Neoliberal Forms of Capital and The Rise of Social Movement Partyism in Central America

Authors

  • Paul Almeida University of California, Merced

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2015.524

Keywords:

Popular Resistance, Neoliberalism, Social movement Partyism, Central America, Global Capitalism

Abstract

Historical shifts in global economic formations shape the strategies of resistance movements in the global South. Neoliberal forms of economic development over the past thirty years in Central America have weakened traditional actors sponsoring popular mobilization such as labor unions and rural cooperatives. At the same time, the free market reforms produced new threats to economic livelihood and well-being throughout the region. The neoliberal measures that have generated the greatest levels of mass discontent include rising prices, privatization, labor flexibility laws, mining projects, and free trade. This article analyzes the role of emerging anti-neoliberal political parties in alliance with popular movements in Central America. Countries with already existing strong anti-systemic parties in the initial phases of the global turn to neoliberalism in the late twentieth century resulted in more efficacious manifestations of social movement partyism in the twenty-first century resisting free market globalization.

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Published

2015-02-26

How to Cite

Almeida, P. (2015). Neoliberal Forms of Capital and The Rise of Social Movement Partyism in Central America. Journal of World-Systems Research, 21(1), 8–24. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2015.524

Issue

Section

States and Social Movements in the Modern World-System