Latin American Dictatorships Research Articles

Folklore of the Black Struggle in Latin America

This is a translated and edited version of a section of the author's El folklore de las luchas sociales (Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno, 1973) — a book which received mention in the 1973 Casa de las Americas awards and has been banned in several Latin American dictatorships. In his introduction, the author differentiates a Marxist approach to folklore studies from the usual bourgeois approaches. In contrast with those who view folklore as either evidence of an idealized past where the upper class was accepted as legitimate rulers by the folk or with those who view the "people's culture" as ipso facto revolutionary, Carvalho-Neto shows that folklore mirrors the class struggle and is itself an instrument of class hegemony over all culture. Folklore also reflects defense, resistance and struggle, for as long as an oppressed group is not liberated, its folklore of resistance represents primarily an adaptation to the violence of domination.

Students in Latin-American Politics

* When newspapers headline Terror Reign Closes University or Student Slain by Police, most American readers expect to find a Latin-American date line. At least they did until recently. And they were usually not mistaken, for in no other area of the world are students so deeply involved in politics as they are in the Hispanic countries of this hemisphere. To judge Latin-American students by United States standards is to misread the student political movement in the Latin countries, and also a significant part of political life in the area. Latin students are bellwethers of political stability or instability in their countries. They are usually dissatisfied with their society and with means available to achieve both their personal and national objectives. They feel impelled to protest, often violently, against injustices in the national fabric. They are, generally speaking, more influenced by Marxist, Communist, and Socialist thinking than by French or Anglo-American political doctrines. Impatient with the slownfess of social progress and with the growth of functional democracy, they strike out for quick solutions. Frequently the real or imagined opponent against whom they protest is the rightist United States, which, in their minds, is closely associated with Latin-American dictatorships.

The United States and Latin—American Dictatorships

The United States and Latin—American Dictatorships