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New Left Experiences in Bolivia and Ecuador and the Challenge to Theories of Populism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2014

JENNIFER N. COLLINS
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Abstract

This article explores a paradox at the heart of New Left populism in Bolivia and Ecuador – namely, the election of populist leaders in movement societies. Employing Laclau's theory about the emergence of populism, it demonstrates how social movements, not charismatic leaders, first constructed the popular identities that laid the foundations for these regimes. In re-examining theories of populism in light of these cases, this article suggests that populism's transformative and counter-hegemonic potential needs to be given renewed attention, and that the central role of charismatic leadership should be qualified in terms of the origins of populist identity formation.

Spanish abstract

Este artículo explora una paradoja en el corazón del populismo de la Nueva Izquierda en Bolivia y Ecuador, es decir la elección de líderes populistas en sociedades con fuertes movimientos sociales. Empleando la teoría de Laclau acerca de la emergencia del populismo, el material demuestra cómo los movimientos sociales, y no los líderes carismáticos, fueron los primeros en edificar las identidades populares que sentaron las bases para estos regímenes. Al reexaminar las teorías sobre el populismo a la luz de estos casos, el artículo sugiere que el potencial transformativo y contrahegemónico del populismo necesita una atención más fresca, y el papel central del liderazgo carismático debe ser reconsiderado en relación a los orígenes de la formación identitaria del populismo.

Portuguese abstract

Este artigo explora o paradoxo existente no cerne da Nova Esquerda na Bolívia e no Equador e externado pela eleição de líderes populistas em sociedades lideradas por movimentos. Empregando a teoria da emergência do populismo de Laclau, o artigo demonstra como os movimentos sociais, ao invés dos líderes populistas, construíram primeiro as identidades populares que fundamentaram estes regimes. Ao reexaminar teorias do populismo à luz destes casos, este artigo sugere que o potencial anti-hegemônico e de transformação do populismo necessita receber uma atenção renovada e o papel central da liderança carismática deveria ser qualificado em relação às origens da formação da identidade populista.

Keywords

New Leftindigenous movementssocial movementspopulismRafael CorreaEvo MoralesEcuadorBoliviaNueva Izquierdamovimientos indígenasmovimientos socialespopulismoRafael CorreaEvo MoralesEcuadorBoliviaNova Esquerdamovimentos indígenasmovimentos sociaispopulismoRafael CorreaEvo MoralesEquadorBolívia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 59 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

1 The term ‘radical populism’ has been used to refer to these cases by De la Torre, Carlos, Populist Seduction in Latin America (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2010)Google Scholar; and Gilly, Adolfo, ‘The Emerging “Threat” of Radical Populism’, NACLA Report on the Americas, 39: 2 (2005), pp. 37–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 In Venezuela the infamous Caracazo, in which spontaneous protests against austerity measures in 1989 turned into rioting that was violently repressed by the government, is considered a key event that accelerated the party system crisis, thus helping to pave the way for Chávez's election nearly a decade later in 1998. See Wilpert, Gregory, Changing Venezuela by Taking Power (London and New York: Verso, 2007).Google Scholar Néstor Kirchner was elected on the heels of massive protests following Argentina's 2001 economic crash. Differently than in Venezuela and Argentina, where surges in popular protest tended to be episodic and spontaneous, in Ecuador and Bolivia mobilisations were organised by national movement organisations. These countries exemplify what Vanden refers to as ‘the emergence of highly politicized social movements’, which he argues represent a fundamental shift from traditional politics to new democratic participatory forms: see Vanden, Harry E., ‘Globalisation in a Time of Neoliberalism: Politicised Social Movements and the Latin American Response’, Journal of Developing Societies, 19: 2–3 (2003), pp. 308–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Laclau, Ernesto, On Populist Reason (London and New York: Verso, 2005)Google Scholar.

4 Barrett, Patrick, Chavez, Daniel and Rodríguez-Garavito, César (eds.), The New Latin American Left: Utopia Reborn (London: Pluto Press, 2008)Google Scholar; Cameron, Maxwell A. and Hershberg, Eric (eds.), Latin America's Left Turns: Politics, Policies, and Trajectories of Change (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010)Google Scholar; Cleary, Matthew R., ‘Explaining the Left's Resurgence’, in Diamond, Larry, Plattner, Marc F. and Brun, Diego Abarte (eds.), Latin America's Struggle for Democracy (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), pp. 62–76Google Scholar; Levitsky, Steven and Roberts, Kenneth, ‘Latin America's “Left Turn”: A Framework for Analysis’, in Levitsky, and Roberts, (eds.), The Resurgence of the Latin American Left (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011), pp. 1–28Google Scholar.

5 Tapia, Luis, ‘Bolivia: The Left and the Social Movements’, in Chavez, Barrett and Rodríguez-Garavito, (eds.), The New Latin American Left, pp. 215–31Google Scholar; Webber, Jeffery R., From Rebellion to Reform in Bolivia: Class Struggle, Indigenous Liberation, and the Politics of Evo Morales (Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books, 2011)Google Scholar; Hylton, Forrest and Thomson, Sinclair, Revolutionary Horizons: Past and Present in Bolivian Politics (London and New York: Verso, 2007)Google Scholar.

6 For analyses of the forajido revolt see the special edition of Íconos (no. 23, Sep. 2005, FLACSO-Ecuador). On the connection between this revolt and the origins of Correa's Alianza PAIS (PAIS Alliance, AP), see Harnecker, Marta, Ecuador: una nueva izquierda en busca de la vida en plenitud (Quito: Ediciones Abya-Yala, 2011)Google Scholar.

7 On the conjuncture of the national-popular tradition and indigenous politics in Bolivia, see Stefanoni, Pablo and Alto, Hervé Do, Evo Morales, de la coca al palacio: una oportunidad para la izquierda indígena (La Paz: Imprenta Cervantes, 2006)Google Scholar; and Stefanoni, Pablo, ‘Qué hacer con los indios…’ Y otros traumas irresueltos de la colonialidad (La Paz: Plural Editores, 2010)Google Scholar.

8 This is similar to Madrid's argument that Latin American indigenous parties are only successful when they broaden their appeal beyond their ethnic base: see Madrid, Raúl L., The Rise of Ethnic Politics in Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Examples of this approach include Germani, Gino, di Tella, Torcuato S. and Ianni, Octavio, Populismo y contradicciones de clase en Latinoamérica (Mexico City: Ediciones Era, 1973)Google Scholar; and Vilas, Carlos M., ‘Latin American Populism: A Structural Approach’, Science and Society, 56 (1992–3)Google Scholar.

10 I draw here on Weyland's discussion of concept formation: see Weyland, Kurt, ‘Clarifying a Contested Concept: Populism in the Study of Latin American Politics’, Comparative Politics, 34: 1 (2001), pp. 1–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

11 Velasco Ibarra was the most important Ecuadorean politician for a good half-century. While his charisma and fiery rhetoric gave him the trappings of a populist, Quintero López argues that his policies did not advance lower-class incorporation: see López, Rafael Quintero, El mito del populismo en el Ecuador: análisis de los fundamentos del Estado ecuatoriano moderno (1895–1934) (Quito: Ediciones Abya-Yala and Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, 1997)Google Scholar.

12 Knight, Alan, ‘Populism and Neo-populism in Latin America, especially Mexico’, Journal of Latin American Studies, 30: 2 (1998), pp. 223–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Roberts, Kenneth, ‘Neoliberalism and the Transformation of Populism in Latin America: The Peruvian Case’, World Politics, 48: 1 (1995), pp. 82–116CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Weyland, ‘Clarifying a Contested Concept’.

13 Knight, ‘Populism and Neo-populism’, p. 223.

14 Roberts, ‘Neoliberalism and the Transformation of Populism’, p. 88.

15 Ibid., p. 92.

16 Ibid., p. 113.

17 De la Torre, Populist Seduction, p. 209.

18 Critiques of radical populists based on the claim that they are undermining liberal democracy include Castañeda, Jorge, ‘Latin America's Left Turn’, Foreign Affairs, 85 (2006), pp. 28–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Corrales, Javier, ‘Hugo Boss’, Foreign Policy, 152 (2006), pp. 32–40Google Scholar. Cameron and Sharpe, on the other hand, offer a strong defence of constituent power as the essence of democracy: see Cameron, Maxwell A. and Sharpe, Kenneth E., ‘Andean Left Turns: Constituent Power and Constitution Making’, in Cameron, and Hershberg, (eds.), Latin America's Left Turns, pp. 61–78Google Scholar.

19 De la Torre, Populist Seduction, p. xiv.

20 Laclau, On Populist Reason, pp. 117–23.

21 Ibid., p. 74.

22 Ibid., pp. 72–5.

23 Ibid., p. 74.

24 Ibid.

25 Panizza, Francisco, ‘Introduction: Populism and the Mirror of Democracy’, in Panizza, (ed.), Populism and the Mirror of Democracy (London and New York: Verso, 2005), pp. 1–31Google Scholar.

26 Ibid., p. 3.

27 Ibid.

28 Roberts, ‘Neoliberalism and the Transformation of Populism’, p. 115.

29 Laclau, On Populist Reason, p. 97.

30 Arditi, Benjamin, ‘Review Essay: Populism is Hegemony is Politics? On Ernesto Laclau's On Populist Reason’, Constellations, 17: 3 (2010), pp. 488–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 Panizza, ‘Introduction: Populism and the Mirror of Democracy’, p. 28.

32 While populism in the developed world may involve other sectors besides the poor and working class, in Latin America it has generally been associated with the popular classes. For studies of populism in the developed world, see Mény, Yves and Surel, Yves, Democracies and the Populist Challenge (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

33 Weyland, ‘Clarifying a Contested Concept’, p. 11.

34 Bucaram was often referred to as el loco, or ‘the crazy one’, by both supporters and detractors for his outlandish comments and behaviour. See De la Torre, Populist Seduction, p. 97.

35 Quintero López, El mito del populismo.

36 Roberts, ‘Neoliberalism and the Transformation of Populism’, pp. 102–8.

37 Pappas, Takis S., ‘Political Leadership and the Emergence of Radical Mass Movements in Democracy’, Comparative Political Studies, 41: 8 (2008), pp. 1117–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Castañeda, ‘Latin America's Left Turn’.

39 Luna, Juan Pablo, ‘The Left Turns: Why They Happened and How They Compare’, in Cameron, and Hershberg, (eds.), Latin America's Left Turns, pp. 23–39Google Scholar.

40 Panizza, ‘Introduction: Populism and the Mirror of Democracy’, p. 10.

41 León, Jorge, De campesinos a ciudadanos diferentes (Quito: CEDIME, 1994)Google Scholar.

42 James, Daniel, ‘Perón and the People’, in Nouzeilles, Gabriela and Montaldo, Graciela (eds.), The Argentina Reader (Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 2002), pp. 273–95Google Scholar.

43 Laclau, On Populist Reason, p. 74.

44 Macas, Luis, ‘Un proyecto para construir un nuevo país’, in Agencia Latinoamericana de Información (ALAI, ) (ed.), Por el camino del arcoíris: ensayos y testimonios (Quito: ALAI, 1996), pp. 7–8Google Scholar.

45 Saltos G, Napoleón., ‘Una historia sencilla y sorprendente’, in ALAI, (ed.), Por el camino del arcoíris, p. 37Google Scholar.

46 León, Osvaldo, ‘En la antesala del tercer milenio’, in ALAI, (ed.), Por el camino del arcoíris, p. 33Google Scholar.

47 See Collins, Jennifer N., ‘A Sense of Possibility: Ecuador's Indigenous Movement Takes Center Stage’, NACLA: Report on the Americas, 33: 5 (2000), pp. 40–6Google Scholar.

48 Ibid., p. 41.

49 Teves, Ramón Pajuelo, Reinventando comunidades imaginadas: movimientos indígenas, nación y procesos sociopolíticos en los países centroandinos (Lima: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos and Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2007), pp. 157–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Pajuelo Teves builds on the concept put forward in Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1983)Google Scholar.

50 Madrid calls political movements like the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement towards Socialism, MAS) and Pachakutik ‘ethnopopulist’, reflecting the way they combine ethnic with broader popular demands and agendas and reach out beyond their core ethnic constituency. See Madrid, Raúl L., ‘The Rise of Ethnopopulism in Latin America’, World Politics, 60 (2008), pp. 475–508CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and The Rise of Ethnic Politics.

51 Interview with Fabian Aguilar, former provincial prefect, quoted in Jennifer N. Collins, ‘Democratizing Formal Politics: Indigenous and Social Movement Political Parties in Ecuador and Bolivia, 1978–2000’, unpubl. PhD diss., University of California, 2006, p. 373.

52 The divisions and lack of unity between the cocaleros and Aymara peasants were clearly seen in the way that these protests ended with the government negotiating with and acceding to some of the demands of the Aymara protestors, while marginalising the cocaleros. See Collins, Jennifer N., ‘Gains for Campesinos, Stalemate for Cocaleros in Bolivia’, NACLA: Report on the Americas, 34: 3 (2000), pp. 1–2Google Scholar. Hylton and Thomson attribute the lack of unity between the two groups primarily to the personal rivalry between Morales and Quispe. See Hylton and Thomson, Revolutionary Horizons, p. 108.

53 Ibid., p. 18.

54 By the time of Sánchez de Lozada's resignation, more than 80 protestors had been killed by government forces.

55 Hylton and Thomson, Revolutionary Horizons, p. 19.

56 Laclau, On Populist Reason, p. 74.

57 For a discussion of the emergence of this demand during the Water War, see Tapia, ‘Bolivia: The Left and the Social Movements’, p. 224. Hylton and Thomson talk about the importance of the demand for a constituent assembly during the protests known as Red October: see Hylton and Thomson, Revolutionary Horizons, pp. 138–9.

58 For an analysis of the indigenous movement's participation in the 1997 Constituent Assembly, see Andolina, Robert, ‘The Sovereign and its Shadow: Constituent Assembly and Indigenous Movement in Ecuador’, Journal of Latin American Studies, 35: 4 (2003), pp. 721–50CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

59 Madrid makes this point in ‘The Rise of Ethnopopulism’.

60 For an analysis of how MAS succeeded in transforming itself from a rural party into one that could also compete in urban areas, see Zuazo, Moira, ¿Cómo nació el MAS? La ruralización de la política en Bolivia (La Paz: Fundación Ebert, 2008)Google Scholar.

61 Do Alto, Hervé, ‘El MAS-IPSP boliviano, entre la protesta callejera y la política institucional’, in Monasterios, Karin, Stefanoni, Pablo and Do Alto, Hervé (eds.), Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad (La Paz: CLACSO and Plural Editores, 2007), p. 83Google Scholar.

62 During Morales’ tenure in office, many of these leftist intellectuals have since left the government and/or party, with some becoming vocal critics.

63 From photograph in Dangl, Benjamin, The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia (Edinburgh and Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2007), p. 196Google Scholar.

64 ‘Somos MAS’ by Arawi. The last line in Spanish reads: ‘MAS, MAS ya somos MAS’, and plays off the fact that the acronym for Morales’ party means ‘more’ in Spanish. The song can be viewed on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTaWiQYpYqU.

65 Zuazo, ¿Cómo nació el MAS?, pp. 42–3. Zuazo compares the per cent increase in votes for MAS between 2002 and 2005 and finds that at the national level 64.25 per cent of the increase in 2005 came from urban areas, compared to 35.75 per cent for rural areas. Therefore the increase in MAS's urban vote was crucial to Morales’ win in 2005.

66 This is not to say that Morales’ victory was a given. When the early elections were announced in June 2005, initial polls had Morales in third place behind right-wing candidates Jorge ‘Tuto’ Quiroga and Samuel Doria Medina: see Hylton and Thomson, Revolutionary Horizons, pp. 128–9.

67 I have argued that the absence of a single leader reflected more internally democratic and less hierarchical practices and structures within the Ecuadorean indigenous movement as compared to Bolivian indigenous-peasant organisations. See Collins, ‘Democratizing Formal Politics’, pp. 413–59.

68 Zamosc argues that their participation in the triumvirate was a stain on the Ecuadorean indigenous movement's democratic credentials: see Zamosc, Leon, ‘The Indian Movement and Political Democracy in Ecuador’, Latin American Politics and Society, 49: 3 (2007), pp. 1–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

69 See Collins, ‘A Sense of Possibility’, p. 46. This figure is remarkable given that the total size of the indigenous population according to the 2010 census is only 7 per cent.

70 In the May 2000 elections, Pachakutik won 27 mayoral races and five of the nation's 22 prefectures.

71 Interview with Virgilio Hernández, elected member of Ecuador's National Assembly, representing Correa's AP party, Quito, Ecuador, 15 July 2010.

72 Interview with Alberto Acosta, founding member of AP and president of Ecuador's Constituent Assembly, Quito, Ecuador, 23 July 2010.

73 Former Pachakutik leaders who joined Correa's campaign included Augusto Barrera and Virgilio Hernández; the former won election as mayor of Quito and the latter was elected first to the Constituent Assembly and then to the National Assembly.

74 See Conaghan, Catherine M., ‘Ecuador: Rafael Correa and the Citizens’ Revolution’, in Levitsky, and Roberts, (eds.), The Resurgence of the Latin American Left, pp. 260–82Google Scholar; and De la Torre, Carlos and Conaghan, Catherine M., ‘The Hybrid Campaign: Tradition and Modernity in Ecuador's 2006 Presidential Election’, International Journal of Press/Politics, 14: 3 (2009), pp. 335–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

75 Ospina notes that one of the Ecuadorean indigenous movement's weaknesses was its inability to forge strong alliances with representative groups on the coast. See Ospina, Pablo, ‘Nos vino un huracán político: la crisis de la CONAIE’, in Ospina, (ed.), Los Andes en movimiento: identidad y poder en el nuevo paisaje político (Quito: Corporación Editora Nacional, 2009), pp. 123–46Google Scholar.

76 For a discussion of these two approaches to the question of indigenous rights and multi-ethnic societies in the Ecuadorean context, see Mónica Chuji Gualinga, ‘Diez conceptos básicos sobre plurinacionalidad e interculturalidad’, ALAI, 2008, available at http://alainet.org/active/23366; and Carmen Martínez Novo, ‘The “Citizens’ Revolution” and the Indigenous Movement in Ecuador: Re-centering the Ecuadorian State at the Expense of Social Movements’, paper presented at the 2010 Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Toronto, 6–9 Oct. 2010.