SOCI0756-1

Duration

15h Th, 15h SEM

Number of credits

	Master in population and development studies (120 ECTS)	3 crédits
	Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) (Faculty of social sciences)	3 crédits

Lecturer

Laurent Delcourt, Bernard Duterme, Melissa Schneider, Frédéric Thomas

Coordinator

Melissa Schneider

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

25/9 - Historical, social and political panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean
Land of contrasts, the Latin American continent is considered the most unequal in the world. A significant part of its social structures, the conflicts that run through it, and its place on the international scene have their roots in its colonial and post-colonial history. The introduction will provide a synthetic panorama of the continent, highlighting the lines of rupture and continuity until today; also a way of setting the framework for the following sessions.

16/10 - "Extractivism" and socio-environmental issues
Rich in natural resources, the Latin American continent has traditionally based its development on the export of raw materials. At the beginning of the 21st century, in a particular regional and global, political and economic context, this strategy is renewed. Between escape from poverty and the trap of dependence, deployment of public policies and environmental degradation, promotion of development and intensification of social conflicts, the results of this strategy continue to be debated, and shed light on still current issues that go beyond the 'Latin America.

13/11 - Land, agrarian policies and rural world
A large part of the social problems facing Latin American societies find their origin in their agrarian past, marked by the private appropriation of space, the preponderance of large estates and the marginalization of the peasantry. Inherited from the colonial period, the land structure has profoundly shaped social relations and conditioned political dynamics on the continent. Faced with land concentration processes, the rural world will, however, mobilize. Access to land will become the main leitmotif of Latin American social - and revolutionary - movements of the 20th century. And agrarian reforms will be initiated at the initiative of progressive governments and plebiscite regimes. But these reforms will also encounter resistance from elites and a dynamic of counter-reforms. These will accompany the movement of "conservative modernization" of amortized agriculture from the 1970s.

27/11 - Powers and struggles: progressive or reactionary pushes?
Still rebellious, Latin America? The first fifteen years of this century were marked by a progressive wave at the head of the states of the subcontinent. And by new social policies. Followed by alternations - from the right then from the left - populist or more traditional, in a context of strong economic and political crises. The major reconfigurations of the period have not extinguished or unified social struggles: calls for redistribution on the one hand, respect for the environment and territories on the other. The issue stands out as the main factor dividing Latin American protests, despite the processes of contention, co-optation, repression or dilution which undermine them.

11/12 - The indigenous question: between exclusion and affirmation
The indigenous question remains central in Latin America. Firstly because the "first peoples" are constitutive of the plural identity of the region and continue to represent significant "minority majorities" in several countries - Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, etc. - and in others - Mexico, Chile... - strong "active minorities". Then, because it is from these populations that rebellions have emerged in recent decades, thanks to the political and economic liberalization of the continent, carrying a new "decolonial" relationship to modernity and demanding reconciliation. . principles of equality and diversity within national States and the globalized economy.

Frédéric Thomas, Laurent Delcourt, Bernard Duterme, CETRI researchers.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this course, students will have a solid overview of the many issues (social, economic, environmental) that cross Latin America.

They will read contributions and debate with the course speakers.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Reading of scientific and grey literature.

Interest in the theme of the course.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

ex cathedra course

5 sessions of 3 hours face-to-face.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course

Additional information:

Face to face

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Melissa Schneider

melissa.schneider@uliege.be

Latin America: political, economic and social reconfigurations