On Wednesday, Sep 11th, We started out class with more tips and tricks on our primary source essay that is due on Friday Sep13th.

Next, we heard from Elliot presenting his LA in the News piece. The headline chosen was Mothers Force to Sleep in the Hallways of the South Hospital due to a Lack of Space. This story was set in Honduras and was expressing the overcrowding in the maternity ward in a third world context. Elliot expressed the hospitals lack of concern given for these new mothers who’s children had fevers. This article told two different stories of women sleeping on the floor or on benches after giving birth to be with their sick baby. Elliot then tells a brief antidote about his personal time in Honduras and the conditions there. 

Professor Holt briefly defined Oral Tradition in context of Corridos in Mexico before we split into Then we split into discussion groups. Oral Tradition is a way of passing information, tradition spread by word of mouth, this could be stories, songs, folklore etc. In the context of class we were talking about Corridos; A popular narrative song and poetry that forms a ballad. Topics vary from oppression, history, daily life for peasants, gossip and other social relevant topics   We split into groups to talk about the Corrido’s we read about and how to analyze them. One of the discussion questions focused on was: What are Corridos and how can we use them as a primary source? We spent about ten minutes at the end of class to listen to Tiempos Amargos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2tlHtx0Zgc), a Corrido we read about.

In our large class discussion one interesting question to come up was wether Corridos were just a northern tradition or if it was also southern. From what I could find there are some about Zapata but not much about specific southern culture. This doesn’t necessarily mean they did not exist in southern Mexico but they are harder to find today. Another topic we talked about was the fact that this was a masculine genera. We also noted the way Corridos have changed over time and now they are either folkish or they are about the drug environment. There is a new subcategory of corridos called Narcocoridos that are about the current drug situation in Mexico.   If you want some more Corridos you can listen to click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_XG8NMCOPM

Here are some more Corridos lyrics that I found in english about notable events of the revolution:

http://inside.sfuhs.org/dept/history/Mexicoreader/Chapter5/rev%20corridos.pdf

Questions:

What was the role of gender in this Corridos tradition? why is it considered masculine?

What is the benefit of looking at Corridos as a primary source? How can we use it to relate to other source we have looked at?

During the time of the revolution would one consider Corridos more as propaganda or as storytelling? or dose is it dependent on the context and not the time period?

We start off class today with Prof. Holt asking the class about our weekends and making a comment about the party on the green; mentioning how Wooster is a small town and it’s not hard to hear things.  Prof. Holt then goes on to talk about the email she sent the class for signing up to wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CreateAccount that included a link to join the class wiki)  She asks if anybody had any advice for creating a wikipedia account and the general advice is to keep the username appropriate.  Then Prof. Holt talked about how she uses her own name and believes that it is her obligation to not hide behind an anonymous name.  She talks about how one student had issues changing the David Ortega KH: David Ortiz page because it is so disputed. Then we move onto questions about the primary source paper, and one of the questions is about a cover page/ word count and word count can be in the heading and cover page is optional.  Then someone asked about how to cite the primary source from Wasserman’s book and Prof. Holt showed us this website (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/books.html.)  Then Prof. Holt reminded the class about the history lecture on 09/10/19.  

Dani begins LA in the News with an article titled Mexico Says It Has Cut the Number of Migrants Heading to the U.S.  Dani tells the class that Mexico has sent members of the National Guard and police officers to the border to reduce the migrants heading to the U.S.  When it comes to why Mexico decided to do this, it is because of Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico. Andrez Lopez, the president of Mexico, is facing criticism because of this decision partly because it is unethical and partly because it makes Mexico look like the U.S’s puppet.  This decision also places migrants in danger, and Mexico has failed to meet their promise to return migrants to their homeland. Dani relates this article to one of the five criteria for a revolution which is tolerant world context. She wonders about the difference between the treatment of migrants in northern vs. southern Mexico because South Mexico is basically part of Central America.  Prof. Holt Another student suggested that migrants would probably be treated better in South Mexico.  

Now the class begins in earnest.  Prof. Holt puts up three questions: What were the key changes made in the 1917 Constitution? How well do changes to Agrarian Policy reflect Zapata and Villa’s goals? Those of Madero?  How revolutionary are the changes and what criteria are used to define “revolutionary?” Here we have two key terms, 1917 Constitution and The Agrarian Law. The 1917 Constitution was the new constitution for Mexico after the revolution and was actually written during the revolution.  The Agrarian Law (1915) was written by Victoriano Carranza and talks about the ownership of land with regards to villages. Prof. Holt asked the class what we thought about the Constitution and some notable things were the legal terms, the fact that a Constitution has multiple authors, when and why the constitution was written and about the workers’ rights shown in the Constitution. 

Then we split into groups and begin discussion.  My group talked about how the nation had the right to whatever land it wanted, as well as the nation’s right to give out private land.  We talked about how depending on your perspective Zapata may have actually liked some of the land changes. When we discussed how revolutionary the changes were we realized that it depended on your perspective.  From a U.S perspective, the changes weren’t particularly revolutionary but, when compared to the previous system, the changes were drastic. It went from unregulated to well-regulated. For question 2 we didn’t have very much to say, the changes were pretty revolutionary and we all liked them and we thought it was kind of funny how the Constitution that was written in the middle of a revolution allowed for unionization.  The group ended with Prof. Holt gaining our attention. She asked the class about different evaluations about what we read and some key points are that the language was very technical, there was a juxtaposition between maternity leave in the U.S and everywhere else in the world. Additionally, we also talked about the vaguely defined land, and the anticlerical sentiment during the revolution as well as how the compensation for land could be easily corrupted.  We ended class with Prof. Holt telling us about what we would be doing on Wednesday and dismissing us.

Questions: 

What is one way in which the more educated people in history have tricked less educated people with complex terms and sentence structures?

From a Latin American perspective, how does the difference in culture from the North to the South of Mexico affect their views on motherhood?

How can revolutionary leaders use language as an effective propaganda tool?

On Friday, September 6th, Class began with another quick overview of the Primary Source Essay,  due on Moodle at the beginning of class next Friday, where Professor Holt reiterated the usefulness of Zotero (For The College of Wooster’s guide to Zotero, Click Here: http://libguides.wooster.edu/zotero). Primary source was also a key term to define in preparation for class today, defined as a source written or collected by someone who experienced it first hand.

Next, we heard from Mia who presented her piece of Latin American News, an article centered around a culturally-rooted mezcal distilling and distributing operation, Yola Mezcal, headed by three diverse women. She explained the family roots of the company, beginning with the grandfather of the article’s featured partner, Yola Jimenez, who had a passion for growing agave and distilling mezcal in the region of Mexico known as Oaxaca. Mia drew a connection between that region being the area that Díaz was from. The familial culture of the region, centered around mezcal offered context to the kind of people that Diaz originated from, as well as how their unique culture shaped his experience and his views. Particularly on a day in which we spoke about the importance of soldaderas in the Mexican Revolution, it was refreshing to hear an article about a successful company run by women. Mia noted that there was more of a discussion around cultural significance on the Yola Mezcal website, which you can visit at: http://www.yolamezcal.com.

Following the presentation, we were shown clips from a film called “The Storm that Swept Mexico” You can watch it again through a blog post of Professor Holts that contains the video (https://larev2019.voices.wooster.edu/2019/09/05/the-storm-that-swept-mexico/). Professor Holt explained that she liked the documentary as it included not just European or American historians, but included several Latin American historians, and left it as a bilingual documentary, only providing subtitles and not dubbing over the speakers. The first clip, around the 20-minute mark, discussed Villa and Zapata, the similarities between them despite their rivalries, largely rooted in the cultural differences from the regions where they lived. Both desired land and agrarian reform, but the context for which they desired that to happen was very different. Zapata who was from the south, pushed for communal land reforms, believing in the power of the community, whereas Villa, who came from the north had very individualistic ideas, and desired a weak central government. This highlights the role that regionalism had in the Mexican Revolution as well as the way that definitions of “justice” in the context of revolutionizing a country can vary from town to town.

Many of the soldiers who were fighting were young, and those with ranching backgrounds transitioned into cavalry quite easily, Villa was touted as something of a military mastermind, but at the root of it, he was a charismatic risk-taker. He made good use of the railroad system and with this ability to travel quickly, meant that it was easier to transport more people, and from this logistical success, the concept of the soldadera was born. Now the men fighting could bring along their wives and families and thus had someone too cook for and care for them, not to mention many of the women who took up arms and helped during the actual battles. Soldaderas was one of the key terms discussed in class and are described as, women who took up arms and participated in the Mexican Revolution. Many followed their men into battle as their ‘caretakers’.

During group discussion, we talked about the soldaderas at length, questioning whether they were defined as the caretakers or the women who actually fought in the war. The question of an anti-feminist narrative was also brought up, if we neglect the women who aided in caring for the soldiers in turn for favoring the women who actually fought, is placing more value on the women fighting in an of itself an anti-feminist claim as it devalues the roles women played in other aspects of the war? How can we define their roles without incidentally devaluing the other? We found it interesting that despite the many articles we read about soldiers in our reading before class, there was next to no accounts of the women who took up arms and only seemed to present soldaderas from the caretaker perspective. Which brought up other primary sources, as while there may not be many written sources about it, there are certainly photographs. To wrap up our discussion on soldaderas, we emphasized the adaptability of these women, who left their homes to care for or fight alongside the men, and their self-preservationist attitude in making sure they succeeded in keeping themselves alive.

Questions:

How can we define soldadera to encompass the roles that all women played, while still giving each aspect the respect and recognition they require?

Define regionalism and the role that it played in the reforms demanded by revolutionaries.

How does the treatment of the soldaderas depict the culture and gender roles of the time?

We began class with a few questions about the primary source essay, some notes about that:

1. When quoting Spanish sources, it is not necessary to translate anything from the quote itself.
2. You’re welcome (and encouraged) to use more than one supplementary source in addition to the chosen primary source.

We then received Kate’s presentation on an archaeological sacrificial site in Peru with children’s and llamas’ remains thought to have come about to avert the impending El Niño storm. This brought to mind perceptions of indigenous sacrifice (especially that of children) by the dominant Western European culture in the world.

We then reviewed something that was left out of the previous class due to time, which was the application of DeFronzo’s revolutionary framework onto the Mexican Revolution. However, we noted that it isn’t ethical to cherry pick evidence and force a certain framework onto a given subject, and were also trying to find ways that DeFronzo couldn’t sufficiently explain the Mexican Revolution. We supplied the following:

Mass frustration – economic depression, land ownership (and lack thereof), elites also dissatisfied & angered when Díaz goes back on promises

Permissive world context – Madero’s promises to foreign governments and corporations in the Plan of San Luis Potosí (p. 36 Wasserman), (mention of) the Zimmermann Telegram, and port blockades performed by the US in Veracruz and other cities

Unifying motivations – Madero as a figure, though this was very short lived (only weeks before insurrection)

Elite divisions – argument over Díaz’ succession between científicos and generals

Political crisis – the election to be held by Díaz (surely to be rigged)

We then spent time elaborating the concept of an ejido: a communally owned and operated piece of land in the context of Mexico, as mentioned by Zapata in the Plan of Ayala (p. 39). This is important because the concept had existed in indigenous communities and, being owned by families, was easier to buy out. Especially after the Marxist Revolution in Russia and the onset of global communist sentiments, it took on a convenient use in Latin American communist circles. Professor Holt mentioned an article by the New York Times in which the same idea of family-owned lands and homes are targeted and bought out by those who hold power; in this context, Black. She’s posted it on the home page.

We broke out into groups to go over the HAP, but ran out of time before we could return to discussion as a class. My group spent time discussing the Plan of San Luis Potosí from Madero as a primary source and the concept of democracy in Latin America in general, as well as how it’s historically been received as a proposed system. Professor Holt brought up a point about a popular argument used by white Europeans and those of European decent in Latin America being that democracy should be reserved for white spheres and that the indigenous mixing in Latin America makes it unachievable.

Further links:

1. Brief summaries of a work, “Indigenous People and Democracy in Latin America” by Donna Lee Van Cott.
2. A little more on the Chimú people, who would’ve performed the sacrifices mentioned in Kate’s article. They inhabited the western coast of Peru before they were conquered by the Inca.
3. This is a pretty unique piece written about the experience of the authors in trying to establish a joint venture between a US company and an ejido in southern Mexico. It speaks on the background of ejidos in the country and some statistics on the status of them at the time of being written (1998). Consider why this interaction is being cast in a positive light, and whose voices are being showcased (politically, socioeconomically, concerning gender, etc.) and whose are not.

Questions:

1. Can you think of ways that DeFronzo’s framework falters when applying it to the Mexican Revolution?
2. The Mexican Revolution is often framed as being pushed by a single underlying cause or sentiment, when in reality it was a tumultuous and complex event with many different players and motivations. How could different political groups frame the revolution to their benefit in the years after (even today)?
3. As shown by Wasserman, Díaz announced a plan to hold an election even though he held practically total power within the country. Parallels can be drawn between this and Pinochet’s decision to hold a plebiscite the 1980’s Chile. What motivations would Díaz have for doing this?

SUMMARY/QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION: After completing the Map Quiz at the beginning of class we were given a brief presentation about the widespread death of bees (500 million in three months) in Brazil due to less strict pesticide laws within the country. We then broke into groups to discuss the following questions that are likely to be on an exam. The answers that follow the questions are some talking points that my group discussed.

What were the main causes of the Mexican Revolution?

Landowners and peasants alike were upset with the structure of Government. Demands like more voting/democratic rights or resource reallocation were brought front and center and the election of 1910 cascaded into war.

How did the leaders’ goals reflect regional differences in Mexico?

Although typically discussed as north vs south it was more urban vs rural as auto/technocratic elite of urban areas had different needs than those of landowners. The rural group wanted more extreme change while the urban group wanted lawful changes.

How does Wasserman’s interpretation of the Mexican revolution fit with Defronzo’s criteria for revolutions?

1. Mass Frustration: Diaz is hated universally due to corrupt political system.
2. Divisions among the elite: cientificos vs landowners
3. Unifying Motive: All sides agree reform must occur for resource/wealth distribution
4. Severe Political Crisis: Diaz ousted from power/Madero assassination.
5. Tolerant World Context: The world had no response due to tensions in Europe and the eventual outbreak of WWI

Our time in groups was shorter than usual as we moved on to discuss the people behind the revolution in great detail in order to understand (people discussed are found in key terms).

KEY TERMS/PEOPLE

Porfirio Diaz: Long time ruler of Mexico who was forced out of office in 1910 due to revolution. Surrounded himself with cientificos, the technocratic elite who Diaz used to modernize and control Mexico.

Francisco Madero: Educated elite from the north who sought to reform Mexico by restoring democracy. Was a revolutionary who believed change could only come through a lawful process.

Emiliano Zapata: Leader of a small village in southern Mexico where plantation agriculture was practiced and the people were mainly indigenous and poor. Fought for a more radical change in the redistribution of land.

Francisco “Pancho” Villa: Revolutionary raider from the north who was a member of the Conventionalist movement who called for radical change. Best known revolutionary in the US due to the US military chasing him in the desert.

HELPFUL LINKS

1. For better understanding of the people involved and the timeline of the revolution https://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2824-the-mexican-revolution-1910
2. Better understanding of the causes of the Revolution https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kennyk/Project/New/Revolution
3. Video Link for visual and audio aid https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-mexican-revolution-causes-effects.html

EXAM QUESTIONS

1. What was the difference between the goals of the Constitutionalist and Conventionalist revolutionaries and how were those goals considered when drafting the 1917 constitution?
2. What role did Madero’s assassination have in the revolution?
3. If this revolution occurred after the success of the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 would the outside world considered the revolution a marxist revolution due to land/resource redistribution?

August 30, 2019

Today’s class began with Tabitha’s LA in the News presentation. Her topic was the recent announcement made by members of FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia). Tabitha explained the deep tensions between the Columbian government and FARC and why the two forces are now, once again, in such an openly hostile relationship. Tabitha’s article also brought up the interesting dilemma that members of FARC and other armed revolutionary groups face in Columbia and other South American countries. For many fighters who have fought for decades, and sometimes all of their lives, rejoining society can be a long and difficult process. Tabitha also mentioned that the article failed to adequately capture the position of the Columbian government and its side of the story.

After Tabitha’s presentation, Dr. Holt introduced the primary sources essay, which will be due on Friday, September 13. The class then split into small groups to discuss the reading about José Carlos Mariátegui that was due in class that day. My group noted that Mariátegui’s Wikipedia page was particularly well curated and that his opinions on the differences between South American socialism and European socialism were incredibly insightful and that they have certainly impacted future socialist movements in Central and South America.

Historical Skills and Questions for Consideration

• Connecting the ideas of historical figures to their modern interpretations.

1. How influential was José Carlos Mariátegui?
2. Why is he still so important today?
3. Why was socialism is Central and South America different from European socialism?

Transcribed Passage: Mariátegui’s Exile

After being exiled from Peru, Mariátegui traveled throughout Europe where he rubbed shoulders with various socialists and prominent people, including Benito Mussolini. His time in Europe gave him not only a better understanding of European socialism and why he believed it would not be the correct type of socialism for Peru, but also the dangers of what he claimed to be the failings of socialism. Namely, the rise of fascism. (It should be noted that he believed these groups rose up when socialists failed to band together, not that socialism itself had somehow failed.) After returning to Peru in 1921, Mariátegui was firmly in support of Latin American Socialism.

Key Terms

José Carlos Mariátegui: a Peruvian intellectual, sociologist, writer, political philosopher, and communist. He is considered to be one of the most influential Latin American socialists of the 20th century.

Latin America Marxism: a variety of Marxism that focuses on the agricultural sector rising up as the working class rather than, as in the European model, the factory worker. Latin American Marxism shares more traits with Maoism than traditional European Marxism.

Indigenista Literature: literature that focuses on the relationship between indigenous peoples and the indigenous state. In particular, this writing has been used as either its own political ideology or in tandem with another political ideology in various Latin American countries.

Links

1. An analysis of recent attempts at socialism in different countries in Latin America: https://truthout.org/articles/what-happened-to-latin-americas-socialism/
2. More on Bolivia’s indigenous movement: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/19601/bolivia-s-indigenous-movement-sees-advances-and-divisions-under-morales
3. A more in-depth look at the various guerrilla groups in Columbia: https://www.unric.org/en/colombia/27013-the-guerrilla-groups-in-colombia
4. A further exploration of the conflict between the Columbian government and FARC: https://providencemag.com/2017/12/colombia-and-the-farc-problems-with-creating-peace/

Examination Questions

1. What steps, if any, could be taken by the Columbian government, and other governments struggling with the same issue, to ease the transition between militant and civilian for members of guerrilla groups such as FARC?
2. Does the existence of varying types of socialism strengthen or weaken the cause of a world revolutionary?
3. Is it possible that the different countries in the same region of the world require different types of socialism? If so, why? (For example, Columbia vs Venezuela, Chili vs Argentina, etc.)

August 28, 2019

Today, we started off class by watching the music video, Beautiful, by Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell. The music video took place in Brazil. It demonstrated the diversity of people, mainly women, in Brazil. Not only did the music highlight the diversity of people, it also showed many public spaces in Brazil. After the video, Tristan presented his Latin America in the News. He talked about the return of an Incan mummy to Native Bolivia. During his presentation he commented on the absurdity that once the indeginous body was no longer useful, since societal change on display to the public changed, only then was the body returned to its native land. 

Historical Skills and Questions for Consideration

• How to read and analyze secondary sources.

1.  What is Becker’s main argument?
2. What tools does Becker’s text contain to orient our study?
3. How do the scholarly definition of revolution we’ve encountered so far with with your ideas? 

Key Terms

Anarchism: opposes hierarchies as unnecessary and fundamentally harmful to the realization of a more just and equal society. Anarchists fought to destroy existing institutions, eliminate governments and capitalism, and create a new society. Can be extreme individualism to complete collectivism. 

Marxism: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles ideas for the struggle of the working class to attain a higher form of human society. They critiqued capitalism and believed the industrial working class were the agent of social change.  

Imperialism: a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force. 

Anti-Colonial: Tupac Amaru, Haitian Slave Revolt, and Cancudos were all anti colonial revolts against Spain and Portugal in order to gain independence. 

Transcribe Passage: Define revolutions in your own words:

Becker laid out the groundwork to multiple revolutions and his purpose was to connect past revolutions to now. The class defines revolution as change, political, power, group, and social. As we read in chapter one, all of the anti-colonial revolts’ end game was to create change. In all the revolutions there was a power struggle and social struggle. The way we define revolutions now correlates greatly to what revolutions meant in the past. During our discussion, questions arose as to why race and oppression were not one of the words we, as a class, associated with revolutions. The last question was, are revolutions always violent? Majority of the class voted for “no, not always” instead of “yes”. 

Links

1. Racial Diversity in Brazil “turns a new page”: https://www.ft.com/content/abe60816-3cc9-11e8-bcc8-cebcb81f1f90
2. Overall Impacts of Imperialism: https://latinamerica1800s.weebly.com/overall-impacts-of-imperialism.html
3. The Inca Ruler and Peruvian Revolutionary Who Inspired 2Pac’s Persona: https://culturacolectiva.com/history/tupac-amaru-ii-peruvian-revolutionary-tupac-shakur-rapper 

Examination Questions

1. What makes a revolution violent? Can all revolutions be non-violent? If not, what makes some revolutions violent and other non-violent? 
2. How much power do music videos have on the perception of a country? (e.g. the Beautiful music video by Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell showcased the country of Brazil)
3. Does the definition of revolution vary across different identities? If so, why? (e.g socio-economic status, gender, sexuality, religious affiliation, race, etc)