The Revolution in Venezuela: Social and Political Change Under Chavez

Is Venezuelars"s Bolivarian revolution under Hugo Chaacute;vez truly revolutionary? Most books and articles tend to view the Chaacute;vez government in an either-or fashion. Some see the president as the shining knight of twenty-first-century socialism, while others see him as an avenging Stalinist strongman. Despite passion on both sides, the Chaacute;vez government does not fall easily into a seamless fable of emancipatory or authoritarian history, as these essays make clear.A range of distinguished authors consider the nature of social change in contemporary Venezuela and explore a number of themes that help elucidate the sources of the nationrs"s political polarization. The chapters range from Fernando Coronilrs"s "Bolivarian Revolution," which examines the relationship between the staters"s social body (its population) and its natural body (its oil reserves), to an insightful look at womenrs"s rights by Cathy A. Rakowski and Gioconda Espina. This volume shows that, while the future of the national process is unclear, the principles elaborated by the Chaacute;vez government are helping articulate a new Latin American left.