CENTRE for LATIN AMERICAN
RESEARCH and DOCUMENTATION

Introduction to Latin American Studies

prof. dr. J.M. Baud
dr. D.A. Brablecova PhD (co-ordinator)
dr. F. de Castro
dr. B.B. Hogenboom
dr. C. Klaufus
prof. dr. C.G. Koonings
dr. N. Rodríguez Idarraga
dr. JHJ Weegels

This course introduces key themes and leading approaches and theoretical debates in contemporary Latin American Studies. As the region has recently entered a phase of aggravated economic, social and political conditions, we conceptualize crisis both as a barrier and a driver of transformation. Problems, tensions and polarization may enhance (latent) conflicts and power relations as much as they can trigger new forms of resistance, adaptation and collaboration, according to the social, cultural, historical, spatial and institutional context. The course is built around the different disciplines of the Social Sciences and Humanities, and how they relate to one another. It builds on the current research of CEDLA's staff as well as CEDLA's broader research orientation on social transformation . It provides students with new knowledge on Latin America and with a range of approaches and perspectives to study the continent. The course is built around important texts which are discussed in the weekly reading assignments. 

Approaches to Popular Culture in Latin America: Researching Heritage and Worldmaking

dr. C. Klaufus (co-ordinator)

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This course discusses different ways to study popular culture. Far from being inclusive to all varieties, the following approaches are being privileged: cultural history, visual culture, material culture, memory studies and cultural anthropology. The term popular culture is nineteenth-century and was used to discuss — or in fact: dismiss — non-elite culture. A key issue in the discussions has been the (re)production of narratives of who people are and what they want to be, thereby acknowledging that their 'being-in-the-world' is defined by heritage and histories of a birth place, hometown, ancestors, lifestyles, violence or journeys. In people’s testimonies over time, new elements are woven into existing storyworlds, creating innovative ways of worldmaking. These are created in the streets of Latin American urban centers, using films, street art, epitaphs in cemeteries, and in digital and analogue media on a daily basis. Because of these roots, special attention will be given to the role of heritage, popular religion and material and visual culture in Latin American popular culture. 

Political Ecology of Latin America: Sustainability and Environmental Justice Struggles

dr. F. de Castro (co-ordinator)
dr. B.B. Hogenboom
 

Latin America holds large reserves of renewable and non-renewable resources and is a major global supplier of energy, metals, foodstuffs and environmental services. How can the region reconcile the increasing demands of food, energy and materials from natural resources, and increasing demands for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation? The region is characterized by growing socioenvironmental impacts from intensification of extractive activities and large infrastructure projects to facilitate supply of commodities to emergent economies. Recent trends such as the turn to the ultra-conservative governments in some countries, reconfiguration of global powers, the Covid-19 pandemic, and increased demand for energy transition have deepened the socio-environmental challenges in the region.   

Conflicts over access to and use of natural resources observed in the region contrast with innovative partnerships and social movements that have resulted in social empowerment and more inclusive and sustainable practices. Implementation of socially inclusive policies, agrarian and traditional territorial rights, participatory procedures, and increased digital inclusion in the new Millennium created opportunity for resistance movements to become more organized and globally connected. In addition, creative solutions by local communities to counter environmental injustices and provide new imaginaries for a sustainable future has inspired social movements and policy circles in the Global North.