95708 - HISTORY OF RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE AND LATIN AMERICA IN CONTEMPORARY AGE

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Docente: Davide Riccardi
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: SPS/05
  • Language: English

Learning outcomes

Course unit's purpose is to reconstruct the remains in the contemporary history of cultural encounters and clashes following the "Atlantic" conquests and Iberian advance in the (north-central and southern) Americas. A process that somehow produced a complex relationship between Euro-Mediterranean cultures and the multicultural Amerindian and Hispano-American world. After completing the course the student is able to deal with some complex issues, such as the construction of the nation-state relationship after independence and the end of the Spanish monarchy, the reconsideration of the past and the idea of mestizaje, the relations between the Latino-American and Anglo-Saxon worlds, the relations between political, religious, social and cultural institutions, up to the construction of networks of solidarity and of new Euro-American bonds during the Cold War, the great dictatorships, the theory of dependency and international campaigns for the protection of human rights.

Course contents

This course introduces the study of the historical processes that conditioned the political, economic and cultural relations between Europe and Latin America (LA) during the Contemporary Age.

The course is articulated in three parts:

  • Starting from epistemological considerations about the genealogy of the concept of “Latin America”, “Caribbean” and “Modernity” the first part critically assesses the main decolonial interpretations about the “America Invention” as Eurocentric idea/analysis category. These premises allow to understand the dynamics of “Coloniality of the power” in the present, its historical roots and the contemporary social and political processes in the Region. In particular, the course offers the study of the logic that gave rise to the idea of “race” and the developments of Latin American slave capitalism. From these premises, the course analyzes the economic evolution of the "World-System", the political processes of (de)hierarchization of Latin American society and the socio-cultural phenomena of mestizaje (cultural hybridization).
  • The second part provides an overview from the LA independence processes to the democratization waves of the end of XX Century. Parallel to the study of the European philosophical and political contribution to the creole independence movements, some indigenous and Afro-descendant cases, precursors in the Latin American emancipation processes, will be studied. After that, the course offers LA Nation-building analysis including the link with the transatlantic migration process. Among the main themes of this second part: i) the study of authoritarian regimes before and during the Cold War; ii) the dynamics of nationalisms as a reaction to the processes of neocolonization; iii) the revolutionary/counter-revolutionary movements of the twentieth century; iv) considerations about the “coloniality of gender”; v) the spirals of violence that still afflict many Latin American realities today.
  • The third part focuses on Latin America & Caribbean today. The course  especially analyzes the geopolitical logics that arose after the end of the Cold War and the changes emerged in the last 30 years in EU-LA relations. The final themes of the course will focus on global challenges and the 2030 Agenda as well as on the proposal to (re)interpret the complexity of the ideas of Human Rights, Democracy and Development according to the “pluriverse” ideas from Latin American and other Souths.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students

The bibliography for attending students is divided in fundamental and complementary readings (books, book chapters, essays and scientific articles). Furthermore, at the beginning of the lessons, there will be an exchange of new complementary readings between the students and the instructor as part of the pedagogical activity of the course (see “Teaching methods” section).

Fundamental readings:

Complementary readings:

  • Buarque de Holanda, S. (2012), “The roots of Brasil: frontiers of the Europe”, in Ramírez, M. C., Ybarra-Frausto, T., & Olea, H. (eds.), Resisting Categories: Latin American and/or Latino? (pp. 311-317). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [available in the library: https://sba.unibo.it/it ].
  • Calvo, C. (2012 [1862]), “The Latin American States”, in Ramírez, M. C., Ybarra-Frausto, T., & Olea, H. (eds.), Resisting Categories: Latin American and/or Latino? (pp. 105-110). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [available in the library: https://sba.unibo.it/it ].
  • Hernández Reyes, C. E. (2019). Black women’s struggles against extractivism, land dispossession, and marginalization in Colombia. Latin American Perspectives, 46(2), 217-234. [available on: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0094582X19828758 ]
  • May, R., Schneider, A. & González Arana, R. (2018).Caribbean Revolutions: Cold War Armed Movements. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [available in the library: https://sba.unibo.it/it]
  • O’Gorman, E. (2012 [1961]), “The Invention of America”, in Ramírez, M. C., Ybarra-Frausto, T., & Olea, H. (eds.), Resisting Categories: Latin American and/or Latino? (pp. 95-104). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [available in the library: https://sba.unibo.it/it ].
  • Reid, M. (2017). Forgotten Continent, (only chapter 12, pp. 521-550). Totton: Yale University Press [available in the library: https://sba.unibo.it/it ].
  • Riccardi, D. (in press). Palenque. Elementi socioculturali dell’afrocolombianità. Milano: LEDizioni.
  • Riccardi, D., & Agudelo Taborda, J. (2019). Los sistemas fiscales y la redistribución de la renta: panorámica sobre América Latina y Colombia. El Modelo Social Europeo y América Latina, 105-130. [available on: https://www.instituto-capaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Modelo-Social-Web.pdf ]
  • Riccardi, D. (2017). Identità afrodiscendenti dei Caraibi colombiani: dalla diaspora africana al XXI secolo. Comparaison plurielle: formation et développement. Mobilité et migration, 2, 141-159. [available on:https://www.academia.edu/34592033/Identit%C3%A0_afrodiscendenti_dei_Caraibi_colombiani_dalla_diaspora_africana_al_XXI_secolo.pdf ]
  • Romero Tenorio, J. M., Riccardi, D., & Díez Jiménez, A. (2019). “La colonialità del potere nei mezzi di comunicazione colombiani. Il caso dello sbiancamento nei telegiornali di RCN”. Comparative Cultural Studies-European and Latin American Perspectives, 4(8), 93-104. [available on: https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/ccselap/article/view/10868 ]
  • Rouquié, A. (2012 [1987]), “Latin-America: An introduction to Far-Western Identity”, In Ramírez, M. C., Ybarra-Frausto, T., & Olea, H. (eds.), Resisting Categories: Latin American and/or Latino? (pp. 178-188). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [available in the library: https://sba.unibo.it/it ].

Non-attending students

The bibliography for non-attending students is partially different from that to be prepared by the attending ones. For this reason non-attending students are kindly requested to contact the instructor in due time before the exam.

Teaching methods

The course will be based on both lectures and class discussions.

Lectures will include readings of texts, seminars by external experts, projection of materials and short documentaries.

The methodology adopted for class discussions (group discussion, whole class discussion, presentations, Q&A discussion) will be defined at the beginning of the class taking into consideration its size.

The aim of the teaching methodology adopted by the course is to activate the critical analysis and informed discussion of topics and to facilitate the interaction between the professor and the students.

Assessment methods

Attending students

The assessment of the acquisition of expected knowledge and abilities by the attending students is based on the following components: short research abstracts (80% of the final grade); 2. Participation in class discussion (20% of the final grade). (3. Optional written exam)

The short research abstract will be prepared by students after the end of the class and will be based on a model provided at the beginning of the course.

Participation in class discussion will be assessed taking into consideration the student's ability to actively participate in class activities, including her/his overall level of attention, contribution/participation to class presentations/discussions and number, pertinence and relevance of spontaneous intervention.

The (optional) written exam consists of a multiple-choice and open-ended test on the most important topics addressed by the course, as well as her/his ability to critical analysis.

The final evaluation will be the weighted average of the evaluation of the short research abstracts and the participation in class discussion (and of the possible written exam).

Attending students who receive an insufficient evaluation for the short research abstracts will undergo an oral exam on the entire syllabus after the end of the class.

The ability of the student to achieve a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics addressed by the course, to critically assess them and to use an appropriate language will be evaluated with the highest grades (A = 27-30 con lode).

A predominantly mnemonic acquisition of the course's contents together with gaps and deficienciesin terms of language, critical and/or logical skills will result in grades ranging from good (B = 24-26) to satisfactory (C = 21-23).

A low level of knowledge of the course’s contents together with gaps and deficienciesin terms of language, critical and/or logical skills will be considered as ‘barely passing' (D = 18-20) or result in a fail grading (E).

Non-attending students

Non-attending students will undergo a written exam on the dedicated syllabus provided by the professor. For this reason, non-attending students are kindly requested to contact the professor in due time and at least once before the exam.

The written exam consists of a multiple-choice and open-ended test on the most important topics addressed by the course, as well as her/his ability to critical analysis.

The ability of the student to achieve a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics addressed by the course, to critically assess them and to use an appropriate language will be evaluated with the highest grades (A = 27-30 con lode).

A predominantly mnemonic acquisition of the course's contents together with gaps and deficienciesin terms of language, critical and/or logical skills will result in grades ranging from good (B = 24-26) to satisfactory (C = 21-23).

A low level of knowledge of the course’s contents together with gaps and deficienciesin terms of language, critical and/or logical skills will be considered as ‘barely passing' (D = 18-20) or result in a fail grading (E).

Teaching tools

Lectures and class discussions will be held with the support of audio-visual tools (ppt, web, short documentaries).

Office hours

See the website of Davide Riccardi

SDGs

Gender equality Reduced inequalities Peace, justice and strong institutions Partnerships for the goals

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.