Tuesday, March 19, 2024

1. Introduction: living life on their own terms

Abstract

Since the fall of the Cold War dictatorships, social movements have thrived in Latin America and have been some of the most important and effective agents of change.

However, with the recent end of the ‘pink tide’ – a wave of more or less socially progressive governments that held power across the region from the late 1990s – these movements now face tougher conditions and an uncertain future. Five experts assess the current regional panorama and the role of social movements within it.

Index

News related to this chapter

Chile: why was the new constitution rejected?

0
Why did such a large majority of Chileans (62%) reject the new draft constitution in the plebiscite on 4 September? Emily Gregg analyses the salient reasons and asks, if not like this, then how is change to be effected?
Stepping Softly on the Earth Marcos Colon

Stepping softly on the earth

0
A new film from Marcos Colón interviews indigenous leaders from across the Amazon whose thinking could transform our world as modern extraction and exploitation tip us further towards chaos and the destruction of the planet

Chile: long path towards a democratic constitution

0
Chile's constituent process, which, led by the consistent work of social movements, seeks to dismantle the first laboratory of neoliberal capitalism, offers lessons to the left in the UK and worldwide.

Fondo: the IMF’s recipe for disaster

0
Fondo, directed by Alejandro Bercovich, Argentina, 2019 The complete film can be viewed from this link. Alejandro Bercovich’s documentary-critique Fondo starts with what looks like a slick, modern and engaging advertisement. ‘Countries of the world working together for the good of all’, it declares. This, however, is not Alejandro Bercovich’s own work, but a commercial for the International Monetary Fund. Quickly, the colourful depictions of construction sites, modernist skyscrapers and smiling people in business outfits are replaced by footage of Argentine ex-president Mauricio Macri announcing in 2018 that Argentina will take yet another IMF loan. Argentina, as Bercovich’s film reminds its viewers,...

The world below grows in silence

0
This important article was originally published in Spanish in August 2019 (read the original here). Cristina Flores has translated it for LAB as a contribution to our ongoing project Voices of Latin America, represented by our book of that name, and the ongoing website which continues the work of the book. There is life and struggle beyond elections. In our countries (Argentina and Uruguay), from the media spotlight to the conversations between social movement activists, everyone is focused on the next elections, with the hope that, this time, there will be change. Although we know that these changes do...

Videos

Lula and Alberto Fernández in discussion

0
The Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires organized a virtual dialogue 'Thinking about Latin America After the Pandemic' on Friday...

Lula speaks from prison

0
In a subtitled interview, above, the political prisoner Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks of strategic errors made by the PT, BRICS, and...

The greatest danger you confront is pessimism

0
Interview with British marxist geographer David Harvey in which he addresses Brazil's current problems. "You went through far worse things," he says,...

Brazil’s Bolsa Familia

0
Discover the experiences across ten years of two different families in the North East of Brazil who received Bolsa Família. They took opposite paths...

Maristella Svampa: recent political and social changes in Latin America

0
The distinguished Argentine sociologist and researcher visits the Universidad del Cuyo to speak about political and social changes taking place in Latin America today. Video:...

About the author

Tom Gatehouse is a writer and translator who has lived in Argentina, Spain and Brazil. He holds an MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge.

He has written for LAB and Red Pepper and his translations have appeared in Folha de S. Paulo, Agência Pública and Tales and Trails Lisbon, a recent collection of short stories and other writings. He lives in London.

Interviewees

Eliane Brum (journalist, writer, and documentary film-maker): interviewed via email on 1 May 2018 by Sue Branford. Translated by Hugo Moss.

Marcos Orellana (Human Rights Watch): interviewed in Washington DC on 22 December 2017 by James Thackara. Transcribed by Tom Gatehouse.

Maristella Svampa (sociologist): interviewed in London on 25 April 2018 by Tom Gatehouse. Translated by Theo Bradford.

René Orellana (politician and academic): interviewed in La Paz on 5 December 2016 by Tom Gatehouse. Translated by Matty Rose.

Raúl Sohr (journalist and sociologist): interviewed in Santiago de Chile on 22 November 2016 by Tom Gatehouse. Translated by Matty Rose.

References

NB: All web references were checked and still available in May/June 2018 unless otherwise stated.

Encarnación, O. (2018) ‘The rise and fall of the Latin American left’, The Nation, 9 May

Toro, F. (2017) ‘As socialist Venezuela collapses, socialist Bolivia thrives’, Washington Post, 5 January

World Bank (2017) ‘Higher education expanding in Latin America and the Caribbean, but falling short of potential

Further reading

Eliane Brum

Marcos Orellana

René Orellana

Raúl Sohr

Maristella Svampa

General