GLOBAL STUDIES 298: Buenos Aires, Corrientes, and Misiones From the Pampas to the Mesopotamia, from the Big City to the Interior: Human Rights, Political Culture and Local Politics in Argentina [Winter Break: Dec 27, 2017 Jan 13, 2018] Professor: Gisela Sin 318 DKH gsin@illinois.edu DESCRIPTION: GLB 298 will examine the social, economic, and political issues within modern Argentine society. Through interdisciplinary lenses, students will explore the history of Argentina s populist regimes, military authoritarian regimes, and transition to democracy. We will build a framework to better understand present problems and trends, such as the transition to democracy, the re-emergence of populism, economic instability, and poverty. The seminar will combine class lectures and discussions, cultural immersion, and considerable on-the-ground interaction with scholars, activists, and politicians in two distinct regions in Argentina: Las Pampas, including the city of Buenos Aires and its surrounding areas and Mesopotamia, the northeast section of Argentina located between two major rivers, the Parana and Uruguay. More specifically, the class will involve discussion seminars, meetings with Argentinean scholars, and field trips in and around: Buenos Aires, Alvear (a small town in the Province of Corrientes), Posadas (the capital of the Province of Misiones), San Ignacio (site of Jesuit ruins), and Iguazu (Iguazu Falls). Students will perform volunteer work at Hogar de Dia in Posadas, and will be able to interact directly with government officials, activists, scholars, and professionals. REQUIREMENTS: Utilizing readings and class discussions to critically assess the key issues at hand, the course will begin by providing class participants with a an intensive review of the history and contemporary social trends in Latin America and (more specifically) Argentina. The earlier part of the course will also provide background on the current debates shaping party politics and federal politics in Argentina. Field visits will be a central component of the course. Regular class attendance and active participation in class discussions and field experiences are mandatory for all students. Discussions will constitute an essential part of the course, and the quality of these discussions will depend on your informed participation. Lectures, discussions, readings, and field experiences are all intended to complement each other, and will generally cover different materials. --Participation in class discussions and field experiences will account for 30% of the final grade. 1
2 --Maintain a Travel Diary to be submitted once back at University of Illinois. This will also account for 30% of the final grade. --Write a brief review essay on a selected subject relevant to the course. The essay should take into account class readings and discussions, but will be based primarily on your field experiences, 30% of the final grade. Students must also: -- Collectively write an acknowledgement letter to some of the agencies and organizations hosting our field visits. The purpose of this letter will be to provide feedback on what was learned through these visits. This letter and its submittal will account for 10% of the final grade. --After receiving the appropriate information, I will accommodate the course to meet any special educational needs you might have. REQUIRED BOOKS: --The following three books are required: 1. Romero, Luis Alberto. 2013. A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century: Updated and Revised Edition. Penn State Press. 2. Nouzeilles, Gabriela, and Montaldo, Graciela. 2002. The Argentina Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham and London: Duke University Press. 3. Donda, Victoria. 2010. My Name is Victoria: The Extraordinary Story of One Woman s Struggle to Reclaim her True Identity. Editions Robert Laffont. SEMINAR SCHEDULE URBANA We will meet during the last eight (8) weeks of the fall 2016 semester, during which we will learn and get an overview of the politics and history of Argentina. Week 1: Introductions and problem framing Introductions and course orientation. Week 2 Historical contexts Historical Patterns and Contemporary Trends in Latin American Politics: Nation state consolidation, oligarchic government, social structure of the primary export model, the crisis of the Argentine economic system, and political instability. We will also examine voting and the expansion of voting rights. (In Buenos Aires we will visit the different neighborhoods, social clubs, and urban spaces where
most of these historical events took place (historical city tour). We will also visit Museum of Argentine History, which will provide a general overview of the history of the country.) Required readings: - Romero, 2013. A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century. Chapters 1 and 2. - Nouzeilles, and Montaldo, 2002. The Argentina Reader. Selected readings from Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5. -Jorge Castañeda, Latin America s Left Turn, Foreign Affairs (May/June 2006). -Michael Shifter, A Surge to the Center, Journal of Democracy 22, No. 1, January 2011. Week 3: The Rise and Legacies of Populism in Latin America: Lessons from Peronism in Argentina This week we will discuss Peronism s emergence and the incorporation of the labor movement into the mass democracy; Peronism in government; Eva Peron; the military coup and Peronism. We will watch Alan Parker s (and Madonna) movie Evita (In Buenos Aires we will visit the various places that were important for the Peronism movement: Plaza Evita, Casa Rosada, Plaza de Mayo, Cementerio de la Recoleta, etc. We will visit and have lunch or dinner at Evita Museum.) Required readings: -Romero, 2013. A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century. Chapters 4 and 5 - Nouzeilles, and Montaldo, 2002. The Argentina Reader. Selected readings from Chapters 4 and 5. -Edward L. Gibson, The Populist Road to Market Reform: Policy and Electoral Coalitions in Mexico and Argentina, in World Politics, April 1997. -Alma Guillermoprieto, Little Eva, in Guillermo Prieto, Looking for History: Dispatches from Latin America (Pantheon Books, 2001). Week 4 and Week 5: The Authoritarian 'Wave' of the 1960's and 1970's in Latin America. During these two weeks we will discuss the of civic and military coup d états. We will discuss government repression, state terrorism and dictatorship. We will look into the issue of the disappeared and the Human Rights movement in Argentina. The Mothers and Abuelas of Plaza de Mayo will be discussed in detail. We will answer questions like: How were mothers of the disappeared in Argentina able to forge a major opposition movement that openly defied the military government? We will watch (outside class) and debate two movies: Luis Puenzo s Oscar Winning Movie La Historia Oficial, and Eduardo Felix Walger s Madres (In Buenos Aires we will visit the Ex Clandestine Detention Center, Espacio para la Memoria y para la Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (ESMA). We will also visit two human rights organizations that are fighting for human rights in Argentina today.) 3
Readings: -Romero, 2013. A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century. Chapters 6 and 7 - Nouzeilles, and Montaldo, 2002. The Argentina Reader. Selected readings from Chapter 8. -Donda, Victoria. 2010. My Name is Victoria: The Extraordinary Story of One Woman s Struggle to Reclaim her True Identity. Editions Robert Laffont. -David Collier, Overview of the Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Model. In David Collier, Editor, The New Authoritarianism in Latin America (1979). -Jacobo Timerman, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number. Various excerpts. -Lewis, Guerrillas and Generals, pp. 147-62 -That Inferno: Conversations of Five Women Survivors of an Argentine Torture Camp, pp. 59-101 -Horacio Verbitsky, The Flight: Confessions of an Argentine Dirty Warrior, 18-47 -Marguerite Bouvard, Revolutionizing Motherhood, 65-112 4 Week 6, Week 7, and Week 8: Contemporary debates on ongoing conflicts. Argentina: The Political Economy of (Un)Governability and the Big City- Interior division. These three weeks we will focus on the return to democracy and the different governments since 1983, as well as the constant, but changing tension between the central federal government and the local governments throughout the interior. Some of the topics will be: Alfonsin, the trial against the military, and the economic crises of the late 1980 s; Menem, neoliberalism, corruption and economic crises; De la Rua s government and the political legitimacy crises of 2001-2002; Kirchner s presidency and its relation to human rights organizations; Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner presidency, the Kirchnerismo agenda, and her reelection. We will finish by analyzing the newly elected right-center government of Mauricio Macri. (In Buenos Aires and Las Pampas we will meet with various politicians, pollsters, and academics that will explain and answer questions about different contemporary topics. In Mesopotamia and the Provinces of Corrientes and Misiones we will meet with politicians and academics. We will also visit the Ministry of Human Rights and volunteer at a Hogar de Dia in Posadas for two days.) Required Readings: -Romero, 2013. A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century. Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11 - Nouzeilles, and Montaldo, 2002. The Argentina Reader. Selected readings from Chapters 9 and 10. -Hector Schamis: Argentina: Crisis and Democratic Consolidation, in Kingstone, Readings in Latin American Politics -Pamela Starr, Argentina: Anatomy of a Crisis Foretold, in Kingstone, Readings in Latin American Politics. -Steven Levitsky, From Labor Politics to Machine Politics: The Transformation of Party- Union Linkages in Argentine Peronism, 1983-1999. Latin American Research Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, October 2003. -Javier Auyero, The Logic of Clientelism in Argentina: An Ethnographic Account.
Latin American Research Review, Vol 35, No. 3, 2000. 5 ARGENTINA December 27 th : - Departure from Chicago. BUENOS AIRES December 28 th : Arrival to Ezeiza, City of Buenos Aires (CABA). - Organizational meeting. - Welcoming Dinner at a traditional Bodegon (old style restaurant, very traditional). December 29 th : - Explore the City of Buenos Aires while focusing on the North-South Divide: Palermo, Recoleta, Plaza de Mayo versus San Telmo, La Boca, Barracas. - Explore the City of Buenos Aires. - Leave Buenos Aires. Travel (overnight charter bus 1 ) to Alvear, Corrientes (town in the border with Brazil, in the Province of Corrientes) ALVEAR, CORRIENTES December 30 th : - Arrive in Alvear (town of 8,000), in the province of Corrientes. This is a town in the border with Brazil, by the Uruguay river. Local hotel. - Visit and explore the town, meet with local politicians (political bosses) and talk about how politics is done in the interior. We will explore the clientelistic networks of Peronism and local provincial parties. - Community work: we will fix, paint, and plant some shrubs at a children s park in a low-income neighborhood. December 31 st : - We will continue our community work at the children s park. - Group Meal. Traditional dinner: asado for New Year s Eve (traditional BBQ meal, a staple of Argentina). - Celebrate New Years Eve at the Alvear Social Club. January 1 st : - Meet with college students and peers who are in town for the holidays. - Leave Alvear. Travel (private bus) to Posadas, Misiones. Posadas is the capital of Misiones, a city in the border with Paraguay, by the Parana River. 1 A note about travel via charter bus in Argentina. Most long distance travel within the interior of Argentina is by private bus lines. The travel is quite comfortable as the buses include fully reclining seats and hot meals. For shorter day trips we will travel in smaller buses similar to those used by Champaign/ Chicago shuttle services.
6 POSADAS, MISIONES January 2 nd : - Morning: Meet with members of Renovacion, the main political party of Misiones. Meet with members of the government (Secretary of Tourism and Ministry of Human Rights) - Afternoon Class with Professors from Universidad Nacional de Misiones. - Visit the city: Legislature, Governor s Palace, and various art venues. - Group Dinner. Traditional Dinner: Lomitos at a local place close to the Parana river. January 3 rd and 4 th - Volunteer at Hogar de Dia, a place where low-income families send their children (up to age 14) to learn crafts, play, etc. (we will plan activities for students to do with the children and bring the materials from the US). - The students will also be able to explore Posadas, and enjoy the costanera by the river. ESTABLECIMIENTO YERBA ROMANCE AND SAN IGNACIO MINI January 5 th : - Leave Posadas in the morning by charter bus. - Guided tour of Romance Yerba Mate tea farm (http://www.romance.com.ar/). We will learn about the cultivation and production of Yerba mate, a staple Argentinean drink. This is one of the main income sources of Misiones, as Yerba Mate is originally from here. - Guided Visit of Jesuit Missions in San Ignacio Mini (http://www.misiones.tur.ar/destino/san-ignacio-3) - Guided visit of the Museum. - Late night arrival in Iguazu. IGUAZU January 6 th : January 7 th : - Tour of Iguazu Falls. Circuito Superior and Circuito Inferior. Garganta del Diablo (Devil s throat). http://www.iguazuargentina.com/ - Sendero Macuco - Falls adventure: drive through the park and visit the falls by boat. - Traditional dinner: fish from the Parana River (Dorado and Surubi) - Meet with politicians from Iguazu. Politicians and advisors: Afternoon meeting, Concejo Deliberante (City council). - Explore the city. - Morning: bike and hike through the jungle. We can visit the Falls again if students are interested or explore a nearby nature reserve.
7 - An alternative is to visit the Hogar de Dia in Iguazu, a branch from the one in Posadas. January 8 th - Lunch meeting: Assessment of Corrientes and Misiones experience and preparation for the trip to Buenos Aires. - Travel to Buenos Aires (overnight charter bus). BUENOS AIRES January 9 th : Arrival in Buenos Aires. Party Politics in the City of Buenos Aires. - Morning: Meet with local politicians (PRO, UCR, FPV) from the City of Buenos Aires. - Class at Universidad de Buenos Aires. - Afternoon: guided visit by Puerto Madero and visit to Museo del Centenario (below our White House, which is called Pink House (o Casa Rosada) January 10 th : January 11 th : January 12 th : January 13 th : - Morning Class with Professor Gabriela Catterberg (UBA, UNDP) - Afternoon: guided visit of La Boca neighborhood, and the Argentine History Museum. - Class with Professor Rodrigo Zarazaga: religion and politics in the Villa (shanty town). - Meet Campaign managers, (PJ) Equipo Técnico de Campaña Daniel Scioli. - Visit to Palermo, El Rosedal. Guided visit of MALBA (Latin American Museum of Art). - Dinner at El Trapiche, a traditional restaurant in Buenos Aires. - Guided visit of the Ex Clandestine Detention Center, Espacio para la Memoria y para la Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (ESMA). - Visit one of the following Human Rights organizations that are fighting for human rights in Argentina today. Meet with some of their members. o Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS; Center for Legal and Social Studies) o Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA; the Homosexual Community of Argentina) o Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo - Afternoon: visit La Recoleta. - Visit one of the following Human Rights organizations that are fighting for human rights in Argentina today. o Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS; Center for Legal and Social Studies)
8 o Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA; the Homosexual Community of Argentina) o Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo - Lunch: assessment of trip in Buenos Aires. Comparison between Buenos Aires and Interior. - Night: Return to Chicago. January 14 th : arrival in Chicago