ETHNOGRAPHY SEMINAR: SOUTH AMERICA

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ETHNOGRAPHY SEMINAR SOUTH AMERICA

• Spring 2006

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General information

• Time Thy 12-14
• Location Unioninkatu 37 sr 1
• Email toomas.gross_at_helsinki.fi
• Phone [phone]
• Office Hours Thurs 14.30-16.00, E308
• www http//www.helsinki.fi/antropologia/opetus.ht
  m

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General information

• Ethnography Seminar I (758301)
• 7 credits
• anthropology majors at aineopinnot level
• anthropology minors
• all others
• Ethnography Seminar II (758302)
• 10 credits
• Anthropology majors at MA/syventävät level

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Classes

• 1-3 lectures
• Introduction
• Indigenous groups in SA
• History of anthropological research in SA
• 4-11 lecture-seminars
• particular theme
• short lecture (20-30 minutes)
• student presentations (1-2) and discussions
• occasional videos

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Course requirements

• Seminar presentation
• Weekly reflection papers
• Final research paper
• Participation in seminar discussions
• Presence in at least 6 seminars (of classes 4-11)

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Seminar presentations

• Based on books listed under each topic
• 1-2 per class (4.-11.)
• to be chosen 26 January
• 1-2 students per book
• Maximum 15 minutes
• Summary of the authors arguments
• Present you own criticism and analysis
• Raise further questions
• Prepare a list of key ideas for others / Ppt

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"Reflection papers"

• Concise summaries of your thoughts
• Based on required readings
• authors main arguments
• their strong and weak points
• For classes 2-11
• Short (max 700 words, 1-2 pages)
• Not an essay
• May be hand-written
• In English or in Finnish
• Submission
• after the seminar
• By noon at toomas.gross_at_helsinki.fi if missing
  the seminar
• Late submission not accepted

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Research paper

• A longer essay
• Presented ethnography as a starting point /
  alternative topic
• Suggested literature in syllabus
• in English or in Finnish at toomas.gross_at_helsinki.
  fi
• Late submission penalties 5 per day (up to 40)
• ES I
• 5-6 pages
• at least three bibliographical sources
• submission by 27 April
• ES II
• 10-12 pages
• at least five bibliographical sources
• submission by 4 May

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Seminar discussions

• Based on
• seminar presentation
• required readings
• reflection papers
• In smaller groups

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Evaluation

• Research paper 40
• Seminar presentation 20
• Participation 10
• Reflection papers 30 (10 x 3)

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Texts and reading materials

• Required readings
• 2 for each seminar
• mainly articles or chapters from books to be
  presented
• master copies by D112 at Unioninkatu 38
• EBSCO database articles marked with an asterisk
  ()
• Book reviews
• background reading on books to be presented
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Additional readings
• Readers and background literature

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1. Introduction to the course (19.1)

• General introduction
• Brief historical facts
• Selected statistics

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2. Indigenous groups and cultures of South
America (26.1)

• Required readings
• Fagg (1977 1963) Ancient South America. (in
  Latin America A General History)
• Steward (1970) Cultural Evolution in South
  America (in Goldschmidt and Hoijer The Social
  Anthropology of Latin America. Los Angeles U of
  California Press)
• Video
• Noë

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3. History of anthropological research in South
America (2.2)

• Required readings
• Roosevelt (1994) Amazonian Anthropology
  Strategy for a New Synthesis. (in Amazonian
  Indians from Prehistory to the Present
  Anthropological Perspectives)
• Strickon (1964) Anthropology in Latin America.
  (in Wagley)

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4. Studying indigenous groups (9.2)

• Discussion topics
• the Yanomamö, Venezuela, Brazil, violence,
  fieldwork ethics, socio-cultural change
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Chagnon, N. 1983 1968. Yanomamö The Fierce
  People.
• Tierney, P. 2000. Darkness in El Dorado How
  Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon.
  
• Required readings
• Chagnon (1983) Yanomamö Warfare. (Ch 6 in
  Yanomamö)
• Tierney (2000) Napoleonic Wars. (Ch 3 in
  Darkness )
• Book reviews
• Anthropological Warfare (by Mann)
• Video
• The Return of Yanomamö

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5. Deforestation in the Amazonia (16.2)

• Discussion topics
• the Kayapo, Brazil, cultural survival,
  deforestation, economic "development"
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Hemming, J. 1987. Amazon Frontier The Defeat of
  the Brazilian Indians. (Parts 3 and 4)
• Required readings
• Gomes (2000) The Indians Today (Ch 5 in The
  Indians of Brazil)
• Moran (1993) Human Ecology as a Critique of
  Development. (Ch 6 in Through Amazonian Eyes)
• Book reviews
• Amazon Frontier (by Needell)
• Video
• The Kayapo Out of the Forest

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6. Coca economy (23.2)

• Discussion topics
• Coca, cocaine, peasants, capitalism, Bolivia,
  Peru, US-Latin American relations
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Allen, C.J. 1988. The Hold Life Has Coca and
  Cultural Identity in an Andean Community.
• Morales, E. 1989. Cocaine White Gold Rush in
  Peru.
• Required readings
• Allen (1995 1988) The Hold Life Has. (in
  Starn, et al)
• Kawell (1995) The Cocaine Economy. (in Starn, et
  al)
• Book reviews
• Cocaine White Gold Rush in Peru (by Roberts)
• Video
• Cocaine

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7. Capitalism and development (2.3)

• Discussion topics
• the Andes, Bolivia, mines and miners, capitalism,
  money
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Nash, J. 1979. We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat
  Us Dependency and Exploitation in Bolivian Tin
  Mines.
• Taussig, M. 1980. The Devil and Commodity
  Fetishism in South America.
• Required readings
• Nash (1979) Introduction. (in We Eat )
• Taussig (1980) The Devil and Commodity
  Fetishism. (Ch 2 in The Devil )
• Book reviews
• The Devil (by Madsen)
• We Eat (by Solie)
• Video
• Development in Bolivia

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9.3 - no seminar
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8. Conflict and violence (16.3)

• Discussion topics
• Sendero luminoso, Peru, peasants, poverty,
  communist ideologies
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Poole, D. and G. Rénique 1992. Peru Time of
  Fear.
• Tarazona-Sevillano, G., and J.B.Reuter 1990.
  Sendero Luminoso and the Threat of
  Narcoterrorism.
• Required readings
• Poole (1994) Peasant Culture and Political
  Violence in the Peruvian Andes Sendero Luminoso
  and the State (in D. Poole Unruly Order)
• Theidon (2001) Terrors Talk Fieldwork and
  War. Dialectical Anthropology 26 19-35.
• Book reviews
• Peru Time of Fear (by Radu)
• Sendero Luminoso and the Threat of Narcoterrorism
  (by Olney)

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9. Cities and poverty (23.3)

• Discussion topics
• Street children, violence, everyday survival,
  urban Brazil, urban Colombia
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Aptekar, L. 1988. Street Children of Cali.
• Hecht, T. 1998. At Home in the Street Street
  Children of Northeast Brazil.
• Required readings
• Aptekar (1988) The Prepuberty Children Taking
  Advantage of Being Little (Ch 2 in Street )
• Hecht (1998) Being in the Street (Ch 2 in At
  Home )
• Book reviews
• Street Children of Cali (by LaRosa)
• At Home in the Street Street Children of
  Northeast Brazil ("Social Death" by Biehl)

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10. Race and ethnicity (30.3)

• Discussion topics
• Identity, ethnic minorities, racism, immigration,
  Brazil, Colombia
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Lesser, J. 1999. Negotiating National Identity
  Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for
  Ethnicity in Brazil.
• Wade, P. 1993. Blackness and Race Mixture The
  Dynamics of Racial Idenity in Colombia.
• Required readings
• Lesser (1999) The Hidden Hyphen (Ch 1 in
  Negotiating )
• Wade (1993) The Racial Order and National
  Identity (Ch 1 in Blackness )
• Book reviews
• Negotiating National Identity (by Meade)
• Blackness and Race Mixture (by Helg)

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11. Religious change (6.4)

• Discussion topics
• Protestant churches, Pentecostalism, Argentina,
  Chile, Brazil, poverty, gender
• Ethnographies for presentation
• Martin, D. 1990. Tongues of Fire The Explosion
  of Protestantism in Latin America.
• Stoll, D. 1990. Is Latin America Turning
  Protestant?
• Required readings
• Míguez (1999) Exploring the Argentinian Case
  Religious Motives in the Growth of Latin American
  Pentecostalism. (in Smith and Prokopy Latin
  American Religion in Motion)
• Stoll (1993) Introduction Rethinking
  Protestantism in Latin America (in
  Garrard-Burnett and Stoll Rethinking
  Protestantism in Latin America)
• Book reviews
• Tongues of Fire and Is Latin America Turning
  Protestant? (by Cox)

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Deadlines

• 27.4 - Deadline for ES I research paper
  submission (grades by 4.5)
• 4.5 - Deadline for ES II research paper
  submission (grades by 11.5)

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Culture areas of South America

• 1) Northern South America ( Caribbean and
  Panama)
• 2) Northern and Central Andes
• 3) Tropical Forest ( Eastern SA)
• 4) Southern third of SA (the Cone)

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Historical facts

• The conquest
• Independence
• 19th century
• 20th century
• Current diversity

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Conquest

• Columbus (August 1, 1498)
• the mouth of the Orinoco River
• Pedro Álvares Cabral (April, 1500)
• coast of present-day Brazil gt claimed for
  Portugal
• Followed by various explorers on the coast
• Eg. Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan (1520)
• Relatively neglected for till 1530s
• The Spanish - more focused on Central America
• The Portuguese more focused on India

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Conquest

• Francisco Pizarro
• The first to penetrate the continental interior
• invaded the gold-rich empire of the Inca in 1531
• gt creation of Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542
• By the end of the 17th century
• Only the Guyana not dominated by Spain/Portugal
  (Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands)

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Conquest

• gt Economic exploitation
• mineral deposits, timber and cultivable lands,
  farming and livestock raising, sugar pantations
  (slaves)
• gt Christianization
• gt Social inequalities
• Peninsulares
• Creoles
• Mestizos, mulattos
• Slaves, Amerindians

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Wars of Independence

• Led by the Creoles
• Stimulated by the War of Independence in North
  America and by French Revolution
• Two phases
• 1) 1810 to 1816
• contemporary Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay
• 2) 1816 to 1825
• the rest
• Major figures
• Venezuelan Simón Bolívar
• Argentinian José de San Martín

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19th century

• Internal political instability
• regional jealousies
• personal ambitions gt caudillismo
• conservative vs liberal political groups
• Boundary problems
• Paraguay vs Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay
  (1864-70)
• Chile vs Bolivia and Peru (War of the Pacific,
  1879-83)
• Paraguay vs Bolivia (Chaco War, 1932-35)
• US influence
• Monroe doctrine (1823)
• "dollar diplomacy" and "big-stick policy
• Franklin D. Roosevelt - "good-neighbor policy"
  (1933)
• John F. Kennedy (1961) - Alliance for Progress
  program

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Recent developments

• 1960s
• Latin American Free Trade Area (1960)
• six South American nations and Mexico -
• gt Latin American Common Market (1967)
• 1970s
• population growth, increased unemployment, and
  inequality
• increasing violence, military regimes
• 1980s
• la década perdida
• mounting burden of foreign debt
• privatization of major nationalized industries
  (Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Argentina)
• gt rise in unemployment.
• rampant inflation

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Recent developments

• 1990s
• Some positive trends
• Eg. Military regimes gt democratically elected
  governments
• Continuing concerns
• Human rights violations
• Situation of Native Americans
• Urban growth
• 21st century
• Economic recession in Argentina, Uruguay,
  Venezuela ( Brazil)
• Tense relations with the US (Venezuela, Bolivia)
• Turn to left?