Argentine Politics & Society Classes

The subject matter of this course is designed to give students an introduction to Argentina 's situation in the world today - economically, politically and socially - with the idea of giving the students the background to understand how and why Argentina is as it is today. Like all of our workshops, the scheduling and content matter of the course can be arranged according to the student's needs. If you or your fellow students know of specific topics you'd like to see covered, your instructor can usually accommodate these. Likewise, if you prefer to skip over one area of the course and focus on another, that's usually possible too.

A typical "Politics and Society" course will cover such topics as the historical foundations of contemporary Argentina : from the influence of Juan and Vita Peron to the military dictatorships to the "Madres de Plaza de Mayo." With this historical background in mind, we then turn to the "Malians War" and the return to democracy in the 1980s, followed by the 1990s, the Menem Decade, and discussions about that government's policy of "Convertibilidad" (1 peso=1 dollar) and what these policies mean for Argentina today.

The course will then give you an introduction to the 2001 economic crisis, with discussions about the "Corralito" (when people's savings were confiscated by the banks), the "Cacerolazo" (The "Pot and Spoon" Revolution, when the Argentine people marched on the center of the national government in order to force a change in the leadership), and the institutional crisis which resulted.