Next semester I’m teaching two sections of Latin American politics. I like to regularly switch up my readings, assigning 2-3 “country study” texts (and spend 2-3 weeks on each) in addition to a more general textbook. So far I’m leaning heavily towards the following cases: Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela. I also want each case to offer a different “theme.” Here are the books I’m currently considering (thoughts & suggestions welcome):
Brazil: Kathryn Hochstetler & Margaret Keck, Greening Brazil: Environmental Activism in State and Society (Duke University Press, 2007). The book will help us cover Brazil, social movements (and state-society relations), and environmental politics.
Mexico: Beatriz Magaloni, Voting for Autocracy: Hegemonic Party Survival and its Demise in Mexico (Cambridge University Press, 2008). The book will help us cover Mexico, transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, and party politics.
Venezuela: Fernando Coronil, The Magical State: Nature, Money, and Modernity in Venezuela (University of Chicago Press, 1997). It’s a little dated & a little long (so I’ll likely skip some chapters). But it’s hard to find post-1998 books on Venezuela that aren’t heavily anti- or pro-Chavez (there are some, but they’re either too general or edited volumes—also, the textbook will have up-to-date information on Venezuela). Besides, I don’t want our revolving entirely around Chavez’s personality (the fact that the book was published before Chavez’s election is therefore a selling point). But this book will allow us to cover Venezuela, modernization, and political economy. Besides, The Magical State is something of a classic & I’ve long wanted to use it in a class.
An option is to drop The Magical State & instead assign a book on Colombia: Mario Roldan, Blood and Fire: La Violencia in Antioquia, Colombia, 1946-1953 (Duke University Press, 2002). Looking at the historical roots of the political instability in today’s Colombia is also appealing.
Or I may only assign the Mexico & Brazil books, in addition to the general textbook.
I’m not assigning anything on the Andes (defined as Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru) because I’ll be teaching an entire seminar (Andean Politics & Culture) in Fall 2009.
Tough choice. I ain't no 'cademic, but i'd like to see the Colombia book replace the Venezuela book. The classroom discussion on Venezuela is bound to be influenced by Chavez and if you're trying to avoid that, then better to just go with Colombia. Plus it seems a better fit with the other themes you have going on: social movements, transitions, political violence. Then again, I'm partial to Colombia over Venezuela anyway....
Thanks for the comment. I also like that the Colombia book is not about the whole country, but about a single province. Also, the Venezuela book is very theoretical; perhaps overly so for my undergrad audience.
I taught a course on populism over a year ago. We used a biography of Getulio Vargas (Robert Levin's Father of the Poor? & a book on Peronist social culture (Mariano Ben Plotkin, Mañana es San Peron), as well as two edited volumes on Fujimori's Peru (Julion Clarion, The Fujimori Legacy) & Chavez's Venezuela (Hellinger/Ellner, Venezuelan Politics in the Chavez Era). The students seem to enjoy the book on Peron best.
The Coronil book is very theoretical for undergrads. There are some good chapters, but I don't know how well it would work if you wanted them to read the whole thing.
I'm a fan of Javier Auyero's books - especially the 'Gray Zone of State Power' and 'Poor People's Politics' for teaching Argentina.
And while Coronil is tough, so is Roldán - if you want to do Colombia, Taussig 'Law in a Lawless Land' and Richani 'Systems of Violence' are more straightforward, though both are less explicitly historical than Roldán.
Thanks for those recommendations (some of which I'm not familiar w/); I'll certainly give them a look. I may, of course, in the stick to only the Mexico & Brazil books. Or even go back to something more "basic" like Roderic Ai Camp's Politics in Mexico. But I really like quirky "theme" books! :-)
Magaloni's work is excellent, but I can't resist plugging this book. We aimed it at undergraduates; God only knows if we hit.
I'm not a huge fan of Ai Camp's book.
Excellent blog, by the way. I come here often.
Thanks for the suggestion, Noel. If you send me a sample copy, maybe I'll make my students buy your book! :-) But seriously, I'm going to consider it. I definitely want to cover Mexico, but I don't want to go over my students' heads. I also agree about Ai Camp's book. It's very solid, and makes a great desk reference. But it's too broad in focus for what I'm looking for.