Fall 2003

LAS 386 • ECONOMIC HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA

Course Description

This course is designed to introduce the graduate student to the literature on the economic development of Latin America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The literature concentrates on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru, although other countries will come into our purview. Students focus their analyses on several sectors: units of production, foreign and domestic markets, transportation, foreign and domestic investment, political economy, entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and labor systems. We may inquire for each country as to the relative autonomy of its entrepreneurs, politicians, and workers to determine the pace and direction of economic activity and their relative subservience to the structure of the economy. We will also investigate the influence of foreign factors. The seminar will enable the student to understand the role of economic change in modern Latin American history and prepare the student to undertake research on economic history.

Grading Policy

The final grade will be based on three papers, each approximately seven pages in length. The first paper is worth 20 percent of the grade, and the final two are each worth 40 percent of the final grade. In each paper, the student will write an original essay on one of the economic sectors above, using the secondary readings as the source of evidence.

Texts

READINGS ON SALE AT THE BOOKSTORE: Stephen H. Haber, How Latin America Fell Behind Steven C. Topik and Allen Wells, The Second Conquest of Latin America Nils Jacobsen, Mirages of Transition Thomas F. O’Brien, Revolutionary Mission Sebastian Edwards, Monetarism and Liberalization

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