Harvard University

History 1759

The History of Latin America from 1914 to 2007

Spring 2007

John Womack, Jr.

                This is a general survey of Latin American history from World War I to the present, covering the most important material, economic, cultural, social, and political questions. There are no prerequisites. The main purpose of the course is to give Harvard College students sound historical bases on which they may continue learning about modern Latin American realities, sharpen their critical skills in historical studies, and develop their own thinking about important historical and contemporary Latin American issues.

Required Maps (both on order at the Coop):
Gabelli, Physical Map of North America
Gabelli, Physical Map of South America

Required Reading (all on reserve in Lamont; * = in print, on order at the Coop):

*Leslie Bethell, ed., Brazil: Empire and Republic, 1822-1930
Thomas C. Cochran and Ruben E. Reina, Capitalism in Argentine Culture: A Study of Torcuato di Tella
and S.I.A.M.
*Sandra McGee Deutsch and Ronald H. Dolkart, eds., The Argentine Right: Its History and Intellectual
                 Origins, 1910 to the Present
*David Deutschmann, ed., Che Guevara Reader
*Marguerite Feitlowitz, A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture
John Gunther, Inside Latin America
Irving L. Horowitz, The Rise and Fall of Project Camelot
*Nils Jacobsen, Mirages of Transition: The Peruvian Altiplano, 1780-1930
John XXIII, “Mater et Magister,” in Anne Fremantle, ed., The Social Teachings of the Church, or
                http://www.osjspm.org.cst/mm/htm
*Nikolas Kozloff, Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the United States
Oscar Lewis, Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty
*Mary Roldán, Blood and Fire: La Violencia in Antioquia, Colombia, 1946-1953
*Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Death without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil
*Peter Winn, Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile’s Road to Socialism
*John Womack, Jr., Zapata and the Mexican Revolution

N.B. For books out of print or if the Coop has sold all the copies it ordered of a book in print, you may find a good used copy at McIntyre & Moore Booksellers, 225 Elm Street, Somerville, Davis Square T Stop; or on line at www.abebooks.com or www.alibris.com.

Lectures, Sections, and Exams:
W  January 31:    Lecture No. 1        Introductions: Latin America, Latin Americas, and Latin Americans,
1814-1914

F   February 2:      Lecture No. 2        Latin American Historical Issues in the Twentieth Century, 1914-2001

M  February 5:     Lecture No. 3        World War I, Socialist Revolution, and Capitalist Restabilization,
                                                                1914-1929           

W  February 7:     Lecture No. 4        Production and Business in Latin America, 1914-1929             

                                Section No. 1        Womack, pp. 3-387

M  February 12:   Lecture No. 5        The Holy Roman Catholic Church, Catholicism, and Catholic Faith in
Latin America, 1914-1929

               
W  February 14:   Lecture No. 6       Classes and Ways of Life: The Elite, the Bosses, the Middle Class, the
                                                                Proletariat, and the People in Latin America, 1914-1929

Section No. 2        Jacobsen, pp. 198-330; Dean in Bethell, pp. 217-256; Fausto in same, pp. 257-307

M February 19:    Holiday

W February 21:    Lecture No. 7        Oligarchies and Political Parties in Latin America, 1914-1929

Section No. 3        Map Exam; Deutsch and Dolkart, pp. 1-63

M February 26     Lecture No. 8        Capitalist Crisis, the Great Depression, and World War II, 1929-1945

W February 28     Lecture No. 9        Economic Disasters, Enterprise, and New Deals in Latin America,
1929-1945
                               
                                Section No. 4        Cochran and Reina, pp. 37-219; Deutsch and Dolkart,
pp. 65-98; Gunther, pp. 234-270

F  March 2            Lecture No. 10     Urbanization and Organization in Latin America, 1929-1945

M March 5            Lecture No. 11     Dictators, Fascists, and Popular Fronts in Latin America, 1929-1945

W March 7:          Lecture No. 12     The American Century and the Cold War, 1945-1960

                                Section No. 5        Lewis, pp. 21-57, 127-350

F  March 9:           Lecture No. 13     Trade, Industrialization, and Inequality in Latin America, 1945-
                                                                1960

M March 12:        Lecture No. 14     Metropolization, Individualism, and Violence in Latin America, 1945-
                                                                1960

W March 14:        Lecture No. 15     Populism, Corporatism, and Militarism in Latin America, 1945-1960    

                                Section No. 6        Deutsch and Dolkart, pp. 99-118; Roldán, pp. 43-169

F  March 16:         Lecture No. 16     Crusades, the Bible, and Heaven’s Fire in Latin America, 1929-1960

M March 19:        Hour Exam           On reading for Sections No. 1-6

W March 21        Lecture No. 17       Global Contentions, Limited Conflicts, and a Revolutionary Third World, 1960-1973                                                       

Section No. 7        Horowitz, pp. 3-67, 203-210

March 24-April 1, Spring Vacation

M April 2:              Lecture No. 18     Development, Miracles, and Frauds in Latin America, 1960-1973

W April 4:              Lecture No. 19     Vatican II, Liberation Theology, and Evangelism in Latin
America, 1960-1973

Section No. 8        Deutschmann, pp. 231-362; John XXIII, pp. 223-276; Deutsch and Dolkart, pp. 119-145

M April 9:              Lecture No. 20     Bourgeoisies and Masses in Latin America, 1960-1973

W April 11:           Lecture No. 21     Security and Modernization in Latin America, 1960-1973
                               
Section No. 9        Winn, pp. 13-256

M April 16:           Lecture No. 22     Transnational Companies and Global Twists of Power, 1973-1989

W April 18:           Lecture No. 23     Boom, Bust, and Debt in Latin America, 1973-1989

                                Section No. 10      Scheper-Hughes, pp. 31-267

F April 20              Lecture No. 24     Christian Wars in Latin America, 1973-1989

M April 23:           Lecture No. 25     Megalopolization, Enmity, and Dread in Latin America, 1973-1989
                               
W April 25:           Lecture No. 26     State Terrorism, Resistance, and Political Democracy in Latin America,
1973-1989

                                Section No. 11      Scheper-Hughes, pp. 268-533

M April 30:           Lecture No. 27     Two New Cold Wars, Billionaires, and Informal Survival, 1989-2001

W May 2:              Lecture No. 28     Civic Movements and Elections in Latin America, 1989-2001

                                Section No. 12      Feitlowitz, pp. 3-255

F  May 4:              Lecture No. 29     Terrorism, Continual Traumatic Stress, and Social Democracy in Latin
America, 2001-2007
 
May 5-16:             Reading Period:   Kozloff, pp. 1-178

S May 19:                                             Final Examination             

Requirements:
For undergraduates the requirements are to study the required maps, read the required reading, listen to the lectures, attend the sections, participate in the discussions there, think about what they are studying, reading, hearing, and discussing, take the map exam, take the hour exam, and take the final exam. The undergraduate section(s) will meet with the teaching fellow on a regular schedule to be determined, probably on Thursdays, depending on the number of undergraduates finally registered in the course.
For graduate students the requirements are the same, except that for the hour exam, on March 24, they may substitute a term paper, the text of which (i.e., the paper without the footnotes or the bibliography) must be at least 20 pages long. This paper will be due Friday May 11. A graduate section may meet with the instructor ordinarily on Fridays at noon, except when there are lectures, then at 1 p.m.

Grading:
There is no pre-drawn curve.
The exam on the map, in Section No. 4, around March 1, will count one-sixth of the final grade.
The hour exam on the reading, March 19, will count one-sixth of the final grade.
Participation and work in sections will count one-third of the final grade.
The final exam, Saturday May 19, will count one-third of the final grade.
E means failing, numerically 0-60.
D means unsatisfactory: D-, 61-64; D, 65-67; D+, 68-70.
C means satisfactory: C-, 71-74; C, 75-77; C+, 78-80.
B means good: B-, 81-84; B, 85-87; B+, 88-90.
A means excellent: A-, 91-94; A, 95-100.

Office Hours:
Instructor: John Womack, Jr., Robinson Hall 220, Tuesdays, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., or by appointment at 495-5247, or jwomack@fas.harvard.edu.
Teaching Assistant: Ingrid Bleynat, office hours to be arranged, bleynat@fas.harvard.edu.