HIST 293:

Dirty Wars & Democracy

ACCESSING THE COURSE: Course materials can be found on the Blackboard system. This electronic bulletin board will post all the outlines for the course lectures, the syllabus, exams and paper assignments, and other materials useful for the course. You must register to get into the system, and I will provide information on how to do this and how to use the system in the first week of classes. In the meantime, check out the on-line information on accessing Blackboard]. Once you are registered, you enter via a password, and then can locate daily outlines, assignments or other useful information. It is important that everyone registers for the CourseInfo Blackboard system as it provides me with an easy way to email the class.

     During the 1960s and 1970s, military dictatorships surged over the Americas, covering, at one point, every country in South America save Colombia and Venezuela. While military rulers were not an unusual occurrence in many Latin American countries, these regimes were in no sense “typical.” Indeed, they were striking for the nature of their political aims, for the economic policies they imposed, and for the sheer brutality of their methods. These were the regimes that gave rise to the term “dirty war,” introduced “disappear” into our grammar as a transitive verb, and gave us new lexicons of terror. While one can certainly question the very notion of any war that is not “dirty” in some sense, examining these regimes forces us explore why states, all of which hold a theoretical monopoly on the sanctioned use of force, would choose to employ it massively against civil society, and when lines are crossed between a “legitimate” exercise of force and its illegitimate and illegal use.

     Many Latin American regimes of the 1960s and 1970s could fit the model of what has been called the “bureaucratic-authoritarian” dictatorship (Guatemala comes to mind), but here we will concentrate only on the “Southern Cone” countries of South America, paying particular attention to Argentina and Chile, while also examining Brazil and Uruguay.

     This course will explore the questions that arise when one contemplates these “regimes of exception”: What brought about the continent-wide wave of military dictatorships beginning in the 1960s? Was there a characteristic ideology, structure, support base, or methodology shared by these military regimes? How can we understand the harsh methods imposed by the military regimes and their civilian supporters? What leads governments to torture and murder their citizens, and what allows individuals to participate in that process? Why did these military regimes finally give way to more democratic, civilian regimes? How have the new governments in these countries chosen to address the crimes of the past as they reconstruct the vestiges of civil society? How have private citizens, NGOs, and the international community addressed the historical legacy of violent states and dictators through an attempt to build a more comprehensive international legal regime that can bring state torturers to justice? How has memory accommodated this period of repression? What is the relationship between our current historical moment, marked by what has been called a "war on terror," and these earlier terrorist moments?

     Classes will be held as lecture-discussions, with student participation actively encouraged. The course requires a significant amount of reading, and students are expected to keep up with the readings so as to be able to participate intelligently and energetically in class.

     As this period of Latin American history produced a tremendous artistic and literary outpouring, we will approach it through written texts (primary and secondary sources), film, drama, music, and art. I also strongly encourage you to follow breaking news from Latin America. The issue of the “dirty wars” is not old news in these countries or in the United States. The arrest of the Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, in London in 1998 and his extradition to Chile the following year has re-energized the attempt to bring him, his lieutenants, and U.S. officials to trial for crimes committed in the 1970s. This is an issue that has involved thousands, including myself. [See “Judgment Day in Chile,” NACLA Report on the Americas (July-August 2002)] The release of thousands of documents by the US State Department (and a lesser number by the CIA and other intelligence agencies), beginning in 1999, has provided unprecedented access to researchers interested in the US role in Chile and other Latin American countries during the time of the dictators. And, over the past few years, national courts in Argentina, Chile and elsewhere continue to process cases against those most responsible for the atrocities in those countries. The fact that these issues, far from disappearing, have become a major motivating force behind the creation of the International Criminal Court gives us a clue as to the ultimate significance of the “dirty war” period to the history of these countries and the memories which remain.

Class Requirements

(1) As mentioned above, students are expected to keep up with the reading and to come to class prepared.

(2) You are required to complete four assignments over the course of the semester.

(a) Due September 28 at the beginning of class: A 4-5 page paper on the concept of the "exceptional state" -- based on assigned readings and some additional research, you will have to provide a general argument for why ostensibly democratic, civilian states adopt authoritarian or dictatorial forms. (15% of grade);

(b) Due October 14 at the beginning of class: A 4-5 page paper comparing two specific Southern Cone authoritarian regimes. You will need to focus on one or, at most, two, points of comparison: ideological orientations, bureaucratic structure, governance, organization of repression, etc. (20% of grade);

(c) Due November 23 at the beginning of class: The project can be on any one of the following three themes: (1) Terror, violence, and the exceptional regime: While different states allow different amount of legally sanctioned violence within their constitutional structures (including the use of capital punishment), constitutional states largely eschew the use of torture and non-judicially sanctioned capital punishment. Your projects should explore the theme of violence and the exceptional regime, including an exploration of the hazy area between legally sanctioned violence and extra-legal violence. (2) The internationalization of the "dirty wars" regimes. This project can explore relations between two or more Southern Cone dictatorships (e.g. Chile and Argentina), Operación Condor, or the relationship between the United States and any particular Southern Cone dictatorship. (3) Contesting the dictatorships: This project can focus on any single or comparative examination of the ways in which the dictatorships of the Southern Cone were challenged, resisted, and (ultimately) removed.

You may approach this project as a group project which will involve 3-4 people per group, or as an individual project. The format of the project is open — it can be a written paper, a performance, a video, or any other media form. If you choose to write a paper, it should be 5-7 pages in length (30% of grade);

(d) Due December 14 at 4:30 PM. A 7-10 page paper discussing any aspect of the post-dictatorial regimes: history and memory, the reconstitution of civil society in any country studied or as a general analysis of the Southern Cone, the international legal ramifications of events in the Southern Cone, the relationship between "truth and reconciliation" commissions in the Southern Cone countries and other parts of the world (e.g. South Africa), etc. This work should be based partially on course readings and partially on additional research. Extensions without penalty will be granted (IF REQUESTED) until December 21 at 2:00 PM. (the time scheduled by the Registrar's Office for a final exam in the course although there is no final exam). After that point, there will be NO extensions allowed unless you request an official incomplete in the course. (35% of grade).

(3) These projects are due on the day and at the time assigned in the syllabus. Assignments turned in late without prior authorization will be marked down one grade-step for each day that it is late. For example, a paper that is due on October 8 but turned in on October 9 will be marked down one grade-step (e.g., from a B+ to a B).

(4) Please note that you must use computers responsibly. Computers, particularly those on a network, are always crashing. You must be responsible for saving to disk frequently so that when the computer crashes, you will have only lost the last paragraph. You must also save copies of your papers (or your computer files) until the end of the course in case there is any problem verifying that you did turn in your work.