Abstract, Neoextractivism and Class Formation: Lessons from the Orinoco Mining Arc Project in Venezuela

:::::: Abstract ::::::

Neoextractivism and Class Formation: Lessons from the Orinoco Mining Arc Project in Venezuela

by Luis Fernando Angosto-Ferrández

The Arco Minero del Orinoco (Orinoco Mining Arc—AMO) project, launched in 2016, demonstrates that Bolivarian governments have been unsuccessful in overcoming extractivism and rentier capitalism as structuring foundations of the Venezuelan state and its politics, but it simultaneously confirms that these governments remain supported by a bloc made up of heterogeneous class fractions primarily amalgamated around a demand for socioeconomic development. Mining extractivism is the focus of a rapid readjustment of regional and national class formation. The implementation of the Orinoco Mining Arc project could reactivate government-led redistribution in the short-to-medium term, reversing the deterioration of living conditions of the popular classes and potentially reactivating participation of some of their members in small and medium-sized economic ventures. However, given the political conditions under which the project was launched, the main immediate beneficiaries (to different degrees) are capital holders, corporatist groups within the state apparatus, and sectors of the indigenous population directly involved in extractivism.

CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave

SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave

Book, Evo's Bolivia: Continuity and Change

:::::: Book ::::::

Evo's Bolivia: Continuity and Change
by Linda C. Farthing and Benjamin H. Kohl

In this compelling and comprehensive look at the rise of Evo Morales and Bolivia's Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), Linda Farthing and Benjamin Kohl offer a thoughtful evaluation of the transformations ushered in by the western hemisphere's first contemporary indigenous president. Accessible to all readers, Evo's Bolivia not only charts Evo's rise to power but also offers a history of and context for the MAS revolution's place in the rising "pink tide" of the political left. Farthing and Kohl examine the many social movements whose agendas have set the political climate in Bolivia and describe the difficult conditions the administration inherited. They evaluate the results of Evo's policies by examining a variety of measures, including poverty; health care and education reform; natural resources and development; and women's, indigenous, and minority rights. Weighing the positive with the negative, the authors offer a balanced assessment of the results and shortcomings of the first six years of the Morales administration.

At the heart of this book are the voices of Bolivians themselves. Farthing and Kohl interviewed women and men in government, in social movements, and on the streets throughout the country, and their diverse backgrounds and experiences offer a multidimensional view of the administration and its progress so far. Ultimately the "process of change" Evo promised is exactly that: an ongoing and complicated process, yet an important example of development in a globalized world.

Abstract, Contested Spaces The Communal Councils and Participatory Democracy in Chávez’s Venezuela

:::::: Abstract ::::::

Contested Spaces
The Communal Councils and Participatory Democracy in Chávez’s Venezuela
by Matt Wilde


Since their launch in 2006, the communal councils have been heralded as a significant step toward the establishment of a radical, participatory democracy in Venezuela. Ethnographic fieldwork carried out in a working-class barrio in Valencia, Venezuela’s third-largest city, shows that local residents perceive and make use of the communal councils in a variety of ways. Older women in particular have become central players in community political life as a result of the reforms, although the burdens they take on arguably reproduce patterns of gendered inequality. Some residents express suspicion of new community leaders, accusing them of corruption, and there are conflicting views of what participatory democracy actually means in practical terms. The communal councils should be understood as contested spaces, the ambiguities and conflicts within them reflecting broader tensions within the Bolivarian project as a whole.

Abstract, The Venezuelan Path to Socialism Questions about Gradual Change

:::::: Abstract ::::::

The Venezuelan Path to Socialism
Questions about Gradual Change
by Raphael Lana Seabra


The Bolivarian Revolution is characterized by the gradual and peaceful conquest of political power without an immediate break with the capitalist order, following the legitimate path of democratic radicalization to the creation of a multiple system of property with the medium-to-long-term goal of overcoming the pillars of capitalist domination. Petroleum redistribution policy continues to strengthen some capitalist factions. The tactic of a gradual transition to socialism tends to reinforce the capitalist system of accumulation for certain factions and could interfere with the revolution.

Political Report # 1131 The Left Isn't Dead Yet in Venezuela By Raven Brown, Common Dreams

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro at a Chavista rally earlier this year. (Photo: Ministry of Communication) Political Report # 1131 The Left Isn't Dead Yet in Venezuela By Raven Brown, Common Dreams

On December 6th Venezuelans headed to the polls and handed a blow to the legacy of Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution. But, contrary to what the majority of media outlets are reporting, while it was damaging to the Revolution, chavismo was not dealt a death blow. The opposition, known as the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), won a two-thirds majority, a landslide victory with 112 parliamentary seats, while the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) only won 55 seats. This puts the opposition in a position to roll back the socialist programs which make up the chavismo policy agenda and to submit President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's successor, to a referendum aimed to oust him from power.