Political Science 390STG - Indigenous Resistance/Americas

This course is an introduction to contemporary indigenous resistance in the Americas. We will examine the history, law, and politics framing indigenous struggles in North, Central, and South America as deal with the political and theoretical issues implicated in these struggles and raised by indigenous activism. We will engage with a wide range of materials in constitutional law, political science, anthropology, history, documentary films, journalism, social media, and indigenous writings and narratives from activists. The primary aim of this course is to provide you with the background and analytical tools you will need to have a broad understanding of indigenous resistance in the Americas: both the shared issues and modes of activism which tie a broad range of indigenous movements from the US and Canada to Mexico and Ecuador (to name a few), as well as differences between them. The first part of this course will provide you with a background on the central themes and issues surrounding indigenous resistance in the America. After a few weeks of building our knowledge base, the second part of this course will focus on case studies including: anti-globalization resistance and autonomous governance by the Zapatistas; grassroots and legal struggles against genocide in Guatemala; indigenous resistance surrounding natural resource extraction from Standing Rock Water Protectors to indigenous activists in the Amazon; indigenous feminists; and gendered violence. Themes discussed in the course include historical and contemporary colonialism, sovereignty claims, indigenous social movements and modes of resistance, and legal and political frameworks shaping indigenous struggles from national to international law. You will also have an opportunity to develop more in-depth knowledge on a specific issue, indigenous actor or movement, or mode of resistance through the research component of this course and our class project.