SPAN 4280 - [Between Democracy and Authoritarianism]

(LA-AS)

Spring. Not offered 2017-2018. 4 credits. Student option grading.

This is the mandatory senior seminar for Spanish majors.

P. Erber.

What is democracy? What constitute its basic conditions and limits? How does income distribution relate to democracy? What about class, gender, and racial relations? With a focus on Brazil and encompassing Latin America as a whole, this course approaches the problem of democratic rule and the lack thereof from the nineteenth century to the present. Major topics include slavery and abolition, military dictatorship, revolutionary struggle, agrarian reform, social movements, neoliberalism, and the role of religion politics. Readings range from novels to historical documents and political manifestos, from Joaquim Nabuco to Machado de Assis, Graciliano Ramos, and Mariano Azuela.