Handbook

This course explores the history and development of Latin America from the Independence period in the early nineteenth century to the present. It asks why the Latin American republics have not fully converged economically, socially and politically with developed capitalist countries. Why do so many of them continue to exhibit characteristics that we associate with the Developing World? The course is organised chronologically. You will explore development strategies including liberalism, industrialisation, socialism, neo-liberalism and the recent shift to more state-directed societies in the context of ethnic, class, gender and political divisions within Latin America and its relationships with other parts of the world including the United States, Europe and Asia.