April 26th-28th, 2013, Historical Materialism Conference, New York City 2013
New York University, Silver Center, 31 Washington Place, New York, NY

Sunday, April 28th, 2013, 4pm-6pm, Session 6, panel C
Latin American Social Movements 14 Years Later: Experiences and Perspectives since 1998

Panelists: Marina Sitrin, Dario Azzellini, and Ximena García Bustamante
Chair: Greg Wilpert

Ever since Latin America’s “Left Tide” started with Hugo Chávez’s election in 1998, the relationship between social movements and the governments in the region has been quite contentious and varied. In some countries, such as Venezuela, the government has generally supported grassroots movements, while in others, such as in Bolivia and Ecuador, an initial harmony between the two has since turned sour. In yet others, such as Argentina, with a left-of-center government, and in Mexico, with a rightist government, the relationships have been very tense. What have these different experiences meant for grassroots social movements in the region and what is likely to happen in the near future? How have government policies towards movements ended up shaping the movements and how have the movements shaped or influenced the different governments? Focusing on the experiences of Venezuela, Argentina, and Mexico, the three panelists will discuss these issues and will compare notes across these three very different countries.

Dario Azzellini – Perspectives of the Bolivarian Revolution without Chávez
Ximena García Bustamante – Mexico: Between Mass Mobilization and Semiotic War
Marina Sitrin – Constructing Autonomy With, Against and Beyond the State in Argentina

Marina Sitrin is a sociologist, lawyer and postdoctoral fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center. She has both participated in, as well as has been writing about, the new global movements. She is the author of Everyday Revolutions: Horizontalism and Autonomy in Argentina and the co-author, with Dario Azzellini, of Occupying Language and the forthcoming They Can’t Represent Us! Reinventing Democracy from Greece to Occupy.
Dario Azzellini is lecturer in Sociology at the Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria). He is the author of several books and documentaries on movements, participative democracy and workers control with a regional focus on Latina America. He served as Associate Editor for The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, he is part of the founders collective of the web site workerscontrol.net.
Ximena García Bustamante, doctoral student, political science, CUNY Graduate Center. She coordinated the project “Equity during childhood and youth” at Mexico City´s Women Institute, a pioneering attempt within the City Government to build and implement a gender-aware public policy for children and youngsters in marginalized areas. With the Youth Network on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, she founded the first feminist school for youngsters in Mexico. Ms. García Bustamante has contributed to the feminist and literary magazines of the newspaper La Jornada and to the journal Debate Feminista.

Complete program and registration: https://sites.google.com/site/2013hmny/