La nueva izquierda en América Latina

La nueva izquierda en América Latina
Sus orígenes y trayectoria futura
César A. Rodríguez Garavito, Patrick S. Barrett,
Daniel Chavez (eds.)
Grupo Editorial Norma, abril 2005
ISBN 958-04-8667-0

Review by Beatriz Stolowicz

In recent years, Latin America has witnessed the rise of progressive social and political formations and electoral successes not seen since the heyday of the left in the 1960s. Significant developments include electoral victories by left-wing presidential candidates in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay, as well as the growing strength of new mass-based social movements in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Mexico. These political changes have caught most academic observers by surprise. A new book seeks to address these shortcomings by means of an informed regional analysis of the origins, significance, and possible future trajectory of the new Latin American left.

In May 2004 the TNI New Politics Project and the Havens Center co-organised an international conference which gathered social and political leaders and academics from ten Latin American countries. The first output of that conference is a Spanish-language edited volume based on the papers presented at the meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. The book has been published by Grupo Editorial Norma in Colombia, and will be launched at the International Book Fair of Bogota (20 April - May 2). The English version of the book will be published in the first quarter of 2006.

The book has been edited by Cesar Rodriguez and Patrick Barrett from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Daniel Chavez from TNI. Other contributors are Leonardo Avritzer (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil), Atilio Boron (Latin American Council of Social Sciences, Argentina), Armando Bartra (Institute for the Study of the Maya People, Mexico), Pablo Davalos (Latin American Council of Social Sciences, Ecuador), Edgardo Lander (Central University of Venezuela), Boaventura de Sousa Santos (University of Coimbra, Portugal), Federico Schuster (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina), and Luis Tapia (University of San Andres, Bolivia).

Contenido

Prefacio y agradecimientos

1. ¿La utopía revivida?
   Introducción al estudio de la nueva izquierda latinoamericana
   César A. Rodríguez Garavito
   Patrick S. Barrett
2. El ascenso del Partido de los Trabajadores en Brasil:
   La democracia y la distribución participativas como alternativas
   al neoliberalismo
   Leonardo Avritzer
3. Izquierda y populismo:
   Alternativas al neoliberalismo en Venezuela
   Edgardo Lander
4. Del Frente Amplio a la Nueva Mayoría:
   La izquierda uruguaya ante la perspectiva del gobierno
   Daniel Chavez
5. La nueva izquierda colombiana:
   Orígenes, características y perspectivas
   César A. Rodríguez Garavito
6. Izquierda política y movimientos sociales
   en la Argentina contemporánea
   Federico Schuster
7. Añoranzas y utopías:
   La izquierda mexicana en el tercer milenio
   Armando Bartra
8. Izquierda y movimiento social en Bolivia
   Luis Tapia
9. "De paja de páramo sembraremos el mundo":
   Izquierda, utopía y movimiento indígena en Ecuador
   Pablo Dávalos
10. La izquierda latinoamericana a comienzos
    del siglo XXI:
    Promesas y desafíos
    Atilio Boron
11. Una izquierda con futuro
    Boaventura de Sousa Santos