Latin America's radical left
Subtitle: challenges and complexities of political power in the twenty-first century
By: edited by Steve Ellner
Series: Latin American perspectives in the classroom; Latin American perspectives in the classroom
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 291
ISBN-13: 9781442229488; 9781442229495
Subjects: Politics and government; New Left; Social conditions; Radicalism; Social movements; Power (Social sciences)
Description: "This timely book explores the unique challenges facing the left in Latin America today. The contributors offer clear and comprehensive assessments of the difficult conditions and conflicting forces that have brought to power the current leftist regimes in Latin American and the Caribbean and are shaping their development. Avoiding the widely accepted but simplistic dichotomy of "good" and "bad" left or democratic and antidemocratic left, the book first sets the theoretical and historical context for understanding the rise of the left in the region. It then provides case studies of the radical left in power in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador and its influence in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Cuba. Thematic chapters consider social and labor movements and debates over problems arising from the democratic transition to socialism. The book points to concrete circumstances in which theoretical issues related to reform and change have played out in nations where the left is in power. These include prioritization of social over economic objectives, the role of the state in the democratic road to socialism, and ecological as opposed to developmentalist strategies. Finally, the book examines the opposition to radical governments in power coming not only from the right but also from movements to their left. With its balanced and thorough assessment, this study will provide readers with a deep and nuanced understanding of the complexity of the political, economic, and sociocultural reality of contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean." -- Publisher's description
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Complexities of the twenty-first century radical Left in power / Steve Ellner; title: Part I. Theoretical, historical and international background; title: The radical Left's turbulent transitions : an overview / Roger Burbach; title: Brief hypotheses on the state, democracy and revolution in Latin America today / Diana Raby; title: Institutional conflict and the Bolivarian Revolution : Venezuela's negotiation of the free trade area of the Americas / Marcel Nelson; title: Part II. The twenty-first century radical Left in power in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador; title: Social and political diversity and the democratic road to change in Venezuela / Steve Ellner; title: "Bad Left government" versus "good Left social movements" : creative tensions within Bolivia's process of change / Federico Fuentes; title: Rafael Correa and social movements in Ecuador / Marc Becker; title: Part III. Influences of the twenty-first century radical Left in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba; title: Social and political diversity and the democratic road to change in Venezuela / Héctor Perla and Héctor Cruz-Feliciano; title: Cuba's new socialism : different visions shaping current changes / Camila Piñeiro; title: Part IV. Economy, society and media; title: The political economy of social production companies in Venezuela / Thomas Purcell; title: Constituent moments, constitutional processes : social movements and the new Latin American Left / George Ciccariello-Mahera; title: The good, the bad, and the benevolent interventionist : U.S press and intellectual distortions of the Latin American Left / Kevin Young; title: Concluding observations: The twenty-first century radical Left and the Latin American road to change / Steve Ellner.