Interpretations of Latin America
Module organiser: Stephanie Rohner
Seminar conveners: Stephanie Rohner (2), Aiko Ikemura Amaral (1), Grace Livingstone (2)
This module examines grand interpretations of Latin America that intellectuals from the region produced during the 20th and the early 21st century. It focuses on how development and modernisation, broadly defined, have been conceived, analysed, defended and contested in these interpretations. The module explores, in particular, the following topics: the visions of development that have been advanced and the mechanisms proposed to reach them; Latin America’s insertion into the global economy and its implications; legacies and enduring forms of colonialism/coloniality; the specificity of political forms in the region; and class, race and gender relations. Over nearly one hundred years of Latin American social thought, the module aims to interrogate these topics both as explicit objects of theorisation and intervention and, quite often, as silences, thus exploring shifting concerns and visions in the production of knowledge in and about Latin America. All sessions are based around a single monograph that will be examined critically for its claims and silences, whilst additional readings are indicated for those who want to explore the topics in further depth.