Law and Order in Latin America

LAS 4935
SECTION 6600, CLASS #25821
LAS 6938
SECTION 9600, CLASS #28519

Days: Mondays
Times: 12:50 - 3:50 pm
Location: Matherly 0112

NO PREREQUISITES OR INSTRUCTOR APPROVAL NEEDED FOR REGISTRATION.

Course description

Law and order are concepts often invoked when politicians promote anti-crime policies and when civil society organizations demand protection and security from the state, but the conceptualization of law and order and ideas about how to achieve these vary according to historical context, state capacity, and formal and informal policies. In this class, we will follow how institutions associated with law and order developed in Latin America and how they have been transformed by recent changes in the region. We will examine how state development and state capacity shape institutions and practices of law and order and interrogate the relationship between law, order, and violence. Throughout the course we will examine case studies in Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, and other countries to understand how law and order are reproduced in the Americas and under what conditions laws, rights, and citizenship are suspended in the name of order.

Professor

Dr. Rebecca Hanson
Assistant Professor
Center for Latin American Studies
Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Law
Email: r.hanson@ufl.edu
Phone: 352-294-7191

Research Interests
Crime and Citizen Security; Political Sociology; Urban Sociology; Policing; Social Movements and Citizen Participation; Gender; Latin America; Qualitative Methods.

Geographic Expertise
Venezuela and Colombia