Contents Purpose of the Course Requirements Books Weeks 1-3 Weeks 4-6 Weeks 7-10 Weeks 11-14 =New item or changes made

Dr. A. Lauria-Santiago
Contact Info

PURPOSE OF THIS COURSE

This course has three goals. First, we will briefly examine the long-term history of Central America and basic concepts in the study of revolution and revolt. Second, we will study the principal themes that have shaped the history of Central America in the twentieth century, especially the themes associated with the deep roots of the repressive states that entered into crisis in the 1970s. Finally, we will study the history of the revolutionary processes of Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador between the late 1970s and the early 1990s.

Three important notes:

1. Historical sociology light is not the same as historical research. Because of this, we will encounter many interpretations of the processes we are going to study but not sufficient historical works that reflect extensive archival and oral research. In our discussions we will review the methodological and conceptual differences between these kinds of works. We will try to understand the difference between multi-dimensional research and uni-dimensional and passive interpretations.
2. We will need to be very careful in handling 'presentism' and a series of national myths which have had strong influences in the historiography (and other social science writing) on Central American revolutions.
3. There is no substitute for research when we don't know something. No matter how much we might criticize aspects of historical research (sources, concepts, etc.) passive generalizations based on a few 'accepted' facts is rarely a formula for deep understanding of historical processes.

REQUIREMENTS:

• This is an advanced course and you will need to read and digest at least 100 pages of reading per week. The syllabus will change somewhat as we go through the semester. Attendance to all class sessions and consistent and effective participation in class discussions is required. Because this is a once-a-week class any unexcused absences will lower your class participation grade.
• The readings and lectures will be the basis for your work. You need to do all the readings and bring notes and questions to each session.
• You will have to present the week's readings and issues raised once during the semester. Please provide an outline to the class of the facts, claims, themes and questions raised in the readings.
• You will have to hand in a 1-2 page summary discussion of the readings every week.
• You will have one short paper (5 pgs) based on our readings and one final longer paper (12+ pg) where you will have to do some additional supplementary research.
• Suggested themes for the final papers:
  • The role of the "agrarian question" in the three revolutionary processes
  • The role of revolutionary leadership and organizations
  • The authoritarian/military regimes that were overthrown or challenged
  • The role of the US (government policies, social intervention) and other transnational aspects of the crisis
  • The role of ethnic relations in the history of the three countries
• Grading:
  • Class participation, presentation, attendance: 20%
  • Weekly discsussion papers: 20%
  • Short paper: 20% each
  • Final paper: 40%

BOOKS FOR THIS COURSE:

The following books are required. You may order them on Amazon, B&N or from any other bookstore.  Other readings for this course are available on reserve on our sakai site.

• Lynn Horton. Peasants in Arms: War and Peace in the Mountains of Nicaragua, 1979-1994. Ohio Univ. Press.
• Leigh Binford. The El Mozote Massacre: Anthropology and Human Rights. Univ. of Arizona Press.
• Michel Gobat. Confronting the American Dream: Nicaragua under U.S. Imperial Rule. Duke Univ. Press.

COURSE ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE:

Week 1: [1/16] Conceptualizing Revolt and Revolution/The Historical Geography of Central America/Colonial History

• Jeff Gould and Lowell Gudmundson, “Central American Historiography after the Violence,” Latin American Research Review, 32:1 (1997).
• John Booth, “Socioeconomic Roots of National Revolts in Central America,” Latin American Research Review, 26:1 (1991).
• Héctor Perez Brignoli, Brief History of Central America, chaps. 1-2.
• Eric R. Wolf, "On Peasant Rebellions," International Social Science Journal (1969)
• John Foran. "Theories of Revolution Revisited." Sociological Theory 11:1 (March 1993), 1-20.
• William G. Roy. "Class Conflict and Social Change in Historical Perspective." Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 10. (1984), pp. 483-506.

Plate Techtonics

Héctor Perez Brignoli & Carolyn Hall, Atlas of Central America. In-class review of maps.

For 1/23 meeting: In-class Map Exercise--identify all the principal countries, cities, and physical features of Central America [exercise will be done in class on a blank map]  Use the following maps to prepare.

• Central American and the Caribbean--Political
• Individual countries including some relief map

Week 2: [1/23] 1820-1930—Formation of National States and Societies

• Héctor Perez Brignoli, Brief History of Central America, chap. 3.
• Ralph Lee Woodward, “Rise and Decline of Liberalism: Historical Perspectives on the Contemporary Crisis” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, 26:3 (1984).
• Aldo Lauria Santiago, An Agrarian Republic, Chap. 5.
• James Dunkerley. Power in the Isthmus. Chap. 1.

Week 3: [1/30] The Ethnic Question

• Greg Grandin, "The Strange Case of la Mancha Negra: Mayan-State Relations in Nineteenth Century Guatemala," Hispanic American Historical Review, 77:2, 1997.
• Jeffrey L. Gould. To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of the Mestizaje 1880-1965. Select one from Chaps 1 and 2. Presentation should cover both.
• Aldo Lauria Santiago, “Land, Community, and Revolt in Indian Izalco, 1860-1900," Hispanic American Historical Review, 79:3 (1999).

Week 4: [2/6] The Agrarian Question: Land, the Peasantry and Agrarian Capitalism

• Gould and Lauria Santiago, book manuscript, chap 1.
• Robert G. Williams, States and Social Evolution: Coffee and The Rise of National Governments in Central America, Chap. 3
• Robert G. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America, caps. 3, 6.
• Greg Grandin, The Blood of Guatemala: A History of Race and Nation, Chap. 5.

Week 5: [2/13] El Salvador: The 1932 Peasant Revolt and Massacre

• Aldo Lauria Santiago y Jeffrey Gould, book ms., See Folder in Sakai for assigned Chaps. The Introduction is not required.
• Please do not share these file with anyone outside our class!
• Cicatriz de la Memoria (video)--Will be on Reserve at Kilmer and on RU-TV soon. I'll let you know when.

Municipal Map of Western El Salvador

Map of El Salvador

An excellent chronology of quotes from texts on El Salvador's history 1900-1930s

Week 6: [2/20] Imperialism and Nationalism in Nicaragua, 1920s-1930s

• Matilde Zimmerman, “The Nicaraguan Revolution, A Brief History”, Intro and chap 1.[This is very short and general, read first]
• Michel Gobat, Confronting the American Dream: Nicaragua under U.S. Imperial Rule, chaps. 3-6.
  • Michael J. Schroeder, “The Sandino Rebellion Revisited: Civil War Imperialism, Popular Nationalism and State Formation Muddled up Together in the Segovias of Nicaragua, 1926-1934” in Close Encounters of Empire: Writing the Cultural History of US-Latin American Relations. Gilbert Joseph, et. al. eds
  • OR
  • Michael J. Schroeder, “Horse Thieves to Rebels to Dogs: Political Gang Violence and the State in the Western Segovias, Nicaragua, in the Time of Sandino, 1926-1934,” Journal of Latin American Studies 28: 2 (1996).

Week 7: [2/27] Origins of the Nicaraguan Revolution: Development and the Somozista State, 1940s-1960s

• Jeffrey Gould, To Lead as Equals, chap. 9.
• Michel Gobat, Confronting the American Dream: Nicaragua under U.S. Imperial Rule, chaps. 8-9, Epilogue.
• Matilde Zimmerman, “The Nicaraguan Revolution, A Brief History”, chap. 3. [This is very short and general, read first]

First paper due 3/05

Week 8: [3/6]  Nicaragua: The Revolution 1979-1990 [Daniel]

• Jeffrey Gould, To Lead as Equals, chap. 12.
• Matilde Zimmerman, The Nicaraguan Revolution, A Brief History, chaps. 4-6. [This is very short and general, read first]
• Lynn Horton, Chaps. 1-3.

Spring Break [3/13]

Week 9: [3/20] Nicaragua: Demise of the Revolution, 1990-1992. [Natalia]

• Lynn Horton, Chaps. 4-10.

Week 10: [3/27] Guatemala: Popular Movements, Reform, and Cold War Terror, 1944-1970s [Nelson]

Pick one:

• Robert Carmack, “The Story of Santa Cruz Quiché,” in Harvest of Violence: The Maya Indians and the Guatemalan Crisis. Robert M. Carmack, ed.
• Rachel May. Terror in the Countryside. Chap 5. (available thursday after 5pm)

Pick one:

• Cindy Forster, “’The Macondo of Guatemala’:  Banana Workers and National Revolution in Tiquisate, 1944-1954,” in Banana Wars: Power, Production, and History in The Americas Steve Striffler and Mark Moberg, eds.
• Cindy Forster, “Reforging National Revolution: Campesino Labor Struggles in Guatemala, 1944-1954,” in Identity and Struggle at the Margins of the Nation-State: The Laboring Peoples of Central America and the Hispanic Caribbean, Aldo Lauria Santiago & Aviva Chomsky, eds.

Pick one:

• Piero Gleijeses, “The Agrarian Reform of Jacobo Arbenz,” Journal of Latin American Studies 21:3 (1989).
• Jim Handy, "'A Sea of Indians': Ethnic Conflict and the Guatemalan Revolution, 1944-1952," The Americas 46:2 (1989).

Read both:

• Greg Grandin, “Everyday forms of state decomposition: Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, 1954,” Bulletin of Latin American Research 19 (2000).
• John Coatsworth, Central America and the US: The Clients and the Colossus, chap 5.

Week 11: [4/3] Guatemala: Urban Revolt, Rural Insurgency, Mass Repression [David]

• Greg Grandin, The Last Colonial Massacre, chaps. Intro, 1, 2, 5.
• Greg Grandin, "To End with All These Evils: Ethnic Transformation and Community Mobilization in Guatemala's Western Highlands, 1954-1980," Latin American Perspectives, 24:2 (1997).
• Robert Carmack, Harvest of Violence: The Maya Indians and the Guatemalan Crisis, Chaps. 3-4.

Week 12: [4/10] El Salvador: Development and the Military State, 1950-1970s [Steve]

• William Stanley, The Protection Racket State: Elite Politics, Military Extortion and Civil War in El Salvador, pgs. 58-106. chap. 4.
• John Coatsworth, Central America and the US: The Clients and the Colossus, chap 6. [Optional--Include in Presentation]
• Binford. The El Mozote Massacre. Chaps 2, 4-5.

Week 13: [4/17] El Salvador: Revolution, Civil War and Resolution 1977-1992 [Gabriela]

• Knut Walter & Philip Williams, The Military and Democratization in El Salvador, chap. 6. [make sure you pick the right reading here]
• Binford. The El Mozote Massacre. Chaps 6-8.
• Elisabeth Wood, Read two of the the three articles by Elisabeth wood in Sakai.

Week 14: [4/24] Defeats, Resolutions, Reconstructions and Post-war realities [Natalie]

• Select one from the "Salvador" folder in the Sakai Resources section.
• Knut Walter & Philip Williams, The Military and Democratization in El Salvador. Chap 7.