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Spring 2002
This information effective
for Spring 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Spring
2002
Instructor: Susanne Jonas
TTh 2:00–3:45 p.m.
Oakes 102
Office: Merrill 110
Phone: 459-3232, 459-2855—message T/Th 2-3:45
E-mail: sjonas@cats.ucsc.edu
Office Hours: Wed. 1:00–4:00, Th. 10:00–11:00, or by appointment
TA: Irma Erendira
Sandoval
Course Description: This course focuses on the politics of power and resistance in relation to major issues facing the Americas in the 21st century. Since we are studying “the Americas” in a transnational world, the issues are cross-border in scope, linking Latin Americans to Latino populations in the U.S. The course highlights cross-border popular and social movements (resistance) that are emerging and seeking alternatives to neoliberal “globalization” and “free trade” (power). Although many of these popular movements are locally-based, increasingly they are adopting internationalist, cross-border, binational and transnational perspectives in order be more effective in the 21st century—to revive the activist approach: “Don’t Mourn, Organize.” The course will be updated for Spring 2002 to include the post-9/11 context.
The course will cover the
following issues:
- neoliberal globalization and free trade in the Americas, and responses “from
below”: protest movements—from Rio (1992) to Seattle (1999) and Quebec
(2001)—and labor movements (anti-sweatshop campaigns and other cross-border
labor coalitions, immigrant labor organizing);
- Latin American migration to the U.S. and cross-border organizing for Latino
immigrant rights: binational practices of migrant communities and campaigns
for immigrant rights;
- cross-border movements for environmental justice and in support of communities
affected by natural or environmental disasters;
- women’s movements and their links throughout the Americas;
- indigenous diasporas and movements across borders;
- international and cross-border movements for democracy, human rights, and
justice
While we will study specific cases from all areas of the Americas, many cases will highlight binational Central American (as well as Mexican) experiences, and we will give special emphasis to California’s connections with Latin America. Gen Ed codes T-3 and E.
Course Readings: Required readings are (a) Jeremy Brecher, et al., Globalization from Below (available at Bay Tree and Slug Books) and (b) a Course Reader (to be sold in class). An optional but highly recommended background book will be Juan González, Harvest of Empire. Additional resources will include a variety of books (on Reserve), videos/ films, tapes, and guest speakers.
Requirements and basis for evaluation of students: a midterm exam and a final exam (both take-home). Additionally, students are expected to attend all class sessions, keep up with course readings, and participate actively in class discussions and in weekly section meetings.
NOTE:
1) Class and section attendance is mandatory; all absences should be excused.
2) If for some reason you need to take an “Incomplete,” you must negotiate
it ahead of time with the Instructor, including the deadline for turning in
the work and forms.
3) Although this is a lower-division course, open to all students campus-wide,
it will be available for upper division credit in LALS. (Details to be worked
out with the instructor.)
COURSE
TOPICS AND OUTLINE:
(Dates to be adjusted for Spring 2002)
Course Introduction (March 27)
I. “Development for Whom?” Revisited: Globalization and its Discontents:
(a) Globalization, Neoliberalism, and Free Trade in the Americas (March 29, April 3)
Readings:
(1) Brecher et al., Globalization from Below
(2) Reader, Section I (A)
Recommended background reading: Juan González, Harvest of Empire(b) Responses “From Below”: Protest Movements (from Seattle to Quebec) and the Search for Alternatives (April 5 — and May 1, International Workers’ Day report-back from Quebec by UCSC students)
Readings: Reader, Section I (B)
(c) Anti-Sweatshop Campaigns, Cross-Border Labor Coalitions, and Immigrant Labor Organizing (April 10, 12)
Readings: Reader. Section I (C)
II. Immigration, Binational Migrant Communities, Campaigns for Immigrant Rights and New Conceptions of Citizenship (April 17, 19, 24, 26)
Readings: Reader, Sec. II
III. ECO-92 and Beyond: The Politics of Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development (May 3, 8, 10)
Readings: Reader, Sec. III
IV. Women’s Movements and Cross-Border Links, International Gay/Lesbian Movements (May 15, 17)
Readings: Reader, Sec. IV
V. Indigenous Diasporas and Movements across Borders: Reinterpreting “the Conquest,” Indigenous Perspectives and Organizing (May 22, 24)
Readings: Reader, Sec. V
VI. Struggles for Democracy, Human Rights, and Justice across Borders, and Movements toward Transnational Civil Society (May 29, 31)
Readings: Reader, Sec. VI