POL/WST 359: Women, Gender, and Social Change in Latin America
Course Syllabus
“Politics has to do with power and the control of the common good… Power decides access to necessities, the satisfaction of class interests and of desires.” Leonardo Boff, Brazilian activist, Ecology and Liberation, p. 21
“There are other truths.” Silvia Marcos, Mexican feminist and scholar
Course Instructors
Antonio Ortega, ortega@augsburg.edu, 312-3578 or 318-7799, ext. 106
Lisanne Morgan, lisanne@laneta.apc.org, 312-3578 or 318-7799, ext. 102
Cross Listing: This course is cross-listed as both a Political Science and a Women’s Studies course. You may choose to register for either Political Science (POL) or Women’s Studies (WST) credit.
Course Rationale and Purpose
The purpose of this course is to help you comprehend the complex nature of gender, politics, and social change in Latin America. Moreover, you will develop an appreciation for Latin American women's political struggles in both the public and private realm within the broader social, political, and economic context of globalization. Over the past four decades, Latin American women have increasingly been involved in social, political, and revolutionary movements for social change. At the same time, Latin American feminists and other social theorists have been questioning traditional understandings of gender, masculinity, femininity and raising important questions about the politics of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, and sexuality. Today, Latin Americans of diverse backgrounds are empowering themselves and organizing politically at the grassroots level to promote participatory democracy and alternatives to the dominant model of economic globalization. Central to the course is an exploration of the roles played by individuals and groups as both obstacles to and catalysts for social change.
Throughout Latin American political history, the United States has played a strong role in shaping the politics of the region. Therefore, you will learn about the impact that U.S. foreign policy has had on women and men of diverse socio-economic, racial and ethnic, and cultural backgrounds in Latin America. Since the course is taught in Mexico and El Salvador, the course will focus particularly on issues of women, gender, and social change in those two countries.
Required Readings
Books to Purchase BEFORE the semester begins, as we do not have additional copies available in Mexico!
Edmonds-Poli, Emily and David Shirk. Contermpoary Mexican Politics. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2008.
Grandin, Greg. Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism . Holt Paperbacks, 2007.
Muñoz Ramírez, Gloria and Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. The Fire and the Word: A History of the Zapatista Movement. City Lights Publishers, 2008.
In addition, you will be given a supplementary reading packet that will include selected chapters from the following books, among others:
Barker, Drucilla K. and Susan Feiner. Liberating Economics: Feminist Perspectives on Families, Work, and Globalization. University of Michigan Press, 2004.
Carrillo, Héctor. The Night is Young: Sexuality in Mexico in the Time of AIDS. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Kampwirth, Karen. Feminism and Legacy of Revolution: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas. Ohio University Press, 2004.
Please note that you do NOT need to purchase any of the books that will be used to compile the supplementary reading packet. We have several copies of these books and will probably just lend them to you.
Course Expectations
Over the course of the semester, you will be expected to do the following:
- Provide an overview of the Mexican political history, the Mexican political system, and key issues in contemporary Mexican politics.
- Provide an overview of the Salvadoran political history, the Salvadoran political system, and key issues in contemporary Salvadoran politics.
- Discuss some of the impacts that U.S. foreign policy has had on women and men of diverse socio-economic, racial and ethnic, and cultural backgrounds in Latin America, focusing particularly on El Salvador and Mexico.
- Employ the feminist concept that "the personal is political."
- Apply feminist theory to diverse understandings and experiences of politics in Latin America.
- Analyse women’s roles in both private and public realms, including participation in communities, families, party politics revolutionary and grassroots social movements.
- Analyse the impact of globalization and neo-liberal economic policies on women and men in Latin America.
- Examine the intersection of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, and sexuality in the Americas.
- Discuss the roles played by individuals and groups as both obstacles to and catalysts for social change.
- Reflect upon your own positionality and relationship to power and privilege and role in politics, as defined above by Leonardo Boff.
- Articulate your understanding of global citizenship.
- Express new visions of your role as a political and social actor.
Course Requirements:
1. Class Participation: 20%
- Active Participation in Class Sessions Involving Guest Speakers and/or Excursions
- Active Participation in In-House Class Sessions
- Completion of CB Blog Entries and Responses
- Active Participation in the Social Change Lab Group and Facilitation of At least one Lab Group Session
- Portfolio of Your Work
2. Exam on U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America: 15%
3. Interdisciplinary Project on Gender and Politics in El Salvador: 15%
4. Exam on the Mexican Political System: 15%.
5. Paper on Gender and Feminisms: 15%
6. Independent Research Paper/Project and Oral Presentation 20%
