Histories from Below

Undergraduate / Graduate

Latin America's historiography has long been defined by an unusual degree of commitment to "history from below" -- defined variously as history that is rooted in the Global South; history that takes poor, Indigenous, Black, and working class people as its subjects; history with a political commitment to social change; or history that is committed to intensive, bottom-up archival methods. In this colloquium we will critically assess this multifaceted tradition, focusing especially on the links between historical method and historical argument, the impact of history from below on critical historiographical debates, and uneasy political exchanges about the place of history from below in larger conversations about inequality, imperialism, development, citizenship, environment, governance, and epistemology. Prior knowledge of Latin American history is not required.