POL4492

This course examines, from various angles, how law and justice function in contemporary Latin America, highlighting similarities and differences within and between countries and issue areas. Students reflect on and debate the causes behind the varied outcomes, as well as the effectiveness, actual and potential, of the different institutional and social change efforts that have been underway in the region since the 1980s. Specific topics addressed include accountability for past and present mass violence; origins of and responses to crime, from "mano dura" policies to criminal justice reform and anti-corruption initiatives; and advances and limitations in equal rights protection. Special attention is paid across the course to issues of indigeneity, race, class, gender, and sexuality. Throughout, students compare situations within Latin America, which is by no means a monolith, as well as consider parallels between Latin America and the United States, where, despite great differences in wealth, history and culture, similar problems of law and justice can be found. The course aims thus not only to teach students about Latin America but also to get students to think about what we might learn from Latin America.

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