The New Latin American Left

Cracks in the Empire

Edited by Jeffery R. Webber, Barry Carr

Publication date:

04 October 2012

Length of book:

402 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780742557581

This provocative, multidisciplinary work explores the dramatic resurgence of the Left in Latin America since the late 1990s. Offering a comprehensive account of the complexities and nuances of the shifting political tides in the region, the book provides both a theoretical framework for assessing the state of the Left and a set of cases highlighting key movements, successes, and failures. Its theoretical scope covers socialist strategy, working-class formation, peasant social movements, the role of women in popular politics, and the response of outside powers. These themes provide the foundation for rich country studies of the new Left in Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Too often, the book argues, the rise of the new Left has been the subject of caricature, either through conservative defamation or populist romanticism. Working from a range of critical perspectives, the contributors consider the Left’s hopes, aims, and prospects, as well as its contradictions and fissures. As the first book to systematically consider the contemporary relevance of the Left, it will be central to any understanding of Latin American politics and society today.

Contributions by: Ricardo Antunes, Marc Becker, Jared Bibler, Barry Carr, Emilia Castorina, Todd Gordon, Sujatha Fernandes, Claudio Katz, Fernando Leiva, Marco Mojica, Héctor Perla Jr., Richard Roman, Susan Spronk, Edur Velasco Arregui, Henry Veltmeyer, Leandro Vergara-Camus, Jeffery R. Webber, and Gregory Wilpert.

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Latin American Left in Theory and Practice
Jeffery R. Webber and Barry Carr
Part I: Theoretical Issues
Chapter 2: Socialist Strategies in Latin America
Claudio Katz
Chapter 3: The Latin American Left in the Face of the New Imperialism
Henry Veltmeyer
Chapter 4: Neoliberal Class Formation(s): The Informal Proletariat and “New” Workers’ Organizations in Latin America
Susan Spronk
Chapter 5: Revolution in Times of Neoliberal Hegemony: The Political Strategy of the MST in Brazil and the EZLN in Mexico
Leandro Vergara-Camus
Chapter 6: Barrio Women and Popular Politics in Chávez’s Venezuela
Sujatha Fernandes
Part II: Case Studies of the New Latin American Left
Chapter 7: From Left-Indigenous Insurrection to Reconstituted Neoliberalism in Bolivia: Political Economy, Indigenous Liberation, and Class Struggle, 2000–2011
Jeffery R. Webber
Chapter 8: Venezuela: An Electoral Road to Twenty-First-Century Socialism?
Gregory Wilpert
Chapter 9: Ecuador: Indigenous Struggles and the Ambiguities of Electoral Power
Marc Becker
Chapter 10: Crisis and Recomposition in Argentina
Emilia Castorina
Chapter 11: Trade Unions, Social Conflict, and the Political Left in Present-Day Brazil: Between Breach and Compromise
Ricardo Antunes
Chapter 12: Neoliberal Authoritarianism, the “Democratic Transition,” and the Mexican Left
Richard Roman and Edur Velasco Arregui
Chapter 13: The Chilean Left after 1990: An Izquierda Permitida Championing Transnational Capital, A Historical Left Ensnared in the Past, and a New Radical Left in Gestation
Fernando Leiva
Chapter 14: From Guerrillas to Government: The Continued Relevance of the Central American Left
Héctor Perla Jr., Marco Mojica, and Jared Bibler
Chapter 15: The Overthrow of a Moderate and the Birth of a Radicalizing Resistance: The Coup against Manuel Zelaya and the History of Imperialism and Popular Struggle in Honduras
Todd Gordon and Jeffery R. Webber

This volume provides a valuable focus on intraleft dynamics—the ever-shifting relations between party leaders and their allies in civil society. As a whole, the essays provide informed and in-depth analysis of such dynamics. . . .Overall, the book’s focus, critical stance, and extensive coverage make it a good candidate for classroom adoption. For instructors seeking to make contemporary Latin American politics come to life, the ground-level perspective of these essays provides a good start.