Course Description
This course is designed to offer a first glimpse into a huge area with a correspondingly huge literature - Latin American cities and their politics. The term "politics" is interpreted very broadly so as to include students whose major interests may be sociology, anthropology, history, economics, public affairs, or any other social sciences and humanities. The focus of the course is politics, but almost anything else is grist for the mill.
The course is designed as a research seminar, and as such concentrates in its readings and class discussions not only on the substantive materials dealing with Latin American cities but also with the question of how this topic can be investigated. All seminar members will be expected to make an effort to develop a research question that has some theoretical importance as well as empirical interest. To do this, we will take time to go through some of the basics in social science research.
Weekly topics include early urban theory as developed in the US and then transported to Latin America; macro urban theory and urban structure; rural-urban migration and its repercussions (the informal urban sector, squatter settlements); urban social movements; urban electoral politics; and the move since the 1980's toward municipal autonomy and decentralization.
Grading Policy
Two short (4-5 pp. double-spaced) analytic essays over a week's readings: roughly 25%
A major (18-20 pp.) research paper, including the preparation of a proposal: roughly 50%
Class participation, including in-class presentation: roughly 25%
The Short Essay
The short essay should be a synthetic and/or analytic summation, examination and comparison of the required readings for a selected week. Let me make a couple of suggestions as to how to go about this paper.
- Do the several authors address a central question, problem, area, concept or concern? What is it? How are the readings different in their approaches, treatments and conclusions?
- What do the readings tell us about a topic? What do we end up knowing and not knowing? What new avenues/questions are suggested?
- Are there major points of agreement/disagreement either among the authors or with previous weeks’ readings?
Avoid making a summary of the readings. Instead, integrate them and discuss them in comparison with one another. Summarize or quote briefly when necessary, but then go ahead and synthesize (“combine or compose parts of elements so as to form a whole”) or analyze (“separate the parts of the whole so as to reveal their relation to it or to one another”).
Feel free to inject your own opinions and evaluations and to provide justification for them. If there are more than four readings in a week, you are free to limit your comments to four selections. However, you should make it clear why you have selected the four you did.
For the weeks you select, you will serve as a facilitator of class discussion. This does not mean that others do not do the readings, or that you have some formal presentation to make. It does mean that you have some questions prepared to provoke discussion/debate/
argument and to lead that discussion as necessary. Everyone is expected to be prepared for each week’s discussions.
The short essays are due the week following the assignment so that you can (if you wish) incorporate some of the class discussion into your essay.
The Research Paper
The paper is the main task of the semester. Ideally it will combine two basic elements: first, the identification of a general theoretical or analytical problem, statement, proposition or hypothesis; and second, the examination of a case that is appropriate for the theoretical problem. As we do the readings, I will try to point out – and to have you all point out as well – the sort of analytical problem I have in mind. The whole point of such an exercise is to produce a paper that goes beyond being a case study of a particular city or event and becomes a paper of interest to readers who may not know anything about your case study but who may have a strong interest in the global topic you have selected.
For example: let us assume that your case deals with how poor people in Mexico City voted in the 2000 presidential elections. This is a fine topic for your case study. But I would expect you to frame this case study in a larger, theoretical statement. To do so, you might begin by asking in general how low-income voters behave, or even more generally whether there is a correlation between social class and political behavior. This opening would say nothing about Mexico City, but would have sketched in a topic that might be of interest to people who could care little about Mexico City but a lot about how/when/if social status affects political behavior.
We shall have a good deal more to say about how such research is carried out. Papers should be about 18-20 pages. A paper can be a traditional research paper; it can also be a research design or proposal, a bibliographical essay, an in-depth critical analysis of a set of readings, or something else. If two students wish to write a joint paper, that’s fine.
One last point: you are due to hand in to me on or before 27 February a proposal for your paper. This proposal should contain three elements: first, a brief (2-3 pages double-spaced) description of your theoretical problem and the case study you intend to use; second, an outline of your paper that shows how you intend to do what you say you want to do in Part I; and third, a working bibliography, which contains 1) items you have read; 2) items you have identified but not read; and 3) areas where you need sources but don’t yet have them.
Prior to handing in your proposal I will expect to meet with each of you during office hours at least a couple of times. If you have a firm idea, let me know; if you have no idea at all, let me know as well.
Class participation
Not much to say here. The success of any seminar depends on involvement of everyone, and so live your lives accordingly. I will have things to say throughout the course, but I will expect participation from all. If after a couple of weeks you are not involved in the class, I will see to it that you are – fair warning!
Texts
Alan Gilbert, The Latin American City (1994)
Packets of duplicated readings from Abel’s Packets (715 D West 23rd Street)
