Reviews

The New Politics of Inequality in
Latin America: Rethinking
Participation and Representation
Edited by Douglas A. Chalmers,
Carlos M. Vilas, Katherine Hite, Scott
B. Martin, Kerianne Piester and
Monique Zegarra. Oxford University
Press, 1997, 662 pp., $85 (cloth),
$24.95 (paper).
The New Politics of Inequality is an
edited collection of 20 highly topical
case studies of social and political
movements in nine countries of
continental Latin America (not the
Caribbean, and with a nod to Spain
in one chapter). Recognizing the
broad similarities in the different
countries’ social and economic poli-
cies, and without pretending to be
comprehensive, the case studies pre-
sent both breadth and concrete detail
across a range of political initiatives,
especially from the “popular sectors.”
The book also includes an introduc-
tion by Carlos Vilas and a conclusion
by Douglas Chalmers, Scott Martin
and Kerianne Piester that draw out
some of the implications of the cases
examined in the volume.
The underlying theme of this vol-
ume is the question of the compati-
bility between electoral democracy
and enhanced party competition at
the political level and the move
toward free-market reforms and cuts
in social programs in the economic
arena. While the region’s policy
makers see free economic initiative
as the necessary underpinning of
political freedom, many left critics
argue that huge increases in poverty
and inequality impede the full exer-
cise of citizenship. Others believe
that political and economic restruc-
turing create an opening for a new
kind of political practice by the pop-
ular sectors within civil society.
Representatives of both the second
and third view are present in The
New Politics of Inequality, although
sometimes at cross purposes.
Several of the essays examine the
way neoliberalism has undermined
traditional structures of representa-
tion such as populist parties and trade
unions, and the way social and polit-
ical actors have adapted by shifting
their practices and demands. Leftist
political parties have formulated
economic programs which do not
demand state intervention and redis-
tribution (as Kenneth Roberts and
Eric Hershberg show for the
Peruvian and Chilean left), and focus
on expanding popular participation
at the local level (Peter Winn and
Lilia Ferro-Cl6rico on Uruguay and
William Nylen on Brazil). Unions in
Argentina (M. Victoria Murillo) and
Brazil (Scott B. Martin) cut loose
from state regulatory support,
accommodate to capital and some-
times get concessions in return.
As these old structures become
weaker, new ones have emerged
around specific issues, notably the
environment (Kathryn Hochstetler
on Brazil), indigenous rights (Melina
Selverston on Ecuador), and poverty
alleviation (Monique Segarra on
Ecuador, Kerianne Piester and
Jonathan Fox on Mexico). The
authors examine new social move-
ments, nongovernmental organiza-
tions (NGOs), associative networks
and civil society. While these phe-
nomena differ from each other as
models of political practice, they
have important common features
which are said to give them advan-
tages over the old forms-they are
local and decentralized, they encour-
age direct participation, and, by rec-
ognizing diverse bases of association
in preference to a dichotomizing
class model of society, they promote
gradual rather than revolutionary
approaches to social and political
problems.
Despite macroeconomic growth,
most of Latin America’s middle and
working classes have taken a beat-
ing, as the income gap has widened
and poverty has reached crisis
levels. It is not clear that as old forms
of collective action wane, these new
forms can fill the gap. Uruguay,
where popular sectors have suffered
least (according to Fernando
Filgueira and Jorge Papad6pulos), is
ironically also the country where the
old structures of representation
remain most vigorous. Elsewhere,
the new structures create a lot of
activity, but their tangible gains are
few.
Several essays discuss the per-
ceived failures of the older forms,
but the newer forms do not come
under the same scrutiny. The authors
do not always recognize that organi-
zations such as NGOs often function
more as mediators between the pop-
ular sectors and the state than as
actual expressions of the popular sec-
tors themselves. Staffed by profes-
sionals, and often created at the
behest of international lenders and
donors, they may wind up benefitting
the constituent organizations more
than the poor who bear the brunt of
economic liberalization.
Both the traditional and the newer
organizations are mainly working for
incremental change. With the
exhaustion of the revolutionary
option, the prospects for real
advances toward greater representa-
tion and social justice in Latin
America today do not inspire
optimism. This is where a short sec-
tion of the volume on “the stubborn-
ness of violence” stands out. In case
studies of Guatemala (Deborah
Yashar), Brazil (Paulo Sdrgio
Pinheiro) and Peru (Jo-Marie Burt),
authors examine the violence
of everyday life and the fragmenta-
tion wrought by decades of repres-
sion, violence and economic
liberalization.
These studies nevertheless pro-
vide a useful and up-to-date view of
present activities and possible future
directions. They are generally of
high quality, both conceptually and
empirically. Most are written in
accessible language, and their very
diversity-in topics, countries and
points of view-make this volume a
worthwhile addition to survey courses
on contemporary Latin American
politics.