Life and Death in Contemporary Latin America: An Anthropological Inquiry

This seminar explores life and death in contemporary Latin America. We will address anthropological understanding of the role of colonialism, migration, violence, urbanization, democratic transition and neoliberalism as they configure the experience of, and threshold between, vital and deadly processes. This is not a standard survey course, covering the region as a whole however. Instead, we will critically engage several recent ethnographies that explore, for example: the politics and practices of memory; border thinking and living; the political economy of death and desire; state violence and social movements; the relationship between the laboring city and body. We will supplement ethnographies with contemporary Latin American critical theory, film, and literary texts. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.