New Wine, Old Bottles, Flamboyant Sommelier: Chávez, Citizenship, and Populism
2008; Routledge; Volume: 30; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/07393140802493308
ISSN1469-9931
Autores Tópico(s)Latin American socio-political dynamics
ResumoAbstract At points of crisis of political representations and economic insecurity, populists are more likely to emerge. That was true of earlier forms of populism in Latin America and it seems to be so now. There are some important differences though and these are shown by exploring Chavismo as an "extreme" case study of populism. Chávez has pushed a model of citizenship which is antithetical to neoliberal models in that it encourages politically engaged citizens, increases worker rights through an increasingly interventionist state, and encourages anti-imperialist solidarity and actions. By understanding how populist orientations of Chávez created possibilities and constraints on that citizenship, social scientists can better understand what populism is and is not. Notes The author would like to thank Dimitri Pantoulis, Javier Corrales, Dan Hellinger, Joe Peschek and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. The field research for this article was done with the support of a Fullbright Fellowship and from Montclair State University. The author thanks his local hosts Michael Penfold, the faculty at IESA, Angel Garcia, Victor Mejia, and Jean Carlos Asanza for their comments and assistance during his research project. 1 See < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = TI0_VzFxTzs> (accessed September 18, 2008). 2 See < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = binMjEiS8AY> (accessed September 18, 2008). 3 Steve Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics: Class, Conflict, and the Chávez Phenomenon (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publications, 2008). 4 Steve Ellner and Daniel Hellinger, "Conclusion: The Democratic and Authoritarian Directions of the Chavista Movement," in Steve Ellner and Daniel Hellinger (eds), Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization & Conflict (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003). 5 Anthony Peter Spanakos, "Que regime é este? The Left in Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela," Revista Análise Econômica-UFRGS 26:50 (September 2008). 6 Jorge G. Castañeda, "Latin America's Left Turn," Foreign Affairs 85:3 (2006), pp. 28–43; Jorge G. Castañeda and Patricio Navia, "The Year of the Ballot," Current History (February 2007), pp. 51–57; Mathew R. Cleary, "Explaining the Left's Resurgence," Journal of Democracy 17:4 (October 2006), pp. 35–49; Hector E. Schamis, "Populism, Socialism, and Democratic Institutions," Journal of Democracy 17:4 (October 2006), pp. 35–49; Marie Kennedy and Chris Tilly, "Making Sense of Latin America's 'Third Left,'" New Politics 11:4 (2008), pp. 11–16; Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit. 7 Luke March, "From Vanguard of the Proletariat to Vox Populi: Left-populism as a 'Shadow' of Contemporary Socialism," SAIS Review XXVII:1 (Winter–Spring 2007), pp. 63–77. 8 Michael L. Conniff, "Introduction: Toward a Comparative Definition of Populism," in Michael L. Conniff (ed.), Latin American Populism in Comparative Perspective (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1982). 9 José Pedro Zúquete, "The Missionary Politics of Hugo Chávez," Latin American Politics & Society 50:1 (2008), pp. 91–121. 10 Kenneth M. Roberts, "Latin America's Populist Revival," SAIS Review XXVII:1 (Winter–Spring 2007), pp. 3–15. 11 Ruth Berins Collier and David Collier, Shaping the Political Arena (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991). 12 T. H. Marshall, Citizenship and Social Class and Other Essays (London: Heineman, 1963). 13 Colin Hay, "Crisis and the Structural Transformation of the State: Interrogating the Process of Change," British Journal of Politics and International Relations 1:3 (1999), pp. 317–344. 14 H. W. Arndt, "The Origins of Structuralism," World Development 13:2 (1985), pp. 151–159. 15 Peter H. Smith, Democracy in Latin America: Political Change in Comparative Perspective (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). 16 Collier and Collier, op. cit.; see also Roberts, op. cit. 17 March, op. cit. In the case of the Acción Democrática leaders of Venezuela and their predecessor, Ellner writes "they … delayed raising the banner of socialism in order to avoid a show-down with the nation's conservative classes." Steven Ellner, "Populism in Venezuela, 1935–48: Betancourt and Acción Democrática," in Conniff (ed.), op. cit., p. 147. 18 Smith, op. cit. See also the argument made for instability in modernizing countries more generally in Samuel P. Huntington, Political Order and Changing Societies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968). 19 Philip Oxhorn and Pamela K. Starr (eds), Markets & Democracy in Latin America: Conflict or Convergence (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999). 20 Paul Drake, "Conclusion: Requiem for Populism?" in Conniff (ed.), op. cit. Also see David Leaman, "Changing Faces of Populism in Latin America: Masks, Makeovers, and Enduring Features," Latin American Research Review 39:3 (2004), pp. 312–326. 21 Rudiger Dornbusch and Sebastian Edwards (eds), The Macroeconomics of Populism in Latin America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). 22 Susan C. Stokes (ed.), Public Support for Market Reforms in New Democracies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). 23 Kurt Weyland, "Neoliberalism and Democracy in Latin America: A Mixed Record," Latin American Politics and Society 46:1 (Spring 2004), pp. 135–157 at p. 149. 24 See Roberts, op. cit. 25 Jorge G. Castañeda, Utopia Unarmed: Latin American Left after the Cold War (New York: Vintage, 1994); Castañeda, "Latin America's Left Turn," op. cit. 26 Conniff, op. cit., p. 5. 27 See Castañeda, Utopia Unarmed, op. cit. 28 Henry Dietz and David J. Myers, "From Thaw to Deluge: Party System Collapse in Venezuela and Peru," Latin American Politics and Society 49:2 (2007), pp. 59–86. 29 John Gerring with Jason Seawright, Case Study Research: Principles and Practices (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 101. 30 Julia Buxton, "Economic Policy and the Rise of Hugo Chávez," in Ellner and Hellinger (eds), op. cit., pp. 115, 113. 31 Margarita López Maya, "The Venezuelan Caracazo of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness," Journal of Latin American Studies 35 (February 2003), pp. 117–136. 32 Daniel H. Levine and Brian F. Crisp, "Legitimacy, Governability, and Reform in Venezuela," in Louise W. Goodman, Johana Mendelson Forma, Moisés Naím, Joseph S. Tulchin, and Gary Bland (eds), Lessons of the Venezuelan Experience (Washington, DC: The Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1995). 33 Keller & Associates, "La popularidad de Hugo Chávez," personal communication with the autor, no date. 34 Margarita López Maya (ed.), Ideas para debater el socialismo del siglo XXI (Caracas: Editora Alfa, 2007). 35 See Daniel Hellinger, "When 'No' Means 'Yes to Revolution': Electoral Politics in Bolivarian Venezuela," Latin American Perspectives 32:8 (2005), pp. 8–32. Chávez told Aleida Guevara: "This is true democracy, extending far beyond formal political democracy that limits choice to whether or not a particular governor should be elected." Chávez in Aleida Guevara, Chávez: Venezuela & the New Latin America (New York: Ocean Press, 2007), p. 49. 36 Though barrio conventionally means "neighborhood," in Venezuela it refers to shanty-towns. The word urbanización is used to connote a neighborhood and the implication is that it is wealthy. 37 This is consistent with Žižek who writes "the true opposition today is … between globalization (the emerging global market new world order) and universalism (the properly political domain of universalizing one's particular fate as representative of global injustice)." Slavoj Žižek, "For a Leftist Appropriation of the European Legacy," Journal of Political Ideologies 3:1 (February 1998), pp. 988–1009 at p. 1007. 38 That is because "The political may be defined as everything that concerns … explicit power. This includes the modes of access to explicit power, the appropriate ways of managing it, and so on." Cornelius Castoriadis, "Democracy as Procedure and Democracy as Regime," The Rising Tide of Insignificancy, translated from French and edited anonymously, p. 34, < www.aporiainternational.org/englishtextc.html>. Maintaining politics within the administration of government functions ignores the way in which power is constructed and alternative ways of "managing it." 39 Norbert Lechner, "The Transformation of Politics," in Felipe Aguero and Jeffrey Stark (eds), Fault Lines of Democracy in Post-Transition Latin America (Miami: North–South Center Press, 1998). In distinguishing third wave from previous waves of democracies, Smith notes the shift toward the center by much of the right and left and the reduction of space for policy innovation and discussion. He finds that, current democracies in Latin America are extraordinary in the restraint over public demands, that they are less utopian than in the past. This evokes the work Utopia Unarmed by Jorge Castañeda who identifies two lefts—one institutional and one radical, clearly favoring the former. 40 Teacher, Barquisimeto, March 5, 2008. 41 Government Official, Petare, May 2008. 42 Michael Coppedge, Strong Parties and Lame Ducks: Presidential Partyarchy and Factionalism in Venezuela (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997). 43 María Pilar García-Guadilla, "Civil Society: Institutionalization, Fragmentation, Autonomy," in Ellner and Hellinger (eds), op. cit. 44 Javier Corrales, "Oil and Polarization in Venezuela," in Jonathan Eastwood and Thomas Ponniah (eds), Revolution in Venezuela (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, forthcoming). 45 Again, this is based on the investigator's research in Venezuela in 2008 referred to earlier. 46 Interviews conducted in Catia, Caracas, on April 12, 2008, and Carora, Lara, on March 7, 2008. 47 The misiones are highly visible and popular manifestations of government reaching out to its citizens. They include programs to reduce illiteracy (Robinson), give university degrees (Ribas), reduce problems with eyes (milagro), support and spread popular culture (cultura), remunerate women in barrios (madre de barrio), among other issues. The results of these misiones are highly disputed although they are quite popular. See Mark Weisbrot, "An Empty Research Agenda: The Creation of Myths about Contemporary Venezuela," Center for Economic and Policy Research Issue Brief (March 2008), p. 1, also p. 4; Francisco Rodríguez, "An Empty Revolution: The Unfulfilled Promises of Hugo Chávez," Foreign Affairs (March/April 2008), pp. 49–62. 48 Interview, Petare, May 24, 2008. 49 Interview, San Martín, May 16, 2008. 50 Trino Márquez, "Partido y pluralidad," in Gregorio Castro (ed.), Debate por Venezuela (Caracas: Editorial Alfa, 2007). 51 Margarita López Maya, "Sobre representación política y participación en el socialismo venezolano del siglo XXI," in Castro (ed.), op. cit. 52 Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit., p. 203. 53 Thais Maingón and Arturo Sosa Abascal, "Los consejos comunales: ¿Espacios para la construcción de ciudadanía y el ejercicio del poder popular?" Draft (May 22, 2007), p. 14. 54 María Pilar García-Guadilla, "Poder popular y limites de la democracia participative en Venezuela: la experiencia de los consejos comunales," paper delivered at the II Conferencia de la Sección Venezolana de la Latin American Studies Association, Caracas (May 2008). 55 Maingón and Sosa Abascal, op. cit.; García-Guadilla, "Poder popular y limites de la democracia participative en Venezuela," op. cit. 56 Margarita López Maya, "Sobre representación política y participación en el socialismo venezolano del siglo XXI," op. cit. 57 Margarita López Maya, "Sobre representación política y participación en el socialismo venezolano del siglo XXI," op. cit; Márquez, op. cit. 58 William R. Nylen, Participatory Democracy versus Elite Democracy: Lessons from Brazil (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). 59 Daniel Hellinger, "Defying the Iron Law I: How Does 'el pueblo' Conceive Democracy," in Participation, Politics and Culture in Venezuela's Bolivarian Democracy, Daniel Hellinger and David Smilde, eds (Durham: Duke University Press, forthcoming) 60 Maingón and Sosa Abascal, op. cit. 61 Sujatha Fernandes, "Barrio Women and Popular Politics in Chávez's Venezuela," Latin American Politics and Society 49:3 (Fall 2007), pp. 97–127. 62 See Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit. 63 Roberts, op. cit. 64 Again, see Roberts, op. cit; for a government account of this see Haiman El-Troudi, Ser capitalista es un mal negocio: claves para socialistas (Caracas: Centro Internacional Miranda, 2007), p. 19. 65 Buxton, op. cit. 66 Weyland, op. cit. See also Susan C. Stokes, "Economic Reforms and Public Opinion in Fujimori's Peru," in Stokes (ed.), op. cit. 67 Weisbrot, op. cit., p. 1, also p. 4. 68 Suhelis Tejero Puntes, "Sector privado pierde terrno en generación de empleo," El Universal, June 25, 2008. 69 Rodríguez, op. cit., p. 51. See also Weisbrot, op. cit. 70 Jon Lee Anderson, "A Reporter at Large: Fidel's Heir: The Influence of Hugo Chávez," The New Yorker, June 23, 2008; Bernard Mommer, "Subversive Oil," in Ellner and Hellinger (ed.), op. cit. See < http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/23/080623fa_fact_anderson?currentPage = all> (accessed June 19, 2008). 71 Cesar J. Alvarez, Venezuela's Oil-Based Economy, June 27, 2008. See < http://www.cfr.org/publication/12089/venezuelas_oilbased_economy.html?breadcrumb = %2Fregion% 2F254%2Fvenezuela#7> (accessed September 17, 2008). 72 Interview, May 22, 2008. 73 Interview, Maracay, April 12, 2008. 74 Publicist, Petare, May 24, 2008. 75 "Chávez anuncia que nacionalizará cementeras mañana a medianoche," El Universal, August 17, 2008. 76 See < http://www.heritage.org/Index/> (accessed September 18, 2008). 77 Interview, La Pastora, Caracas, March 11, 2008. 78 See Fernando Coronil, The Magical State: Nature, Money, and Modernity in Venezuela (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997). 79 Steve Ellner, "Organized Labor and the Challenge of Chavismo," in Ellner and Hellinger (eds), op. cit. 80 Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit., p. 197. 81 Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit., p. 294. 82 See Hellinger, "Defying the Iron Law I," op. cit. 83 In Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit., p. 294. 84 In Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit., p. 298. 85 Benedict Mander, "Venezuelans Go Abroad for Easy Money," Financial Times, January 29, 2008, available online at: < http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id = fto012820081928015348> (accessed January 28, 2008). 86 Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, "BCV ha asignado a Cadivi US$ 3.600 millones en enero," Diario Vea, January 29, 2008, p. 17. 87 Teacher, Carora, March 6, 2008. 88 Teacher, Los Lanos, June 2, 2008. 89 Professor, Altamira, June 8, 2008. 90 Cartoons of the Dalai Lama were especially visible prior to and during the Olympic Games in Beijing. They functioned as a counter to US protests on behalf of Tibet. 91 Alvarez, op. cit. 92 Since taking office in February 1999, he has spent more than one year abroad pursuing a multilateralization of global affairs: Anderson, op. cit. 93 Simon Romero, "Chávez Backs Off Threats to Halt Oil Exports to US," New York Times, February 18, 2008, available online at: < http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/world/americas/18venez.html?fta = y&pagewanted = print> (accessed February 18, 2008). 94 Julia Kollewe and Graeme Wearden, "Chávez Threatens EU with Oil Boycott," The Guardian, Friday June 20, 2008, available online at: < www.guardian.co.uk> (accessed September 16, 2008). 95 See Aló Presidente, March 2, 2008. See also Abel Zuñiga, "El asesinato y el asesino," Diario Vea, March 5, 2008, p. 5. 96 Eleazar Díaz Rangel,"La CIA trabaja '24 horas' para desestabilizar al Gobierno de Chávez," Últimas Noticias, February 17, 2008, available online at: < http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/?p = 12076> (accessed June 10, 2008). 97 Student, El Valle, April 10, 2008. 98 Eva Gollinger, The Chávez Code: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela (Pluto Press, 2006) argues that there was a clear plot to destabilize the Chávez government. At the same time, many elite informants who were contacted by US government officials insist that the relationship between the US and the coup-leaders was much more indirect or ambiguous. That the US government supported civil society groups that mobilized against the government seems clear, but that the US government, or any series of offices within the US, were entirely informed and supportive is far less clear. 99 Simon Romero, "Alleging Coup Plot, Chávez Ousts US Envoy," New York Times, September 12, 2008, available online at: < http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/world/americas/13bolivia.html?ref = world> (accessed September 12, 2008). 100 See Anderson, op. cit. 101 See Cristina Marcano and Alberto Barrera Tyszka, Hugo Chávez Sin Uniforme: Una historia personal (Caracas: Debate, 2004) for quotations from Chávez and others which reveal the potential for encouraging "popular" violent struggle. 102 Hellinger, "When 'No' Means 'Yes to Revolution'," op. cit. 103 Obviously there are considerable differences between the goals and tactics of these groups. What they have in common is their resistance to sovereign elected governments. 104 Javier Corrales, "The Venezuela Challenge: Hard Power, Soft Power and Social Power," prepared for the FIU Venezuela Conference, May 29, 2008, Miami, Florida. 105 Michael Shifter and Vinjay Jawahar, "The Divided States of the Americas," Current History (February 2006), pp. 51–57 at p. 53. 106 Alvarez, op. cit. 107 Roger Burbach, "Ecuador's Popular Revolt: Forging a New Nation," North American Congress on Latin America (September/October 2007), pp. 4–9 at p. 7. 108 Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit. 109 Cuba's trade agreement with Venezuela predates Petrocaribe and it amounts to some 80,000 barrels per day which is exchanged for medical services, the lending of doctors for barrio adentro, among other services. 110 Fátima Remrio, "Platal en crudo ha reco Petrocaribe," Últimas Noticias, July 14, 2008, p. 14. 111 Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics, op. cit. 112 Anderson, op. cit. Of course, the figures for Venezuela are based on pledged amounts. There is very likely a large gap between what is pledged and what is delivered. 113 "¿Qué es el ALBA?" available online at: < http://www.alternativabolivariana.org/modules.php?name = Content&pa = showpage&pid = 1> (accessed June 20, 2008). 114 Shifter and Jawahar, op. cit.; Harold A. Trikunas, "What is Really New about Venezuela's Bolivarian Foreign Policy?" Strategic Insights V:2 (February 2006), available online at: < www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/Feb/trikunasFeb06.asp> (accessed June 9, 2008). Ironically, this charter bolstered regional support for Chávez during the April 2002 coup. 115 Paula Ramón, "El ambajador de Bolivia José Alvarado agradeció el apoyo," Últimas Notícias, August 10, 2008, p. 18. 116 Student, Barquisimeto, March 7, 2008. 117 Elsa Cardozo da Silva and Richard S. Hillman, "Venezuela: Petroleum, Democratization, and International Affairs," in Frank O. Mora and Jeanne K. Hey (eds), Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Policy (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2003). 118 Anibal Romero, La miseria del populismo (Caracas: Centauro, 1986). 119 Again, this does not include all Venezuelan citizens. 120 Gerring with Seawright, op. cit., p. 105. 121 See Conniff, op. cit.; Weyland, op. cit.; Roberts, op. cit. 122 See Drake, op. cit. See also J. Demmers, A. E. Fernandez Jilberto and B. Hogenboom (eds), Miraculous Metamorphoses: The Neoliberalization of Latin American Populism (London: Zed Books, 2001). 123 Buxton, op. cit. 124 Roberts, op. cit. 125 See Daniel Hellinger and David Smilde, eds., Participation, Politics and Culture in Venezuela's Bolivarian Democracy (Durham: Duke University Press, forthcoming). 126 Fernandes, op. cit. Stuart Alexander Rockefeller, "Dual Power in Bolivia: Movement and Government since the Election of 2005," Urban Anthropology & Studies of Cultural System & World Development 36:3 (2007), pp. 161–193 at p. 166. 127 See Roberts, op. cit. Additional informationNotes on contributorsAnthony Peter Spanakos The author would like to thank Dimitri Pantoulis, Javier Corrales, Dan Hellinger, Joe Peschek and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. The field research for this article was done with the support of a Fullbright Fellowship and from Montclair State University. The author thanks his local hosts Michael Penfold, the faculty at IESA, Angel Garcia, Victor Mejia, and Jean Carlos Asanza for their comments and assistance during his research project.
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