Philip Oxhorn

The Social Foundations of Latin America’s Recurrent Populism: Problems of Popular Sector Class Formation and Collective Action

The article is an attempt to offer a ‘bottom-up’ explanation of political instability in Latin America by examining patterns of class formation in the region. It argues that the heterogeneous class structure characterizing the popular sectors creates collective action problems that historically have resulted in popular sector mobilization by populist elites, if not apathy or civil war. The possibility of an alternative basis for popular sector mobilization that is more favorable to democratic consolidation is explored on the basis of a neo-Marxist interpretation of class formation. By incorporating variables dealing with the state and the nature of civil society that are not directly related to the relationship of individuals or groups to the means of production, an effort is made to outline the basis of a new popular sector collective identity which offers a totalizing synthesis of this social heterogeneity. Some of the implications of this are briefly discussed in a concluding section.

Understanding Political Change After Authoritarian Rule: The Popular Sectors and Chile's New Democratic Regime

When Patricio Aylwin accepted the Chilean presidential sash in March 1990 an era in Latin American politics dominated by authoritarian regimes came to an end. Virtually every country in the region now had to grapple with the complicated task of consolidating fragile democratic regimes. Surprisingly, given what may be the emergence of a new democratic era, one is hardpressed even to begin answering an obvious question: How will years of non-democratic rule affect future efforts to establish democratic political processes in their wake? Despite recent attention to the ways in which different types of transition process affect the prospects for democracy, the impact of authoritarian rule on subsequent political processes remains largely unstudied.

Markets and Democracy in Latin America: Conflict or Convergence?

This text analyzes the constraints faced by Latin American countries as they seek to consolidate fragile democratic regimes and restore economic dynamism. Focusing on the relationship between the two goals, it examines the social and state-level factors, providing five country case studies.

Conceptualizing Civil Society from the Bottom Up: A Political Economy Perspective

Regardless of how civil society is actually defined, the idea of civil society has been approached in a variety of ways. Most recently, it represents a goal for newly democratizing countries, one that the established liberal democracies of Western Europe and North America have achieved. Historically, however, the approach was more empirical and descriptive (although certainly not without normative overtones), and civil society was “discovered” rather than predicted or sought after (Black 1984; Ferguson 1966; Tocqueville 1969). Either way, this goal is often a normative one, suggesting that “civil society” is the product of a unique Western cultural heritage that, grosso modo, is essentially liberal in nature (Seligman 1992). This is one reason why the concept was both slow to be applied to Latin America and had to be transformed in the process (Avritzer, this volume).

Cidadania como consumo ou cidadania como agência: uma comparação entre as reformas de democratização da Bolívia e do Brasil

The paper first discusses 2 opposing models of citizenship within Latin American: citizenship as consumption , which reflects the consequences of the pervasive influence of market-oriented reforms on patterns of representation in the context of universal political rights, and citizenship as agency , which would reflect the emergence of alternative forms of participation through civil society and their potential impact on political patterns of representation. The second part of the paper then examines the potential for citizenship as agency to emerge by contrasting the impact of the Popular Participation Law in Bolivia and Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Civil Society Without a State? Transnational Civil Society and the Challenge of Democracy in a Globalizing World

A concept of civil society that stresses civil societys role in working with the state to achieve more inclusive, democratic polities provides the context for examining the implications for transnational civil society. In particular, the author examines how this perspective emphasizes the importance of the paradox that civil society cannot be understood independently of a relationship to a state. After explaining the nature of this paradox, the author discusses the various ways this paradox affects the potential for transnational civil society to contribute to more inclusionary democracies that reflect new processes in the social construction of citizenship.

La sociedad civil de adentro hacia afuera. Comunidad, organización y desafío de la influencia política

Having developed conceptually and analytically civil society as a sociological category (based on a conceptual reflection stemming from a theoretical-epistemological dialogue between the collectivist and liberal perspectives), this article accounts for the implications that allow us to understand the potential of civil society in contributing to democratization. Throughout this work the dynamics that characterize the ambiguous relationship between civil society and community –ambiguous in as much communities with exceptionally strong ties between its members can provide both elements for the strengthening of civil society as well as obstacles to its growth– are analyzed. It is argued that the role of communities in relation to civil society in the social construction and civil strengthening of citizenship will depend on several factors, particularly the mechanisms available to build consensus within the community. The threat stemming from neopluralism as a novel discourse of interest intermediation, both for the community and civil society, is explored. In the final section, the implications of this discourse for democracy are discussed.

Editor's Foreword: Some Behind-the-Scenes Changes at LARR

In my almost eight years as editor in chief of the Latin American Research Review, things have changed a lot on a number of levels. Among other things, our workload has more or less doubled since January 2007, as the number of quality submissions we receive has grown dramatically. At the same time, the technology involved in publishing journals seems to have changed at an equally dazzling pace, as refl ected in our earlier decision to offer open access for all issues of LARR to people residing in Latin America—something we could not have done as easily in 2007. The technological changes could not be better timed. LARR is beginning a transition to online-only publication, and we will soon be adopting an automated system for manuscript submission and review. Digital Commons (Berkeley Electronic Press) will host both the online journal and manuscript submission site. One aspect of the increased number of submissions is that we are also receiving a broader range of manuscripts. In particular, we receive a considerable number of manuscripts written by economists. To address this, we have appointed LARR’s fi rst associate editor for economics, Professor Jose Galdo (http://www .carleton.ca/sppa/people/galdo-jose/). Jose is a labor economist at Carlton University’s Department of Economics and School of Public Policy and Administration. In addition, I am pleased to announce that Professor John S. Burdick of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University has agreed to be LARR’s new associate editor for anthropology (https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/anthro/Burdick,_John/). John specializes in political anthropology, social movements, and the anthropology of religion. Finally, I would like to thank Kristin Norget of McGill, who is stepping down as associate editor for anthropology. Kristin’s contribution to LARR has been most appreciated and includes her work as coeditor of the 2014 LARR special issue, “Lived Religion and Lived Citizenship in Latin America’s Zones of Crisis.”

When Everything Seems to Change, Why Do We Still Call it ‘Citizenship’?

This book aims to assess the shifting frontiers of citizenship in Latin America, analyzing contemporary practices and redefinitions, the impact and limits of the Liberal model of citizenship, the emergence of alternative models, and the transnational dimensions and the prospects of different paradigms of citizenship in the region in recent decades.

Latin American Democracy in "Post-Consolidation" Literature: Optimism and Pessimism@@@Fault Lines of Democracy in Post-Transition Latin America@@@Democracy in Developing Countries: Latin America@@@Political Learning and Redemocratization in Latin America: Do Politicians Learn from Political Crises?@@@Deepening Democracy in Latin America@@@What Kind of Democracy? What Kind of Market? Latin America in the Age of Neoliberalism

Intrigued with the question of how societies adopt norms, institutions, and rules associated with liberal democracy, the contributors to this volume examine how political actors in Latin America reorient their behaviour and attitudes to support, adapt, or acquiesce to democracy.