The New Latin American Left: Cracks In The Empire (Critical Currents In Latin American Perspective Series)

Jeffery R. Webber is lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London. Barry Carr is professor, Institute of Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, and visiting professor of Latin American history, University of California, Berkeley.

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 Chavez'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 Hector 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