You have 5 topics to choose from, I will upload the file with the topics and instructions.

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This course is based on Latin America politics. I will post up some guidelines

POLC99H3S Winter 2011

Research Essay

Please choose one of the following essay questions. The essay should be between 8-10 double-spaced pages (not including bibliography). Ensure that you state your argument in the introduction, support your assertions with evidence, and conclude by summarizing your findings and outlining any questions or avenues for future research. Make sure to fully answer all components of the question. You must cite sources either in footnotes, endnotes or embedded in the text and provide a bibliography. Please note that you must incorporate at least two sources from the course syllabus in your essay. And remember, if you use another author’s words, you must enclose them in quotes and cite the source. If you use another author’s ideas, you must cite the source. Essays that do not adhere to standard citation practice will NOT be accepted.

Essay Questions.

Write an essay answering one of the following questions:

1. Why are indigenous movements losing momentum in Latin America? Base your analysis on the case of Ecuador or Mexico.

2. What explains revolutionary success or failure? Base your analysis on the case of Cuba or El Salvador or Nicaragua or Peru.

3. How effective are anti-neoliberal protest movements in influencing policy? Base your analysis on the case of Argentina or Bolivia or Mexico.

4. What explains the recent policy convergence toward decentralization on the part of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) as well as the Latin American Left? Base your analysis on the case of Brazil or Uruguay.

5. How effective have Latin America’s “Pink Tide” governments been in bringing about positive change for the dispossessed? Base your analysis on the case of Bolivia or Brazil or Ecuador or El Salvador or Nicaragua.

Research Essay Guidelines

***Essays are due April 4, 2011 at the beginning of lecture***

Essays should conform to the following:

· address one of the essay questions outlined in the syllabus

· be no more than 10 double-spaced pages (not including bibliography)

· have a clear thesis statement

· use sub-headings to organize your essay

· have an appropriate title

· cite sources throughout the essay

· incorporate the course readings on your chosen topic

· draw upon at least 10 academic sources (this includes course material)

Suggested Organization of Essays

Introduction (1 page)

-briefly introduce the research topic and its relevance to Latin American politics and development

-explicitly state your research question

-clearly state your thesis

Literature Review/Theoretical Framework (2-3 pages)

-define/explain the theoretical concepts to be used in the paper

-outline the major debates in the literature on the topic and/or the different approaches to studying the topic

-briefly identify how your essay fits into this larger debate

Evidence and Analysis (4-5 pages)

-present the case study, evidence and data that support your argument

-analyze the issue under investigation

Conclusion (1-2 pages)

-briefly summarize your argument and findings

-discuss the implications of your research (e.g. for theory or policy change) or outline any questions or avenues of future research

To WRITER: You can use articles from the syllabus: (the ones that say journal articles can be accessed online, the coursekit readings we are given, so you can ignore that)

Jan. 10:
Introduction and Course Overview:

Who are the Dispossessed?

Jan. 17:
Latin America in Historical and Political Perspectives

Textbook Reading: Veltmeyer, “Introduction.”

Coursekit Reading: Howard J. Wiarda and Harvey F. Kline, “The Pattern of Historical Development,” in A Concise Introduction to Latin American Politics and Development (Boulder: Westview Press, 2007), pp. 11-30.

Coursekit Reading: Harry E. Vanden and Gary Prevost, “The Other Americans,” in Politics of Latin America: The Power Game (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 81-103.

Jan. 24:
Revolutionary Struggles I: Cuba and Nicaragua

Coursekit Reading: Eric Selbin, “Making the Revolution Reality: The Nicaraguan Revolution, 1979-1990,” in Modern Latin American Revolutions (Boulder: Westview Press, 1999), pp. 92-125.

E-Journal Reading: John Foran, “Theorizing the Cuban Revolution,” in Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 36, No. 2 (March 2009), pp. 16-30.

Jan. 31:
Revolutionary Struggles II: El Salvador and Peru

Coursekit Reading: Cynthia McClintock, “Two Revolutionary Organizations: The FMLN and the Shining Path,” in Revolutionary Movements in Latin America (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 1998), pp. 45-92.

Coursekit Reading: Timothy P. Wickham –Crowley, “Winners, Losers, and Also-Rans: Toward a Comparative Sociology of Latin American Guerrilla Movements,” in Power and Popular Protest, Susan Eckstein, ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), pp. 132-181.

Feb. 7:
Social Movements: Theory and Practice

E-Journal Reading: Diane E. Davis, “The Power of Distance: Re-Theorizing Social Movements in Latin America,” in Theory and Society, Vol. 28 (1999), pp. 585-638.

Feb. 14:
Neoliberalism and the New Politics of Protest

Textbook Reading: Veltmeyer, Chapter 1 (“Neo-Liberalism and US Imperialism”) and Chapter 2 (“A New Paradigm?”)

Coursekit Reading: Duncan Green “For and Against: The Politics of Neoliberalism,” in Silent Revolution (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2003), pp. 172-192.

E-Journal Reading: Richard Stahler-Sholk, Harry E. Vanden and Glen David Kuecker, “Globalizing Resistance: The New Politics of Social Movements in Latin America,” in Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 34, No. 2 (March 2007), pp. 5-16.

*** Last Week to Make the 1st Discussion Board Contribution***

Feb. 28:
The Politics of the Urban Dispossessed: Argentina

Textbook Reading: Veltmeyer, Chapter 5 (“The Development Dynamics

of Social Exclusion”)

E-Journal Reading: Javier Auyero, “Glocal Riots,” in International Sociology, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Mar. 2001), pp. 33-53.

E-Journal Reading: Roberta Villalón, “Neoliberalism, Corruption, and Legacies of Contention: Argentina’s Social Movements, 1993-2006,” in Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 43, No. 2 (March 2007), pp. 139-156.

***Research Proposal Due***

Mar. 7:
The Politics of the Rural Dispossessed I: Brazil and Mexico

Textbook Reading: Veltmeyer, Chapter 6 (“Rural Struggles and the Land Question”)

E-Journal Reading: Leandro Vergara-Camus, “The MST and the EZLN Struggle for Land: New Forms of Peasant Rebellions,” in Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 9, No. 3 (July 2009), pp. 365-391.

E-Journal Reading: Silvia Gómez Tagle, “The Impact of the Indigenous Movement on Democratization: Elections in Chiapas (1988-2004), in Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Vol. 30, No. 60 (2005), pp. 183-219.

Mar. 14:
The Politics of the Rural Dispossessed II: Bolivia and Ecuador

Textbook Reading: Veltmeyer, Chapter 7 (“From the Barricades to the Ballot Box”)

E-Journal Reading: Donna Lee Van Cott, “Indigenous Movements Lose Momentum,” in Current History, Vol. 108, No. 715, pp. 83-89.

E-Journal Reading: Jonas Wolff, “(De-)Mobilising the Marginalised: A Comparison of the Argentine Piqueteros and Ecuador’s Indigenous Movement,” in Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 39, No. 1 (February 2007), pp. 1-29.

Mar. 21:
Capturing Local Level Power: Municipal Governing Strategies

Textbook Reading: Veltmeyer, Chapter 3 (“Social Capital and Local Development”) and Chapter 4 (“Participatory Budgeting and Local Government”)

E-Journal Reading: Eduardo Canel, “Municipal Decentralization and Participatory Democracy: Building a New Mode of Urban Politics in Montevideo City?” in European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Vol. 71 (Oct. 2001), pp. 25-46.

Mar. 28:
Capturing State Power: The Pink Tide

Textbook Reading: Veltmeyer, Chapter 8 (“Movement in the Countryside and in the Cities”)

E-Journal Reading: Jon Beasley-Murray, Maxwell A. Cameron and Eric Hershberg, “Latin America’s Left Turns: An Introduction,” in Third World Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 2 (2009), pp. 319-330.

E-Journal Reading: Matthew R. Cleary, “Explaining the Left’s Resurgence,” in Journal of Democracy, Vol. 17, No. 4 (October 2006), pp. 35-49.