Transnational Activism and National Movements in Latin America

During the 1990s, as widespread perception spread of declining state sovereignty, activists and social movement organizations began to form transnational networks and coalitions to pressure both intergovernmental organizations and national governments on a variety of issues. Research has focused on the formation of these transnational networks, campaigns, and coalitions; their objectives, strategies and tactics; and their impact. Yet the issue of how participation in transnational networks influences national level mobilization has been little analyzed. What effects has the experience of social movement organizations at the transnational scale had for the development at the national scale?This volume addresses this significant gap in the literature on transnational collective action by building on approaches that stress the multi-level characteristics of transnational relations. Edited by noted Latin American politics scholar Eduardo Silva, the contributions focus on four distinct themes to which the empirical chapters contribute: Building a Transnational Relations Approach to Multi-Level Interaction; Transnational Relations and Left Governments; North-South and South-South Linkages; and The "Normalization" of Labor. Bridging the Divide will add considerably to empirical knowledge of the ways in which transnational and national factors dynamically interact in Latin America. Additionally, the mid-range theorizing of the empirical chapters, along with the mix of positive and negative cases, raises new hypotheses and questions for further study.

"This important collection provides fresh and original insights into the interaction of national and transnational protests in the context of contemporary processes of globalization in Latin America. The collection contains contributions from well-known authors with extensive experience analyzing transnational contentious politics. These chapters, which look at organizing around trade, mining, food issues, indigenous rights, labor rights, and other issues, provide rich analysis of how transnational organizing against neo-liberalism creates both opportunities and challenges for domestic mobilization."—Laura MacDonald, Carleton University"This collection addresses an important gap in the literature on contemporary social movements –the domestic impact of international level collaboration. Engagement at the international level has become a necessary part of social movement efforts, as global integration shifts battles outside national borders as well as into international organizations. Yet, participation in transnational efforts alters domestic struggles, introducing new frames, resources, strategies and tactics to social movement actors. The chapters of this volume apply comparative analysis to Latin American struggles against neoliberalism, drawing lessons for individual cases that are relevant to global movements. Well written and coherently organized, this volume will be an asset to students and activists engaged in the real world struggle of understanding and shaping contemporary alternatives to neoliberal capitalism."—Aaron Schneider, University of Denver

Eduardo Silva holds the Friezo Family Foundation Chair in Political Science, is Professor of Political Science and a Research Associate of the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research at Tulane University. He is the author of Challenging Neoliberalism in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and The State and Capital in Chile (Westview, 1996). His articles have appeared in World Politics, Comparative Politics, Development and Change, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review, Journal of Latin American Studies.