Angus is an interdisciplinary scholar interested the politics of transformative change and twenty-first century capitalism. He joined the Department of International Development at King’s College London from the University of Greenwich in 2024. His research examines the Left in Power, state-social movement relations, the political economy of development in Latin America, natural resource-led development and extraction and energy transitions. His first monograph, Now We Are in Power: The Politics of Passive Revolution in Twenty-First Century Bolivia, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in 2023. He is currently writing a book on the economic history of Bolivia and has three research projects addressing meat planes in Bolivia, finance, extraction and the green transition and the politics of knowledge production across postcolonial spaces respectively. Supervisors: Jeffery Webber and James Dunkerley
Despite the applaudable reflexivity of transition scholars to include considerations of politics ... more Despite the applaudable reflexivity of transition scholars to include considerations of politics (among other things) in their frameworks, we argue that this is not enough, as the mainstream anglophone debates still suffer a fatal flaw: an inability to grasp the form taken by the actually existing hegemonic transition globally. This we contend, is shaped by two recent political economic developments: the concentration on capital in large pools (either under asset management or in Sovereign Wealth Funds) invested on financial markets on the one hand; and the "de-risking" Wall Street Consensus on the other. Because the mainstream anglophone transition debates still shy away from discussing the two (dialectically interwoven) main drivers of anthropogenic climate changecolonialism and capitalismthey remain unable to explain form assumed by the hegemonic green transition and what this means going forward. Scholars from the Latin America, particularly Argentina, in contrast, are confronted by the sharp end of financial markets and green extractivism. Their lived experience of the dark underpinnings of the green transition shaped by finance and extraction has sparked vibrant critical debates over alternatives to the dominant transition narratives that both act as a tonic to the de-politicised mainstream anglophone debates and offer provocations to more critical anglophone scholars.
The hegemonic understanding of the green transition will require a massive surge in mineral extra... more The hegemonic understanding of the green transition will require a massive surge in mineral extraction. We contend that this entails wider, radical shifts in 21 st century financialised capitalism. While there has been increasing critical interest in the role of finance capital in development, the links between finance, extraction, and the green transition have been largely overlooked. We fill this gap by arguing that the green transition, understood as a transformation of global capitalism, is marked by new rounds of appropriation, exploitation, and extraction, (re)producing dependencies for resource-rich Global South countries. These emergent geographies of the green transition are best evaluated through what we call the "finance-extraction-transitions nexus". The nexus highlights the interplay between finance capital, mineral extraction, and the material, socioeconomic , and environmental implications of the green transition. This provides new ways to theoretically, conceptually, and methodologically engage with resource extraction and the green transition in the age of financialised capitalism.
During the commodities boom, pink Tide governments depended on foreign capital to fuel neo-extrac... more During the commodities boom, pink Tide governments depended on foreign capital to fuel neo-extractive development. What happened offers lessons for new progressive leaders.
Following the end of the progressive cycle in Latin America, new social movements and transformat... more Following the end of the progressive cycle in Latin America, new social movements and transformative social forces have emerged. This article develops an expanded reading of the work of Bolivian Marxist René Zavaleta Mercardo (1937-1984) through the work of his most significant student, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui (1949-), in order to offer a way to search for routes forwards future transformative projects. I argue the concept of 'constitutive moments' gives us pointers as to which historical threads to pick up and trace forwards and backwards through the contours of history to better grasp the current conjuncture and what is at stake. Moreover, Lo abigarrado and ch'ixi, concepts elaborated by Zavaleta and Rivera Cusicanqui to theorise the heterogeneous character of Latin American social formations, create space for thinking through futures drawn from both beyond/outside capitalism and within its contradictions.
This article uses the Bolivian city of El Alto as a lens through which to evaluate the place of u... more This article uses the Bolivian city of El Alto as a lens through which to evaluate the place of urban indigeneity and the popular economy within Latin American modernity. Whilst some express worries over the erosion of indigenous ways of life and others see urban indigenous practices as defying capitalist modernity, I argue that these emergent forms of indigeneity need to be understood as part of the complex, particular historical articulation of modernity in Latin America. Here, colonialism and uneven capitalist development have imbued modernity with a baroque character, containing multiple temporalities and contradictory societal forms, including that of urban indigeneity.
Arboleda recasts the planetary mine as ‘a dense network of territorial infrastructures and spatia... more Arboleda recasts the planetary mine as ‘a dense network of territorial infrastructures and spatial technologies vastly dispersed across space’ (5) and uses it as a route into current theoretical debates around the changing character of capitalism in the twenty-first century, planetary urbanism and infrastructure, and to the burgeoning literature on extractivism, neo-extractivism and the pink tide in Latin America [1]. It is a tour de force, and Arboleda demonstrates an astounding grasp of parallel debates within Marxist theory in particular and great skill at being able to deftly weave them together into a structure that reads remarkably well given its theoretical scope. My goal here is to outline the books main arguments, trace their main theoretical foundations and point to pathways of future research, places where Arboleda’s perspective remains underdeveloped
Following a period of relative political stability in Bolivia, the violent upheaval of the final ... more Following a period of relative political stability in Bolivia, the violent upheaval of the final months of 2019 suggest the need more than ever to return to Zavaleta in order to unpick the dynamics of the crisis. The October 2019 elections had been blighted by accusations of fraud, leading to mass violence across the country and a significant undermining of public trust in the country’s democratic organs. The government of Evo Morales came to an end after fourteen long years in November at the behest of the military, paving the way to the presidential power for a relatively unknown senator from Beni. Jeanine Áñez assumed power bible in hand, flanked by members of far-right lowlands groups, marking the first political articulation of the evangelical Right in Bolivia. After a year of Áñez in power marked by state instigated violence, political persecution, corruption scandals and delayed elections, the MAS returned to power in October 2020, this time headed by former Minister of the Economy, Luis Arce Catacora. For some, the return of a democratically elected government marks the end of the political crisis. Such an assertion is, I contend, is erroneous; it is to be bedazzled by the rhythms of liberal institutions. Here I unpick the different material and immaterial threads of crisis over the recent past in Bolivia and Latin America more generally. I examine the continued trajectory of crisis both domestically and in the context of the global Covid-19 pandemic and growing pushes towards energy transitions away from fossil fuels.
By drawing on the theoretical framework of the second incorporation of heterogeneous social organ... more By drawing on the theoretical framework of the second incorporation of heterogeneous social organizations by progressive governments through informal contestation and/or technocratic implementation of their demands in Latin America, this article argues that the first presidential term of Evo Morales in Bolivia (2006-2009) was marked by the incorporation of combative social movements through both a multidimensional co-optation of movements and the technocratic competition of the central movement demands for the nationalization of gas and the rewriting of the constitution through a constituent assembly. However, by 2010, this incorporation had stripped social movements of their ability to mobilize for change and the political conjuncture had shifted, making the government less dependent on its social bases to maintain political stability. This simultaneously transformed movements into defensive movements protecting the gains from the previous period and state-social-movement relations into informal contestatory regimes in which movements could only struggle against proposed political agendas. En base a un marco teórico que abarca la segunda incorporación de organizaciones sociales heterogéneas por parte de gobiernos progresistas a través de la contestación informal y/o la implementación tecnocrática de sus demandas en América Latina, un análisis del proyecto político de Evo Morales en Bolivia sostiene que su primer mandato presiden-cial se vio caracterizado por la incorporación de movimientos sociales combativos a través de una cooptación multidimensional de dichos movimientos y la competencia tecnocrática de las demandas del movimiento central en torno a la nacionalización del gas y la modifi-cación de la constitución por una asamblea constituyente. Sin embargo, para 2010, esta incorporación había despojado a los movimientos sociales de su capacidad de movilizarse a favor del cambio y la coyuntura política había cambiado, haciendo que el gobierno dependiera menos de sus bases sociales para mantener la estabilidad política. Esto trans-formó a los movimientos en entidades defensivas dedicadas a proteger las ganancias del período anterior y las relaciones entre el estado y los movimientos sociales en regímenes informales de impugnación dentro de los cuales los movimientos mismos sólo podían luchar contra las agendas políticas propuestas.
Known as the epicenter of anti-austerity rebellion during Bolivia’s Gas War, el Alto remains a po... more Known as the epicenter of anti-austerity rebellion during Bolivia’s Gas War, el Alto remains a powerful example of the potential for local movements to leverage their cities to shape national politics.
As the progressive cycle in Latin America wanes, scholars are attempting to unpick the contradict... more As the progressive cycle in Latin America wanes, scholars are attempting to unpick the contradictions that underpinned left-wing regimes. This article seeks to trace the political economy of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) from its neostructural and neoextractivist roots in the 2006 National Development Plan (NDP) through the economic strategy actually implemented by the MAS during its time in government. By examining macroeconomic indicators, the structure of the economy, industrialisation efforts and infrastructural projects this article advances a two-pronged argument. On the one hand, economic policy, as well as industrialisation and infrastructure projects, have focused on maximising economic surplus in the extractive sectors over cultivating the sectors that employ the majority of Bolivians. It has then redistributed part of the rents captured by the state into these labour-intensive sectors. This has consolidated Bolivia's insertion into the global market as a primary commodity producer. On the other hand, the neostructuralist tenets of the NDP have meant that the class character of these policies has been ignored by the government. As the commodities bonanza came to a close in 2013 the government increasingly sided with capital over labour in social struggles over economic development.
Evo Morales has labelled his government the 'government of social move-ments', and much has been ... more Evo Morales has labelled his government the 'government of social move-ments', and much has been written on relations between social movements and the state in Bolivia since the turn of the century. The Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) — Bolivian Workers' Central — has, however, remained largely absent from discussions in much of the literature. This article seeks to analyse the position of the COB under Morales, and to explore the nature and consequences of its relationship with the government over the past 12 years. The article differentiates between the concepts of labour bureaucracy and labour officialdom and examines how they can be used as analytical lenses that shed light on the position of the COB today. The author argues that during Bolivia's neoliberal period (1985–2005) the need to look after the COB bureaucratized union structures, as personal needs of the leadership were placed above those of the Bolivian working classes. This then allowed Morales's government to easily co-opt sections of the labour movements' leadership to form a labour officialdom, leaving the COB unable to challenge the continuation of the neoliberal structure of the economy and represent the majority of the country's working classes.
Since the turn of the millennium, the production of critical social theory in Bolivia has been ga... more Since the turn of the millennium, the production of critical social theory in Bolivia has been galvanized by a period of social upheaval and social movements victories. These movements created a moment of intense praxis, with theory and action producing one another in a dialectical fashion. The social impact of Bolivian intellectuals in response to the systemic crisis that emerged in the late-1990s cannot be underplayed, as the interaction between social movements and the state was influenced by thinkers of the time. Gramscian theory especially “passive revolution” and the “integral state”—has been particularly important in the study and politics of the revolutionary cycle from 2000 to 2005 and the government of Movimiento al Socialismo (the Movement toward Socialism; MAS). These two concepts have facilitated a rich analysis of the government of Evo Morales and the developments of the state. These theories have also been transformed into government discourse, with García Linera using the notion of the integral state to describe the MAS government’s political project in his role as vice-president. This article seeks to explore the impact of this social theory on Bolivian society and the social function of Gramscian intellectuals by looking at two key texts: García Linera’s Las tensiones creativas de la revolución and Bolivian philosopher Luis Tapia’s El Estado de derecho como tiranía. While both texts use a Gramscian analysis in the Bolivian context to great effect, they also demonstrate the political nature of Bolivian social theory and highlight the social function that the intellectuals themselves perform.
Si bien el primer gobierno de Evo Morales se presentaba como revolucionario y dispuesto a cambiar... more Si bien el primer gobierno de Evo Morales se presentaba como revolucionario y dispuesto a cambiar las estructuras políticas, económicas y sociales del país de una manera radical a través de lo que denominó “Proceso de cambio”, en realidad, después de 14 años de gobierno, sólo se trató de una revolución pasiva, afirma Angus McNelly, autor de la publicación que en esta oportunidad presentamos. El gobierno de Morales ha formado parte de la marea rosa, es decir, del período progresista en América Latina que, señala el autor, ha llegado a su fin debido a que en la región se está dando “un momento de restauración conservadora en el que las aperturas para las transformaciones sociales se han cerrado”.
A partir de esa mirada, el libro ¿Estamos en el poder? Experiencias de las clases obreras con la izquierda en el poder, una traducción de la tesis de doctorado de McNelly, refleja la situación de las clases trabajadoras urbanas durante el gobierno progresista de Evo Morales. Para ello, el autor presenta dos experiencias. La primera, en la ciudad de El Alto, donde centra su estudio en la Escuela de Formación Política (EFP) del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) que está ubicada en La Ceja. La segunda, en la zona del Plan 3000 de la ciudad de Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Dos lugares que comparten una situación común que marca su origen: el fenómeno de El Niño/La Niña de la década de los ochenta que hace que las familias afectadas, en su mayoría pobres, de las ciudades de La Paz y Santa Cruz de la Sierra se desplacen a vivir a estas zonas. Pero que también tienen clases obreras con características diferentes y que han determinado el modo de relacionarse con el gobierno del MAS.
En ese sentido, la publicación nos plantea que la clase obrera de El Alto, que en su momento fue altamente movilizada e independiente, terminó siendo absorbida y desarticulada por el Estado; mientras que la clase obrera de Santa Cruz, que no había podido organizarse ni movilizarse de manera independiente anteriormente, supo establecer una relación pragmática, vertical y clientelista con el gobierno. Hechos que se han podido observar durante los últimos años en el país y cuya información el autor recoge en su trabajo de campo, a lo largo de 17 meses en los que realizó entrevistas y participó en marchas, cabildos y demás espacios de reunión de las organizaciones sociales.
Esperamos que este estudio contribuya a la reflexión en torno a cómo la estructura de las clases obreras y su participación en la lucha de clases, como también la producción de espacios urbanos y de formación desigual del Estado, influyen en la forma en la que los grupos sociales se relacionan con ese Estado.
Despite the applaudable reflexivity of transition scholars to include considerations of politics ... more Despite the applaudable reflexivity of transition scholars to include considerations of politics (among other things) in their frameworks, we argue that this is not enough, as the mainstream anglophone debates still suffer a fatal flaw: an inability to grasp the form taken by the actually existing hegemonic transition globally. This we contend, is shaped by two recent political economic developments: the concentration on capital in large pools (either under asset management or in Sovereign Wealth Funds) invested on financial markets on the one hand; and the "de-risking" Wall Street Consensus on the other. Because the mainstream anglophone transition debates still shy away from discussing the two (dialectically interwoven) main drivers of anthropogenic climate changecolonialism and capitalismthey remain unable to explain form assumed by the hegemonic green transition and what this means going forward. Scholars from the Latin America, particularly Argentina, in contrast, are confronted by the sharp end of financial markets and green extractivism. Their lived experience of the dark underpinnings of the green transition shaped by finance and extraction has sparked vibrant critical debates over alternatives to the dominant transition narratives that both act as a tonic to the de-politicised mainstream anglophone debates and offer provocations to more critical anglophone scholars.
The hegemonic understanding of the green transition will require a massive surge in mineral extra... more The hegemonic understanding of the green transition will require a massive surge in mineral extraction. We contend that this entails wider, radical shifts in 21 st century financialised capitalism. While there has been increasing critical interest in the role of finance capital in development, the links between finance, extraction, and the green transition have been largely overlooked. We fill this gap by arguing that the green transition, understood as a transformation of global capitalism, is marked by new rounds of appropriation, exploitation, and extraction, (re)producing dependencies for resource-rich Global South countries. These emergent geographies of the green transition are best evaluated through what we call the "finance-extraction-transitions nexus". The nexus highlights the interplay between finance capital, mineral extraction, and the material, socioeconomic , and environmental implications of the green transition. This provides new ways to theoretically, conceptually, and methodologically engage with resource extraction and the green transition in the age of financialised capitalism.
During the commodities boom, pink Tide governments depended on foreign capital to fuel neo-extrac... more During the commodities boom, pink Tide governments depended on foreign capital to fuel neo-extractive development. What happened offers lessons for new progressive leaders.
Following the end of the progressive cycle in Latin America, new social movements and transformat... more Following the end of the progressive cycle in Latin America, new social movements and transformative social forces have emerged. This article develops an expanded reading of the work of Bolivian Marxist René Zavaleta Mercardo (1937-1984) through the work of his most significant student, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui (1949-), in order to offer a way to search for routes forwards future transformative projects. I argue the concept of 'constitutive moments' gives us pointers as to which historical threads to pick up and trace forwards and backwards through the contours of history to better grasp the current conjuncture and what is at stake. Moreover, Lo abigarrado and ch'ixi, concepts elaborated by Zavaleta and Rivera Cusicanqui to theorise the heterogeneous character of Latin American social formations, create space for thinking through futures drawn from both beyond/outside capitalism and within its contradictions.
This article uses the Bolivian city of El Alto as a lens through which to evaluate the place of u... more This article uses the Bolivian city of El Alto as a lens through which to evaluate the place of urban indigeneity and the popular economy within Latin American modernity. Whilst some express worries over the erosion of indigenous ways of life and others see urban indigenous practices as defying capitalist modernity, I argue that these emergent forms of indigeneity need to be understood as part of the complex, particular historical articulation of modernity in Latin America. Here, colonialism and uneven capitalist development have imbued modernity with a baroque character, containing multiple temporalities and contradictory societal forms, including that of urban indigeneity.
Arboleda recasts the planetary mine as ‘a dense network of territorial infrastructures and spatia... more Arboleda recasts the planetary mine as ‘a dense network of territorial infrastructures and spatial technologies vastly dispersed across space’ (5) and uses it as a route into current theoretical debates around the changing character of capitalism in the twenty-first century, planetary urbanism and infrastructure, and to the burgeoning literature on extractivism, neo-extractivism and the pink tide in Latin America [1]. It is a tour de force, and Arboleda demonstrates an astounding grasp of parallel debates within Marxist theory in particular and great skill at being able to deftly weave them together into a structure that reads remarkably well given its theoretical scope. My goal here is to outline the books main arguments, trace their main theoretical foundations and point to pathways of future research, places where Arboleda’s perspective remains underdeveloped
Following a period of relative political stability in Bolivia, the violent upheaval of the final ... more Following a period of relative political stability in Bolivia, the violent upheaval of the final months of 2019 suggest the need more than ever to return to Zavaleta in order to unpick the dynamics of the crisis. The October 2019 elections had been blighted by accusations of fraud, leading to mass violence across the country and a significant undermining of public trust in the country’s democratic organs. The government of Evo Morales came to an end after fourteen long years in November at the behest of the military, paving the way to the presidential power for a relatively unknown senator from Beni. Jeanine Áñez assumed power bible in hand, flanked by members of far-right lowlands groups, marking the first political articulation of the evangelical Right in Bolivia. After a year of Áñez in power marked by state instigated violence, political persecution, corruption scandals and delayed elections, the MAS returned to power in October 2020, this time headed by former Minister of the Economy, Luis Arce Catacora. For some, the return of a democratically elected government marks the end of the political crisis. Such an assertion is, I contend, is erroneous; it is to be bedazzled by the rhythms of liberal institutions. Here I unpick the different material and immaterial threads of crisis over the recent past in Bolivia and Latin America more generally. I examine the continued trajectory of crisis both domestically and in the context of the global Covid-19 pandemic and growing pushes towards energy transitions away from fossil fuels.
By drawing on the theoretical framework of the second incorporation of heterogeneous social organ... more By drawing on the theoretical framework of the second incorporation of heterogeneous social organizations by progressive governments through informal contestation and/or technocratic implementation of their demands in Latin America, this article argues that the first presidential term of Evo Morales in Bolivia (2006-2009) was marked by the incorporation of combative social movements through both a multidimensional co-optation of movements and the technocratic competition of the central movement demands for the nationalization of gas and the rewriting of the constitution through a constituent assembly. However, by 2010, this incorporation had stripped social movements of their ability to mobilize for change and the political conjuncture had shifted, making the government less dependent on its social bases to maintain political stability. This simultaneously transformed movements into defensive movements protecting the gains from the previous period and state-social-movement relations into informal contestatory regimes in which movements could only struggle against proposed political agendas. En base a un marco teórico que abarca la segunda incorporación de organizaciones sociales heterogéneas por parte de gobiernos progresistas a través de la contestación informal y/o la implementación tecnocrática de sus demandas en América Latina, un análisis del proyecto político de Evo Morales en Bolivia sostiene que su primer mandato presiden-cial se vio caracterizado por la incorporación de movimientos sociales combativos a través de una cooptación multidimensional de dichos movimientos y la competencia tecnocrática de las demandas del movimiento central en torno a la nacionalización del gas y la modifi-cación de la constitución por una asamblea constituyente. Sin embargo, para 2010, esta incorporación había despojado a los movimientos sociales de su capacidad de movilizarse a favor del cambio y la coyuntura política había cambiado, haciendo que el gobierno dependiera menos de sus bases sociales para mantener la estabilidad política. Esto trans-formó a los movimientos en entidades defensivas dedicadas a proteger las ganancias del período anterior y las relaciones entre el estado y los movimientos sociales en regímenes informales de impugnación dentro de los cuales los movimientos mismos sólo podían luchar contra las agendas políticas propuestas.
Known as the epicenter of anti-austerity rebellion during Bolivia’s Gas War, el Alto remains a po... more Known as the epicenter of anti-austerity rebellion during Bolivia’s Gas War, el Alto remains a powerful example of the potential for local movements to leverage their cities to shape national politics.
As the progressive cycle in Latin America wanes, scholars are attempting to unpick the contradict... more As the progressive cycle in Latin America wanes, scholars are attempting to unpick the contradictions that underpinned left-wing regimes. This article seeks to trace the political economy of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) from its neostructural and neoextractivist roots in the 2006 National Development Plan (NDP) through the economic strategy actually implemented by the MAS during its time in government. By examining macroeconomic indicators, the structure of the economy, industrialisation efforts and infrastructural projects this article advances a two-pronged argument. On the one hand, economic policy, as well as industrialisation and infrastructure projects, have focused on maximising economic surplus in the extractive sectors over cultivating the sectors that employ the majority of Bolivians. It has then redistributed part of the rents captured by the state into these labour-intensive sectors. This has consolidated Bolivia's insertion into the global market as a primary commodity producer. On the other hand, the neostructuralist tenets of the NDP have meant that the class character of these policies has been ignored by the government. As the commodities bonanza came to a close in 2013 the government increasingly sided with capital over labour in social struggles over economic development.
Evo Morales has labelled his government the 'government of social move-ments', and much has been ... more Evo Morales has labelled his government the 'government of social move-ments', and much has been written on relations between social movements and the state in Bolivia since the turn of the century. The Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) — Bolivian Workers' Central — has, however, remained largely absent from discussions in much of the literature. This article seeks to analyse the position of the COB under Morales, and to explore the nature and consequences of its relationship with the government over the past 12 years. The article differentiates between the concepts of labour bureaucracy and labour officialdom and examines how they can be used as analytical lenses that shed light on the position of the COB today. The author argues that during Bolivia's neoliberal period (1985–2005) the need to look after the COB bureaucratized union structures, as personal needs of the leadership were placed above those of the Bolivian working classes. This then allowed Morales's government to easily co-opt sections of the labour movements' leadership to form a labour officialdom, leaving the COB unable to challenge the continuation of the neoliberal structure of the economy and represent the majority of the country's working classes.
Since the turn of the millennium, the production of critical social theory in Bolivia has been ga... more Since the turn of the millennium, the production of critical social theory in Bolivia has been galvanized by a period of social upheaval and social movements victories. These movements created a moment of intense praxis, with theory and action producing one another in a dialectical fashion. The social impact of Bolivian intellectuals in response to the systemic crisis that emerged in the late-1990s cannot be underplayed, as the interaction between social movements and the state was influenced by thinkers of the time. Gramscian theory especially “passive revolution” and the “integral state”—has been particularly important in the study and politics of the revolutionary cycle from 2000 to 2005 and the government of Movimiento al Socialismo (the Movement toward Socialism; MAS). These two concepts have facilitated a rich analysis of the government of Evo Morales and the developments of the state. These theories have also been transformed into government discourse, with García Linera using the notion of the integral state to describe the MAS government’s political project in his role as vice-president. This article seeks to explore the impact of this social theory on Bolivian society and the social function of Gramscian intellectuals by looking at two key texts: García Linera’s Las tensiones creativas de la revolución and Bolivian philosopher Luis Tapia’s El Estado de derecho como tiranía. While both texts use a Gramscian analysis in the Bolivian context to great effect, they also demonstrate the political nature of Bolivian social theory and highlight the social function that the intellectuals themselves perform.
Si bien el primer gobierno de Evo Morales se presentaba como revolucionario y dispuesto a cambiar... more Si bien el primer gobierno de Evo Morales se presentaba como revolucionario y dispuesto a cambiar las estructuras políticas, económicas y sociales del país de una manera radical a través de lo que denominó “Proceso de cambio”, en realidad, después de 14 años de gobierno, sólo se trató de una revolución pasiva, afirma Angus McNelly, autor de la publicación que en esta oportunidad presentamos. El gobierno de Morales ha formado parte de la marea rosa, es decir, del período progresista en América Latina que, señala el autor, ha llegado a su fin debido a que en la región se está dando “un momento de restauración conservadora en el que las aperturas para las transformaciones sociales se han cerrado”.
A partir de esa mirada, el libro ¿Estamos en el poder? Experiencias de las clases obreras con la izquierda en el poder, una traducción de la tesis de doctorado de McNelly, refleja la situación de las clases trabajadoras urbanas durante el gobierno progresista de Evo Morales. Para ello, el autor presenta dos experiencias. La primera, en la ciudad de El Alto, donde centra su estudio en la Escuela de Formación Política (EFP) del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) que está ubicada en La Ceja. La segunda, en la zona del Plan 3000 de la ciudad de Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Dos lugares que comparten una situación común que marca su origen: el fenómeno de El Niño/La Niña de la década de los ochenta que hace que las familias afectadas, en su mayoría pobres, de las ciudades de La Paz y Santa Cruz de la Sierra se desplacen a vivir a estas zonas. Pero que también tienen clases obreras con características diferentes y que han determinado el modo de relacionarse con el gobierno del MAS.
En ese sentido, la publicación nos plantea que la clase obrera de El Alto, que en su momento fue altamente movilizada e independiente, terminó siendo absorbida y desarticulada por el Estado; mientras que la clase obrera de Santa Cruz, que no había podido organizarse ni movilizarse de manera independiente anteriormente, supo establecer una relación pragmática, vertical y clientelista con el gobierno. Hechos que se han podido observar durante los últimos años en el país y cuya información el autor recoge en su trabajo de campo, a lo largo de 17 meses en los que realizó entrevistas y participó en marchas, cabildos y demás espacios de reunión de las organizaciones sociales.
Esperamos que este estudio contribuya a la reflexión en torno a cómo la estructura de las clases obreras y su participación en la lucha de clases, como también la producción de espacios urbanos y de formación desigual del Estado, influyen en la forma en la que los grupos sociales se relacionan con ese Estado.
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y sociales del país de una manera radical a través de lo que denominó “Proceso de cambio”, en realidad, después de 14 años de gobierno, sólo se trató de una revolución pasiva, afirma Angus McNelly, autor de la publicación que en esta oportunidad presentamos. El gobierno de Morales ha formado parte de la marea rosa, es decir, del período progresista en América Latina que, señala el autor, ha llegado a su fin debido a que en la región se está dando “un momento de restauración conservadora en el que las aperturas para las transformaciones sociales se han cerrado”.
A partir de esa mirada, el libro ¿Estamos en el poder? Experiencias de las clases obreras con la izquierda en el poder, una traducción de la tesis de doctorado de McNelly, refleja la situación de las clases trabajadoras urbanas durante el gobierno progresista de Evo Morales. Para ello, el autor presenta dos experiencias. La primera, en la ciudad de El Alto, donde centra su estudio en la Escuela de Formación Política (EFP) del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) que está ubicada en La Ceja. La segunda, en la zona del Plan 3000 de la ciudad de Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Dos lugares que comparten una situación común que marca su origen: el fenómeno de El Niño/La Niña de la década de los ochenta que hace que las familias afectadas, en su mayoría pobres, de las ciudades de La Paz y Santa Cruz de la Sierra se desplacen a vivir a estas zonas. Pero que también tienen clases obreras con características diferentes y que han determinado el modo de relacionarse con el gobierno del MAS.
En ese sentido, la publicación nos plantea que la clase obrera de El Alto, que en su momento fue altamente movilizada e independiente, terminó siendo absorbida y desarticulada por el Estado; mientras que la clase obrera de Santa Cruz, que no había podido organizarse ni movilizarse de manera independiente anteriormente, supo establecer una relación pragmática, vertical y clientelista con el gobierno. Hechos que se han podido observar durante los últimos años en el país y cuya información el autor recoge en su trabajo de campo, a lo largo de 17 meses en los que realizó entrevistas y participó en marchas, cabildos y demás espacios de reunión de las organizaciones sociales.
Esperamos que este estudio contribuya a la reflexión en torno a cómo la estructura de las clases obreras y su participación en la lucha de clases, como también la producción de espacios urbanos y de formación desigual del Estado, influyen en la forma en la que los grupos sociales se relacionan con ese Estado.
y sociales del país de una manera radical a través de lo que denominó “Proceso de cambio”, en realidad, después de 14 años de gobierno, sólo se trató de una revolución pasiva, afirma Angus McNelly, autor de la publicación que en esta oportunidad presentamos. El gobierno de Morales ha formado parte de la marea rosa, es decir, del período progresista en América Latina que, señala el autor, ha llegado a su fin debido a que en la región se está dando “un momento de restauración conservadora en el que las aperturas para las transformaciones sociales se han cerrado”.
A partir de esa mirada, el libro ¿Estamos en el poder? Experiencias de las clases obreras con la izquierda en el poder, una traducción de la tesis de doctorado de McNelly, refleja la situación de las clases trabajadoras urbanas durante el gobierno progresista de Evo Morales. Para ello, el autor presenta dos experiencias. La primera, en la ciudad de El Alto, donde centra su estudio en la Escuela de Formación Política (EFP) del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) que está ubicada en La Ceja. La segunda, en la zona del Plan 3000 de la ciudad de Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Dos lugares que comparten una situación común que marca su origen: el fenómeno de El Niño/La Niña de la década de los ochenta que hace que las familias afectadas, en su mayoría pobres, de las ciudades de La Paz y Santa Cruz de la Sierra se desplacen a vivir a estas zonas. Pero que también tienen clases obreras con características diferentes y que han determinado el modo de relacionarse con el gobierno del MAS.
En ese sentido, la publicación nos plantea que la clase obrera de El Alto, que en su momento fue altamente movilizada e independiente, terminó siendo absorbida y desarticulada por el Estado; mientras que la clase obrera de Santa Cruz, que no había podido organizarse ni movilizarse de manera independiente anteriormente, supo establecer una relación pragmática, vertical y clientelista con el gobierno. Hechos que se han podido observar durante los últimos años en el país y cuya información el autor recoge en su trabajo de campo, a lo largo de 17 meses en los que realizó entrevistas y participó en marchas, cabildos y demás espacios de reunión de las organizaciones sociales.
Esperamos que este estudio contribuya a la reflexión en torno a cómo la estructura de las clases obreras y su participación en la lucha de clases, como también la producción de espacios urbanos y de formación desigual del Estado, influyen en la forma en la que los grupos sociales se relacionan con ese Estado.