Social Movements and Transformation – serie

The authors trace out the development of capitalism and U.S. imperialism in Latin America in the latest phase of this development, from the installation of the new world order of neoliberal globalization in the early 1980s to the present when U.S. imperialism is held at bay, neoliberalism is in decline, and capitalism is in crisis.

The authors trace out the development of capitalism and U.S. imperialism in Latin America in the latest phase of this development, from the installation of the new world order of neoliberal globalization in the early 1980s to the present when U.S. imperialism is held at bay, neoliberalism is in decline, and capitalism is in crisis.

In Challenging Neoliberalism at Turkey's Gezi Park, Gürcan and Peker explore the events of May 31, 2013, when what began as a localized demonstration against the demolition of Gezi Park, a public park in Istanbul turned into a nationwide protest cycle with an unprecedented form and scale never before seen in Turkey's history.

This project provides an in-depth study of the role of worker-activist leaders in industrial strikes in China, a country where labor rights face significant challenges from state and industry suppression and by current lack of formal organization.

The Politics of Agrarian Reform in Brazil examines the interrelationships among peasant mobilization, agrarian reform and cooperativism in contemporary Brazil. Specifically, it addresses the challenges facing peasant movements in their pursuit of political and economic democracy. The book takes as a point of reference the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the most dynamic force for progressive social change in Latin America today. Robles and Veltmeyer argue that the MST has effectively practiced the politics of land occupation and the politics of agricultural cooperativism to consolidate the food sovereignty model of agrarian reform. However, the rapid expansion of the corporate-led agribusiness model, which is supported by Brazil's political elite, has undermined the MST's efforts. The authors argue that despite intense peasant mobilization, agrarian reform remains an unfulfilled political promise in Brazil.

The authors trace out the development of capitalism and U.S. imperialism in Latin America in the latest phase of this development, from the installation of the new world order of neoliberal globalization in the early 1980s to the present when U.S. imperialism is held at bay, neoliberalism is in decline, and capitalism is in crisis.

In Challenging Neoliberalism at Turkey's Gezi Park, Gürcan and Peker explore the events of May 31, 2013, when what began as a localized demonstration against the demolition of Gezi Park, a public park in Istanbul turned into a nationwide protest cycle with an unprecedented form and scale never before seen in Turkey's history.

In an analysis of political, economic, and social development in Peru in the years between 1980 and 2016, this book explores the failure of the socialist Left to realize its project of revolutionary social transformation. Based on extensive interviews with leading cadres in the struggle for revolutionary change and a profound review of documents from the principal socialist organizations of the 1980s and 1990s, the volume reveals that the socialist Left did not fully comprehend the deep political and social implications of changes to the country’s class structures. As such, the Left failed to develop and implement adequate strategic and tactical responses to the processes that eroded its political and social bases in the 1980s and 1990s, ultimately leading to its loss of social and political power.  Lust concludes that the continued political and organizational agony of the Peruvian socialist Left and the hegemony of neoliberalism in society is a product of the dialectical interplay between the objective and subjective conditions that determine Peruvian capitalist development.

This book inquires into the global wave of student mobilizations that have arisen in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2008, accounting for their historical and sociological significance. More specifically, its eleven chapters explore the role of students as political actors: their ability to build effective organizations, to make political alliances with other actors, and to win public consensus, as well as their impact on cultural, political, and policy outcomes. To do so, the volume examines case studies in England, Chile, South Africa, Quebec, and Hong Kong, covering Europe, Africa, Asia, and North and Latin America. Grouped into two major sections, the collection covers the organizational structures of student movements and their alliances and outcomes. Ultimately, this volume examines the understudied political aspects of student unrest, exploring how student mobilizations—driven by indebtedness, precariousness, the corporatization of the university, and other issues—correspond to larger processes of change with wider implications in society.

This book inquires into the global wave of student mobilizations that have arisen in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2008, accounting for their historical and sociological significance. More specifically, its eleven chapters explore the role of students as political actors: their ability to build effective organizations, to make political alliances with other actors, and to win public consensus, as well as their impact on cultural, political, and policy outcomes. To do so, the volume examines case studies in England, Chile, South Africa, Quebec, and Hong Kong, covering Europe, Africa, Asia, and North and Latin America. Grouped into two major sections, the collection covers the organizational structures of student movements and their alliances and outcomes. Ultimately, this volume examines the understudied political aspects of student unrest, exploring how student mobilizations—driven by indebtedness, precariousness, the corporatization of the university, and other issues—correspond to larger processes of change with wider implications in society.

Paraguay is an under-examined, but remarkably fascinating country, where war, dictatorship, and elite capture have produced cycles of popular mobilization and repression. Yet, its social movements are less known to international audiences. This book analyzes Paraguay’s principal social movements since the transition to democracy and examines how, in the context of a weak state, authoritarian political elite, and a deficient democratization process, they contribute to progressive policy, socio-economic development, and democracy. Using critical perspectives in sociology, anthropology, geography, and political science, we bring together scholars, activists, and practitioners of social critique and community organizing. They reflect on movements involving peasant, indigenous and agrarian rights to land and livelihoods, LGBTQ and feminist struggles, labor union struggles, and student demands for access to quality education and social development, while exploring how the particularisms of Paraguay result in differences from other Latin American movements and how overarching regional tendencies may explain the similarities.This volume is the first English-language book on social movements in Paraguay. As such, it aims to provide a deeper understanding Paraguay’s principal social movements since the transition to democracy. This volume contributes to analyzing how social movements within the context of aweak state, authoritarian political elite, and a deficient democratization process contribute to progressive public policy, socio-economic development, and democracy. In addition, this book focuses on how Paraguayan social movements are similar to or different from their Latin American counterparts, how the particularism of Paraguay explains these variations and how overarching regional tendencies explain the similarities.The contribution of this volume is twofold: to provide new empirical examples in the study of Latin American social movements and theircontribution to development and democracy, as well as to validate or challenge social movement theories by employing empirical studies of Paraguayan social movements. Each chapter delves into the background to a specific movement, while closely analyzing the movement in the post-Lugo era (2012-2021). Together the chapters in this book contribute to a better understanding of social movements in Paraguay and Latin America thus dialoguing with the existing literature and social movement theories and considering how such studies can further our understanding of social movements in Paraguay and in Latin America in general. Finally, the study of different social movements within the Paraguayan context takes into consideration the links that each movement has forged with other such movements in Latin America, including the contributions that Paraguayan social movements have made to regional networks.

Paraguay is an under-examined, but remarkably fascinating country, where war, dictatorship, and elite capture have produced cycles of popular mobilization and repression. Yet, its social movements are less known to international audiences. This book analyzes Paraguay’s principal social movements since the transition to democracy and examines how, in the context of a weak state, authoritarian political elite, and a deficient democratization process, they contribute to progressive policy, socio-economic development, and democracy. Using critical perspectives in sociology, anthropology, geography, and political science, we bring together scholars, activists, and practitioners of social critique and community organizing. They reflect on movements involving peasant, indigenous and agrarian rights to land and livelihoods, LGBTQ and feminist struggles, labor union struggles, and student demands for access to quality education and social development, while exploring how the particularisms of Paraguay result in differences from other Latin American movements and how overarching regional tendencies may explain the similarities.This volume is the first English-language book on social movements in Paraguay. As such, it aims to provide a deeper understanding Paraguay’s principal social movements since the transition to democracy. This volume contributes to analyzing how social movements within the context of aweak state, authoritarian political elite, and a deficient democratization process contribute to progressive public policy, socio-economic development, and democracy. In addition, this book focuses on how Paraguayan social movements are similar to or different from their Latin American counterparts, how the particularism of Paraguay explains these variations and how overarching regional tendencies explain the similarities.The contribution of this volume is twofold: to provide new empirical examples in the study of Latin American social movements and theircontribution to development and democracy, as well as to validate or challenge social movement theories by employing empirical studies of Paraguayan social movements. Each chapter delves into the background to a specific movement, while closely analyzing the movement in the post-Lugo era (2012-2021). Together the chapters in this book contribute to a better understanding of social movements in Paraguay and Latin America thus dialoguing with the existing literature and social movement theories and considering how such studies can further our understanding of social movements in Paraguay and in Latin America in general. Finally, the study of different social movements within the Paraguayan context takes into consideration the links that each movement has forged with other such movements in Latin America, including the contributions that Paraguayan social movements have made to regional networks.

This book provides a critical analysis of the labor movement in the United States in the 20th and early 21st century. It explores ideological trends within the labor movement and its conflicts with capital and the state. It identifies class-collaborationism between the conservative labor bureaucracy and the capitalist class as the primary source of U.S. labor’s precariousness and fragility. It argues that the U.S. labor movement at its most radical and militant stage was an effective force for change against the power structure in the early 20th century. At the opposite end, it also argues that today’s institutionalized labor movement led by the AFL-CIO hinders labor’s historic struggle against capital and aids in the maintenance of the existing capitalist order. The book concludes by assessing the prospects for the future development of militant working-class activism and identifies essential components of an emerging radical labor movement that is capable of effectively challenging the capitalist system in the period ahead.

This book provides a critical analysis of the labor movement in the United States in the 20th and early 21st century. It explores ideological trends within the labor movement and its conflicts with capital and the state. It identifies class-collaborationism between the conservative labor bureaucracy and the capitalist class as the primary source of U.S. labor’s precariousness and fragility. It argues that the U.S. labor movement at its most radical and militant stage was an effective force for change against the power structure in the early 20th century. At the opposite end, it also argues that today’s institutionalized labor movement led by the AFL-CIO hinders labor’s historic struggle against capital and aids in the maintenance of the existing capitalist order. The book concludes by assessing the prospects for the future development of militant working-class activism and identifies essential components of an emerging radical labor movement that is capable of effectively challenging the capitalist system in the period ahead.

This book is an examination of the confluence of social, political, and communicative forces animating recent teachers’ uprisings, beginning with the accession of a militant slate to the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) in 2011 and continuing with myriad strikes, walkouts and other protest actions taken throughout the country since then. During this time, thousands of teachers have participated in protest actions in dozens of states and jurisdictions throughout the country, thus ending a lengthy period of relative dormancy on the part of teachers’ unions as a political organizing force. This movement is situated amongst the other digitally-enabled “movements of the squares” that have occurred in recent years, including the Occupy movement and the Arab Spring, which all emerge out of the ongoing crisis of neoliberal capitalism, though this book argues that the teachers’ movement has been central to this wave of contestation due its institutional grounding. This book will be of interest to readers with a background in Political Sociology, Education Policy, Political Communication and related fields.