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- Convenor:
-
Juan Pablo Ferrero
(University of Bath )
- Location:
- Malet 630
- Start time:
- 3 April, 2014 at
Time zone: Europe/London
- Session slots:
- 2
Short Abstract:
We welcome papers that engage with notions such as populism, democracy, social movements and post-liberalism in relation to a) the structuration of new political formations and b) the changing nature of the notion of the community underpinning the current dominant state-discourse.
Long Abstract:
Over the past ten years, arguably as a reaction to the effects of the implementation of neoliberal policies in the region, Latin America has been experiencing a 'left turn' signalled by the return of the state in key regulatory functions. The regional picture is by no means homogeneous and includes various exceptions, however, there is consensus among scholar to characterise these developments as something embedded in historical legacies but also as part of a new phenomenon that to an extent challenges old political practices, creates new publics and, in turn, transforms fundamental state-society relationships. In this process, the notion of the community underlying the dominant state discourse has been transformed encompassing broader shifts present in the transition to a post-liberal state. In this panel we welcome papers that conceptually engage with notions such as populism, democracy, social movements, post-liberalism in relation to a) the structuration of new political formations and b) the changing nature of the notion of the community underpinning the current dominant state-discourse.
We have witnessed a renewed interest in the literature on populism vis-à-vis liberal democracies over the recent years. This shared theoretical interest; together with the configuration of a new socio-political context in the region that tends to defy traditional conceptualisations, represent an invitation to critically observe our own analytical tools. The careful consideration of the discursive displacements at stake in notions like community (or the people or the public sphere) will contribute significantly to better our understanding on the depth of recent socio-political transformations.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Aiko Ikemura Amaral ( )
Paper short abstract:
We analyze the process of politicization of indigenous identities since the 1990s in Bolivia and its part in the inflexion of the 2000s. We then highlight present contradictions of such concerning the reinforcement of representative democracy and of the state’s nationalist appeals.
Paper long abstract:
Among the social struggles that lead to the conformation of a Plurinational State in Bolivia, those of the indigenous peoples and their social movements are of distinguished importance. Their long-lasting endeavors, which became highly politicized during the 1990s, were fundamental in questioning the liberal-representative citizenship frame as well as the alleged homogeneity national identity. All over the country, they took the streets and highways demanding their rights for autonomy, territory and self-government. With the inflexion of the 2000s and the disintegration of the neoliberal democratic pact that had sustained the governments so far, the indigenous appeals seemed to be heard at last. The president, of indigenous descent and leader of the coca grower movement, convened a Constitutional Assembly that established the plurinationality of the State, communitarian democracy and also recognized the indigenous originary peasant nations as a constitutive subject of the Bolivian people. The present paper seeks to analyze the politicization of indigenous identities and their role in overthrowing the neoliberal governments in Bolivia. We then discuss how their struggles were recognized in the 2009 Constitution, as part of an effort to overcome the multiculturalist approach that hitherto dominated the scene. Finally, we intend to highlight the present contradictions of this process, in which the political empowerment of indigenous subjects has to face the reinforcement of representative democracy and of the state's nationalist appeals, while at the same time striving to consolidate their own forms of government and political plurality.
Ana Estefanía Carballo (University of Melbourne)
Paper short abstract:
Shaking off the roots of mainstream understandings of development, ideas of Sumak Kawsay (SK) or Buen Vivir give us a framework to challenge notions central to development. This paper uses the SK philosophy to question the understanding of community in the human development paradigm.
Paper long abstract:
The Latin American 'Left turn' has brought up a multitude of socio-political changes that have been perceived as a 'post-liberal project' (Arditi, 2009), a quest for an 'alternative modernity' (Escobar, 2010) and a project of de-colonial thinking, confronting the 'Colonial Matrix of Power' (Mignolo, 2011) by exposing a geopolitics of knowledge historically benefiting the West. Shaking off the roots of mainstream understandings of development and liberal democracy, the emergence of these socio-political projects gives us a framework to challenge notions central to these discourses. This paper takes this opportunity, thus, to question the understanding of community in the mainstream understanding of development, the Human Development paradigm (HD).
The indigenous movements of the Andes have put to the forefront a project of development that, this paper argues, poses particularly acute challenges to contemporary practices of development, as articulated in HD. The ideas of the Sumak Kawsay (SK) (and Buen Vivir), emerging from those movements, speak of an alternative vision of development, one that emphasizes the interdependence of individuals with their communities and the Earth. While in policy documents often ideas of SK have been linked to HD, this paper argues against the dominant interpretation that in fact, the ideas of SK expose the limitations of HD's understanding of development. In particular, they question its notion of community. By theoretically engaging HD discussions through Amartya Sen's capabilities approach, this paper offers the possibility to rethink the understanding of community and its centrality in the project of development.
Mara Sankey (University College London)
Paper short abstract:
This paper will examine the role of transnational civil society in democratic transition in Chile using the role of three US-based NGOs in the 1988 plebiscite as a case study.
Paper long abstract:
The 1988 plebiscite in Chile was a key step on the road to democratic transition. This paper will examine the role played by three US-based organisations in the plebiscite: the NED, the Washington Office on Latin America and Freedom House. Although the NED's activities in Chile have often been discussed, they have rarely been subjected to critical examination. Drawing on my archival research into its work - and the lesser studied activities of WOLA and Freedom House, I will compare the impact these organisations had, not only on the plebiscite and the process of transition, but also on official US policy towards Chile.
The three organisations engaged in diverse projects during this period: the NED channelled money to various sectors of Chilean political and civil society; WOLA lobbied and provided educational materials to Congress and other non-state actors in Washington; and Freedom House provided briefings to Congress and other foreign policy-makers. They were also operating from very different positions in relation to official policy-making: the NED acted virtually as an implementer of US foreign policy while the other two organisations were more marginalised, albeit in different contexts -- WOLA in the Washington foreign policy community and Freedom House in Chile. This paper will highlight how these varied positions affected the organisations' levels of understanding of the Chilean political situation and their capacity to work with local actors. Moreover, I hope to draw some wider conclusions about the role of transnational civil society in democratic transitions in Latin America.
Gianinna Munoz (University of Bristol)
Paper short abstract:
The approach to understand communities adopted by the Chilean state in the addressing of poverty and social exclusion. Some “community interventions“ are examined, reflecting on how these actions may contribute and hinder the exercise of citizenship and the consolidation of democracy.
Paper long abstract:
Social exclusion, as a multimensional, complex, dynamic and relative phenomenon is frequently experienced by communities living in poverty not only as the lack or denial of resources, rights, goods and services, but also as an unbalance in power relations and margination from the public sphere. Social exclusion, from this perspective, is understood as a way to make explicit the power relationships that are underpinning poverty and as a crucial factor impeding the exercise of citizenship and the consolidation of democracy.
In this vein, the question that guided this research was how these communities experiencing poverty in Chile take part in social interventions -the so called "community interventions", which are conducted by NGOs and funded by the Chilean State in order to reduce social exclusion. This presentation will discuss some of the perspectives that were found underlying these "community interventions" (neo-liberal/neo-conservative, progressive-communitarian and some elements from radical thought) and their operationalisation in practice (e.g. methods, techniques and activities undertaken by frontline professionals in community settings). Based on the research findings, some analyses of the idea of community within the current Chilean society, and the State social policy to address poverty and social exclusion focusing in communities will be developed. A reflection on how power can be redistributed in the Chilean society by promoting an anti-essentialist notion of citizenship in order to reduce the exclusion gaps will be also offered.
Juan Pablo Ferrero (University of Bath )
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores the contentious displacement of the notion of the community in Latin America through the analysis of socio-political imaginaries. The emergence of the Latin American imaginary informing the restructuration of the community grasps the complexity of the political in the region.
Paper long abstract:
The debates about the formation of the post-(neo)liberal moment in Latin America have tended to stress the shifts in governments ideological leaning and public policies over the more complex transformations in the socio-political discourse informing, in turn, transformation at the state level. The result is that post-neoliberalism is seen as a new moment of political totalisation and as such co-constituted along the structuration of a new fully-fledged political subject. Engaging with this debate, the aim of the paper is to explore the contentious displacement of the notion of the community in the region in general and in Argentina and Brazil in particular. The struggles over the redefinition of the contours of the community define, although contingently, the frontiers of the people which, in turn, construct the narrative permeating the dominant socio-political discourse. The analysis of the shifts in a) the social, b) the state, and c) political forms indicates a significant displacement from a liberal to a Latin American imaginary of the community over the past decade. The latter suggests that the new notion of community while expressing major political transformations it equally raises fundamental new challenges to the structuration of the political subject because it also transforms the external element which once functioned as the critical 'other': neoliberalism. The consequence is therefore the contingent formation of a new post(neo)liberal moment which instead of total is contingent and hence essentially precarious.
Taeheok Lee (The University of York)
Paper short abstract:
This study explores the nature of new regionalism, and asks to what extent Latin America’s status as a special case has been sufficiently investigated. This particularly applies in the realm of levels of public input in South America, specifically IIRSA under UNASUR.
Paper long abstract:
There exists a large body of research dedicated to exploring the concept of regionalism (including 'old' versus 'new' regionalism) and how this applies to Latin America. However, it does not provide the key to understanding why there still seem to be under-represented groups who are suffering injustice despite recent changes in the political landscape in Latin America, particularly in terms of regional levels of projects and policies. This study focuses on exploring the degree to which local actors' involvement in the procedure of regional projects, which is one of the characteristics of regionalism, is well studied and understood. Specifically, the research will explore in depth the regional projects and policies of the Initiative for Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) under the umbrella of the Union of South America (UNASUR). For explorative purposes, this study recently conducted at a local level, in which structural projects (i.e, the building of roads and bridges) are taking place. This study is centered upon a case study of several local areas in the state of Acre in Brazil, where one of ten region-wide projects, so called 'Axes' is actively progressive. The analytical perspective in this research case is contextualized according to two explanatory elements: (1) 'historically embedded societal structure' - in principle referring to society-based structure that has been shaped by history; and, (2) the impact of China's regional interest, particularly with respect to natural resources. Overall, this research intends to identify the nature of new regionalism in Latin America, and particularly in the South American region.