place in the international division of labor
defines the shape of available paths to economic
growth
• differences in economic processes have produced
different forms of social structure and patterns of
social change
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• Upper Class:
– Urban (industrialists, bankers)
– Rural (landowners)
• Middle Class:
– Urban (merchants, lawyers, etc.)
– Rural (small farmers)
• Popular/Lower Class:
– Urban (workers)
– Rural (peasants, campesinos)
• National Institutions:
– State (including military)
– Church
• External Sector:
– Economic (investors, merchants)
– Political (foreign governments)
CHRONOLOGY OF CHANGE
• Liberal Era (1880s-1920s)
– Export-import development
– Oligarchs and strong men
• Import-Substitution Industrialization (1930s-1970s)
– Industrialization
– Populism and dictatorship
• Socialist Alternative (1950s-1980s)
– Revolutionary movements
– State-controlled economies
• Neoliberalism (1980s-present)
– Pro-market policies
– Democracy (of sorts)
COMPARING POLITICS
• Mexico: Revolution of 1910 + dominant-party system
• Central America and Caribbean: plantation society, U.S.
influence, dictatorship and protest
• Cuba: plantation society, socialist revolution, resistance to United
States
• Question A: Compare Mexican and Cuban revolutions
• Question B: Trace colonial legacies in Mexico and CA + Caribbean
• Question C: Why not more revolution ferment in CA + Caribbean?
THE MLA WEBSITE
• Address: <www.oup.com/us/skidmore>
• Overall structure
• Documents 3, 6, 10