GMAP Topics: Hist and Contemp

Catalog description

Central America stands out for its great diversity in language, ethnicity, race, religion, and political landscapes. But underlying historical struggles continue to shape the isthmus, including the effects of imperial colonialism, racialization, structural inequality, (neo)liberalism, and violent pasts. In the 1980s, armed conflicts in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala first transformed the region into a global hotspot for violence. However, although these countries have all signed Peace Agreements, levels of violence are higher than ever. Why is that? And what lies beyond the geographic and socio-economic marginalization of the isthmus? Combining ethnographic writing, podcasts, journalism, non-fiction writing, and art-based responses from below, this course will explore how multidimensional forms of violence shape everyday life in Central America. We will employ a critical intersectional lens, evaluating questions of violence from perspectives of gender, race, sexuality, and ethnicity (among others), and will critically engage with theoretical concepts such as structural and state violence, impunity, transformation, marginalization, and resistance. Albeit focusing on Central American case studies, these perspectives invite a comparative analysis of other regions of participants’ interests.