Contemporary Left-wing Populism in Latin America: Leadership, Horizontalism, and Postdemocracy in Chávez's Venezuela

Abstract

Critical engagement with the case of Chavismo in Venezuela can offer valuable insights for a fuller understanding of contemporary populism in Latin America. While for some scholars Chávez's populism has fostered popular empowerment, others dwell on the newly confirmed tensions between populism, liberal rights, and democratic proceduralism. This article embraces both positions but moves beyond their one‐sidedness to cast Chavista populism as an inherently contradictory phenomenon that has constituted an ambivalent and transitory process in response to the gradual closure of liberal (post)democracy. Chavista “caesaro‐plebeian” populism is construed as a site of tension and contention, which entails both promises and dangers for democracy. To make these points, the article draws on the discursive analysis of populism and on a new, productive shift in the study of populism in Venezuela, which pursues ethnographic field research on social movements instead of focusing exclusively on the figure of the leader.

The bolivarian regimes and governance deficit in Venezuela, 2015-2019

“…Arguing from historical perspectives, president Chavez popularism in Venezuela was earlier geared towards fostering popular government which had an inherently contradictory phenomenon, that has constituted an ambivalent and transitory process and dangerous for democracy (Alexandros, 2016). His predecessor staunchly inherited the crisis.…”

The Multiple Voices of the United Nations on the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan Crises: A Sociological Approach of International Organizations

“…With the worsening of the crises in Venezuela and Nicaragua since 2017 (Feinberg, 2018; Stravrakakis et al, 2016), international attention to these countries has increased. Academic research has focused on hemispheric reactions to the situation (Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, 2019; Huete‐Pérez, 2019; Legler, Serbin Pont, & Garelli‐Ríos, 2018; Stanford, 2019).…”

Chile’s democratic road to authoritarianism: From neostructuralist bargain to state of emergency

“…He accepts Castañeda's good/bad dualism, but subverts it, arguing that it is the "bad" cases (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador) that represent a progressive alternative for the region. Finally, more recent scholarship, the work presented here included, has opted to add complexity to the debate by theoretically and empirically questioning the populist/democratic dualism (Anria, 2013;Ciccariello-Maher, 2013;Stavrakakis et al, 2016;Grisaffi, 2019).…”