The Revolution in Venezuela: Social and Political Change Under Chavez

by Ponniah, Thomas; Eastwood, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780674061385
• ISBN10: 0674061381
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-01
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

Is Venezuelars"s Bolivarian revolution under Hugo Chaacute;vez truly revolutionary? Most books and articles tend to view the Chaacute;vez government in an either-or fashion. Some see the president as the shining knight of twenty-first-century socialism, while others see him as an avenging Stalinist strongman. Despite passion on both sides, the Chaacute;vez government does not fall easily into a seamless fable of emancipatory or authoritarian history, as these essays make clear.A range of distinguished authors consider the nature of social change in contemporary Venezuela and explore a number of themes that help elucidate the sources of the nationrs"s political polarization. The chapters range from Fernando Coronilrs"s "Bolivarian Revolution," which examines the relationship between the staters"s social body (its population) and its natural body (its oil reserves), to an insightful look at womenrs"s rights by Cathy A. Rakowski and Gioconda Espina. This volume shows that, while the future of the national process is unclear, the principles elaborated by the Chaacute;vez government are helping articulate a new Latin American left.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. v
Introduction: The Revolution in Venezuela	p. 1
State/Society Relations
State Reflections: The 2002 Coup against Hugo Chávez	p. 37
Why Polarize? Advantages and Disadvantages of a Rational-Choice Analysis of Government-Opposition Relations under Hugo Chávez	p. 67
Venezuela's Experiment in Participatory Democracy	p. 99
Venezuela's Presidential Elections of 2006: Toward 21st Century Socialism?	p. 131
The Bolivarian Project
Advancing Women's Rights from Inside and Outside the Bolivarian Revolution, 1998-2010	p. 155
Venezuela in the Chávez Years: Its Economy and Influence on the Region	p. 193
History Is Not Over: The Bolivarian Revolution, ôBarrio Adentro,ö and Health Care in Venezuela	p. 225
The New Balancing Act: International Relations Theory and Venezuela's Foreign Policy	p. 257
Conclusion: The Conceptual Revolution in Venezuela	p. 279
Bibliography	p. 299
Editors and Contributors	p. 337
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