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Module 4 - Overview

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Mario Macías
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5 views3 pages

Module 4 - Overview

Uploaded by

Mario Macías
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Module 4

 In this section we will talk about coffee, the agrarian question, and export-based economies in
Latin America
 In module 3 we talked about the colonial encounter and the legacies in present day Latin
America
o As you may have noticed, the authors that refer to colonial systems of development in
some way rooted in colonial times and at the same time part of processes that took its
own specific way as historical events took place all over the Americas.
 For this module we will be exploring in depth the close relationship between land, labor, and
export, as they are key to understanding the political and economic dynamics of present-day
Latin America.
 One theme that has been central in the understanding of the region has been the agrarian
question and the struggle around it. Who has access to the land, under what circumstances and
what do they do with that land?
 Land becomes central as it is the geographical space where nations settle, and where the self,
communities and populations are rooted. Not only in Latin America, but all over the world.
 As we saw in the previous module, one of the main legacies of the colonial encounter was the
restructuring of land tenure. Private property became widely spread and that changed the game.
In the 19 century and the 20 we see big concentrations of land ownership by single individuals,
such as you may recalled from the previous module, by Peninsulares, Criollos and in some cases
mestizos, and vast populations without access to land, mainly indigenous populations. So that is
not a coincidence.
 This situation created a social uproar and after years of struggle, in some cases some agrarian
reforms and alternative forms of land tenure such as communal lands were achieved. In some
cases, they were successful, as in the case of the aftermath of the Mexican revolution, and failed
attempts, as in the case of Guatemala in the 1950s, where an agrarian reform was carried out
but was later retracted after the coup in the country led by the CIA.

Readings

 José Carlos Mariategui


o “the land problem”
o He was Early 20th century thinker that started already questioning the agrarian problem
o He was a peruvian philosopher and sociologist. Very much involved in Peruvian politics
o An almost 100 years old piece, it is still relevant as he addresses question related to land
ownership and production in particular.
o He goes from the precolonial times to explore issues of land ownership by the Incas to
later explore the changes after the arrival of Europeans and from there on.
o While reading this piece I want you to think about what the land question is? What is at
the core? What is the role of indigenous people and land owners? How does he defines
colonialism in relation to the agrarian question?
 Victor Blumer-Thomas
o The export sector and the world economy, Circa 1850-1914
o I want you to focus in the charts and the data presented in this chapter
o Thinking about the export economy and why is Latin America mainly an export based
region.
 For this module we will use Coffee as an example to contextualize the themes we see in this
module. Specially as Latin America is the biggest producer and exporter of coffee in the world?
Why is that and what are the implications of that?
 William Roseberry
o Introduction of his book Coffee, Society, and Power in Latin America
o He was an political economy anthropologist
o He center in understanding the relationship between land and labor and how they tie
into political economy as a structuring force for societies.
 A Documentary called Black coffee
o We will be seeing a 50 minute piece titled “gold in your cup”
o It gives a more historical approach of coffee production in Latin America in particular
Brazil and the implications of that, political, economic, and social.
 And some statistics about coffee production to give us an idea of that.

 For this module I want to highlight the fact that the term “liberal” is used a lot in some of these
works

 In the US now a days we associate the term liberal with more social politics, social ideas, being
progressive, are you accepting others, how do you feel about racial issues, social justice and so
on. But when you see the term liberal here, we are going to be talking about something else.
This is the classic definition of liberal in an economic sense.

o It emerges in the 18 and in particularly in the 19 century.


o This classical term of liberalism is mostly related to ideas of private property opposite to
the sense of communal land. Single individuals owning land rather than community
owning the land.
o They also advocate for a limited intervention of governments in the economy or their
support into more export based economy, open trade or free trade.
o The classical term of liberal in this sense is mostly associated with the early 20th century
republican party.
o Of course there are further implications on that but I just want to highlight this to you to
pay close attention to the used of the term.
o Rater than talking about issues of social politics, we are talking to themes related to land
tenure.

Activities:

- For this module we have activities in the discussion section “key terms and concepts” and for
your consideration”
- We have an assignment based on coffee and I hope you enjoy this activity. I want you to think
about the coffee that you are drinking probably right now. Where is it coming from? Certainly
not from Tucson. What is behind that cup of coffee? Think about where is harvested, who
produces it, and who sells it? Just as some starting point.

Well, good luck with the module and let me know if you have any questions.

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