Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item FROM MÚSICA DE CARRILERA TO CORRIDOS PROHIBIDOS AND NORTEÑA: MOBILITY, MEANING, WAR, AND THE RECONTEXTUALIZATION OF MEXICAN MUSICAL STYLES IN COLOMBIA(2017) Vergara, Patricia; Rios, Fernando; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation analyses the adoption and multiple layers of recontextualization of Mexican musical styles in Colombia since the 1930s, particularly música norteña and corridos, story-songs that narrate current events perceived by listeners to be “the pure truth” about the Colombian conflict involving insurgent guerrillas, paramilitary squads, military officials, and drug traffickers that plagued the country for nearly six decades. The dissertation analyses the processes of music production, circulation, and reception that enabled the rise of a Colombian genre family of Mexican-inspired musical practices that thrives today, in spite of being dismissed by the Colombian culture industries for their supposed lack of artistic value and authenticity. Through a historic and spatial perspective this study examines long-standing rhetorics of class and race difference in Colombia, from the nineteenth-century elite’s conceptions of nation, modernity, and civilization to the project of multiculturalism that currently undergirds Colombia’s peace and nation building efforts. It highlights how these enduring discourses have been implicated in the disenfranchisement of both the participants and the musical practices that are the subject of this study. A boom in the production of corridos in Colombia coincided with the intensification of the conflict throughout the 1990s. Named “corridos prohibidos” (forbidden corridos), the production and distribution of these compositions has since relied on the informal economy, since they continue to be shunned by Colombian mass media channels. The political economy of corridos prohibidos thus provides an apt case study of how contemporary musicians and audiences have forged relationships with musical piracy that they view as a beneficial partnership, differing drastically from the attitudes of the traditional recording music industry and its professionals. This dissertation presents the current practices of corridos prohibidos and Colombian música norteña as vibrant spheres of cultural production from which participants derive a range of meanings and ways to mediate their lived experiences of violence and disenfranchisement, as well as pleasure and respite.Item THE ASSOCIATION OF VIOLENCE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN'S PHYSICAL HEALTH IN COLOMBIA(2011) Pinzon-Rondon, Angela Maria; Hofferth, Sandra L; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The association of violence with the physical health of children under five years of age in Colombia is studied through the lens of three major theories: biological stress theory, family stress theory, and ecological theory. The analysis explores the association of harsh parental discipline and intimate partner violence with child health, as well as the association of community violence with child health, parental discipline, intimate partner violence, and the relations among them. Secondary data from the Colombian Demographic and Health Survey 2005 and the Colombian National Census 2005 were analyzed. A total of 10,681 children under five years of age from 230 municipalities were included in the analyses. Analyses were conducted at the family and community levels. In the family level models, parental harsh discipline and intimate partner violence were associated with poor child health. Families who used harsh discipline had children with approximately 8% more symptoms of poor health than those who didn't use such punitive practices and families who experienced intimate partner violence had children with approximately 20% more symptoms than those who did not experience such violence. In the multilevel models, community violence and intimate partner violence predicted poor child health while parental harsh discipline failed to predict it. Children living in violent communities had 16% more symptoms of poor health than those living in nonviolent communities, and children from families that experienced intimate partner violence had on average 18% more symptoms of poor health than those living in families without intimate partner violence. Despite the study limitations, mainly its cross-sectional nature and restraints imposed by secondary data, the results indicate that violence is related to young Colombian children's poor physical health. These findings suggest the need to continue studying the effects of violence on health outcomes in different populations, as well as to provide support for efforts to promote violence prevention programs in Colombia.Item A Beautiful Class, An Irresistible Democracy: The Historical Formation of the Middle Class in Bogota, 1955-1965(2008-08-04) Lopez, Abel Ricardo; Weinstein, Barbara; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)"A Beautiful Class, an Irresistible Democracy" historicizes the (transnational) formation of the middle class in Bogotá, Colombia from the 1950s through the 1960s. Specifically, the dissertation asks how certain historical actors--architects, dentists, social workers, agronomists, rural specialists and accountants--not only cultivated a sense of self-understanding as middle class but also campaigned for the materialization of a democratic project of hierarchical rule as middle class. Furthermore, it interrogates how this complex project was critically constructed within a context of U.S. imperial expansion, the advance of international development agencies and foundations, as well as the growth of the Colombia state during the consolidation of the political coalition known as the National Front.Item DARING TO THINK IS BEGINNING TO FIGHT: THE HISTORY OF MAGAZINE ALTERNATIVA—COLOMBIA, 1974-1980(2007-06-12) Agudelo, Carlos G.; Beasley, Maurine; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This case study of alternative, radical journalism in Latin America during the 1970s, seeks to clarify and define the characteristics and limits of this model in concrete, specific historical circumstances. It traces the history of Alternativa, a leftist magazine published between February 1974 and 1980 in Bogotá, Colombia when three groups of people from different backgrounds devised a journalistic alternative model based on four objectives (counter-informing; investigation, analysis and interpretation; divulging the people's struggles; and propitiating the unity of the left), to effect a lasting change in Colombia's society. The founders' common Marxist background determined the magazine's content and its approach. Initially, they declared themselves independent and neutral toward the left's groups and decided to reach a wide audience through mass circulation. The narrative shows how inner tensions resulting from principled differences among the magazine's creators and from political circumstances led to two crises that tested its founding principles and determined its journalistic evolution. It also shows the struggle of the magazine to survive in a hostile climate, against a notoriously reckless and corrupt regime, testing the limits of the freedom of the press. In the first phase, the narrative reviews the history of the country as seen through the eyes of the publication, which contested the official version in the mainstream news media. In the second phase, the investigation highlights paramount issues such as human rights violations, corruption and the role of the press, through the magazine's critical coverage of Colombia's armed forces and police. In the third phase, the dissertation explores the magazine's complex relationship with the left, which eventually led to its demise. As author of this dissertation, I was witness to the events covered by Alternativa, and was part of the staff of writers in the magazine's third and last stage, with an inside view of a journalistic phenomenon crucial to understanding Colombia's present troubles.Item Reinsert Life Stories: A Description of the Colombian Ex-Guerrillas´Life-Course From a Sociological Perspective(2005-06-03) Florez-Morris, Mauricio; Milkie, Melissa; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation describes the life histories of 42 former left-wing Colombian guerrilla members of the M-19, ELP, and CRS. These reinserts' life course experiences are investigated using a descriptive, life course approach and a qualitative methodology. These life courses are studied in the form of personal life course trajectories that are influenced by the individual (or his or her human agency) and by social circumstances (linked lives, locations in time and place, and timing of lives). Three stages in the reinserts' life course involving the key transitions into and out of the movement are investigated. The first stage, acquiring a rebel identity, involves leaving civilian life and joining a guerrilla movement. Becoming a member of the insurgency is the first turning point in the reinserts' life course. The study identifies seven factors that influence the subjects' decision to enter these groups: (1) family, (2) peers, (3) conflict escalation, (4) generational imprint, (5) biographical availability, (6) individual ideology, and (7) desire to improve economic and social status in the community. The second stage consists of reinserts' adoption and maintenance of their guerrilla identity. Four factors that influenced subjects' staying in the group were: (1) heavy dependence on the group, (2) shared values, (3) clandestine behaviors, and (4) the influence of the group on the subjects' self-identity. The third stage occurs when the subjects undergo the transformation from guerrilla to reinsert status. This involves first leaving the guerrilla movement and then abandoning the political party, AD-M19. This third stage involves a second turning point in the reinserts' life course where first military and then political activities are abandoned. Factors that influenced the subjects' decision to abandon political activities were: (1) the individual's perception that he or she did not matter to the group, (2) an increase in social obligations due to new roles in civilian society, (3) the stigma associated with being a reinsert, (4) political violence against reinserts, and (5) the stripping away of representative functions which had been carried out by the political party.Item MUSIC ON THE EDGE: An Addition to the Music Conservatory of Tolima, Colombia(2005-05-20) Benavides, Juan Gabriel; Schumacher, Thomas L; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Conservatory is a historically significant cultural institution that gives the region of Tolima cultural identity and pride. The current physical setting of the school does not coincide with the stature of this organization. Located on a site near the cliff of the downtown district of Ibagué, the capital of Tolima, the Conservatory has potential for a great view of adjacent topography. The site with my proposed development offers the following issues for consideration: the relationship of Ibagué's urban fabric to areas with steep topography and the architectural expression of an institution of lofty aspirations. While creating a new edge, and providing the city with places to enjoy the view, the addition will complement existing buildings with installations well suited for the teaching of music, primary and secondary schools. Both Urban and architectural scales of design critically assess current development that is dilapidating Ibagué's urban quality.