The Business of Politics: A View of Latin America
Political marketing grew into an American industry before spreading across the globe, and this MIT anthropology course traces that expansion with particular attention to Latin America. Lectures and readings examine the cultural processes, sociopolitical contexts, and moral assumptions that shape how consultants, parties, and candidates practice political marketing in the United States and in various Latin American countries. Students study debates among practitioners and scholars to see how the supposedly universal idea of democracy gets reinterpreted as marketing techniques travel across borders, and how different groups working in different cultural settings understand the citizen's role in a democracy. Course materials, available through MIT OpenCourseWare, include the syllabus, readings, and assignments used in the original class. No certificate is offered, but all materials are free to access and reuse under a Creative Commons license.