220141 Conflicting autonomies linking past, present and future in the Americas (K) (WiSe 2021/2022)

In the Americas we observe a multitude of different endeavors of autonomies, sometimes connected or operating in alliances, sometimes in conflicting co-existence over public support and discourse supremacy. Such gap is especially visible in the local relation of urban social movements and rural indigenous governance. Often resistance is the main common shared project and may unite different political agents in solidary manner. Autonomies may also differ in their relation to the past, present and future; encouraging different utopias or projects of future.

Indigenous autonomy generally stands between the right to self-determination derived from cultural diversity and the demand for inclusive access to public goods as equal citizens of the state. As a political-sociological study with a historical perspective, we will address the question of property in different autonomy projects. Collective property and individualization will be empirically highlighted and linked to the different forms of autonomy as a variable of analysis. We contrast different epistemologies of comunalidad and communitarian democracy to interrelate experiences from different parts of the Americas.

Objectives of the course:

• Clarify how different projects of autonomy are connected through their timely perspective.
• Highlight questions of compatibility of urban social movements and rural projects of autonomy.
• Intertwine approaches of collective property with autonomous movements.

Course format: ONLINE with weekly synchron sessions.

Bibliography

Background readings:

• Dinerstein, Ana (2015): Politics of Autonomy in Latin America: The Art of Organizing Hope. London
• Canclini, Néstor García (1997): Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity. Minneapolis.
• Villoro, Luis (2007): Los retos de la sociedad por venir: ensayos sobre justicia, democracia y multiculturalismo. Madrid
• Martínez Luna, Jaime (2016): Textos: Sobre el Camino Andado (Tomo II). Oaxaca
• Rosanvallon, Pierre (2013): The Society of Equals. Cambridge
• Cooper, Davina et al. (2019): Reimagining the State: Theoretical Challenges and Transformative Possibilities. London
• Kaltmeier, Olaf & Mario Rufer (2017): Entangled Heritages: Postcolonial Perspectives on the Uses of the Past in Latin America. London
• Almeida, Paul (2019): Social Movements. The Structure of Collective Mobilization. Los Angeles