Oliver Dinius
Croft Associate Professor of History
Phone Number: (662)915-3791
Email: dinius@olemiss.edu
http://history.olemiss.edu/2011/11/18/oliver-dinius-croft-associate-professor-of-history-and-international-studies/

Key Words: 20th century Brazil; economic development; inequality; Amazon region

Research Description: Oliver Dinius is Croft Associate Professor of History and International Studies with a specialization in modern Latin America. A native of Germany, he received the equivalent of a B.A. from the Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg before moving to the United States to pursue doctoral work in Latin American history. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2004 and joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi the same year. Dr. Dinius’s research focuses on the history of social and economic development, above all in 20th-century Brazil. Stanford University Press recently published his first book, Brazil`s Steel City: Developmentalism, Strategic Power, and Industrial Relations in Volta Redonda, 1941-1964, a history of the country’s foremost state-owned enterprise, the Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional. He is also the co-editor of Company Towns in the Americas: Landscape, Power, and Working-Class Communities (University of Georgia Press, 2011). Dinius is currently working on two projects under the umbrella theme of ‘development and inequality in postwar Brazil’: a history of regional development initiatives for the poverty-stricken Amazon region and a study of the impact of Brazil’s labor justice system on class relations. The underlying goal is to understand how regional and class inequalities shaped (and often undermined) the state’s ambitious social and economic development policies. Dinius also has a research interest in the history of the beer industry in the Americas. Dinius regularly teaches upper-level lecture classes on “State, Citizen, and Nation in Modern Latin America” (HIS 393) and “Latin America and the Cold War” (His 343), as well as graduate courses on Brazilian history and the comparative history of labor in Latin America. For the Croft Institute for International Studies, Dinius teaches the “Introduction to Latin America” (INST 207) as well as upper-division classes on contemporary Latin America, and he regularly advises senior theses.

Honors Theses:

Williams, Claire (2020) Why Families Flee: A Study Of Family Migration Patterns From the Northern Triangle of Central America (full text)

Abby, Bruce (2018) Racial Ideologies and Ethnoracial Social Inclusion Policy in Mexico and Peru (full text)

Mahoney, William (2017) Market Competition and Individual Security in the Chilean Pension System. (full text)

Cotelo, Maia (2016) Reinventing National Identity in a World of Globalized Soccer: The Case of the Uruguayan National Team. (full text)

Trabue, Kathryn Eileen (2013) "Reforming Education to Target Inequality: The Chilean Experience Since the 1980s"

Van Stekelenburg, Brianna Nicole (2013) "Mixed Record: Water Privatization in Latin America"

Alexander, Austin Bruce (2011) Disputed Sovereignty in the South Atlantic: A History of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and the Evolution of the Argentine and British Claims

Johnson, Rachel Bovard (2011) "The 'False Positives' Scandal: Extrajudicial Killings and the Militarization of Domestic Security in Colombia"

Reid, Colin Bruce (2010) "Argentina's Dynamic Duo: The Agricultural Policies of Presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández."

Boozer, Amanda Christine (2009) "Sex Trafficking and the State in Argentina: Theoretical Perspectives, Government Policies and a Proposal for a Comprehensive Approach"

Norris, Joshua Lee (2009) "The Perils of Privatizing Water: The Case of Buenos Aires in Comparative Perspective"

Usher, Kelly Ann (2009) "Capturing the Banner of Batlissmo: The Frente Amplio and the End of Uruguay's Two-Party System"

Cerdeira, Marcos de Moraes (2008) "Left against Left in Brazil: Party Rivalry, National Politics, and Ideological Change"

Dogan, Patrick Hunter (2008) "Pink Wave or Red Threat?  Bolivia's and Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Policies in Perspective"

Koger, Thomas Joseph (2008) "Finding Space for Autonomy: Chiapas, the EZLN, and the Dynamics of the Indigenous Communities"

Macias, Livia Christina (2008) "Sustainable Development in the Atacama Desert? Community and the Copper Mining Industry in Northern Chile"

Norris, Joshua Lee (2008) "The Perils of Privatizing Water: The Case of Buenos Aires in Comparative Perspective"

Quilter, Benjamin Isaac (2007) "El 'Crash': An Examination of the Political Economy of Argentina's 2001 Currency Crisis"

Wheat, Steven Montgomery (2007) "The Revenge of the Past: Ethnic Nationalism, Soviet Nationalities Policies, and the Collapse of the USSR"

Bryant, Jessica Marie (2007) "Elusive Peace: A Comparative Analysis of Civil Wars and Conflict Resolution in El Salvador and Columbia"