Rethinking Venezuelan Politics: Class, Conflict, and the Chavez Phenomenon

by Ellner, Steve

• ISBN13: 9781588265609
• ISBN10: 1588265609
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-02-15
• Publisher: Lynne Rienner

Summary

In this fresh look at Venezuelan politics, Steve Ellner emphasizes the central significance of the country?s economic and social cleavages.Ellner?s journey through modern Venezuelan history?observing popular masses and social actors as much as political elites and formal institutions?fundamentally informs his analysis of Hugo Chavez?s presidency and the ?Bolivarian Revolution? at its core. Perhaps equally important, as he explores the rise of Chavismo, opposition within the country and abroad, internal tensions in the Chavista movement, and the trajectory of the Chavez government domestically and on the international stage, he sheds new light not only on Venezuela, but also on the recent political turmoil elsewhere in Latin America.

Author Biography

Steve Ellner is professor of history at the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction: Rethinking Venezuelan Politics	p. 1
From the Colonial Period to 1958: A Brief Overview	p. 17
Venezuela's "Model" Democracy, 1958-1989	p. 51
Neoliberal Reforms and Political Crisis, 1989-1999	p. 89
The Four Stages of the Chavez Presidency	p. 109
Conflicting Currents in the Chavez Movement	p. 139
The Chavez Movement's Top-Down and Grassroots Approaches	p. 175
The Chavez Government in the International Arena	p. 195
Conclusion	p. 215
List of Acronyms	p. 227
References	p. 231
Index	p. 241
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