HILA 334

Revolutions in 20th Century Latin America

Klubock

This class examines major revolutions in modern Latin American history in a number of countries including Mexico (twice), Bolivia, Cuba, Central America, and Chile. It will ask basic questions about the structural causes of revolution, the nature of revolutions and revolutionary movements, the nature of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary violence, the role of ideology, the characteristics of counter-revolutionary movements, and the role of United States imperialism and the Cold War.  Possible assigned texts may include:Greg Grandin, The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War, Peter Winn, Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile’s Road to Socialism, John Womack, Zapata and the Mexican Revolution, John Womack, Rebellion in Chiapas,  Jules Benjamin, The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution, Walter LaFeber, Inevitable Revolutions: The United States and Central America, June Nash, We Eat the Mines, and the Mines Eat Us: Dependency and Exploitation in Bolivian Tin Mines.  We will also read some theoretical essays on revolutions by authors like Theda Skocpol, Barrington Moore, and Charles Tilly.