Neoliberalism, Interrupted: Social Change and Contested Governance in Contemporary Latin America

336 Pages·2013·1.823 MB·English

by  Mark Goodale, Nancy Postero

Advance praise for Neoliberalism, Interrupted
“Mark Goodale and Nancy Postero’s collection off ers us a vivid panorama of
neoliberalism and its interruption, keeping in mind broader patterns of po liti cal
economic transformation and civil society struggle. Th e chapters forcefully
demonstrate neoliberalism’s investment in violence and regulation, while
opening our eyes to civil society’s spaces to challenge them. From Buenos Aires
to Venezuela, from race to gender, this collection represents an important
theoretical and critical engagement with Latin America’s current realities.”
—Sarah A. Radcliff e, University of Cambridge, author of
Indigenous Development in the Andes: Culture, Power, and Transnationalism
“Neoliberalism, Interrupted makes an important contribution to studying Latin
America’s rapidly changing socio- political landscape. Th e volume’s authors
remind us that the region presents a rich laboratory for experiments that defy
existing categories of social and po liti cal theory in contradictory, but potentially
exciting new ways.”
—Philip Oxhorn, McGill University, author of Sustaining Civil Society:
Economic Change, Democracy, and the Social Construction of
Citizenship in Latin America
“Th is book will resonate with all those interested in one of the most important
po liti cal questions for Latin America today. Th e authors resist the temptation to
provide easy answers— the essays are subtle and eff ective, their sophistication
buttressed by empirical and theoretical rigor.”
—Sian Lazar, University of Cambridge, author of
El Alto, Rebel City: Self and Citizenship in Andean Bolivia
“Th is timely collection brings together diverse disciplinary perspectives to
explore the limits of neoliberal governmentality in contemporary Latin America.
Th e contributors provide fi ne- grained, ethnographic analysis of alternatives to
the ‘Washington Consensus,’ both grandiose and grassroots, revealing in the
pro cess the promises and contradictions of ‘post- neoliberal’ po liti cal programs
and social projects.”
—Patrick C. Wilson, University of Lethbridge, coeditor of
Editing Eden: A Reconsideration of Identity, Politics, and Place in Amazonia

NEOLIBERALISM, INTERRUPTED

NEOLIBER A LISM,
I N T ER RU P T ED
Social Change and Contested Governance
in Contemporary Latin America
Edited by
Mark Goodale and Nancy Postero
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2013 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Ju nior University.
All rights reserved.
Th is book has been published with the assistance of the Wenner- Gren
Foundation.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or
in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written
permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Neoliberalism, interrupted : social change and contested governance in
contemporary Latin America / edited by Mark Goodale and Nancy Postero.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 8047- 8452- 8 (cloth : alk. paper)—
ISBN 978- 0- 8047- 8453- 5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Latin America— Politics and government—1980– 2. Neoliberalism—
Latin America. 3. Social change— Latin America. 4. Latin America—
Social conditions—1982– 5. Latin America— Economic policy. I. Goodale,
Mark, editor of compilation. II. Postero, Nancy Grey, editor of compilation.
F1414.3.N46 2013
980.03—dc23 2012049541
ISBN 978- 0- 8047- 8644- 7 (electronic)
Typeset by Westchester Book Composition in 10.5/15 Adobe Garamond
CONTENTS
Ac know ledg ments vii
Abbreviations ix
Editors and Contributors xiii
1 Revolution and Retrenchment: Illuminating the
Present in Latin America 1
Mark Goodale and Nancy Postero
part 1 the postneoliberal challenge 23
2 Bolivia’s Challenge to “Colonial Neoliberalism” 25
Nancy Postero
3 Culture and Neoliberal Rationalities in
Postneoliberal Venezuela 53
Sujatha Fernandes
vi contents
part 2 micropolitics of history
and practice 73
4 “En Minga por el Cauca”: Alternative Government
in Colombia, 2001– 2003 75
David Gow
5 Neoliberal Reforms and Protest in Buenos Aires 109
Marcela Cerrutti and Alejandro Grimson
6 “Taken into Account”: Demo cratic Change and
Contradiction in Mexico’s Th ird Sector 137
Analiese M. Richard
part 3 care and punishment: biopolitics and
neoliberal violence 167
7 Neoliberal Reckoning: Ec ua dor’s Truth Commission
and the Mythopoetics of Po liti cal Violence 169
Christopher Krupa
8 Care and Punishment in Latin America: Th e Gendered
Neoliberalization of the Chilean State 195
Veronica Schild
9 “Yes, We Did!” “¡Sí Se Pudo!”: Regime Change and
the Transnational Politics of Hope Between the
United States and El Salvador 225
Elana Zilberg
Postscript Insurgent Imaginaries and Postneoliberalism in
Latin America 249
Miguel Ángel Contreras Natera
Notes 269
References 283
Index 309
AC KNOW LEDG MENTS
Th e fi rst phase of the project that culminated in Neoliberalism, Interrupted
was a lively and provocative international workshop held over several days in
May 2008 at the University of California, San Diego. Th is meeting, org a-
nized around the theme of “Revolution and New Social Imaginaries in Post-
neoliberal Latin America,” was made possible by the generous support of the
Wenner-G ren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and it is to the
foundation, its president, Leslie C. Aiello, and its conference program associ-
ate, Laurie Obbink, that we owe our principal debt of gratitude. Th e continu-
ing support of the foundation was critical to the further refi nement of the
theoretical framework of the volume, which paved the way for the develop-
ment of the project into a cohesive book.
At the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), our gathering of
scholars was given the chance to engage in productive conservations and so-
cial encounters in the delightful setting of the La Jolla campus and its envi-
rons. We want to acknowledge, in part icu l ar, the participation of the Center
for Iberian and Latin America Studies (CILAS) and the Department of An-
thropology at UCSD for their close collaboration. During a crucial period in
the evolution of the project, the editors were given a chance to meet for a