Cultures of Politics Politics of Cultures : Re-Visioning Latin American Social Movements [Paperback]

Sonia E Alvarez (Author), Evelyn Dagnino (Author), Arturo Escobar (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0813330726 | ISBN-13: 978-0813330723

Investigating the complex interrelations between culture and politics in a wide range of social movements in Latin America, this book focuses on the cultural politics enacted by social movements as they struggle for new visions and practices of citizenship, democracy, social relations, and development. The volume explores the potential of these cultural politics for fostering alternative political cultures and social transformations. Theoretical and empirical chapters assess and build upon novel conceptions of culture and politics in a variety of disciplines and fields—particularly anthropology, political science, sociology, feminist theory, and cultural studies.The notion of the cultural politics of social movements provides a lens for analyzing emergent discourses and practices grounded in society and culture, the state and political institutions, and the extent to which they may unsettle, or be reinscribed into, the dominant neoliberal strategies of the 1990s. Contributors explore how social movements—urban popular, women’s, indigenous, and black movements as well as movements for citizenship and democracy—engage in the cultural resignification of notions such as rights, equality, and difference, thus altering what counts as political. By highlighting simultaneously the cultural dimensions of the political and the political dimensions of the cultural, the book transcends the distinction between “new” and “old” social movements and thus significantly renews our understanding of them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Arturo Escobar is assistant professor of anthropology at Smith College. Sonia E. Alvarez is associate professor of politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Sonia E. Alvarez is associate professor of politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Evelina Dagnino is associate professor of political science at the State University of Campinas in São Paulo. Arturo Escobar is associate professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts. Arturo Escobar is assistant professor of anthropology at Smith College. Sonia E. Alvarez is associate professor of politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (February 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813330726
• ISBN-13: 978-0813330723
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book, December 30, 2009

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Shannyn Bishop Snyder - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Cultures of Politics Politics of Cultures : Re-Visioning Latin American Social Movements (Paperback)

Needed the book for grad school. It was in good shape and easy to navigate. This is a helpful book for anyone studying Latin American anthro. It was organized well, and the reader can also pick out only the chapters needed, when optional, according to region or subject matter.

4.0 out of 5 stars great empirical evidence for political anthropological theory, February 20, 2006

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Melissa Beske (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cultures of Politics Politics of Cultures : Re-Visioning Latin American Social Movements (Paperback)

Cultures of Politics, Politics of Cultures is a very useful book for any political theorist, activist, or anthropologist interested in Latin America. It provides a wide array of cross-cultural examples which deliver empirical substance for the somewhat nebulous arguments of political theory. I would highly recommend it.