J. Pablo Silva  
Spring Semester 2007
History 204. Radical Movements in Twentieth-Century Latin America

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During the twentieth century, Latin America has witnessed both political mobilizations, violent revolutions, and other attempts to transform social realities. All of these movements aimed at redressing inequalities and creating more just societies. This course will consider several of these movements in comparative perspective: The Guatemalan Revolution, the Cuban Revolution, the Chilean Unidad Popular, and two waves of Guerilla war.

We will look at the causes of these movements, their mutual interactions, and how their outcomes were affected by ideological influences, the international context, and the balance of forces on the ground. In evaluating these movements we will look at their stated goals, how the movements met these goals, and where they failed. Towards the end of the course we will try to get a sense of the new directions of Latin American radical movements.

The course should provide students with an overview of the main radical projects that have shaped recent Latin American history. It should also help prepare you for 300 level work in the history department.

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Last Modified: January 19, 2007