Venezuela Hugo Chavez and the Decline of an "Exceptional Democracy"

by Ellner, Steve; Tinker Salas, Miguel

• ISBN13: 9780742554559
• ISBN10: 0742554554
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-19
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Before 1989, U.S. scholars emphasized Venezuela's status as an exceptional Latin American nation. Venezuela was seen as a stable democracy at a time when nearly all of Latin America had fallen under military rule, and the nation used its oil revenues to ameliorate class division. Most importantly, Venezuela served as an ideal model for U.S. policy in Latin America. All this changed in the mass unrest (the Caracazo) during the week of February 27, 1989. A wave of popular protests during the 1990s, two military coup attempts in 1992 and the election of Hugo Chavez challenged scholars to rethink their perception of Venezuelan exceptionalism. In a series of engaging essays, this book explores changing attitudes about Venezuela and it's role in the rest of the world.

Table of Contents

Introduction : new perspectives and the Chavez phenomenon
The Venezuelan exceptionalism thesis : separating myth from reality	p. 3
Venezuelan social conflict in a global context	p. 16
U.S. oil companies in Venezuela : the forging of an enduring alliance	p. 35
Chavez and the search for an alternative to neoliberalism	p. 60
Trade union autonomy and the emergence of a new labor movement in Venezuela	p. 77
Ethnicity and revolution : the political economy of racism in Venezuela	p. 99
Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution : who are the Chavistas?	p. 121
Social movements in a polarized setting : myths of Venezuelan civil society	p. 140
When "no" means "yes to revolution" : electoral politics in Bolivarian Venezuela	p. 157
Confronting Hugo Chavez : U.S. "democracy promotion" in Latin America	p. 185
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.