Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Latin America

3 units

This course examines the origins and evolution of fascism and antifascism in Latin America from the 1920s to the present. Decentering the conventional European focus of global fascism and anti-fascism, it highlights the transnational and domestic manifestations of Latin America’s fascist and anti-fascist governments, political parties, social movements and cultural associations. It elucidates the distinctive meanings and praxis of Latin American fascism and anti-fascism in relation to race, ethnicity, antisemitism, gender, class, nationalism, anti-communism, and anti-imperialism. Special attention will be given to scholarly debates on the theory and praxis and legacies of interwar Latin American fascism and anti-fascism. Analytical questions that will serve as guideposts for this course: What is fascism? When and why did it emerge in Latin America? What were the distinctive ideological and discursive features of Latin America’s articulation (local, regional, national, transnational) of fascism and anti-fascism? What are the legacies of fascism on far-right wing governments and parties in Latin America today?