국기와 주권, 그리고 저항 -미국 제국주의의 경계 정치와 1964년 파나마 국기 폭동 -

초록

On January 9, 1964, thousands of Panamanian citizens clashed across the country over the issue of displaying the national flags of both nations and attempted to enter the Canal Zone. When U.S. troops began violently suppressing the demonstrators, the incident escalated into a bloody confrontation that left many casualties. Known as the Panama Flag Riots of 1964, this event was not merely a conflict over flag-raising. Rather, it represented the eruption of long-standing grievances and nationalist sentiment among Panamanians, and constituted a fundamental challenge to the U.S. regime of canal domination. Moreover, it was a critical sign that the imperial order of the United States during the Cold War was beginning to fracture in Latin America. This paper seeks to reinterpret the 1964 Panama Flag Riots by examining the Canal Zone as more than just an administrative district; it was the spatial embodiment of American imperialism and a laboratory in which racial hierarchies were institutionalized in everyday life. Central to this study are the following questions: How did the 1964 riots affect U.S. foreign policy and Cold War strategy? In what ways did the incident expose the imperial structures of U.S. rule, and what were the consequences? In pursuing these questions, the paper investigates how the United States seized and maintained control over the Canal Zone, and how Latin American nationalism during the Cold War resisted and challenged U.S. hegemony. To this end, the study first explores the history of the Canal Zone’s formation and the imperial structures of U.S. governance. It then examines the tensions between Latin American nationalism and U.S. policy during the Cold War. Finally, it analyzes the causes, course, and responses to the 1964 Flag Riots within the colonial space of the Canal Zone—where race, labor, and culture intersected—and highlights the diplomatic transformation between the two nations. In doing so, the paper demonstrates that the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone were not merely relics of America’s classical imperial past, but enduring historical traces that must continue to be remembered.

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