Thirty Years Later:
The Historical and Political Significance of the Chilean Coup
On September 11, 1973, the Chilean military overthrew the democratic socialist experiment headed by Salvador Allende, thereby ushering in a period of 17 years of military dictatorship. This short course will examine the historical significance of the Allende government, the coup, the attempts to bring General Augusto Pinochet to justice, and the search for democracy in a post-September 11 (1973 and 2001) world.
All classes begin at 7:30 PM. Because of size issues, I have tried to get most of the classes into the West Lecture Hall in the Science Center -- tried, but not succeeded. The class scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 16 will meet in King 306. All the other classes will be in the West Lecture Hall. Most of the classes end at 9:00 PM, although times vary by date. Please consult the syllabus for full information.
Course Requirements: Attend all lectures (attendance will be taken; you may miss one class if you have a conflict); do the required reading; and write a 5-7 page paper on ANY topic pertaining to the course. Papers will be due by October 17. You must sign an HONOR CODE on the paper (and cannot turn in a paper that you have written for another course). CR/NE grading only.
SYLLABUS
Monday, Sept. 15 (West Lecture Hall, Science Center): 7:30-9:00 PM: Allende and the Popular Unity Government: Understanding Its Meaning in 1970 and Today. Steven Volk (Dept. of History)
Tuesday, Sept. 16 (King 306): 7:30-9:00 PM: Allende's Opposition: The Development and Meaning of the Opposition Movement. Steven Volk (Dept. of History)
Wednesday, Sept. 17 (West Lecture Hall, Science Center): 7:30-10:00 PM: Missing. Costa Gavras' 1982 film based on the experiences of Charles Horman, a U.S. journalist in Chile who was killed by the Chilean military in Chile shortly after the coup. The film focuses on the efforts of Charles' father, Ed, and his wife, Joyce ("Beth" in the film) to find him. Joyce Horman will be with us to discuss the film, her experiences in Chile, and her 3-decade long attempt to get justice.
Required Reading for Lectures 1-3:
Simon Collier and William F. Sater, "Democracy and Dictatorship, 1960s-1990s," A History of Chile, 1808-1994 (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 305-389. [Course Documents]
Further Reading Suggestions:
Peter Winn, Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Revolution (NY: Oxford University Press), 1986.
Salvador Allende Gossens, Salvador Allende Reader : Chile's Voice of Democracy, ed. James D. Cockroft (New York : Ocean Press), 2000.
Lois Hecht Oppenheim, Politics in Chile : Democracy, Authoritarianism, and the Search for Development (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press), 1999.
Manuel Antonio Garretón, The Chilean Political Process (Winchester, MA, 1989).
Thursday, Sept. 18 (West Lecture Hall, Science Center): 7:30-9:00: The U.S. Role in the Coup in Chile. Peter Kornbluh, Director of the "Chile Documentation Project" at the National Security Archives and author of The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability just published by The New Press.
Required Reading for Lecture 4:
Peter Kornbluh, "Opening Up the Files: Chile Declassified," NACLA Report on the Americas 37:1 (July-August 2003): 25-31 + notes. [Course Documents]
Peter Kornbluh, "Chile: 16,000 Classified Secret U.S. Documents Declassified," National Security Archive Press Release. Read the press release, and browse through a few of the documents that are linked to the release.
Further Reading Suggestions:
Peter Kornbluh, The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability (NY: The New Press), 2003.
Monday, Sept. 22 (West Lecture Hall, Science Center): 7:30 - 8:30 plus film. The Pinochet Dictatorship, the London Trial, and the Search for International Accountability for Human Rights Abusers. In October 1998, General Pinochet, who was forced out of his dictatorship in 1990, was arrested on an international warrant while visiting London. The decision of the UK's highest court in his case was an important precedent in the search for an international system of justice to prosecute individuals accused on crimes against humanity. Panel discussion: Kristina Mani (Dept. of Politics), Ben Schiff (Dept. of Politics), Isebill Gruhn (Emerita, Dept. of Political Science, University of California, Santa Cruz). The panel discussion will be followed for those who wish to remain by The Pinochet Case, a 2002 film by the noted Chilean filmmaker, Patricio Guzman.
Required Reading for Lecture 5:
Background (for those interested in the legal findings):
Further Reading Suggestions:
Samantha Power, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (NY: Basic Books), 2002.
Robert Barros, Constitutionalism and Dictatorship : Pinochet, the Junta, and the 1980 Constitution (New York : Cambridge University Press), 2002.
James F. Petras and Fernando Ignacio Leiva, with Henry Veltmeyer, Democracy and Poverty in Chile : The Limits to Electoral Politics (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press), 1994.
Hugh O'Shaughnessy, Pinochet, the Politics of Torture (New York : New York University Press, 2000.
Patricia Verdugo, Chile, Pinochet, and the Caravan of Death, trans. Marcelo Montecino (Boulder, CO : Lynne Rienner Publishers), 2001.
Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry Kissinger (London and NY: Verso), 2001.
Tuesday, Sept. 23 (West Lecture Hall, Science Center): 7:30-9:00 PM. Democracy in a Post-September 11 (1973 and 2001) World. A panel discussion which will explore the search for democracy around the world considering both the events of 1973 (when Washington put itself behind an attempt to overturn democracy by employing terrorism -- a CIA memo from 1970 talks of efforts to support allies in Chile who would "increase the level of terrorism in Santiago" in order to destabilize and overturn the elected government of Salvador Allende) and 2001 (when Washington and New York were hit by terrorist acts). The panel will include: Ron Kahn (Dept. of Politics - discussing implications in the United States); Chris Howell (Dept. of Politics - discussing implications for the UK and Europe); Anu Needham (Dept. of English -discussing implications for South Asia); Khalid Medani (Dept. of Politics - Middle East and North Africa); Steven Volk (Dept. of History - Latin America).
Required Reading for Lecture 6:
Steven Volk, "Pinochet's Heirs: The Fractured Chilean Right," NACLA Report on the Americas 32:6 (May/June 1999): 21-30 + notes. [Course Documents]
Carlos A. Molina Bustos, "Toward the Recovery of Popular Sovereignty," and Manuel Cabieses Donoso, "The Long March to Unite the People," in NACLA Report on the Americas 37:1 (July/August 2003): 14-18. [Course Documents]
Steven Volk, " 'Democracy' Versus 'Democracy'," NACLA Report on the Americas 30:4 (Jan/Feb 1997): 6-12. [Course Documents]
(Salvador Allende)
