GOVT 328: Political Movements in Latin America

Dr. Lisa-Mari Centeno

LMCENTENO@adams.edu
Office Hours: T,Th: 11:00-1:00 and by appointment
ES 332, 719-587-7923

This course examines recent trends in Latin American social/political movements

including causes, strategies, outcomes, changes and effects on the larger
political landscape.

Throughout the semester Students will:

• Recognize and critically assess historical, cultural, economic and political factors
that give rise to Latin political movements.

• Analyze the ideologies, goals, techniques, successes and failures of specific

Latin American political movements;

• Demonstrate in-depth research and compose individual scholarship on one of the

topics presented throughout the semester.

Required Texts:

Eckstein, Susan Eva and Manuel A. Garreton Merino (eds.). 2001. Power and Popular
Protest: Latin American Social Movements. Los Angeles. University of California
Press.

Hershberg, Eric and Fred Rosen (eds.). 2006. Latin America After Neo-Liberalism:
Turning the Tide in the 21st Century. New York. The New Press.

Additional readings are available online, or on EBSCO (library database)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
(Total = 100%)
Discussion Questions 25% (5 at 5% each)
Essays 45% (3 at 15% each)
Movement Presentation 15%
Political Art presentation: 15%

Discussion questions (5 at 5% each): Students will prepare two typed discussion

questions for each section of readings. Questions should indicate that the reading was

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completed. In other words, asking what the author’s point was is not an acceptable
question. These exercises will be graded based on depth.

Requirements:
• Stapled if necessary, double-spaced with one-inch margins, and typed in
a 12-point font.

* Students presenting a movement for a section are not required to

complete discussion questions for that section.

Essays (3 at 15% each): Students will craft analytical essays addressing the following
questions/issues:

Essay 1:
Due on 2/12
• Discuss Terry Lynn Karl’s piece “The Vicious Cycle of Inequality in Latin
America.” Do you agree with Karl’s argument regarding the origins and
perpetuation of the cycle? Why or why not?

OR

• Marc Edelman states that the “rise of transnational peasant movements

draws on a deep, historical reservoir of moral economic sensibilities…”
Explain the concept of “moral economy” and whether or not you agree
with Edelman’s position.

Essay 2:
Due on 4/3
• Critique liberation theology as both a theoretical and practical force in
Latin America.

OR

• According to Timothy Wickham-Crowley’s piece “Winners, Losers, and

Also-Rans: Toward a Comparative Sociology of Latin American Guerrilla
Movements,” what makes for successful Latin American guerrilla
movements? Do you agree with Wickham-Crowley’s model? Why or why
not?

Essay 3:
Due on the scheduled day of Finals Week
• Identity (“new”) movements are often considered conceptually and
practically distinct from traditional (“old”) economic and political interest
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 movements. Explain the concept of identity as it pertains to contemporary
Women’s, Indigenous and Afro-Latin movements. Discuss whether or not
you believe these “new” movements are distinct from “old” movements.

Requirements:
• Stapled, double-spaced with one-inch margins, and typed in a 12-point
font.
• Length of 3-4 pages text (does not include reference page).
• Page numbers.
• Minimum of 2 scholarly references.
• Submission to Turnitin.com. The course number is 2120312 . The
password is centeno (lower case).

** Students may rewrite one essay in order to improve the grade.

Late essays are not eligible for the rewrite option.

Movement Presentation (15%): Students will present one political movement relating
to one of the sections of the course. Sign up sheet will be provided.

Requirements:
• Visual aid (poster, power point or brochure, etc.).
• Typed Reference Page.

**** Students presenting a movement for a section are not required

to complete discussion questions for that section.

Political Art Presentation (15%): Students, working in groups, will present a 10

minute political analysis of Latin American art (visual, literary, or musical).

Requirements:
• Visual aid (poster, power point or brochure, etc.).
• Typed Reference Page.

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 Schedule

1/15-1/24: Introduction
To read and discuss:
• Chapter 1, “Power and Popular Protest in L.A.” in Power and
Popular Protest.
• Chapter 6, “Latin America: Persistent Inequality” in Latin
America After Neo-Liberalism.
• Chapter 9, “The Politics of Memory” in Latin America After
Neo-Liberalism.

Discussion Questions due on 1/24

1/29-2/7: Rural movements

To read and discuss:
• Chapter 3 “Peasant Struggles” in Power and Popular Protest.
• Petras, James. 2005. “The Centrality of Peasant Movements in
Latin America: Achievements and Limitations.”
Synthesis/Regeneration, v. 38. Online at
http://www.greens.org/s-r/38/38-10.html
• Edelman, Marc. 2005. “Bringing the Moral Economy back in . . . to
The Study of 21st-Century Transnational Peasant
Movements.” American Anthropologist, Vol. 7,3.
To be distributed

Class canceled on 1/31 for Focus the Nation Teach-In

Those assigned to Rural movements will present on 2/5

Discussion Questions due on 2/7

2/12-2/21: Labor movements

To read and discuss:
• Chapter 5: “Cultural resistance and Class Consciousness” in Power
and Popular Protest text.
• Novelli, Mario. 2004. “Globalisations, Social Movements,
Unionism and New Internationalisms: the Role of Strategic
Learning in the Transformation of the Municipal Workers
Union of EMCALI 1.” Globalisation, Societies & Education,
Vol. 2,2.
• Chapter 14: “Labor and the Challenge of Cross-Border, Cross-

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 Essay 1 due Sector
on 2/12Alliance” in Latin America After Neo-Liberalism.

Those assigned to Labor movements will present on 2/14

Discussion Questions due on 2/21

2/26-3/4: Liberation Theology

To read and discuss:
 Chapter 6: “Religion and Popular Protest….” In Power and Popular
Protest.
 Girardi, Girulio, 2000. “Liberation Theology: Cry of the Excluded.”
Available online at:
http://movimientos.org/show_text.php3?key=195

Discussion Questions due on 3/4

3/6-3/18: Revolutionary Movements

To read and discuss:
• Chapter 2: “Sendero Luminoso…” in Power
and Popular Protest.
• Chapter 4: “Winners, Losers and Also Rans….” in Power
and Popular Protest.
• Chapter 11: “The Left in South America” in Latin America After
Neo-Liberalism.
• Cusicanqui, Silvia Rivera. 2004. “The Roots of Rebellion II.”
NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol. 38, 3.
Available via EbscoHost (Library online database)

Those assigned to Revolutionary movements will present

on 3/18

Discussion Questions due on 3/20

3/25-4/1: Women’s Movements

To read and discuss:
• Chapter 7: “The Personal is Political” in Power
and Popular Protest..

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 • Burton, Barbara. 2004. “The Transmigration of Rights: Women,
Movement, and the Grassroots in Latin American and
Caribbean Communities.” Development and Change, 35,4.
Available via EbscoHost (Library online database)
• Chapter 12: “De Protesta a Propuesta” in Latin America After
Neo-Liberalism.

Those assigned to Women’s movements will present on 3/27

Discussion Questions due on 4/1

4/3-4/15: The Politics of Difference; Ethnic movements

To read and discuss:
• Chapter 13: “Negotiating Multicultural Citizenship” in Latin
America After Neo-Liberalism.
• Houghton, Juan and Beverly Bell. 2004. “Latin American
Indigenous Movements in the Context of Globalization.”
Available online at:
http://iiyc.resist.ca/la_globalization
• Loperena, Gabriel. 2004. “Marginal Power Latin American
Indigenous Revival.” Harvard International Review.
Available online at:
http://hir.harvard.edu/articles/1242/
• Thorne, Eva T. 2001. “Ethnic and Race-Based Political
Organization and Mobilization in Latin America:Lessons for
Public Policy.” Submitted at the Dialogue on Race, Ethnicity
and Inclusion. Washington DC. InterAmerican Development
Bank. Available online at:
http://www.thedialogue.org/iac/eng/pubs/documents/Ethnica
ndRaceBasedPoliticalOrganization.pdf
• Wade, Peter. “Cimarron: Afro-Colombian Mobilization.” Available
Online at:
http://diaspora.northwestern.edu/mbin/WebObjects/Di
asporaX.woa/wa/displayArticle?atomid=689

Essay 2 Due on 4/3

Those assigned to Ethnic movements will present on 4/15

Discussion Questions due on 4/15 6

4/17-5/1: Art as Politics/ Politics as Art

Class canceled 4/22-4/24. Use this time to work on Political

Art projects.

Political Art presentations on 4/29 and 5/1

5/6—5/9: Finals Week

• Film to be determined

Essay 3 due on the scheduled final day

Writing Standards
Please see the HGP Writing Assessment Rubric at:
http://faculty.adams.edu/~ercrowth/hgprubric.htm

• All papers must be typed in a 12-point font, double-spaced with one-inch margins
and stapled.

• The spell-check is not a substitute for proofreading. Points will be

deducted for sloppy writing.

• Non-scholarly sources, with the exception of newspaper articles and

organizational websites (such as that of the WTO), will not be accepted.
Internet sources should come from sites with URLs ending in .gov or .edu.
Avoid .com sites with the exception of some online journals such as
foreignpolicy.com.

Never use the dictionary or encyclopedia (including Wikipedia) as a

source.

• Plagiarism is a serious offense. According to the College Handbook: “All

students are expected to practice academic honesty. [He/she] should refrain from
any form of cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the
College” (42). Therefore:

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 • Any phrases, paraphrases, terms, concepts, facts and/or figures applied from
other sources must be cited correctly. All phrases or sentences that are not in
your own words must be in quotation marks.
• Sources must be cited within the text and included in a reference page at the
end of your work.
• Please see the College’s definition of plagiarism at
http://www2.adams.edu/library/plagiarism/plagiarism.php
• Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the assignment. Second, or
more serious first offenses will result in a failing grade for the course
and notification sent to the Provost.

Citation format: I require the citation format used by the American Political Science
Association (APSA). If you have questions about formatting please ask. Do not use
MLA or other citation formats. Below is a sample paragraph of the format I require.
Note the parenthetical citations within the text:

Excerpt from:
McCormick, John P. 2006. “Contain the Wealthy and Patrol the Magistrates: Restoring
Elite Accountability to Popular Government.” American Political Science Review
100(2): 148-164.

Ancient democracies assumed that law and public policy would not express the

common good unless large numbers of nonwealthy citizens participated in government

by holding office themselves. Wealthy citizens, despite promises to the contrary, were

expected to pursue their own interests, and not those of the general populace on

ascension to office—–a danger exacerbated in electoral systems where the wealthy

monopolize offices. To avoid the “aristocratic effect” of election (Manin 1997, 42–93),

ancient democracies assigned most magistracies by citizen-wide lotteries or “sortitions”

and observed frequent rotation in office (Hansen 1991, 230–31; cf. Duxbury 1999). In

keeping with the egalitarian aspirations and distrust of oligarchy characterizing such

regimes (Ober 1993), lottery conducted over the entire citizenry ensured that the

wealthy and notable would have little chance of governing to an extent exceeding their

percentage of the citizenry; it guaranteed that offices would be distributed randomly

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among all classes. Moreover, the regular and frequent turnover of office ensured that

wealthy magistrates could deploy their greater financial resources neither to ensconce

themselves in an office nor to influence or determine the appointment of like-minded or

similarly interested successors. As straightforward sortition became increasingly rare in

Western popular governments, republics attempted to ameliorate the aristocratic effect

of elections and ensure wider distribution of offices in two alternate ways: by combining

election with lottery-like randomization measures and/or by establishing class-specific

eligibility stipulations for specific offices.

_______________________________________

References

Allen, Danielle S. 2000. The World of Prometheus: The Politics of

Punishment in Democratic Athens. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.

Adams, John. [1790] 1805. Discourses on Davila. In The Works of

John Adams, ed. C. F. Adams. Boston, MA:Massachusetts Historical
Society, 280–304.

Aristotle. 1997. In ThePolitics,Trans. and ed. P.L. P. Simpson. Chapel

Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

Arnold, Douglas A. 1993. “Can Inattentive Citizens Control Their

Elected Representatives?” In Congress Reconsidered, ed. L. Dodd
and B. Oppenheimer. Washington, DC: Congress Quarterly Press.

Wantchekon, Leonard. 2004. “The Paradox of ‘Warlord’ Democracy.”

American Political Science Review 98 (1): 17–34.

_____________________________________
*To cite a website:

Within the text: (Author date (if available), page number (if available))

For example: (CIA 2006, 2)

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 I understand that in many cases a page number will not be available. Do your
best to adhere to this model as much as possible.

In the Reference Page:

Author. Date (if available). “Title in quotation marks.” Organization or publisher.
Date accessed.
URL

For example:
CIA World Factbook. 2006. “Venezuela.” Central Intelligence Agency.
Accessed December 20, 2006.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ve.html

________________________________________
All direct quotes must be contained within quotation marks and cited properly.
Quotes longer than 4 lines should be single spaced, indented and in a 10 pt. font.

For example:

Benjamin Barber argues that the forces of globalization and localization are

simultaneous, parallel processes. He describes the dynamics of globalization as:

“…being borne in on us by the onrush of economic and ecological forces that
demand integration and uniformity and that mesmerize the world with fast music,
fast computers, and fast food—with MTV, Macintosh, and McDonald’s, pressing
nations into one commercially homogenous global network: one McWorld tied
together by technology, ecology, communications, and commerce. The planet is
falling precipitately apart AND coming reluctantly together at the very same
moment.” (1992, 1).

Additional Information:

• Tardiness: DON’T BE LATE!! If some unavoidable situation (alien abduction,

etc.) forces you to be late please do not disturb the rest of the class as you enter.
Perpetual tardiness will be penalized with a 3% reduction of the final grade
for each infraction.
• All written assignments are due on their respective due dates at the beginning
of class.

o Penalties for late assignments:

 Absence and assignment submitted at end of class:
Deduction of one letter grade.
 Further deduction of one letter grade after each 24 hour
period.
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• Constructive discussion in an academic setting requires respectful conduct.
Please turn off cell phones and beepers while in class (see me for exceptions).
Do not engage in private conversations, read the newspaper, or study for another
class while I or another student has the floor.
• You are advised to keep copies of all your graded work in the event of calculation
errors. Grades cannot be changed without proof of error.

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