Race and Ethnicity in the History of Latin America
PURPOSE AND CONTENT:
This course is an advanced seminar in the study of the history of race and ethnicity in Latin America, with an emphasis on how these these categories intersect with discussions of the relationship between local or regional history and the formation of the nation-state. We will review the history of how ethnicity and race have been defined in the Latin America studies (historiography) and the ideologies and practices associated with these categories. Our readings will be drawn mostly from Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Peru, El Salvador and Guatemala. These cases will involve materials that combine these categories in complex ways. For this reason, we will also emphasize understanding the larger historical contexts of the case studies.
We will start by dedicating two weeks to theoretical and conceptual discussions on race, ethnicity and the relationship between region and nation. After this we will examine a few case studies drawn from the colonial period--a foundational period that will remain important throughout the entire course. We will then examine race and ethnic patterns during the transitional years of the nineteenth century, especially through the lens of how different regions experienced their integration into the nation-state and the construction of new hierarchies. Finally we will look at the twentieth century and consider to what extent the once-dominant regional patterns of race and ethnic relations become subsumed to national or state-based forces, and how ethnicity and race have come “back” since the 1980s as important aspects of the region’s history.
REQUIREMENTS:
This course is a discussion-intensive seminar and your consistent participation will be important to its success. Absences are NOT acceptable unless accepted by your dean or myself ahead of time.
We will have extensive reading assignments during the first 9 weeks of the semester. During the final the emphasis will be on your research projects. The final two sessions will be dedicated to presenting and discussing student drafts. Each student will also be responsible for introducing the questions raised by the readings one week. A short mid-term reflection paper of about 5 pages will allow me to provide you a midterm evaluation. I will include a research methods workshop as part of the course.
Determination of Grade:
Class participation and attendance 20%Presentation of readings 10%Short mid-term reflection 5 pp. paper 20%Final Research Paper 50%
The research paper grade will be based on:
February statement of research question: 10%March: Annotated bibliography & thesis statement: 10%April: draft: 10%Oral presentation: 10%Final Draft: 60%
Readings and Time: This course will require between 8 and 10 hours of work outside of class time. You are expected to keep up with the readings every week, so please allow yourself enough time to complete the readings and come to class prepared to discuss them.
BOOKS:
The following books have been ordered by the bookstore. The course will also rely heavily on readings put on E-reserve.
John Kicza, ed. The Indian in Latin American History. Revised Edition. SR Press.Richard Graham, ed. The Idea of Race in Latin America, 1870-1910 . University of Texas Press. 1990.Jeffrey Gould. To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of the Mestizaje 1880-1965. Duke UP.Greg Grandin. The Blood of Guatemala. A History of Race and Nation. Duke UP.Peter Wade. Race and Ethnicity in Latin America. Pluto Press.
COURSE ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE:
Week 1: [Jan 22] Concepts, Theory and Historiography I
Week 2: [Jan 29] Concepts, Theory and Historiography II
Week 3: [Feb 5, Meets Monday 9] From Natives to Indians: Early Colonial Racialization of Ethnicity
- Documents
Week 4: [Feb 12, Meets Monday 16] Late Colonial Indigenous and Mestizo Cultures [Riley]
Week 5: [Feb 19, Meets Monday 23] Blackness and Slavery, 18th and 19th centuries [Lucy]
- C. Fick. The Making of Haiti. Chaps 1-2.
- Franklin Night. Slave Society in Cuba during the Nineteenth Century. Wisconsin UP. Chaps. 4-5
- Mary C. Karasch. Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro, 1808-1850. Princeton UP. Chapters 1 & 2.
Week 6: [Feb 26] Abolition, Blackness and the Consolidation of Nation-States, 1860s-1890s [Melissa]
- Due: Research paper theme or question
- Russell Leigh Sharman. "The Caribbean Carretera: Race, Space and Social Liminality in Costa Rica." Bulletin of Latin American Research. 20:1 (2001): 46-62.
- Alejandro De la Fuente. “Immigration and Race in Cuba.” in Vincent Peloso, ed. Work, Protest and Identity in Twentieth-Century Latin America.
- Brian L. Moore, The Subjugation of the Indian and the Chinese Immigrants, in Brian L. Moore, Race, Power and Social Segmentation in Colonial Society: Guyana after Slavery, 1838-1891. 161-188.
Week 7: [Mar 4] From Caste to Citizens: Indians and the State during the Early Republics, 1820s-1840s [Eddie]
Week 8: [Mar 18] Indian, Mestizos and Others in the Consolidation of Nation-States and Commercial Economies, 1870s-1920s [Christian]
- Jeffrey L. Gould. To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of the Mestizaje 1880-1965. Chaps. 1-3.
Week 9: [Mar 25] Ethnicity in Early Twentieth Century Revolts and Revolutions, 1910s-1930s [Matt]
Week 10: [April 1] Ethnic and Racial Categories and the Modern Nation State Since 1940 I [Catherine]
- Cook and Joo, "Ethnicity and Economy in Rural Mexico" [ERES]
Week 11: [April 8] No Class!
Week 12: [April 15] Ethnic and Racial Categories and the Modern Nation State Since 1940 II [Hildebrando]
- Lynn Stephens. "New Zapatismo in the Lacandon Jungle." [ERES]
Week 13: [April 22] Contemporary Identities and Struggles for Equality and Rights [Meghan]
Week 14: [May 6] Presentation and Discussion of Research Papers