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Radical Social Theory: An Appraisal, A Critique, and an Overcoming: Notes on Che Guevara

Radical Social Theory: An Appraisal, A Critique, and an Overcoming
Notes on Che Guevara
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table of contents
  1. Cover
  2. Front Matter
    1. Table Of Contents
    2. Title and Authors
    3. Copyright and License
    4. Dedication
  3. Introduction
  4. Chapter One - Liberalism and Eurocentrism
    1. Notes on Jean Jacques Rousseau
    2. The Social Contract (excerpts)
    3. Notes on Eurocentrism
    4. Lecture: Liberalism and Eurocentrism, Jean Jacques Rousseau
    5. Main Elements of Liberalism
    6. Liberalism and Eurocentrism Exercises
    7. Shirley Temple A Kid 'in' Africa: An Illustrated Summary and Critique
    8. Readings and Resources
    9. Notes on Angela Davis
  5. Chapter Two - Early Liberal Feminism Contrasted with Black Feminism
    1. Notes on Olympe de Gouges
    2. The Declaration of the Rights of Women
    3. Lecture: Early Liberal Feminism, Olympe De Gouges
    4. Olympe de Gouges Exercises
    5. Main Contributions De Gouges
    6. Readings and Resources
  6. Chapter Three - Communism, Karl Marx
    1. Notes on Karl Marx
    2. The Communist Manifesto
    3. Lecture: Communism, Karl Marx, Part 1
    4. Lecture: Communism, Karl Marx - Part 2
    5. Basic Definitions of Marxian Concepts
    6. Main Elements of Marxism
    7. Marx Exercises
    8. Readings and Resources
  7. Chapter Four - Anarcho-Communism, Pyotr Kropotkin
    1. Notes on Kropotkin
    2. The Conquest of Bread
    3. Lecture: Anarcho-Communism, Pyotr Kropotkin
    4. "The Conquest of Bread" Exercises
    5. Main Elements of Anarcho-Communism
    6. Readings and Resources
  8. Chapter Five - Death of the Western God
    1. Notes on Friedrich Nietzsche
    2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra (excerpt)
    3. Lecture: Death of the Western God, Friedrich Nietzsche
    4. Basic Definitions of Nietzsche's Main Concepts
    5. Nietzsche Exercises
    6. Readings and Resources
  9. Chapter Six - Black Self-Determination and Self-Defense
    1. Notes on Malcolm X
    2. The Ballot or the Bullet Speech
    3. Lecture: Black Self-Determination and Self-Defense, Malcolm X
    4. The 10-Point Program of the Black Panther Party
    5. Malcolm X Exercises
    6. The Ten Point Program and Platform of the Black Student Unions
    7. Readings and Resources
  10. Chapter Seven - Love and Executions
    1. Notes on The Cuban Revolution
    2. Notes on Che Guevara
    3. Lecture: Love and Guns, Che Guevara
    4. Love and Guns (Che Guevara) Exercises
    5. Readings and Resources
    6. Che Guevara Basic Definitions of Main Concepts
  11. Chapter Eight - Feminism is for Everybody
    1. Notes on bell hooks
    2. Lecture: Feminism is for Everybody, bell hooks
    3. Trayvon Martin news video
    4. bell hooks Exercises
    5. bell hooks Takeaway
    6. Readings and Resources
  12. Chapter Nine - Cultures, Queerness, and Ethnicity
    1. Notes on Gloria Anzaldúa
    2. Lecture: Cultures, Queerness, and Ethnicity, Gloria Anzaldúa
    3. La Conciencia de la Mestiza Exercises
    4. Gloria Anzaldua Takeaways
    5. Readings and Resources
  13. Chapter Ten - Postmodern, Postcolonial Revolution
    1. Notes on the Zapatistas
    2. Lecture: Postmodern, Postcolonial Revolution, The Zapatistas
    3. The Zapatistas Exercise
    4. Zapatistas Takeaways
    5. Readings and Resources
  14. Chapter Eleven: Final Exercises
    1. Final Exercise #1: "The diverse"
    2. Final Exercise #2: "Somos Una Gente: Sisterhood and Brotherhood"
    3. Final Exercise #3: Contrasting Power Structures
    4. Final Exercise #4: "Symbolism: Communicating Outside the Box"
    5. Final Exercise #5: "Marxism, Feminism, and Black Liberation"
    6. Final Exercise #6: "Creating and Becoming"
    7. Final Exercise #7: "Feminisms"
    8. Final Exercise #8: "Born in Chains: 'Freedom' in Liberalism and Marxism"
    9. Final Exercise #9: "Changing the History of Change"
    10. Final Exercise #10: "Future Feminisms"
    11. Final Exercise #11: "Self-Defense, Automony, and Revolution"
  15. Angela Davis Notes

Notes on Che Guevara

Ernesto “Che” Guevara 1928-1967

Che Guevara sitting amongst people barely visible wearing iconic green military suit and beret, looking directly into camera.
Che Guevara in his trademark olive-green military fatigues, June 2, 1959 Cuba. Author Unknown.

Early Life

  • Born to an upper-middle class family of leftist leanings
  • Had Asthma, but played rugby still. Attended medical school
  • “Che” is fairly intellectual for a Latino (CIA report)
  • In 1948, traveled Latin America in a motorcycle, further radicalized by what he sees
  • Returns home and gets his Medical Doctor degree
  • Arrives in Mexico in 1954, after resisting CIA-organized bloody coup against democratically elected Guatemalan President Arbenz

The Cuban Period

  • Meets Raúl and Fidel Castro in 1955 in Mexico
  • Joins the Granma expedition in 1956

Sierra Maestra

  • Guevara, initially admitted because of his medical skills, soon becomes Commander of an insurgent column
  • Beloved commander, he was also a ruthless executioner of informants, rapists, deserters and other who put the insurgency at risk
  • Took the town of Santa Clara with numbers against him 10 to 1
  • First Commander to enter Havana January 1959

Cuba and Beyond

  • Serves under different capacities in the revolutionary government, including Minister of Finances
  • Increasingly disillusioned with USSR, leaves Cuba in 1965 to help with Congo’s insurrection. Inspired his writing, Create Two, Three, Many Vietnams (link in “Additional Reading and Writing section at end of Chapter)
  • Arrives in La Paz, Bolivia in 1966
  • Sets up a guerrilla in a bad location, following disagreements with Bolivian CP
  • In 1967, Bolivian army execute Guevara at La Higuera (CIA and CP involvement)

Legacy 

  • “New Man”
  • Guerrilla tactics
  • Critique of Soviet Union
  • Proletarian Internationalism
  • World Revolution (Create Two, Three, Many Vietnams)

Main Concepts

  • Alienation
  • Surplus value
  • Bourgeois Art as escape
  • Vanguardism and Masses
  • Egalitarianism
  • Self-sacrifice

Media Attributions

  • Che Guevara in his trademark olive-green military fatigues, June 2, 1959 Cuba. © Unknown is licensed under a Public Domain license

Annotate

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Lecture: Love and Guns, Che Guevara
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Copyright © 2020 by Graciela Monteagudo. Radical Social Theory: An Appraisal, A Critique, and an Overcoming by Graciela Monteagudo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
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