Commentary Social Movements, Crises, and Mobilizations

Journal of Political Ideologies, 2016

The Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies, 2016

This series tackles one of the central issues of our time: the rise of large-scale social movements and the transformation of society over the last thirty years. As global capitalism continues to affect broader segments of the world's population-workers, peasants, the selfemployed, the unemployed, the poor, indigenous peoples, women, and minority ethnic groups-there is a growing mass movement by the affected populations to address the inequities engendered by the globalization process. These popular mass movements across the globe (such as labor, civil rights, women's, environmental, indigenous, and anti-corporate globalization movements) have come to form a viable and decisive force to address the consequences of the operations of the transnational corporations and the global capitalist system. The study of these social movements-their nature, social base, ideology, and strategy and tactics of mass struggle-is of paramount importance if we are to understand the nature of the forces that are struggling to bring about change in the global economy, polity, and social structure. This series aims to explore emerging movements and develop viable explanations for the kind of social transformations that are yet to come.

Latin American Perspectives, 2007

Sociology Compass, 2009

This essay outlines how research on Latin American social movements has evolved since the late 1980s. Emphasis is given to two topics. First, the essay examines how Latin American social movement research has historically been oriented toward social movement theories that emerged out of the study of European movements and, to a lesser extent, movements in the United States. At the same time, it discusses how the unique historical and contextual factors of Latin American societies have repeatedly been found to defy adequate explanation by these theories. Second, the essay outlines five major themes that characterize the Latin American social movement literature: the dynamics of movements in relation to transitions to democracy, and to neo-liberal economic reforms, as well as transnational movement dynamics, indigenous movements, and women's movements.

2006

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the peasant movements in Latin America had been seeking for agrarian reform while the urban workers' movements gradually constituted themselves more clearly as wage-earners' movements. Such set of social movements that arose over the course of the first decades of the twentieth century, with projects of their own, was to have an opportunity to approach power in the 1930s and 1940s with the constitution of popular and populist governments. Since the Cold War, anti-imperialism social movements have been giving motivation to the national struggles in the continent under the domination of U.S. capitalism.

outside the region. In effect, there is a bloc of neoliberal regimes arrayed against Chavez' anti-imperialist policies and mass social movements. To the extent that Chavez remains true to his independent foreign policy, his principal allies are the mass social movements and Cuba. Myth 5-The defeat of the referendum was a major tactical defeat of US imperialism and its local vassals. But a defeat of imperialism does not necessarily mean or lead to a revolutionary transformation, as post-Chavez post-election appeals to Washington and big business demonstrate. More indicative of Chavez' politics is the forthcoming $5 billion investment agreements with Texaco-Mobil and Exxon to exploit the Orinoco gas and oil fi elds. The euphoria of the left blinds them to the pendulum shifts in Chavez' discourse and the heterodox social welfare-neoliberal economic politics he has consistently practiced. President Chavez' policy has always been a careful balancing act between rejecting vassalage to the US and local oligarchic rentiers on the one hand, and trying to harness a coalition of foreign and national investors, and urban and rural poor, to a program of welfare capitalism on the other. He is closer to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal than to Fidel Castro's socialist revolution. In the aftermath of the three political crises-the failed civil-military coup, the debacle of the corporate executives' lock-out, and the defeat of the referendum-Chavez offered to dialogue and reach a consensus with the media barons, big business plutocrats, and the US government, on the basis of the existing property relations, media ownership, and expanded relations with Washington. Chavez' commitment to centrist-reformist policies explains why he did not prosecute owners of the mass media who had openly called for the violent overthrow of his government and also why he took no action against the association of the business leaders (FEDECAMARAS) who had incited military rebellion and violent attacks on the constitutional order. In Europe, North America, and Preface ix x Social Movements and State Power and $20 billion in new exploration and exploitation. No doubt these MNCs would have liked the coup to succeed in order to monopolize all Venezuelan oil revenue, but perceiving the failures of Washington they are content to share some of the oil wealth with the Chavez regime. The tactical divergences between Washington and Wall Street are likely to narrow as the Venezuelan government moves into the new conciliatory phase toward FEDECAMARAS and Washington. Given Washington's defeat in the referendum, and the big oil deals with key American multinationals, it is likely that Washington will seek a temporary 'truce' until new, more favorable circumstances emerge. It will be interesting to see how this possible 'truce' will affect Venezuela's critical foreign policy. Myth 7-The main thrust of the current phase of the Chavez revolution is a moral crusade against government corruption and a highly politicized judicial system tightly aligned with the discredited political opposition. For many on the left, the radical content of the 'No' vote campaign was rooted in the proliferation of communitybased mass organizations, the mobilization of trade union assemblies, and the decentralized democratic process of voter involvement based on promises of future consequential social changes in terms of jobs, income, and popular political power. Moralization campaigns (anti-corruption) are commonly associated with middle-class politics designed to create 'national unity' and usually weaken class solidarity. The left's belief that the mass organizations mobilized for the referendum will necessarily become a basis for a 'new popular democracy' has little basis in the recent past (similar mobilizations took place prior to the failed coup and during the corporate bosses' lock-out in mid-April 2002). 1 Nor do government-sponsored moralization campaigns attract much interest among the poor in Venezuela or elsewhere. Moreover, the focus of the Chavista political leaders is on the forthcoming elections for parliament, not in creating alternative sources of governance. The left's facile projection of popular mobilization in the post-referendum period creates a political mythology that fails to recognize the internal contradictions of the political process in Venezuela. CONCLUSION The massive popular victory of the 'No' vote in the Venezuelan referendum gave hope and inspiration to hundreds of millions in Latin America and elsewhere that US-backed oligarchies can be defeated at the ballot box. The fact that the favorable voting outcome was recognized by the Organization of American States (OAS), President Jimmy Carter, and Washington is a tribute to President Chavez' strategic changes in the military, guaranteeing the honoring of the constitutional outcome. At a deeper level of analysis, the conceptions and perceptions of the major antagonists among the right and the left, however, are open to criticism: the right for underestimating the political and institutional support for Chavez in the current conjuncture; the left for projecting an overly radical vision on the direction of politics in the post-referendum period. From a 'realist' position, we can conclude that the Chavez government will proceed with his 'New Deal' social welfare programs while deepening ties with major foreign and domestic investors. His ability to balance classes, leaning in one direction or the other, will depend on the continued fl ow of high returns from oil revenues. If oil prices drop, hard choices will have to be made-class choices. Preface xi 'pre-revolutionary situation'; they wrote of 'dual power' between the 'piqueteros', neighborhood assemblies, and the 'occupied factories' on the one hand, and the existing state apparatus, on the other. All of the divisions and agents of the state apparatus (the judiciary, the police, the armed forces) as well as the traditional parties, politicians, and Congress lost legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of Argentinians in the events leading up to and immediately after the uprising of December 2001. This chapter takes the events of December 19-21 as the basis of an analysis of subsequent developments in the relationship of the state to the popular movement. At the center of this relationship is Nestor Kirchner, a politician of the Justicialista Party, which was responsible for bringing Argentina to the brink, but who, as the latest occupant of the 'Pink House' (the executive branch of the government), has managed to restore a measure of economic and political order. The political dynamics of the Kirchner regime since December 2001 allow the authors to refl ect on the theoretical and

An overview of social movement strategies and tactics in Latin America over the past several decades.

2013

Social Sciences, 2024

In the wake of the advancements made in civil and human rights in the twentieth century, social movements have come to be regarded as a driving force behind social change. Nevertheless, evidence demonstrates that social transformations driven by certain citizen mobilisations do not always prove beneficial to the most marginalised groups. In January 2023, acts of vandalism were perpetrated against the buildings of public institutions in Brasilia. Similarly, anti-democratic mobilisations have been observed in Colombia against the peace agreement with the FARC and in Chile against the proposed more inclusive constitution. Globally, anti-democracy and other movements that are in opposition to human rights are gaining ground, and their effects are having a detrimental impact on the environment in which organisations that are advocating for excluded sectors are operating. However, Latin American perspectives of social and behaviour change (SBC) emphasise engagement with social movements to contribute to social justice, creating alliances to amplify the voices of those most affected without interfering with the organic nature of citizen-led movements. This prompts the following inquiries: Can we categorize as social movements those with popular roots but espousing hegemonic interests? How can the Latin American tradition of social movement action and reflection inform strategies for social change? How can SBC strategies counteract anti-human rights movements and empower social movements prone to inclusion? This essay addresses these questions.