Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2015

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Political Science

Degree Program

Political Science, MA

Committee Chair

Gainous, Jason

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Gray, Tricia

Committee Member

Burnet, Jennie

Subject

Civil disobedience--Latin America; Latin America--Politics and government; Latin America--Social conditions; Latin America--History--20th century

Abstract

Why do resistance campaigns have different outcomes? Specifically, why do some resistance campaigns succeed, while others fail or fall somewhere between success and failure? Examining Latin American resistance campaigns between 1956 and 2006 through a theoretical lens of spatial agency, the varying outcomes of resistance campaigns (success, partial success, and failure) could be explained schematically by the same conditions. Generally, successful campaigns had the same conditions present, which include: facing an authoritarian regime; the ability of the campaign to build cross-class alliances that included urban elements; military shifts through defection, desertion, or open rebellion; the United States’ withdrawal of support for the regime; and cultures of resistance. Of particular significance, given Latin America’s urban-tilted population distribution after World War II, no resistance campaign in the region from the Cuban Revolution on could succeed without being able to operate in urban areas and capturing urban support.

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