Indigenous Politics of Latin America

On January 1, 1994 the Zapatistas captured the attention of the world with an uprising against the unchecked advances of globalization and its specific effects in Mexican society. This uprising, like other Latin American social movements of the late 20th century, has drawn on the organizational and symbolic power of indigenous identities. In the past, museum displays and ethnographic texts on Latin America have contributed to the idea of frozen indigenous cultures, comprised of primordial essences?cultures already lost or facing the threat of imminent disappearance in the modern world. As an alternative, this course presents a dynamic view of what it means to be indigenous in Latin American contexts. The course will be taught through the disciplinary lens of anthropology and readings will be drawn from case studies in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. Depending on the Spanish language capabilities of the students who take this course, part of the course may be conducted in Spanish. Goals: reading, writing, project, multiple cultural perspectives.