The New Latin American Left Utopia Reborn

by Barrett, Patrick; Chavez, Daniel; Rodriguez-Garavito, Cesar

ISBN13: 9780745326771

ISBN10: 0745326773

Format: Paperback

Pub. Date: 2008-10-20

Publisher(s): UCP

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Summary

This collection explores the ideologies and workings of Latin America's thriving progressive political parties and social movements. From those in power to those opposing power, experts survey the scene in Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Columbia and Uruguay. Commentators on Latin America believed the end of the Cold War would lead to a prolonged period of US-friendly neoliberal government in the region. In fact, the left has re-emerged as a serious political force, controlling Venezuela and Bolivia and developing a strong presence in many other countries. This book is a comprehensive study of the wide variety of leftist governments and movements in the region. This book is essential for students studying Latin American politics, political theory, social movements and international relations.

Author Biography

César Rodríguez-Garavito is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Law at the University of the Andes (Bogota, Colombia) and Fellow of the Institute for Legal Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Patrick Barrett is Administrative Director of the A. E. Havens Center for the Study of Social Structure and Social Change at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of several articles on Chilean and U.S. politics.
Daniel Chavez is a Uruguayan anthropologist specialising in Latin American politics, urban, social and political movements. Based in Amsterdam, he co-ordinates the New Politics Programme at TNI and has written and edited a number of books.

Acronyms and other terms	p. viii
Preface and acknowledgements	p. xv
Utopia reborn? Introduction to the study of the new Latin American left	p. 1
Significance and origins of the 'new' left	p. 5
Characteristics of the new Latin American left	p. 12
Between neo-liberalism and democracy	p. 17
The actors on the new left: movements, parties and governments	p. 31
Structure of the book	p. 37
Notes	p. 39
Brazil. Lula's government: a critical appraisal	p. 42
The rise of the PT to government	p. 43
Lula's economics	p. 48
Agrarian and social policies	p. 53
Brazil's insertion into the globalised economy	p. 58
The results of the 2006 elections and beyond	p. 62
Lula's government: a leftist government?	p. 64
Notes	p. 68
Venezuela. Populism and the left: alternatives to neo-liberalism	p. 69
The pact of Punto Fijo and the left	p. 69
The prolonged crisis of puntofijismo	p. 71
Populism and the left in the chavista project	p. 76
Representative democracy and participatory democracy	p. 79
Alternatives to neo-liberalism: the economic model	p. 83
The Venezuelan process in the regional and international context	p. 90
Electoral processes and the future of the Bolivarian revolution	p. 93
Notes	p. 97
Uruguay. The left in government: between continuity and change	p. 99
The unification and rise of the left	p. 100
The left in government: the experience of Montevideo	p. 104
From the electoral project to the political project	p. 110
Economic policy: the ongoing debate	p. 120
Reviving utopia?	p. 125
Notes	p. 127
Colombia. The new left: origins, trajectory and prospects	p. 129
Antecedents and factors behind the emergence of the new left	p. 131
Evolution and composition of the new left	p. 140
The proposals of the left	p. 148
Conclusion: the prospects of the new left	p. 154
Notes	p. 157
Argentina. The left, parties and movements: strategies and prospects	p. 158
A brief history of the Argentine left	p. 158
Society and politics during the crisis	p. 162
The political legacy of the crisis	p. 168
The political left, social movements and institutional reorganisation	p. 171
Possible strategies and future prospects	p. 178
Notes	p. 184
Mexico. Yearnings and utopias: the left in the third millennium	p. 186
Genealogy	p. 186
Cartographies	p. 198
Directions	p. 210
Bolivia. The left and the social movements	p. 215
A brief history of the Bolivian left in the twentieth century	p. 215
The contemporary left in Bolivia	p. 219
The proposals of the contemporary left	p. 224
The linkage of social movements and parties	p. 226
Conclusion: prospects and strategies of the new left	p. 227
Notes	p. 231
Promises and challenges. The Latin American left at the start of the twenty-first century	p. 232
Challenging la pensee unique	p. 232
The paradoxical crisis of neo-liberalism	p. 233
Why now?	p. 236
The curse of conservative 'possibilism'	p. 242
The difficult transition to post-neo-liberalism	p. 246
The left and democracy	p. 248
Historical challenges of the left at the beginning of the new century	p. 251
Depolarised pluralities. A left with a future	p. 255
The phantasmagorical relation between theory and practice	p. 255
The twenty-first century left	p. 259
Unproductive questions	p. 263
Productive questions	p. 266
Conclusion: a left with a future	p. 271
Bibliography	p. 273
Index	p. 289
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