A History of Violence. War and Conflict in Postcolonial Latin America, 1810-2010 - Einzelansicht

This course aims to shed light on the complex phenomenon that is violence in Latin America. Since the end of Empire the region has been living through repeated bouts of intense violence – both sub-national and regional –, for long periods of time and irrespective of regime type. In many ways, widespread violence has historically been the norm since independence, not the exception. By focusing on the regional ramifications of such conflict, the “networks of violence”, we will try to get a clearer picture of how these “regional conflict systems” are structured. To understand how profoundly the patterns of violence have changed over time we analyze a series of case studies: From the wars of independence to the civil wars in Latin America, from homegrown revolutions to regional wars and the Cold War.

John Charles Chasteen: Born in Blood and Fire. A Concise History of Latin America. Norton 2016.

Miguel Angel Centeno: Blood and Debt. War and the Nation State in Latin America. Penn State 2002.

Tina Hilgers, Laura Macdonald (eds.): Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean: Subnational structures, Institutions, and Clientelistic Networks. Cambridge 2019.

Paul H. Lewis: Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America. Dictators, Despots, and Tyrants. Rowman & Littlefield 2005.

Hal Brands: Latin America’s Cold War. Harvard 2012.

Greg Grandin, Gilbert M. Joseph (eds.): A Century of Revolution. Insurgent and Counterinsurgent Violence During Latin America’s Long Cold War. Duke 2010.

Peter H. Smith: Talons of the Eagle. Latin America, the United States, and the World (3^rd ed.). Oxford 2007.

Presentation (if required according to Module up to 30 minutes) and paper (45.000 characters)