Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Dr. A. Lauria-Santiago
Contact Info and Office Hours

PURPOSE OF THIS COURSE

This course has three goals. First, we will briefly examine the history of Central America since the eigtheenth century and basic concepts in the study of revolt and revolution. Second, we will study the principal themes that have shaped the history of Central America since the early twentieth century, especially those associated with the roots of the repressive states that took shape between the 1930s and 1960s and 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.

The revolutionary movements and civil wars that shook Central America in the 1980s defined the decade and led to the US to a return to massive direct, military and covert intervention in the region. Framed by some as a final battleground of the so-called cold war between the US and the Soviet Union, Central America scholars prefer to emphasize the complexity of internal social and political forces and the US's traditional desire to control anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian movements in its traditional 'back yard.' This course will allow students to examine the historical formation of three distinct militarized and anti-democratic states, the complex class, regional and racial tensions that constituted Central American societies, and the movements that challenged state, class and other hierarchies.

REQUIREMENTS:

• This is an advanced course and you will need to read and process about 100 pages of reading per week. The syllabus will change somewhat as we advance through the semester. Sections marked with the red "new" icon will bring your attention to these changes.
• Attendance to all class sessions and consistent and effective participation in class discussions are required. Students frequently drop a whole grade in their final grades because of lack of participation and poor attendance.
• 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 discussion session.
• I will lecture every tuesday and we'll have a more open discussion format on thursdays.
• You will have to hand in a 1 page discussion of the readings nearly every thursday. I will give you a questions for the first few weeks of these short reports.
• You will have three short discussion papers (5-6 pgs.) and one comprehensive fact-based final exam.
• I will reply to emails within 24 hours. You are expected to check your email regularly and learn how to use the SAKAI system.
• You are strongly encouraged to discuss your papers with me in office hours (before and after handing them in).
• Plagiarism is a serious breach of university policies. Make sure you know what it is. Papers copied from work done by others or cut and pasted from other sources will lead to an F and result in disciplinary action. Students often string notes taken from the readings word-by-word into their papers. This is also plagiarism.
• Grading:
  • I follow the departmental grade curve linked here. Make sure to look at it.
  • Class participation, presentation, attendance: 20%
  • Weekly discussion papers: 15%
  • Short papers: 15% each
  • Final exam: 20%
• This is a history course. Dates, places, names, individuals will matter to us greatly. Pay attention to these details as we go along.

BOOKS FOR THIS COURSE:

The following books are required and have been ordered by the RU bookstore. You may also order them on Amazon or from any other bookstore.  Other readings for this course are available on reserve on our sakai site.

• J. Gould and A. Lauria Santiago. To Rise in Darkness. Duke University Press.
• T. Pearcy. The History of Central America. Palgrave-Mcmillan.
• G. Grandin. The Last Colonial Massacre. University of Chicago Press.

COURSE ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE:

I. Introduction and Nation-State formation to the 1920s

Week 1: [1/20-22] 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).
• T. Pearcy. The History of Central America. Chronology, Chap. 6.
• 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.

For 2/27 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:

• Individual countries including some relief map
• Central American and the Caribbean--Political
• Perez Brignoli. Historical Atlas of Central America.

Additional Links:

• Plate Tectonics

Week 2: [1/27-29] Geography, Demography and the Formation of a Colonial Region to 1820s

• Pearcy. The History of Central America. Chaps 1-3, 5.
• Hector Perez Brignoli. A Short History of Central America. Chaps. 2-3

Week 3: [2/3-2/5] National States and Societies to 1830s to 1920s

• Lauria Santiago. An Agrarian Republic. Chaps. 3,5.

Read one of these three. Read two if you can, these are very interesting!

• Michel Gobat, Confronting the American Dream: Nicaragua under U.S. Imperial Rule, chaps. 1.
• Greg Grandin, The Blood of Guatemala: A History of Race and Nation, Chap. 5.
• Justin Wolfe--"Those That Live by the Work of Their Hands: Labour, Ethnicity and Nation-State Formation in Nicaragua, 1850–1900"

II. Dictatorships, Reformisms, Revolts, Dictatorships, 1920s-1970

Week 4: [2/10-2/12] Imperialism, Caudillismo and Nationalism in Nicaragua, 1920s-1930s

• Michel Gobat, Confronting the American Dream: Nicaragua under U.S. Imperial Rule, chaps. 4,8.
• Jeffrey L. Gould. To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of the Mestizaje 1880-1965. Chap 1.
• Skim: Langley. The Banana Wars: United States Intervewntion in The Caribbean, 1898-1934. Chaps. 6, 14,-16.

Read one of these two:

• 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
• 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 5: [2/17-2/19] Development and the Somozista State, 1940s-1960s [missing readings will be posted as soon as I can figure out where my staff put them!]

• Knut Walter, The Regime of Anastasio Somozo, 1936-1956. Chaps. 4, 5. [Chap. 2 is optional-Traces early Somoza Govt in 1930s)
• Richard Grossman. "The Guardia Nacional"...
• Jeffrey L. Gould. To Lead as Equals. Chaps. 9, 12.
• Skim: Matilde Zimmerman, The Nicaraguan Revolution, A Brief History. p. 3-21.

Week 6: [2/24-2/26] El Salvador: The 1932 Peasant Revolt and Massacre

• J. Gould and A. Lauria Santiago. To Rise in Darkness. Chaps. 1-6.
• Cicatriz de la Memoria (video)--Will be on Reserve at Kilmer.

Municipal Map of Western El Salvador

Map of El Salvador

Week 7: [3/3-3/5] El Salvador: Development and the Military State, 1950-1970s

• William Stanley, The Protection Racket State: Elite Politics, Military Extortion and Civil War in El Salvador, pgs. 58-106. chap. 4.

Optional:

• John Coatsworth, Central America and the US: The Clients and the Colossus, chap 6.
• Leigh Binford. The El Mozote Massacre. Chaps 2, 4-5.

Week 8: [3/10-3/12]   Guatemala: Popular Movements, Reform, and Cold War Terror, 1944-1970

• Rachel May. Terror in the Countryside. Chap 4.
• Cindy Forster. The Time of Freedom: Campesino Workers in Guatemala's October Revolution. Chap. 4 & 5
• G. Grandin. The Last Colonial Massacre. Intro, 1, 2

Spring Break [3/17-3/19]

III. Crisis, Revolutionary Movements, Counter-revolutions, 1970-1990

Week 9: [3/24-3/26] Guatemala: Urban Revolt, Rural Insurgency, Mass Repression, 1977-1990

• Rachel May. Terror in the Countryside. Chap 6-7.
• Greg Grandin, The Last Colonial Massacre, chaps. 3-5.

Optional:

• Robert Carmack, “The Story of Santa Cruz Quiché,” in Harvest of Violence: The Maya Indians and the Guatemalan Crisis. Robert M. Carmack, ed.
• Susan Jonas. The Battle For Guatemala: Rebels, Death Squads and US Power. Chaps 8-10.

Week 10: [3/31-4/02] Nicaragua: Sandinismo and the Sandinista Revolution, 1979-1999

• Matilde Zimmerman, The Nicaraguan Revolution, A Brief History, chaps. 4-6.
• Stahler Review Essay (very short)
• Chose from Martinez or Luciack articles (skim)
• Walker. Nicaragua. Selected passages in Sakai (available later 3/31)

Week 11: [4/7-4/9] Nicaragua: Demise of the Revolution, 1990-1992

• William Walker. Nicaragua Without Ilussions: Regime Transition and the Structural Adjustment in the 1990s. Chaps 5,6,7,9, 10, 11,12,13,15.
• OPTIONAL but inspiring and inssightful, many short intereviews: Denis Lynn Daly Heyck. Life Stories of the Nicaraguan Revolition. 27-137, 253-259.

Week 12: [4/14-4/16] El Salvador: Origins, Crisis 1970-1980

• Knut Walter & Philip Williams. The Military and Democratization in El Salvador, chap. 5-6.
• Paul D. Almeida. Waves of Protest: Popular Struggles in El Salvador, 1925-2005. Chap 4.

Week 13: [4/21-4/23] El Salvador: Revolution, Civil War and Resolution 1981-1992

• Binford. The El Mozote Massacre. Chaps 6-7.
• Elisabeth Wood. Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador. Chaps 3-5, 7.
• Aldo Lauria Santiago and Leigh Binford, eds. Landscapes of Struggle: Politics, Society and COmmunity in El Salvador. Pick one of scanned chapters.

Week 14: [4/28-4/30] Defeats, Resolutions, Reconstructions and Post-war realities

• Knut Walter & Philip Williams, The Military and Democratization in El Salvador. Chap 7.
• Patricia Ardon, Deborah Eade, Post-War Reconstruction in Central America: Lessons from El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.