The Political Psychology of Social Unrest in Latin America

The Political Psychology of Social Unrest in Latin America is a unique collection of research and writings by Latin American scholars. It explores the social, psychological, and political factors of the recent turmoil in Latin American countries.

From the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela, the impeachment demonstrations in Brazil, student movements in Chile, and massive demonstrations in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, this edited volume analyses the underlying similarities and differences between these events through the lens of diverse research traditions, methods, and researchers. The book examines both actual inequalities and disadvantages as well as the role of perceptions of inequality and injustice. The authors also investigate the role of micro-processes, such as cultural consumption in the family, and the role of social psychological processes in historical Latin American unrest. By utilising leading approaches in social and political psychology and testing these approaches in the context of a very diverse and dynamic non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) societies, the authors bring the communities and civilizations less studied by Western social psychologists to the international audience.

Focusing on how social and political processes unfold in different countries and providing insights into the psychological underpinnings of social unrest from a variety of perspectives, this is an essential reading for students and researchers of psychology, social, political, peace and cross-cultural psychology as well as political science and sociology.

Hüseyin Çakal is Assistant Professor in Social Psychology at Keele University, UK, where he runs the Intergroup Relations and Political Psychology (Inter-Pol) Lab.

David Sirlopú is Associate Professor at Universidad San Sebastián, Concepción, Chile. His academic interests are intergroup relations, acculturation, respect and tolerance, and subjective well-being.

Vanessa Smith-Castro earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany). She is full professor at the Institute for Psychological Research of the University of Costa Rica.