Syllabus
Mexican Politics, Economy and Society Course program
1. Introduction and geographic overview
2. Modern history I – From independence to revolution
3. Modern history II – From PRI to AMLO
4. Political system – end of one-party rule?
5. Economy – last bastion of neoliberalism?
6. Society and minorities
7. Emigration – Latinos, Hispanos, Chicanos, Tejanos, Californios
8. Drugs, cartels, and violence
9. Foreign relations I – Mexico and USA
10. Foreign relations II – Czech lands and Mexico
11. Foreign relations III – Mexico and the rest of the World
12. Actual topics – independent candidates, education reform, PEMEX, Odebrecht, Donald Trump, AMLO
13. Students‘ presentations Anti-plagiarism reminder: (A) Any use of quoted texts in seminar papers and theses must be acknowledged. Such use must meet the following conditions: (1) the beginning and end of the quoted passage must be shown with quotation marks; (2) when quoting from periodicals or books, the name(s) of author(s), book or article titles, the year of publication, and page from which the passage is quoted must all be stated in footnotes or endnotes; (3) internet sourcing must include a full web address where the text can be found as well as the date the web page was visited by the author. (B) In case the use of any texts other than those written by the author is established without proper acknowledgement as defined in (A), the paper or thesis will be deemed plagiarized and handed over to the Disciplinary Commission of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Recommended literature: Adams, John A. Bordering the Future: The Impact of Mexico on the United States. Praeger,
2006. Beezley, William, Meyer, Michael C. The Oxford History of Mexico. Oxford University,
2010. Boullosa, Carmen, Wallace, Mike. A Narco History. How the United States and Mexico Jointly Created the ''Mexican Drug War''. OR Books,
2016. De Vega, Mercedes (ed.) Historia de las relaciones internacionales de México, vol 1-7, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores,
2011. Delano, Alexandra. Mexico and Its Diaspora in the United States: Policies of Emigration Since
1848. Cambridge,
2011. Gómez, Laura. Manifest Destinies. The Making of Mexican American Race. New York University,
2007. Haber, Stephen. Mexico since
1980. Cambridge University,
2008. Hamnett, Brian. A Concise History of Mexico. Cambridge University,
2004. Hufbauer, Gary (ed). NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges. Columbia University Press,
2005. Kašpar, Oldřich. Dějiny Mexika. Lidové Noviny
2009. Kingslover, Ann. Nafta Stories: Fears and Hopes in Mexico and the United States. Lynne Rienner,
2001. Mace, Gordon (ed.) Regionalism and the State: NAFTA and Foreign Policy Convergence. Ashgate,
2011. Munck, Ronaldo. Contemporary Latin America. Palgrave,
2003. Opatrný, Josef. Mexiko: Stručná historie států. Libri,
2016. Raat, Dirk; Brescia, Michael. Mexico and the United States. Ambivalent Vistas. University of Georgia,
2010. Rodríguez, Jaime (ed.) Common border, uncommon paths: race, culture, and national identity in U.S.-Mexican relations. SR Books,
1997. Russell, Philip. The History of Mexico. From Pre-conquest to Present. New York,
2010. Skidmore, Thomas. Modern Latin America. Oxford,
2013. Smith, Peter. Talons of the Eagle: Latin America, the United States, and the World. Oxford,
2012.
Annotation
This course introduces students to the study of Mexican politics and government from an interdisciplinary perspective. The course focuses on the development and presentation of contemporary United States of Mexico.
For a better understanding, it starts with a historical overview of the last two centuries. After that, present Mexico is described along with its problems and its promises.
We are going to analyze the country from four different perspectives: politics, economy, society and foreign relations. Emphasis will be given to the ties with its northern neighbor the United States of America, as there are present many mutual problems like emigration, drugs, and economic cooperation under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The end of the course will be dedicated to the future perspective of Mexico. Students will also take part in these final remarks as they present their projects in the final class.
These papers have to be about one current Mexican problem and its future development.