Revolution Movements Task

Political turmoil and instability have certainly never been strangers to Latin American nation-states as they have tried to define themselves and understand their place in the world.  The effort to define the political community, to address issues of membership and participation, following independence has often led to struggles in societies emerging from colonialism.  A variety of groups, disenfranchised and marginal to the political process, have struggled to create a space for themselves in the political community:  peasants, indigenous peoples, women, working poor, the urban poor, the middle classes, immigrant groups, students, political prisoners and other groups.  The struggle for recognition and rights has often produced conditions of violence, sometimes due to armed struggles, more often due to violent state repression.

The 20th century particularly can be characterized as the century of revolutionary and social movements in Latin America.  One of the reasons, perhaps, for the frequency and variety of these movements was the increasing “maturity” of Latin American states as different sectors demanded inclusion in the political and social spaces of the nation.  Certainly revolutionary movements around the world (such as the Mexican, Soviet, Chinese and Cuban revolutions), which challenged the uncontested power of state, revealed new possibilities and new ways of carrying out the struggle.  Anthropologists (and sociologists), in contrast to political scientists, have particularly been interested in the fact that these movements take place outside the organizing and surveillance arms of the state; their interest and focus has been on the social, economic and even cultural conditions that produce such movements.  In contrast to journalistic and diplomatic analyses, which often emphasize the power of intrusive outside influences (such as Soviet marxism) driving these movements, anthropologists have noted that they often mobilize grass-roots bases which require a complex understanding of the state and of the distribution of power on a global scale.  The success or failure of such movements depends greatly on the ability to "think globally, act locally."

For this project I would like you to select one particular revolutionary movement (defined as a movement that attempts to carry out political change by overthrow of the state) in Latin America during the 1960’s and 1970’s.  While efforts to change the state through revolutionary efforts have occurred throughout the century, the Cuban revolution unleashed a barrage of revolutionary movements throughout the continent during the 1960's, 70's and later.  I would like you to select one such revolutionary movement, drawing on a several newspaper articles, and at least one scholarly source, whether journal article or book.  In a brief essay (no more than three double-space pages), your task is to briefly describe the movement itself (including its ideological base), the membership of the movement, its aims and strategies, and the activities it carried out.  More importantly, I would like you to examine the conditions that produced this movement, and the reasons for its success or failure.

Many Latin American countries have had revolutionary movements during the past 50 years.  They vary greatly, from Aristede's non-violent movement in Haiti to the popular struggles in Nicaragua and El Salvador (Sandinistas and FMLN), to the guerrilla movements in Argentina and Uruguay (Tupamaros, ERP, Montoneros), to the Maoist/indigenous struggles in Peru (Sendero Luminoso and Tupac Amaru), to the current revolutionary movements in Colombia (FARC and ELN).  Of course many of us are quite familiar with the Cuban revolution and the UNGR in Guatemala.  You should select a movement that you aren't familiar with.  The Lexis/Nexus service provided by our library should be very helpful in getting newspaper articles on your movement.  I may also have other sources.  Our projects will be due on Oct. 31.