Venezuela: Building Economic and Social JusticeFall 2008
Faculty: Peter BohmerLab 2, 2271 867-6431
Anne FischelSem 2, E-3108 867-6416
David PhillipsSem 2, B-3123 867-6508
Peter’s office hours: Tuesday 5:05-6:30pm or by appointment
Anne’s office hours: Monday 10-12 or by appointment
SCHEDULE:
Tuesday 9:30-11:30Presentation/Lecture/FilmLibrary 1540
Tuesday 12:30-2:30SeminarSem 2, A-2105 (Anne)
Tuesday 12;30-2:30SeminarSem 2, A-3105 (Peter)
Tuesday 3-5Spanish ASem 2, B-3107
Tuesday 6-8Spanish BL-2708
Wednesday 9-1Workshop (Photography/Audio…)Sem 2, A-1107
Thursday 6-8Spanish BL-2708
Friday 9:30-11:30Presentation/Lecture/FilmSem 2, D-1107
Friday 12:30-2:30SeminarSem 2, A-2107 (Anne)
Friday 12:30-2:30SeminarSem 2, A-3107 (Peter)
Friday 3-5Advanced/Intermediate SpanishSem 2, A-3107
Program Description:
Venezuela is being closely observed by nations and social movements. President Chavez asserts the Venezuelan proceso is constructing socialism for the 21st century. Venezuela is spearheading a global movement to develop alternatives to the neo-liberal development favored by the U.S., and is creating international alliances to support the redistribution of global power and influence.
Our class will study the Venezuelan proceso and the development of new models of political and economic democracy and justice.We will develop our understanding of the work of community organizations, social movements and the Venezuelan government to construct a society that meets peoples' needs for food, health, shelter, education, employment, transportation and political participation. We will also examine struggles for indigenous rights and racial equality. Working with perspectives drawn from political economy, community studies and popular educationwe will focus on the experiences of ordinary people in Venezuela as they participate in a massive popular movement to redistribute power and wealth and change the basis of social organization and decision making in their communities and nation. We will also study the historical role of United States policy in Venezuela and Latin America, and the current impact of that policy.
In fall we will prepare to travel to Venezuela and work with communities in the state of Lara. Our studies will include Spanish, Political Economy of Latin America and Venezuelan history and politics. We will focus on Venezuela's struggle for independence, culminating in the election of President Chavez, and the process of creating sustainable models of democracy and economic and social justice. We will develop documentation skills (using writing, photography and audio), and study popular education-based strategies of community collaboration.
In winter students have the opportunity to travel to Venezuela. We’ll start in Caracas with visits to historic sites, speakers, and visits to community media stations, neighborhood organizations, and the newly created Bolivarian University. There will be presentations on the current political economy and future possibilities and directions for Venezuela. One half of the group will then journey to Barquisimeto in the State of Lara where each student will work with a community organization and live with a host family for three weeks. . The organizations we’ve identified include urban cooperatives and educational work with adults through Venezuela’s Mision Sucre. We’ll take field trips to deepen our knowledge of the region, and hear from local speakers. Each student will gather research materials--field notes, photographs, documents and interviews--for an independent project. The other half of our group will go to Mérida where we will intensively study Spanish in the morning and meet with community organizations, cooperatives, Venezuelan intellectuals and student groups in the afternoon and evening. After a week-long retreat for our entire program, we will switch locations so everyone will spend three weeks in Barquisimeto and three weeks in Mérida. Funds permitting, we will end our visit with a few days in Caracas.
In spring we will return to our own campus to develop our research materials and prepare them for distribution. Possible forms include: a website, presentations, a photography exhibit, or a book or zine. The goal is to share what we learned, educate others, and give back to the communities that supported our learning. We will also continue our study of Venezuela.
READINGS:
Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America
Richard Gott, Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution
Greg Wilpert, Changing Venezuela by Taking Power
Myles Horton and Paulo Freire, We Make the Road by Walking
Greg Grandin, Empire’s Workshop
Robin Hahnel, Economic Justice and Democracy
Vijay Prashad and Teo Ballavé, Dispatches from Latin America
Mary Lee Bretz, Dvorak, Kirschner and Bransdorfer, Pasajes, Sexta Edición (for students in Spanish A, Tues, Fri, 3-5)
José Blanco and Phillip Donley, Vistas, 3rd edition (for students in Spanish B, Tues, Thur 6 P.M.)
Articles and short readings will supplement the main texts. Articles will be handed out in class, on the class list-serv, or available from electronic reserve (er). To access items on electronic reserve (er) go to the Evergreen library home page, then to "Program Reserves", then to "Electronic Reserves" and register on ARES so you can access the articles. Articles on photography are taken from Ken Light, ed. Witness in Our Time (Light). We may decide during the quarter to have some of these shorter readings for weeks 7-9 read only by the research group.
For students going to Venezuela there are 2 additional texts to read over December break:
Eva Gollinger, Bush vs. Chavez
Charlie Hardy, Cowboy in Caracas
Spanish: (From David Phillips): Section A will include students with at least two quarters of college-level Spanish, or more prior studies; essentially, intermediate and advanced-level students, as well as a few near-intermediate beginners with strong skills. We will use the textbook PASAJES, 6th edition. Students in section A are expected to communicate completely in Spanish in class. Students in A section will have many opportunities for group work, research and writing at a more advanced level.
Section B will include students with beginning level skills, with two quarters of prior Spanish studies at college level, or two-three years in high school. If you have less, you will also be in this group. Final decisions regarding language readiness for travel to Venezuela will be made by the faculty near the end of the quarter.
In Section B we’ll use the textbook VISTAS, 3rd edition- it is now available in the campus bookstore. It’s costly, but complete and will take you through a year or more of Spanish studies, even after the program.
Both sections: use of instructor’s copies of the textbooks is not allowed, and earlier editions are not recommended.
WEEKLY CURRICULUM:
Week 1: September 30-Oct. 3
Texts: Galeano Open Veins of Latin America
Prashad and Ballvé, pp.13-20, 23-31.
Film: Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani, The Devil’s Miner, 80 min., 2005
Tuesday 9:30-11:30: Introduction to the Program
Peter—"surplus" and economic development
Tuesday 12:30-2:30: Seminar--Galeano
Tuesday 3:00-8:00Introduction to Spanish: Spanish-language tests and placements (**in Seminar 2, A-1105)
Wednesday 10-12: Introduction to Documentary Photography
Wednesday 12-1:Community Documentation Project Planning
Friday 9:30-11:30Film:
Friday 12:30-2:30Seminar--Prashad and Ballvé, Galeano continued
For Friday: (1) 2-page reflective writing on your own social/cultural location, learning goals, obstacles. To be shared with 1-2 other people in seminar; give copy to faculty.
(2) seminar paper (all of Galeano)
Week 2: Oct. 7-10
Texts: Gott, Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution
(Friday) Margarita López Maya, Breaking with the Past, NACLA Vol. 40, No. 3, May/June 2007 (handout)
pp 4-8 (handout),Sebastião Salgado, Workers (Light--handout)
Film: Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Brain The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (74 min., 2002).
Tuesday 9:30-11:30 Peter: Venezuelan Political and Economic History
Tuesday 12:30-2:30Seminar—Gott, parts 1-4
Wednesday 9-10:50Group 1: Introduction to digital cameras
Group 2: Audio recording
Wednesday 11:10-1 Group 1: Audio Recording
Group 2: Introduction to digital cameras
Wednesday 1;30-3Brown bag lunch: Guest Presenter Simon Sedillo
Friday: 9:30-11:30The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Friday 12:30-2:30Seminar—Gott, parts 5 and 6, and Epilogue, López Maya, Salgado.
Week 3: Oct. 14-17
Texts: Wilpert, Changing Venezuela by Taking Power
Wilkinson, "Chavez's Fix," The Nation, 3/10/2008 (er)
Graciela Iturbide, The Indigenous of Mexico (Light--er)
Film: Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler, Venezuela from Below, 2004, 67 minutes.
Prashad and Ballvé
Tuesday 9:30-11:30Anne: Creating new institutions in Venezuela
Tuesday 12:30-2:30Seminar—Wilpert, pp.1-149.
Wednesday 9-10:50Group 1: Digital Cameras, part 2
Group 2: Interview practice
Wednesday 11:10-1Group 1: Interview practice
Group 2: Digital Cameras, part 2
Wednesday reading: Iturbide
Friday 9:30-10:45Ressler and Azzellini, Venezuela From Below
Friday 10:45-11:30Project Planning
Friday 12:30-2:30Seminar—Wilpert, pp. 151-266, Wilkinson, Prashad and Ballvé,
pp. 86-92
Week 4: Oct. 21-24:
Text: Freire and Horton, We Make The Road by Walking
Film: Lucy Massie Phenix and Veronica Selver, You've Got to Move, 1985, 87 minutes
Tuesday 9:30-11:30: Anne and Ellen Shortt Sanchez: Popular education and participatory research; Popular education approaches to literacy
Tuesday 12:30-2:30Seminar, Freire and Horton, Preface, Editor's Intro, Ch. 1-3, pp. 3-143
Wednesday 9-10:50Group 1**: Editing in Photoshop, introduction to printing
Group 2: Project Planning
Wednesday 11:10-1Group 2**: Editing in Photoshop, introduction to printing
Group 1: Project Planning
**This week photography groups will be reorganized—you will go with your project group to the workshops—Peter and Anne available for project planning and consultation.
**Wednesday 3:30-5Film: Borders of Resistance (Anne Fischel)—highly recommended (in Seminar 2, A-1105))
Friday 9:30-11:30Film: You've Got to Move
Friday 12:30-2:30Seminar—Freire and Horton, Ch. 4—6, pp. 145-248
Week 5: Oct. 28-November 1st
Text: Grandin, Empire's Workshop\
Readings from Prashad and Ballvé
Susan Meiselas, Central America and Human Rights (Light-er)
Film: Davis, Hearts and Minds
Possible segment of 9-11 film by Ken Loach: Letter from Chilean exile?
Tuesday 9:30-11:30Peter: U.S. Foreign Policy
Tuesday 12;30-2:30Seminar—Grandin, Intro., Ch 1-4, pp. 1-158, Meiselas
Wednesday 9:15-11Group 1: Peter: Economics Workshop
Group 2: Mixing Benches (audio editing)
Wednesday 11:15-1Group 2: Peter: Economics Workshop
Group 1: Mixing Benches (audio editing)
**Portfolio and Self-evaluations due 9am at faculty offices.
**Thursday 10-12Highly recommended: Willie Baptist (location TBA)
Friday 9:30-11:30Hearts and Minds
Friday 12-2:45Self-evaluation conferences
Friday 12:30-1:45In project groups: mini-seminar on Grandin (Ch 5, 6, Conclusion and Afterword, pp. 159-244), Prashad and Ballvé, pp. 93-104
Friday 1:45-2:30Project planning
**Saturday, 5:00-6:30Willie Baptist at Camp Quixote, Potluck dinner 6:30-8 at St. John's
Episcopal Church. 114 20th Ave SE in Olympia
**Anne at APHA conference Monday, Oct. 27-Wednesday, Oct. 29
Week 6: November 4-7
Monday, Nov. 3: Self-evaluation conferences 12-5:30 with seminar leader
Text: Robin Hahnel, Economic Justice and Democracy
Articles on economic development
Eugene Richards, Americans We (Light-er)
Earl Dotter, The United Mine Workers (Light-er)
Fazal Sheikh, “Portrait of a Refugee” (Light-er))
Dayanita Singh, A Truer India (Light-er)
Tuesday 9:30-11:30 Peter: Past and Present Models of Socialism
Tuesday 12:30-2:30 Seminar: Hahnel, parts 1 and 2: pp.1-161
Wednesday (Photography work in progress discussion—bring at least 2 prints to this session)
9-10:50:Group 1
11:10-1Group 2
Wednesday readings: Dotter, Richards, Sheikh, Singh
Friday 9:30-11:30:Guest speaker: Robin Hahnel
**Research Project outline due by 9:30.
**List of Venezuela Travel participants posted by 9am.
Friday 12:30-2:30Seminar: Hahnel, part 3, pp. 165-250
Hahnel: "What is to be Done?" (speech delivered to the First Socialist Economics Forum, Carora, Venezuela, September 2008, class listserv).
Week 7: November 11-14
Texts:Hahnel, Prashad and Ballvé and articles on gender, and eocnomic policy
Tuesday 9:30-11:30: Guest speaker Cory Fisher-Hoffman
Tuesday 12:30-2:30: Seminar: see list of readings on page 7
Wednesday 9-10:50Group 1: Photographic printing
Group 2: Podcasting
Wednesday 11:10-1Group 2: Photographic Printing
Group 1: Podcasting
****Deposit for Venezuela travel due by Wednesday at 5pm.
Friday 9:30-11:30: Peter: continue economics presentation from week 6
Friday 12:30-2:30Seminar: Hahnel, pp. 253-385,
Prashad and Ballvé, pp. 305-315
Buston, 'Economic Policy and the Rise of Hugo Chavez," (electronic reserve (er)
Mark Weisbrot and Luis Sandoval, Update: The Venezuelan Economy in the Chavez Years
Week 8: November 18-21
Texts: Prashad and Ballvé, articles (on-line or er)
Tuesday 9:30-11:30: Brenda Biddle, agriculture and food sovereignty in Venezuela
Tuesday 12:30-2:30: Seminar: see list of readings on p. 7
**Research Project rough draft due in seminar
Wednesday 10-1: Student-led presentations
Readings for Wednesday: see list on page 8
Friday 9:30-11:30: Films: Cecosesola Cooperative, Vive TV (David Phillips in class)
Friday 12;30-2:30: Student-led presentations
Readings for Friday: see page 8-9
***November 24-28: Thanksgiving Break
Week 9: Dec. 2-5
Texts: Prashad and Ballvé, articles
Tuesday: student-led presentations
Readings: Indigenous people/movements, Prashad and Ballvé, pp., 151-265
Wednesday: student-led presentations
**possibility to show Five Factories (Ressler and Azellini)
Wednesday Readings on page 9
Friday: student-led presentations
Friday Topics and Readings: Latin America Left, Solidarity, Grassroots Movements in the Americas: Prashad and Ballvé, pp. 35-46, 59-67; pp. 77-85, 115-147; pp. 283-304, pp. 316-338
Week 10: Dec. 9-12
Tuesday: Photography presentations
Wednesday: Photography presentations
Research project papers due
Friday: Program potluck: wrap-up, debrief, preparing for winter quarter
Self-evaluations and portfolios due by 3:00 Friday
Evaluation Week: Dec. 16-20
Self-evaluation conferences—required for successful completion of the program
Based on: class participation, completed project work, portfolio, and self-evaluation.
In order to hold a conference with you—and write your evaluation—we must have all your materials by Friday of week 10.
Readings for Week 7: Tuesday seminar
Topic 1: Gender
1. Global Women’s Strike, The Revolution has a Woman's Face, in Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, The Venezuela Reader. (er),
2. Sarah Wagner, “Women and Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution,” Venezuelanalysis, January 15, 2005 and "The Bolivarian Response to the Feminization of Poverty." Feb. 5th, 2005,
3. Fernandes, Sujatha, The Gender Agenda of the Pink Tide in Latin America, Znet,Oct 2007-
4. Red Popular de los Altos Mirandinos,Statement from Women Housewives Workersin the Home to President Hugo Chávez, Feb 4, 2005
5. Cory Fischer-Hoffman, Venezuela Leads the Way: Welfare Mothers and Grassroots Women are the Workers for Social Change
6. Michael Albert and Nora Castañeda, Gender In Venezuela, An Interview with Nora Castañeda, September 20, 2008,
7. Selections from Cory Fischer-Hoffman, Misíon Madres del Barrio: A Bolivarian Social Program: Recognizing Housework and Creating a Caring Economy in Venezuela University of Kansas, 2008. (er or listserv)
8. Dalla Costa, Giovanna Franca, Development and Economic Crisis: Women’sLabour and Social Policies in Venezuela in the Context of InternationalIndebtedness, in Paying the Price: Women and the Politics of InternationalEconomic Strategy, eds. Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Giovanna F. Dalla Costa(London: Zed Books, 1995), 91-116. (er)
Topic 2: Labor
1. Labor: Steve Ellner, “Trade Union Autonomy and the Emergence of a New Labor Movement in Venezuela”, in Ellner and Tinker Salas,ed. Venezuela, Hugo Chávez and the Decline of an Exceptional Democracy(er)
2. Kiraz Janicke & Federico Fuentes, Venezuela’s Labor Movement at the Crossroads, April 29th 2008,
Readings for Week 8; Tuesday seminar
Topic 1: Land, Food, Agriculture
1. Samir Amin (2003) World Poverty, Pauperization & Capital Accumulation. Monthly Review.
2. Brenda Biddle, Food Sovereignty, The Encyclopedia of Protest and Revolution 1500 – Present (er)
3. Philip McMichael, (2007) Feeding the World. Socialist Register 2007. New York, Monthly Review. 170-194 (er)
4. Peter Rosset (2006) Food is Different, London and New York, Zed. Pages x-24 (er)
5. Sarah Wagner, Reducing Poverty and Creating National Food Sovereignty in Venezuela
June 24,2005, Venezuelanalysis.com,
6. Greg Wilpert, Land for People Not for Profit in Venezuela, Venezuelanalysis.com
Topic 2: Oil
1. Mommer, "Subversive Oil," (er), Ellner and Hellinger, Venezuelan Politics inthe Chávez Era
2. Tina Rosenberg, The Perils of Petrocracy, New York Times, November 4, 2007
3. Ali Rodriguez interviewed by Greg Wilpert, The Main Obstacle is the Administrative Structure of the Venezuelan State
Topic 3: Endogenous Development
1. April Howard, Venezuela: Creating an Endogenous Cooperative Culture, September 4, 2008.
Readings for Week 8: Wednesday
Topic 1: Communal Councils, participatory democracy
1. Power to the People: Communal Councils in Venezuela, Federico Fuentes, Green Left Weekly
2. Venezuela’s Communal Councils and the Role of Planners, Clara Irazabal and John Foley
3. Venezuela’s Secret Grassroots Democracy, Michael Fox
4. Reconfiguring Democracy: Venezuela’s New Communal Councils Confront Bureaucracy, Kendra Fehrer Ponniah, Issue 381: Dec. 2007-Jan. 2008 of PeaceWork Magazine
5. Alex Holland, Venezuela’s Urban Land Committees and Participatory Democracy, Feb. 11, 2006
Topic 2: Cooperatives, Worker Control,
1. Prashad and Ballvé, Zibehi, pp. 339-358
2. Camila Piñeiro Harnecker, The New Cooperative Movement in Venezuela's Bolivarian Process
Topic 3. Alternative Energy/Environment
1. Cuba-Venezuela: Making Biofuels Without Wasting Food, Patricia Grogg. Inter Press Service, March 6, 2007.
2. Environmental and Social Justice in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: A Model of Growth that is both Sustainable and Progressive. Fact Sheet Published by the Venezuelan embassy, July 2008.
3. How Green is the Latin American Left? A Look at Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia. Daniel Denvir, Thea Riofrancos, April 3, 2008
4. Hugo Chavez’s Archilles Heal: The Environment, Jorge Hinestrozca interviewed by Nikolas Kozloff, Oct. 9, 2006,
Readings for Week 8; Friday
Topic 1: Media:
1. Naomi Klein, Venezuela’s Media Coup, The Nation, February 13, 2003,
2. Gregory Wilpert, Community Media in Venezuela, 2003,
3. Robert McChesney and Mark Weisbrot, Venezuela and the Media: Fact and Fiction
Common Dreams
4.
5. Nikolas Kozloff – COHA, August 28, 2005, Venezuela Launches Hemispheric "Anti-Hegemonic" Media,
Topic 2: Health/Medical Care:
1. Challenging the neoliberal trend: the Venezuelan health care reform alternative, Muntaner C, Salazar, RM, Benach J., Armada F. Faculty of nursing, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Canadian Journal of Public Health. 2006 Nov-Dec; 97(6) 119-24.
2. Peter Maybarduk, Venezuela: A People’s Health SystemDecember 2004,
3. Dr. B. Padma, Barrio Adentro: as Seen from the Perspective of a U.S. Health ProfessionalAugust 2008,
Readings for Week 9: Wednesday
Topic 1. Afro-Venezuelans, racism
1. Early and Garcia, The Political Status of Afro-Venezuelans in the Bolivarian Revolution,
in Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, The Venezuela Reader, pp. 49-66
2. Jesus Maria Herrera Salas, Ethnicity and Revolution, The Political Economy of Racism in Venezuela, Ellner and Tinker Salas, Venezuela, pp. 99-1
Topic 2. Alternatives to neoliberal globalization/institutions
1. Prashad and Ballvé, pp. 68-73
2. Jorge Martinez Gonzalez and Lic. Armando Chible Sandoval, August 8th 2008, “ALBA: A Hope for the Poor, A Challenge to Élites”,