Social and Political Transitions During the Left Turn in Latin America

Social and Political Transitions During the Left Turn in Latin America provides fourteen contributions to understand, from a multidisciplinary perspective, processes of socio-political reconfigurations in the region from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s. The Left Turn was the regional shift to left-of-center governments and social movements that sought to replace the neoliberal policies of the 1990s. This volume aims to answer the overarching research question: how do state and societal (national and transnational) actors trigger and shape processes of political and socio-economic transitions in Latin America from the rise to the decline of the Left Turn. The book presents case studies in which transitions are moments of change and uncertainty, which one cannot predict their definitive outcomes. The various case studies presented in the book place actors and processes in specific historical and socio-political contexts, which are influenced directly or indirectly by the historical trajectory of Latin America’s Left Turn. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of Social and Political History, Latin American History, and those interested in the social and political developments in Latin America more broadly.

Conceptual Discussions; 1 Social and Political Transitions in Latin America: From the Left Turn’s Rise to its Decline - Daniel S. Leon, Carolina Rozo-Higuera, Karen Silva-Torres; 2 Radical Left-Wing Political Regimes in the Context of the Latin American "Left Turn" - Radek Buben and Jan Nemec; Part I: Transitions by State Actors; 3 The Return of Mano Dura in Venezuela: The Political Economy of Transitions in Urban Security Policies since 1950 - Daniel S. Leon; 4 Education, Labor, and Inequality in Ecuador, 2006-2016: Building Social Convergence - Ernesto Nieto-Carrillo; 5 Archives, Memory and Human Rights: The Right to Truth and the Right to Tell in Colombian Policies and Memory Initiatives - Carolina Rozo-Higuera; 6 Transformations in the Colombian Migration Regime amidst the Venezuelan Migration Crisis: An Introduction to the Analysis of the Refugee Category - Maria Gabriela Trompetero; 7 Transitions of University Autonomy in Ecuador: From Market Heteronomy to Responsible Autonomy - Rina Pazos and Jorge Fabara; Part II: Transitions by Societal Actors; 8 Peronism is a Sentiment: Affect and Ideology in Argentine Populism - Julia Fierman; 9 The Nexus between Social Movements and Transition: Insights from the Bolivian TIPNIS Conflict - Maximilian Görgens; 10 Political Violence and Religious Change in Ayacucho, Peru: Reconciliation and Forgiveness as Local Mechanisms among Evangelical Conflict Survivors - Ariane Kovac; 11 From Victimization to Political Action? Understanding the (Un)Existing Political Participation of Central American Immigrants in Mexico - Indi Carolina Kryg; 12 Hirschman Revisited: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in the Venezuelan Crisis - Stiven Tremaria; Continuities and Disruptions of Latin American Transitions; 13 Seven Theses on the Refeudalization of Latin America - Olaf Kaltmeier; 14 Liminal Transition Processes in Latin America - Carolina Rozo-Higuera, Daniel S. Leon, and Karen Silva-Torres

Karen Silva-Torres is a doctoral candidate in the Institute of Anthropology at the University of Leipzig, Germany, and a member of the Graduate School of Global and Area Studies of the same university. Her research interests involve media anthropology, journalism and affectivity, and media and politics in Latin America. Carolina Rozo-Higuera is currently a doctoral candidate in Global Studies at the University of Leipzig, Germany. She holds an MSc in Information Technology from the University of East London and a BA in Library and Information Science from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. Daniel S. Leon holds a Dr. phil. in Global Studies from the University of Leipzig, Germany. He is currently a senior fellow of International Relations at the University of Greifswald, Germany. His research interests include the study of (urban) violence, international political economy of and political transitions.