Social movements play a significant role in the political and social landscape of Latin America. They emanate from different sections of society and are motivated by many different concerns, including workers’ rights, agrarian and land reform, the rights of indigenous peoples, gender inequality and the fight against environmental degradation.
In Social Movements in Latin America, Ronaldo Munck explores the mosaic of interlocking and connected issues that make up the complex map of social movements in Latin America and shows why, despite being a fragmented political force, these movements are at the centre of any future progressive politics in the region. As such they require careful understanding and, he suggests, a more nuanced theoretical approach than previous studies have offered.
Combining insights from Latin American approaches to social movement theory and detailed empirical case studies, the book provides readers with an understanding of the vital role social activism plays in the region and offers students the methodological tools to develop their own research agendas.
This forum is dedicated to the publication of Social Movements in Latin America and will feature major commentaries on the book as well as a final rejoinder by Ronaldo Munck himself.
Once a book is written it no longer ‘belongs’ to the author so I will not respond defensively to the thoughtful readers in this forum. Rather, I will join them in seeking to take the debate on social movements forward, conscious that often the students of social movement are also activists. [...]
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In his compelling book, Social Movements in Latin America, Ronaldo Munck manages to both explore the diverse debates on social movements in Latin America and set an ambitious agenda for research. Drawing on Julio Cortázar, Munck refuses to ‘constantly seek order and rational explanations for [...]
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Ronaldo Munck’s latest book, Social Movements in Latin America, is a welcome addition to the Anglophone literature. For several decades social movements have been one of the most characteristic features of Latin America’s political and cultural landscape. Despite some early works – such as [...]
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Ronaldo Munck’s latest book, Social Movements in Latin America, is a welcome addition to an ongoing discussion on protest movements in the twenty-first century. As stated in the Introduction, Munck seeks to avoid the pitfalls in what he terms “the universal validity for what is sometimes [...]
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There are many things going on in Social Movements in Latin America. Mapping the Mosaic. I especially appreciated the critical discussions of cultural political economy, of autonomy, of left critiques of progressive but extractivist governments, and the plea to account for the [...]
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