History of Mexico & Globalization- Fall 2011
Universidad de Quintana ROO
Prof. Olga M. Lazin Office: Business Dpt.
E-mail:olazin@ucla.edu Phone: (310) 208 2244
Mexico and Globalization is a general survey of the History of Mexico from its pre-conquest origins to the present. We will explore the social, political, and economic transformations of the country, paying particular attention to the impact of such transformations on the everyday lives of the Mexican people.
It also looks at the way Mexico’s economic and political relationship to the rest of the world –particularly to the United States—has impacted the nation. We analyze how Roberto Gonzales Barrera has extended his tortilla making empire into Guatemala, Costa Rica, the U.S.A, the Europena Union and China. The test case of the GRUPO MASECA is exemplary on how a Mexican entrepreneur has started the industrialization of the hygienic and vitamin-rich tortilla and expanded it into many countries around the world.
Globalization and Mexico´s international businesses.
Required Readings:
“Mexico Faces the 21st Century” by Donald E. Schultz, and handouts on Interviews of Roberto Gonzales Barrera .
[1]
Optional: the books listed below are required reading for this course
and are available for purchase at the Grossmont College bookstore. 1)
MacLachlan, Colin M., and Beezley, William H. El Gran Pueblo: A History
of Greater Mexico. Prentice Hall, 1999.
2) Altman, Ida, Cline, Sarah, and Pescador,
Juan Javier. The Early History of Greater Mexico. Prentice Hall, 2003.
Sam Quiñones, True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, The Popsicle Kings, Chalino, and the Bronx (University of New Mexico Press, 2001)
>Do Meyer and Sherman.
A good dictionary is highly
recommended.
In order to receive the
electronic articles and course announcements, you need to email me sometime
before the end of the second week to be placed on our course mailing list. On the read line simply write Mexico and
Globalization, or whichever class you’re enrolled in and in the content write
“subscribe”.
If you do not have an email
account, you can set up a free account with any commercial service such as
hotmail (www.hotmail.com) or yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
In addition, I will hand out
a few recent documents and a few newspaper articles that will bring us up to
date on some of the topics we will be discussing. I will also be emailing you recent articles as they
appear in online newspapers and magazines.
Consistent attendance in
lectures and participation in class discussions is essential to understanding
the course themes, and to performing well in the class.
Course Requirements
The final course grade will be calculated based on the following
components:
1. Attendance (5%)- The
most straightforward component of your grade. Everyone starts out with 100 and six points are taken off
for each unexcused absence.
2. Interactive Journal (10%)- You will write a series of short thought pieces in which you
show your understanding of the concepts and themes being explored in the course
and how your readings and films relate to them. I will give you the topics or questions and you will either
write them in class or bring your written responses to class prepared to
discuss them with your peers and myself. You will receive feedback on your responses during our discussions. You will title, date, and keep them all
together in order and be prepared to turn them all in on the last day of class.
3. Class Participation (10%)- You will have a portion of designated class
discussions in which we devote class time to exploring our course themes and
how our readings and films relate to them. You will, in turn, receive 10% credit for your verbal
contributions and active listening in our group and class discussions. Because discussions are only
productive when you have completed the readings, seen the films, and have your
journal responses ready, you will not receive credit for this portion if you do
not come to class prepared.
4. Map Quiz (5%)
The first is a map quiz in which you identify the Mexican states and is worth
5% of your grade. These questions
are actually multiple-choice.
5. Film Analysis (15%)- A 3 to 5 page analysis of any one of the full length
films we will have seen in the course. Your task will be to place the film into
historical context, assesses its strengths and weaknesses as a historical document, and provide an overview of
the ways that the film contributes to our understanding of the history of the
region at that time.
Please
feel free to consult me at any time during the course of this project. I’d be happy to provide you with
feedback. Due only the last day of class.
6. Midterm Exam (25%)- This exam will be comprised of identification of terms and concepts, one short essay, and one
longer and comprehensive essay. Part one asks you to identify four terms or concepts and to state their
historical significance. Part two
asks you to write a short essay on a topic I assign to you. In part three, you will to incorporate
all of the knowledge you have accumulated from your readings, lectures,
discussions, and films into a comprehensive essay. The midterm covers material from our class discussions, lectures,
films, and readings since day one.
7. Final Exam (30%)- This
exam will be comprised of identification of terms and concepts and two
comprehensive essays. Part
one asks you to identify five terms or concepts and to state their
historical significance. In
part two, you write two comprehensive essays (or two short essays, we’ll
decide as the final gets near) in which you incorporate all of your
accumulated wisdom. As you
did in your midterm, you will back up your arguments with specific
examples drawn from your readings, lectures, discussions, and films. The questions will be drawn mainly
from material since the midterm.
Extra credit: You may choose any of the themes I will
be recommending to you and do an analysis of the business entrepreneur, or the
business group the instructor advises you on.
You will receive study guides with sample questions before the midterm
and the final.
There will be no make-ups
for any of the examinations. No
incompletes will be given. (Verified emergencies/certificates provide the only exceptions to these
policies.)
Attendance, punctuality and
withdrawals. Roll is taken at the beginning of
class. BE ON TIME. Late
arrivals disrupt the flow of the class. While I do my best to formally drop students who stop attending class,
it is ultimately your responsibility to withdraw from the course. Failure to do so may result in an
unexpected F.
Turn off your phones and pagers or set them on
silent mode, or cell phones will be confiscated.
Side conversations and passing notes are rude and a distraction to the
class, and therefore have no place in our classroom. Just as meaningful participation is rewarded, disruptive
behavior will be penalized.
Course
Outline (Tentative)
Week 1
Introduction. Have in writing for next class, journal entry #1, part 1: your written impressions of the following quotes on
globalization. "Mexico’s 1st and 2nd Green Agricultural Revolutions: and the Grupo
MASECA"How do we know what we know?; Historiography (the history of the history of the region). Class
discussion. Topic: quotes on history. Journal entry #,
part 2: Further reflection of
these ideas in light of our class discussion today.
Suggested Supplementary Readings: Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books,
1979. Gary B. Nash, Charlotte
Crabtree, and Ross E. Dunn, History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of
the Past ( New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1997)
Week 2
2/3-2/7 Native societies on the
eve of the Conquest
Read: Altman, et. al.,
chapters 1 and 2
Film: “The Buried Mirror: Conflict of the
Gods”
Suggested Supplementary Readings: David Carrasco, Daily
Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun (Westport, Conn., 1998); MacLachlan,
Colin M., and Rodriguez O., Jaime E. The Forging of the Cosmic Race: A Reinterpretation of Colonial Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.
Week 3
2/10-2/14 Invasion, Conquest, and Settlement of Mexico
Read: Altman, et. al. (this is The Early
History of Greater Mexico), chapters 3 and 4
“Latin America’s Indigenous Saint (Juan Diego) Stirs Anger,
Pride”, article to be handed out
Group and Class Discussion on Conquest and Narratives of
Conquest
Suggested Supplementary Readings: Diamond, Jared, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (New York:
W. W. Norton, 1997); James
Lockhart, The Nahuas After the
Conquest: A Social and Cultural
History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth
Centuries (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1992)
Week 4
2/17-2/21 No class Monday 2/17- Campus wide holiday, Washington’s B.D.
The Colonial Economy
Read: Altman, et. al., chapters 5, 8 and 9
Map Quiz (W)
Bring a Scantron and a #2 Pencil
Week 5
2/24-2/28 Christianity, Change and Continuity in Native Societies, and the forging
of the “Cosmic Race”
Read: Altman,
et. al., chapters 6, 7 and 10
Group and Class Discussions on chapters 5-10
Recommended novel: Rosario Castellanos, The Book of Lamentations (New York: Marsilio Publishing, 1996)
Recommended film: “I, the Worst of All”, Maria Louisa
Bemberg's film on Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.
For further reading: Shroeder, Susan, Stephanie Wood, and Robert Haskett, eds. Indian Women
of Early Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.
Week 6
3/3 –3/7 Late Colonial
changes and the move to independence
Read: Altman, et. al., chapters 11-18
For further reading: Van Young, Eric. The Other Rebellion: Popular Violence, Ideology, and the Mexican Struggle for
Independence, 1810-1821. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.
Week 7
3/10-3/14 Instability, Pastry Wars, and Invasions: Mexico from the 1820’s to the 1850’s
Read: M&B (this is El Gran Pueblo), ch.’s 1 and 2
Juarez, the French
Invasion and Cinco de Mayo: The
Wars of the Reform, 1850’s-1870’s
Read: M&B, ch. 3
Week 8
3/17-3/21 Railroads, Rurales, and “Order and Progess”:
The “Modernization” of Mexico, 1876-1910
Read: M&B, ch. 4
Skeletons, dispossessed natives, and the ossification of
Liberalism: The costs of the “Modernization”
of Mexico, 1876-1910
Read: M&B, ch. 5
Suggested Supplementary Readings: William H. Beezley, Judas at the Jockey Club and Other
Episodes of
Porfirian Mexico (University of Nebraska Press, 1987); John Mason Hart, Empire and Revolution: The Americans in
Mexico since theCivil War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).
Week 9
3/24-3/28 The Liberal Order Collapses: The Mexican Revolution, 1910-1917
Read: M&B, ch.’s 6 and 7
Film: “Viva Zapata!”
Suggested Supplementary Readings: John Mason Hart,
Revolutionary Mexico: The Coming
and Process of the Mexican Revolution (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987); Alan Knight, The Mexican Revolution, 2
volumes (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1986); Friedrich
Katz, The Life and Times of Pancho Villa (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998); John Womack, Zapata and the Mexican Revolution; Samuel Brunk, Zapata! (University of
New Mexico Press)
Week 10
3/31-4/4 Midterm Examination
Class and Group
discussions “Viva Zapata!”
Week 11
4/7-4/11 “Institutionalizing” the
Revolution, 1917 to 1937; and
Binding “Many” Mexicos into one?
Read: M&B, ch.’s 8 and
9, and
“Educating Mexico’s
Indians” article to be handed out
The Revolution Becomes “The Miracle”: The Drive for Urban and Industrial
Mexico, 1937-1946
Read: M&B, ch. 10
Recommended novel: Lopez y Fuentes, Gregorio. El Indio. New York: Continuum, 1994.
For further reading: Ochoa, Enrique C. Feeding Mexico: The Political Uses of Food since 1910. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly
Resources, 2000.
Week 12
4/14-4/18 Spring Break- No Classes
Week 13
4/21-4/25 The Death of the Mexican Revolution? 1946-1972
Read: M&B, ch. 11
Mexico from Boom to Crisis, the mid 70’s to 1982
Read: M&B, ch. 12, pp’s 421-445
Recommended Film: “The Last Zapatista”
Recommended Novel: Hector Aguilar Camín, La Guerra de Galío (Galío’s War)
Suggested Supplementary Readings: Enrique Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power (New York: Harpercollins, 1997); Gilbert M. Joseph
and Daniel Nugent, eds., Everyday
Forms of State Formation: Revolution and the Negotiation of Rule in Modern Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1994); Stephen D. Morris, Corruption and
Politics in Contemporary Mexico (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1991)
Week 14
4/28-5/2 The Economic Crisis of
1982 and the "Lost Decade"
Read: M&B, ch. 12, pp’s
445-451 and articles to be handed out
For further reading: Judith Teichman, Policymaking in Mexico: From Boom to Crisis
(Boston: Allen & Unwin,
1988); Judith A. Teichman,
Privatization and Political Change in Mexico (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995);
Neo-Liberalism challenged: “Superbarrio” and the Zapatista uprising
Read: M&B, ch. 12, pp’s 451-487 and articles to be
handed out
“The Rapid Rise of NeoBanqueros: Mexico’s New Financial Elite”
“From North Atlantic NeoLiberalism to Market Pluralism” Salinas
and Mangabeira
Week 15
5/5-5/9 Film: “The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas”
Read: “Mexico’s Indians: One Nation or Many?” The Economist
First World, Ha, Ha,
Ha!, short article by Elaine Katzenberger
Group and class
discussions on the film and articles on the Zapatista Uprising
Suggested Supplementary Readings: Neil Harvey, The Chiapas
Rebellion: The Struggle for Land
and Democracy (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998); John Womack, Rebellion in Chiapas: An Historical Reader (New York: The New Press, 1999); Hayden, Tom, ed. The Zapatista Reader.
New York: Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books, 2002; Andres Oppenheimer, Bordering on Chaos: Guerrillas, Stockbrokers, Politicians,
and Mexico’s Road to Prosperity (New York: Little, Brown &Co., 1996); Jorge G. Castañeda The Mexican Shock (The New Press, 1995); Carlos Fuentes, A New Time for Mexico (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996); Elaine Katzenberger, First World, Ha,
Ha, Ha!
Week 16
5/12-5/16 Film: “Traffic” and
discussion
Readings to be handed
out: http://blogs.cnnexpansion.com/informacion-privilegiada/?p=507.
Week 17
5/19-5/23 A New Era for Mexico: Mexico in the 21st Century
Read: M&B, ch. 12, pp’s
488-493 and articles to be handed out:
“Congress Shifts
Mexico's Balance of Power” NYT art. 2/22/02
“Mexican Workers Pay for Success: With Labor Costs Rising,
Factories Depart for Asia” Washington Post art. 6/20/02
“Mexico's Corrupt Oil
Lifeline" (NY Times 1/21/03)
Suggested Supplementary Readings:
Sam Quiñones, True Tales from Another Mexico: The
Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino,
and the Bronx (University of New Mexico Press)
Finals Week
Finals Week. No classes this week. Your
final.
Films to incorporate into the syllabus:
3. “Mexico: Revolution, 1910-1940” A documentary tracing the “institutionalization”
of the Revolution. Footage from
the period.
[Grossmont College owns a copy, you can view it in the LRC
in the library, Code: MV 2752]
4. “Mexico: From Boom to Bust, 1940-1982” Second part in this series, tracing
Mexico’s “Revolution” from its industrialization efforts to the oil boom and
its bust. Industrialization of the tortillas (Roberto Gonzales’ barrera) Grupo
MASECA.
5. “Mexico: The End of an Era, 1982-1988” Third part in this series, tracing the
jarring changes that shook Mexico after the 1982 financial crisis also in 1986,
Mexico’s worst “crisis” since its Revolution.
[Grossmont College owns a copy, you can view it in the LRC
in the library, Code: MV 2754]
Additional Suggested Supplementary Readings
Ruben Martínez:
“Crossing
Over: A Mexican Family on the
Migrant Trail” (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001); Bad
Language, Naked Ladies, and Other Threats to the Nation : A Political History
of Comic Books in Mexico (Duke University Press).
Dr. Olga Lazin wrote, nov.17-2010:
"Mexico’s 1st and 2nd Green Agricultural
Revolutions: and the Grupo MASECA"
Lalanne Kersten wrote:
>> Dear Olga,
>>
>> Yes I have received your mails, I am still designing
the MBA program the idea is to start on August 2011.
>>
>> I will be considering you for a subject related to
Globalization and Mexico´s international businesses. Can you write the title
and brief description of the course you would like to give for a Masters Class,
please.
Best
regards,
