Scribd
Upload
4 views2 pages

Module 3 - Overview

Uploaded by

Mario Macías
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4 views2 pages

Module 3 - Overview

Uploaded by

Mario Macías
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Module 3

Colonial legacies of development

 This module is a historical recount of the colonial encounter and the impact that it has on
present day Latin America
 I know that this class is very much at the center of the 20th century, but it is important to
contextualize the colonial encounter as the past lives in the present.
 Many authors have argued that the colonial encounter was precisely the moment when
capitalism began to flourish. Colonialism meant a vast expansion of territories, access to new
and vast resources, and reconfigurations of labor and land with massive impacts on a new world
order for both colonizers and indigenous peoples. For them, it meant a different way of
understanding the world, of relating to each other, the notion of the individual as such,
commodity, private property, the breakdown of communal relations, and a different way of
relating to land and resources. Basically, the clash of cosmovision and a new world order.
 And it is now when we have new voices and a big push for a decolonial approach all over the
world, aiming for alternative ways of governing, rights about access to land, access to resources,
autonomy. Basically, a critique from a different position about what this colonial project that
lead to development and modernization approach meant as a colonial legacy.
 The colonial encounter is relevant for these discussions as Patrick Wolfe refers, colonialism is not
an event, but a structure, an unfinished and ongoing project.
o Many of the arguments stress that there are these colonial structures that characterize
present day Latin America.
 In this module we will explore whether it makes sense to trace the current political situation in
the region as a colonial legacy in terms of the current political and economic situation in the
region and of course in terms of inequality.
 For this module I want you to think a bit more in depth about:
o What are some of the components of conquest and colonization?
o Think about the colonial imposition of new ways of relation to land and property as well
of labor systems.
o Think about inequality as a central theme here in this module.
 And other key terms and concepts related to race and class.
o Caudillo
o Criollo
o Mestizo
 And I want you to think about how these terms that referred to a racial and class categorization
had further political, economic and social implications in the region.

Readings:

 We have four readings for this module, but you only have to read three. Two core readings and
one that you will select from the second list of readings.
o I want you to read Julie Cupples and Coastworth pieces
o Cupples
 A Brief history of Latin America
 An overview
 Going from colonial to independence. Use it as a general overview of the
landscape.
o Coastworth
 Inequality, institutions, and economic growth in Latin America
 He is an economic historian.
 In this piece he explores how we should think about the colonial times specially
in terms of economic development
o Individual readings
o Robert Patch
 Dependency and the colonial heritage in southern Mesoamerica
o Rafael Dobado- Gonzalez and Hector García Montero
 Colonial origins of inequality in Hispanic America?
o Read one of these two pieces.
o They will make us think whether we should consider the colonial encounter as the
foundations for modern systems of political economy and inequality in Latin America.

 These two weeks will be packed. We will be covering 3 modules in 2 weeks, module 2, 3 this one
and module 4. For that reason, this module will be open for two weeks and you can complete it
anytime between August 28 and September 10. Be aware that original posts are due Friday
September 8th by midnight to give time to your classmates to respond to them.
 As we have 2 very pack weeks with three modules, this module has no assignment, only
activities in the key terms and concepts section and in the for your consideration section.

So good luck with the readings and let me know if you have any questions. You know where to find
me.

You might also like