PSCI 351
Inequality and Development in Latin America Spring 2026
Division II D Difference, Power, and Equity
Cross-listed GBST 351

In the face of stubborn problems of economic stagnation, rising crime, and the weak provision of public goods, Latin America today presents a wide variety of responses. We see examples of the old revolutionary Left, elected authoritarians and “anarchocapitalists” on the Right, and massive outward migrations of people who have despaired of political solutions. This course seeks to understand the historical and ideological origins of both the problems and the responses. We first read well-known polemics from Left and Right, before stepping back to consider Latin American political economy from a more historical and analytical perspective. With this preparation, we then look more closely at major contemporary movements and figures in Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, El Salvador, and Brazil. We end our common readings by asking what it means today to be politically progressive, or merely constructive, in Latin America and elsewhere.