CSP 51 The Struggle for Human Rights in Mexico, Realities and Representations

Human Rights Mexico: Realities. Mexico transitioned to electoral democracy in 2000 after 71 years of one party rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (or PRI). However, democracy remains under threat in part because of the expansion of mano dura (heavy-handed) military practices employed to battle the drug cartels. Consequently, as compared to South American countries which pursued transitional justice movements, human rights violations in Mexico have increased rather than decreased since 2000. This was clearly the case when local police forces, on orders of a mayor, disappeared 43 students in Guerrero state in the Fall of 2014. But this class will do more by documenting both the realities and representations of ongoing human rights violations in Mexico since 1968. Human Rights Mexico: Representations. Cultural production is central to the struggle for human rights. As cultural artifacts both conceptualize and memorialize social-political trauma, our class will take a close look at the struggle for human rights in Mexico as represented in film, literature and music. 

Warning: The readings, music and especially film focus on extreme violence. The violence depicted in films is graphic and disturbing.