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This collection focuses on the social consequences of neoliberal crises in Latin America. It includes a critical yet sympathetic analysis of ruling leftist governments in the region and discusses the larger constraints facing organized attempts to politically transform the Americas.
Technological progress in the 21st Century still remains monopolized by the developed countries, thereby determining the direction and rhythm of growth in developing countries which must import their technological infrastructure. This colonialized model of industrialization leads to a perpetual outflow of resources abroad and to structured social exclusion that placed narrow limits on democracy and the distribution of overall wellbeing. Why did Latin American societies fail to create an internal division of labour that could adequately provide for the development of productive forces? How did this affect the prospects for democracy in the region? Development and Democracy: Relations in Confl...
The book makes accessible a selection of speeches and television appearances by Fidel Castro during the first two years of the Cuban Revolution. Readers can trace the evolution of this legendary leader’s radical political thought and analyze his extraordinary capacity for overcoming adverse political and ideological circumstances in a constant movement towards a socialist ideal. The work is organized chronologically with introductory presentations prepared by Cuban experts José Bell, Tania Caram and Delia Luisa López and includes a glossary and bibliography. The methodology of this work is original and includes material from 1959 not previously published elsewhere.
Latin America after the Neoliberal Debacle studies the crippling problems that plague civilian democracies in the region. Ximena de la Barra and Richard Dello Buono draw on their extensive first-hand knowledge of Latin America to provide a rich analysis of why the needs of the region are too often put second to powerful foreign interests. In particular, they look at the shortcomings of the neoliberal development model, combining a broad historical overview with analysis of critical issues today. In a region that displays some of the worst social disparities in the world, popular movements have begun to confront the forces of domination. Their struggles for social justice have proposed new political agendas that in some cases dovetail with the new generation of progressive leaders, fueling important social changes. The authors argue that genuine development, free of dependency, can only be achieved in the context of a more profound democratization and new forms of regional integration. This interdisciplinary study will be useful for students, scholars, and general readers concerned with the past, present, and particularly the future of this important region.
In Marx Matters noted scholars explore the way a Marxian political economy addresses contemporary social problems, demonstrating the relevance of Marx today and outlining how his work can frame progressive programs for social change.
Why are people getting fatter in the United States and beyond? Mainstream explanations argue that people simply eat too much “energy-dense” food while exercising too little. By swapping the chips and sodas for fruits and vegetables and exercising more, the problem would be solved. By contrast, The Neoliberal Diet argues that increased obesity does not result merely from individual food and lifestyle choices. Since the 1980s, the neoliberal turn in policy and practice has promoted trade liberalization and retrenchment of the welfare regime, along with continued agricultural subsidies in rich countries. Neoliberal regulation has enabled agribusiness multinationals to thrive by selling high...
Effective visual communication has become an essential strategy for grassroots political activists, who use images to publicly express resistance and make their claims visible in the struggle for political power. However, this “aesthetics of resistance” is also employed by political and economic elites for their own purposes, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish from the “aesthetics of rule.” Through illuminating case studies of street art in Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Caracas, and Mexico City, The Aesthetics of Rule and Resistance explores the visual strategies of persuasion and meaning-making employed by both rulers and resisters to foster self-legitimization, identification, and mobilization.
Cuba in a Global Context examines the unlikely prominence of the island nation's geopolitical role. The contributors to this volume explore the myriad ways in which Cuba has not only maintained but often increased its reach and influence in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. From the beginning, the Castro regime established a foreign policy that would legitimize the revolutionary government, if not in the eyes of the United States at least in the eyes of other global actors. The essays in this volume shed new light on Cuban diplomacy with communist China as well as with Western governments such as Great Britain and Canada. In recent years, Cubans have improved their lives in the face o...
Cuba Was Different explores Cuban Communist Party (PCC) views following the collapse of Eastern European and Soviet socialism through the lens of the official daily newspaper Granma (1989-1992) and interviews conducted later with Cuban PCC members who reflected back on that momentous period.
Organized labor in the 1950s -- A crisis of productivity -- The employers' offensive -- Workers take stock -- Responses to state terror -- Two strikes -- Last days of Batista -- The first year of the new Cuba -- Conclusion: what was the role of organized labor in the Cuban insurrection?