Social Movements and Leftist Governments in Latin America: Confrontation or Co-Optation?

In recent years, the simultaneous development of prominent social movements and the election of left and centre-left governments has radically altered the political landscape in Latin America. These social movements have ranged from the community based ’piqueteros’ of Argentina that brought down three governments in the space of a month in 2001 to the indigenous movements in Ecuador and Bolivia that were instrumental in toppling five governments in the last decade. And in the cases of Venezuela and Brazil, social movements helped to provide the political base from which leftist leaders like Hugo Chávez and Lula were swept into power by election.

This wide-ranging volume moves beyond simple discussion of these social movements to address an issue that is crucial for politics in the region today but has yet to be properly analysed - specifically, what is the position of the social movements after progressive governments take power. Are they co-opted in support of government policies or do they remain at arm’s length as continuing opponents? How many of the movement’s demands are actually met and what happens when the government almost inevitably disappoints its supporters in such movements?

This unique and important work explores these questions, shedding new light on how these social movements continue to operate in Latin America.

Carlos Oliva Campos teaches philosophy and history at The University of Havana. He formerly worked as a researcher at the Center for Study of the Americas and the Center for Study of the United States. For many years he served as executive director of the Association for the Unity of Our America, an NGO based in Havana. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Texas and John Hopkins University. He is the author, co-author, and editor of numerous books including ＂The Bush Doctrine and Latin America and Panamericanism and Neo PanAmericanism: The View from Latin America＂ (with Gary Prevost); L＂a Situacion Actual en Cuba: Desafios y Alternativas, and Relaciones Internacionales en America Central y el Caribe Durante Los Anos 80.＂

Gary Prevost is Professor in the Department of Political Science, St. John’s University/College of Saint Benedict, Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota and has published widely on Latin America and Spain. His books include ＂Politics of Latin America - The Power Game and Democracy and Socialism in Sandinista Nicaragua,＂ coauthored with Harry E. Vanden; ＂The 1990 Nicaraguan Elections and Their Aftermath,＂ coedited with Vanessa Castro; ＂The Undermining of the Sandinista Revolution,＂ coedited with Harry E. Vanden; ＂Cuba: A Different America,＂ coedited with Wilber Chaffee; ＂The Bush Doctrine and Latin America,＂ coedited with Carlos Oliva Campos; ＂Revolutionaries to Politicians,＂ coedited with David Close and Kalatowie Deonandan; and ＂United States-Cuban Relations - A Critical History,＂ coauthored with Esteban Morales, in addition to numerous articles and book chapters on Nicaragua and Spanish politics. His research on Latin America has been supported by a number of grants, including a Fulbright Central American Republics Award.

Harry E. Vanden is Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the New School for Social Research and also holds a graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. He has lived in several Latin American countries, including Peru, where he was a Fulbright Scholar and later worked in the Peruvian government’s National Institute of Public Administration, and in Brazil, where he held a second Fulbright and taught at the State University of Sao Paulo. His scholarly publications include numerous articles and book chapters and the following books: ＂Mariategui, Influencias; National Marxism in Latin America; A Bibliography of Latin American Marxism; Democracy and Socialism in Sandinista Nicaragua, ＂ coauthored with Gary Prevost; ＂The Undermining of the Sandinista Revolution,＂ coedited with Gary Prevost; ＂Inter-American Relations in an Era of Globalization. Beyond Unilaterialism?＂ edited with Jorge Nef; and ＂Latin American Social Movements in the Twenty-First Century,＂ edited with Richard Stahler-Sholk and Glen Kuecker.