Contemporary History of Latin America (from 1945)
Code: 106196 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2504216 Contemporary History, Politics and Economics | OB | 3 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- David Martinez Fiol
- Email:
- david.martinez.fiol@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.
Prerequisites
Knowledgement of Contemporary Latin American History (SS. XIX-XXI). It is important to know the precedents and historical foundations of America in the last eighty years.
Mastery of specific concepts to political science: among others those of revolution, populism, caudillism, revolutionary nationalism, national state, oligarchic liberal state, presidentialism, constitutionalism, militarism, neocolonialism, decolonialism, imperialism, indigenism.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The subject of Contemporary History of Latin America (since 1945) has like a main objective of showing analytically and critically the recent historical evolution of the notorious Latin America. For this reason, the vision or visions that come from the different periods and events of the various American contexts start from an analytical perspective based on comparative history, and have continued among the different American realities with others extra-American contexts.
Provide the necessary resources and instruments to acquire a solid knowledge of the subject, keeping in mind the different interpretations and the historiographical debates on the political, institutional, economic, social and cultural channels of contemporary Latin America of the period 1945-2023.
Competences
- Assess the social, economic and environmental impact when acting in this field of knowledge.
- Distinguish between and analyse the type of relations that have been established over the last century among the different social, political and economic agents on national, regional and international frameworks.
- Distinguish between governmental decision-making systems in different social and political contexts from the mid-twentieth century to the present day in state-, substate and suprastate frameworks.
- Explain and summarise knowledge acquired in English language at an advanced level.
- Identify the role in the present of the different social memories referring to conflictive pasts, differentiating between the concepts of history and memory.
- Manage and apply data to solve problems.
- Recognise and contextualise texts referring to recent contemporary history.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Work cooperatively in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams implementing new projects.
Learning Outcomes
- Analysing the various historiographical perspectives in the different periods of history.
- Applying the necessary abilities in order to assess and spread historical knowledge.
- Assessing and critically solving the historiographical problems of war studies.
- Be familiar with the basic bibliography on historical evolution of governmental systems in the countries of reference for the subject.
- Capacity to continue future learning independently, acquiring further knowledge and exploring new areas of knowledge.
- Communicating in your mother tongue or other language both in oral and written form by using specific terminology and techniques of Historiography.
- Demonstrate capacity to adapt to changing environments.
- Demonstrate initiative and work independently when required.
- Demonstrate motivation regarding the quality of the work performed and sensitivity regarding the consequences on the environment and society.
- Developing the ability of historical analysis and synthesis.
- Distinguishing the relation between historiographical theory and practice.
- Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
- Express an opinion based on the nature, perspective and rigour of texts referring to the course content.
- Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
- Know different cases of memories in conflict between different places in different states.
- Know different cases of memories in conflict between different places in the same state.
- Make comparisons between the evolution of governmental systems within a supranational regional area.
- Organise work in relation to good time management and planning.
- Recognising and implementing the following teamwork skills: commitment to teamwork, habit of cooperation, ability to participate in the problem solving processes.
- Select and generate the information necessary for each problem, analyse it and take decisions based on that information.
- Understand regional specificities within states.
- Value ethical commitment in professional practice.
- Work in teams respecting all points of view. Use the specific vocabulary of history correctly.
Content
1.- AMERICAN IDENTITIES
A.- A republican continent?
B.- Is there an American identity?
2.- THE CRISIS OF THE OLIGARCHIC STATE AND THE NEW IDEA IDEAS? OF REVOLUTION (1930-1945)
A.- The construction of revolutionary nationalisms: anti-imperialisms, imperialisms and Americanisms
B.- Between the Mexican Revolution and the Bolshevik: Augusto César Sandino, Farabundo Martí and José Carlos Mariátegui. Theoretical precedents of the guerrillas of the 70's and 80's
C.- The first populisms and national-populisms: Yrigoyen, Cardenas, Haia de la Torre. Precedents of the populisms of the 40's and 50's
D.- The national-revolutionary militarisms: from populism to front populism reaching fascism
3.- THE COLD WAR AND THE SPLIT OF NATIONALIST DISCOURSES (1945-1973)
A.- The populist phenomenon: Peronism, Vargism
B.- The "rebellion" of the sergeants: Batista in Cuba and Ibáñez in Chile
C.- The first answer to the sergeants: the Cuba of the bearded
D.- The second answer to the sergeants: Allende or the Chilean way to "socialism"
E.- Liberal pan-Americanism: the Alliance for American Progress
4.- THE MILITARIZATION OF THE COLD WAR (1960-1990): NATIONAL SECURITY STATES
A.- The interventionist tradition of the army: military corporatism
B.- Fascisms or military dictatorships?: the triumph of military-authoritarian neoliberalism
C.- The examples of Pinochet's Chile, the Argentine Juntisme and the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua
5.- THE END OF THE COLD WAR AND THE DIFFICULT TRANSITIONS TO DEMOCRACY: IS THERE A SPANISH MIRROR?
A.- Argentina: the frustrated experience of racialism as an alternative to neo-Peronism and ultra-right neoliberalism
B.- Chile: the Pinochet transition and the complex constitutional solution
C.- Cuba: the drama of the "special period"
D.- Paramilitarism, civil war and drug trafficking in Central America and New Granada America
6.- THE UNCLASSIFIABLE NEW COLD WAR IN LATIN AMERICA (2000-2023)
A.- The outbreak of neo-populism: the conversion of Peronism to Kirchnerism
B.- The indigenous challenge: multinational constitutionalisms (Chile and Bolivia)
C.- The updating of revolutionary nationalism: Chavista and Madurista Venezuela
D.- The difficult one, is it impossible? pacification of revolutionary guerrillas and drug trafficking (Greater Colombia and Mexico)
Methodology
1.- The main monitoring of the subject will be based on two weekly sessions of 1.5 hours where the teacher will disseminate and critically analyze the syllabus presented in the "Contents" section.
2.- The subject presented in the classroom through the teachers' explanations will be complemented by bibliographic material (the books shown in the Bibliography of this Teaching Guide and all kinds of articles delivered via Virtual Campus) and visual (presentations , power points and various images such as posters or photographs).
3.- In turn, the students, based on the preparation of three tests of different characteristics, will be able to demonstrate their degree of competence in the achievement of the knowledge disseminated from the teacher's explanations and the various bibliographic materials and visuals that will have been used throughout the semester.
4.- Obviously, there will be monitoring of the students by the teacher based on tutoring sessions/interviews where the evolution of the students will be analyzed and they will be guided in order to positively lead their academic career in the matter For this reason, students will be able to use the office hours offered by the teacher.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Classroom practices and seminars | 7.5 | 0.3 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 21, 6, 15, 16, 7, 8, 10, 11, 4, 17, 13, 14, 9, 18, 12, 19, 20, 23, 22 |
| teacher-led classes | 50 | 2 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 21, 6, 15, 16, 7, 8, 10, 11, 4, 17, 13, 14, 9, 18, 12, 19, 20, 23, 22 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorships | 17.5 | 0.7 | 8, 11, 9, 18, 22 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal study and historiographical work | 75 | 3 | 1, 2, 5, 10, 11, 4, 13, 18, 22 |
Assessment
A. CONTINUOS EVALUATION
The basic process of evaluation of the matter will be the Continuous Evaluation. This will be structured from the following three tests:
First Test: bibliographic essay based on reading and working on a minimum of four (4) articles and one (1) book of a historiographical nature on a topic framed in the period 1945-2023 in Latin America or in relation to this geographical framework , cultural and political.
Mandatory features of this test:
1.- The work will be prepared in digital format, it must occupy a minimum of 5 pages and must be presented in PDF format, Times New Roman 12 font, 1.5 line spacing and with justified margins. It will be delivered through the corporate email of the subject teacher: David.Martinez.Fiol@uab.cat
2.- A cover page with the student's personal data (including the NIU) is mandatory.
3.- On the cover it is necessary to include the data of the book and of the articles worked on: Author, title of the article in quotation marks, name of the publication in italics, number of the issue of the magazine and the pages.
4.- Each student must choose a different topic from the other classmates in the Group-Class. To avoid thematic repetitions, it is mandatory that each student tell the teacher the topic, the book and the articles chosen. Therefore, a topic cannot be worked on by the student until the teacher gives the go-ahead.
5.- The essay must take into account: the historiographic affiliation of the authors of the articles and the book, their possible ideological positions or points of view, the type of interpretation of the facts that are analyzed or recounted in the articles and the book, explaining the content of the articles and the book highlighting the most fundamental aspects.
6.- It is important to reproduce phrases or paragraphs in quotation marks that serve to highlight aspects that confirm the main idea or ideas of the chosen bibliography. However, those citations that do not contribute anything beyond wanting to increase the number of pages necessary to present the test will be penalized.
7.- The writing must be original and must not reproduce paragraphs of the articles to be reviewed as if they were the student's own production. The slightest perception by the teacher of this fact invalidates and suspends the test.
8.- The delivery of the review/essay must be made effective the day that the teacher communicates to the group-class as a whole through the Virtual Campus.
9.- The delay in the presentation of the test will imply the reduction of 0.5 points per calendar day.
10.- The value of this test is 25% of the overall final grade.
Second Test: Reading a novel that includes a political, cultural, social or economic theme, or all at the same time, registered in the thematic and chronological framework of the matter.
The characteristics of the test are the following:
- The work is prepared in digital format, it must occupy a minimum of 5 pages and must be presented in PDF format, Times NewRoman 12 font, 1.5 line spacing and with justified margins. It will be delivered through the corporate email of the subject teacher: David.Martinez.Fiol@uab.cat
- The essay must analyze the historical, political and social themes that the novel deals with.
- Analysis of characters (as social, political and historical entities)
-Keep in mind the political point of view of the author and delve into his analysis. That is, what is the author's point of view on the historical events that are novelized.
- It is important to reproduce or quote paragraphs from the novel that describe relevant aspects of the theme and/or the characters, contextualizing them. This means having to make footnotes that correctly cite the formal aspect of the book.
- In this sense, it is mandatory to consult historiographical bibliography that deals with the themeof the novel chosen and worked on. This implies making footnotes and citing the bibliographic characteristics of the cited work. The important thing is to relate the fictional vision with the "historical" and how a historical story is built through literature.
- The delivery of the test must be made effective on the date that the teacher of the subject establishes in the Virtual Campus.
- The value of this test corresponds to 25% of the final grade.
Third Test: written test in exam format to be taken on the day that the teacher of the subject will indicate in the first week of the course on the Virtual Campus (its value is 50% of the overall grade).
Characteristics to take into account for this test:
1.- Essential material to work on: power-points delivered by the teacher through the Virtual Campus, Manuals and articles selected by the teacher and the notes made in the classroom. Manuals and articles are important, as well as book chapters to expand the subject and polish the errors that have occurred in the elaboration
of class notes.
2.- Duration of the test: 1.5 hours.
3.- Format of the test: two thematic questions with a value of 3.5 points each and a third commentary and bibliographical analysis with a value of 3 points.
IMPORTANT ELEMENTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT TO PASS THE COURSE DURING THE CONTINUOUS EVALUATION:
1.- Prepare and present tests 1, 2 and 3 on the indicated dates, obtaining a grade of 5 or higher.
2.- It must be kept in mind that the delivery dates of tests 1 and 2 are immovable, as well as those of the exam corresponding to test 3.
3.- If the continuous evaluation is not passed, tests 1 and 2 will have to be submitted again, if these, delivered late or suspended during the AC, have not been considered correct.
4.- Attendance is mandatory and a list will be passed.
EVALUATION OF THE SUBJECT IN REEVALUATION PERIOD:
Reevaluation Test: written test to be carried out, on the date designated by the dean of the Faculty of Letters.
This test will be performed by:
1.- those students who have not passed positively (with a numerical grade of 5 or higher) the continuous evaluation made up of the three previous tests, and as long as the provisional final grade is between 3.5 and 4.99, as long as the student has presented at least two thirds of the evaluation evidence.
Test feature:
1.- The same format as test 3 of the Continuous Evaluation. Its value will also be 50% of the final grade.
2.- At the same time, the student who has to do the reevaluation may retake tests 1 and 2 if they have failed them or if they improve the grade (they will have the same percentage value as in continuous assessment) to favor the sense of reavaluation note.
Final and basic consideration:
1.- However, the student who passes the course in the Re-evaluation will obtain a 5 as the maximum grade for the course.
B. SINGLE EVALUATION
The student who takes advantage of this evaluation model will enjoy a single evaluation date, which will correspond to the date that, in this subject, test 3 will be carried out. But this test 3 or exam will not be the only activity of assessment. That day, the student must hand in tests 1 and 2 that the students taking the Continuous Assessment will have already handed in at the time. Regarding the characteristics of the three tests, see what is said about them in the Continuous Evaluation section.
Finally, the same system of reevaluation will be applied as in the continuous evaluation.
C. NOT EVALUATED
The student who has submitted a maximum of one third of the evaluation evidence will be considered "not evaluated".
D. PLAGIARISM
Evidence of plagiarism in any of the evaluable tests will lead to a negative evaluation of the test inwhichplagiarism was detected. The numerical mark of the test with evidence of plagiarism will be zero.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bibliographic Essay | 25 % | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 5, 6, 15, 8, 10, 11, 4, 13, 14, 9, 18, 12, 19, 20, 23, 22 |
| Test 2: Historiographical essay from a novel | 25 % | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 9, 18, 12, 20, 22 |
| Test 3: Knowledge competency test | 50 % | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 21, 6, 15, 16, 7, 8, 10, 11, 4, 17, 13, 14, 9, 18, 20, 22 |
Bibliography
Joan del ALCÁZAR et al., Història Contemporània d’Amèrica, València, Universitat de València, 2002.
Juan B. AMORES (coord.), Historia de América, Barcelona, Ariel, 2012 (pp. 451-959).
Leslie BETHELL (ed.), Historia de América Latina, Barcelona, Crítica, 1990-2002, vols. 11 a 16.
Olivier DABÈNE (dir.), América latina. El año político 2021/Les Etudes du CERI, n° 259-260, Enero 2022 [en línea, https://doi.org/10.25647/etudesduceri.259-260]
Patricia FUNES, HISTORIA MÍNIMA DE LAS IDEAS POLÍTICAS EN AMÉRICA LATINA, México D.F., El Colegio de México, 2014.
Eduardo GALEANO, Las venas abiertas de América Latina, Buenos Aires-México, Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 2004 [1971].
Gino GERMANI, Torcuato S. DI TELIA & Octavio IANNI, Populismo y contradicciones de clase en Latinoamérica,México D.F., Ediciones Era S.A., 1973.
Tulio HALPERIN DONGHI, Historia Contemporánea de América Latina, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1998.
Octavio IANNI, La formación del estado populista en América Latina, México, Ediciones Era, 1975.
Walter D. MIGNOLO, La idea de América Latina. La herida colonial y la opción decolonial, Barcelona, Gedisa editorial, 2005.
Héctor PÉREZ BRIGNOLI, Breve Historia de Centroamérica, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1990.
Vanni PETTINÀ, HISTORIA MíNIMA DE LA GUERRA FRIA EN AMERICA LATINA, Ciudad de México, El Colegio de México, A.C, 2018.
Thomas E. SKIDMORE i Peter H. SMITH, Historia contemporània de América Latina. América Latina en el siglo XX, Barcelona, Crítica, 1996.
Nicolás Trotta y Pablo Gentili (Compiladores), América Latina La democracia en la encrucijada, Buenos Aires, Editorial Octubre, 2016.
Mario VARGAS LLOSA, Sables y utopías. Visiones de América Latina, Barcelona, Penguin Random House, 2016.
Loris ZANATTA, Historia de América Latina. De la Colonia al siglo XXI, Buenos Aires, Siglo Veintiuno Editores S.A., 2012.
Software
It is the set of specific computer programs that are used during the development of the subject and that must be installed on the personal computer or that can be accessed from the computer classrooms. This information will be developed as the teaching and academic practice of the students progresses.
The following links allow you to consult the Academic regulations of the UAB and to which the student must adapt and make his/her own:
a. https://www.uab.cat/doc/TR_normativa_academica_UAB
b. Adaptation of the evaluation regulations at the Faculty: https://www.uab.cat/doc/normativa_avaluacio