Abstract, The Political Economy of the New Left

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The Political Economy of the New Left
by Megan Pickup 




New Left regimes have been underpinned by a reliance both on labor and nontraditional social groups and on capital interests related to the primary commodity sector, and the state has played an important overseer role in these relationships. These states have attempted to accommodate all these groups by pursuing incompatible populist and pragmatic policies. Study of the particular configuration of these regimes is important because they have become simultaneously more inclusive and closed off, generating heightened social fragmentation. Divisions among the left, the hardening of the right, and economic frailty render these governments unstable.

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Political Report # 1306 The State of the Brazilian Left: Analysis from an American in Brazil

By Brian Mier COHA

During the lead-up and in the aftermath of last year’s overthrow of democratically elected Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, several writings appeared in progressive English language publications analyzing the state of the Brazilian left. Most of them were written by members of the white middle class, based on little or no contact with the Brazilian organized left which, as a recent article in NACLA mentioned, is a long-standing problem with Northern American analysis on Latin America.[i] In an attempt to go beyond more of the same, my next four contributions to COHA’s Brazil Unit were interviews with key figures of the Brazilian organized left: a national urban social movement leader, a union federation leader, a renowned radical-left intellectual and a national leader of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers’ Movement, MST). [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] This article represents a systematization of the interviews and original analysis from the standpoint of an American who has lived in Brazil for 22 years and who has worked with the MST and the four largest Brazilian social movements. For clarity’s sake I will add that the I am not affiliated with any political party and that I supported Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party, PT) candidate Lula in 2002, Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (Socialist Liberty Party, PSOL) candidate Heloisa Helena in 2006, PSOL candidate Plinio Arruda in 2010, and PT candidate Dilma Rousseff in 2014. The interviews were based on questions about changes in the political economy, last year’s soft coup, and what the left is doing to alter the current state of affairs.

Book, Political Economy of Brazil

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Political Economy of Brazil
Recent Economic Performance
by Philip Arestis and Alfredo Saad-Filho

This book assesses the performance of the first Lula government (2002-06) from different perspectives including economics, politics, history and social policy. While the focus is on Brazil, it also refers to the experiences of similar countries both for comparative purposes and for evidence of the success or otherwise of this 'new' era for Brazil.

Book, "Revolution and State in Modern Mexico" by Adam David Morton

Revolution and State in Modern Mexico
The Political Economy of Uneven Development, Updated Edition
by ADAM DAVID MORTON

Book, "Revolution and State in Modern Mexico" by Adam David Morton

Revolution and State in Modern Mexico
The Political Economy of Uneven Development, Updated Edition
by ADAM DAVID MORTON

Political Report # 1079 Como vai a esquerda pelo mundo? Está em avanço ou em retrocesso? By Boaventura de Sousa Santos

BSS: O mundo é demasiado vasto para que possamos ter uma ideia global de como vai a esquerda, até porque em muitas regiões do mundo as clivagens sociais e políticas são definidas em dicotomias distintas da dicotomia esquerda/direita. Por exemplo, secular/religioso, cristão/ muçulmano, hindu/muçulmano, branco/negro, etnicamente X/etnicamente Y. Na medida em que a dicotomia está presente, a definição dos seus termos é, em parte, contextual. Nos EUA o partido democrático é um partido de esquerda mas na Europa ou América Latina seria considerado um partido de direita. O partido comunista chinês é de esquerda? Com estas cautelas, há que começar por perguntar: o que é a esquerda? À escala do mundo só é possível uma resposta minimalista. Esquerda é toda a posição política que promove todos (ou a grande maioria dos) seguintes objetivos: luta contra a desigualdade e a discriminação sociais, por via de uma articulação virtuosa entre o valor da liberdade e o valor da igualdade; defesa forte do pluralismo, tanto nos midia como na economia, na educação e na cultura; democratização do Estado por via de valores republicanos, participação cidadã e independência das instituições, em especial, do sistema judicial; luta pela memória e pela reparação dos que sofreram (e sofrem) formas violentas de opressão; defesa de uma conceção forte de opinião pública, que expresse de modo equilibrado a diversidade de opiniões; defesa da soberania nacional e da soberania nacional de outros países; resolução pacífica dos conflitos internos e internacionais.

Book, "Revolution and State in Modern Mexico" by Adam David Morton

Revolution and State in Modern Mexico
The Political Economy of Uneven Development, Updated Edition
by ADAM DAVID MORTON

Abstract: Commentary by Steve Ellner, Latin America at a Crossroads

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Commentary

Latin America at a Crossroads 

by Steve Ellner

Katz’s analysis of economic and political conditions in Latin America is applicable in fundamental ways to capitalism at the world level in the twenty-first century, specifically the years following the 2008 economic crisis. On the one hand, “Wall Street” has established an international division of labor that guarantees its hegemony and the maximization of profits. On the other hand, “Main Street” has not recovered from the crisis; inequality is greater than ever, while workers are more insecure and the marginalized sectors larger than in the past. Subjective conditions—widespread disillusionment, skepticism, and discontent—are favorable for movements for far-reaching change, although in some nations the trend favors radicals on both ends of the political spectrum.