This week I focused on Max Cameron\u2019s video, \u201cThe Left Turns.\u201d Cameron, a professor of political science at UBC, took a more hopeful and uplifting look at Latin America than the previous weeks readings and videos. More specifically, he talked about democracy and the reasons for the rise of the Left. According to Cameron, the three biggest reasons are:<\/p>\n
When it comes to disenchantment with neoliberalism he discussed the \u201cwrenching programs of structural adjustment\u201d that certain countries were forced to go through. He claims that these were \u201cunsuccessful even on neoliberalism\u2019s own terms.\u201d Growth under neoliberalism has changed over the past decade, although this is thanks to international prices and not neoliberalism. Cameron also mentions Bolivia as a weak institution pointing out the privatization of water. It is no secret that Bolivia\u2019s water crisis has greatly affected the country. When I was in Cochabamba (fourth largest city in Bolivia) last year, the country was experiencing its\u2019 worst drought in twenty-five years. There were occasions when multiple days would go by without running water in the entire city. This meant that little things that we take for granted here in Canada, such as doing laundry and showering were not always possible. Bolivia\u2019s poor population is of course always hit the hardest when this occurs.<\/p>\n
Anyways, continuing on to Cameron\u2019s second point: the disappointment with the functioning of democracy, he says that Latin America is mostly democratic with \u201cno alternatives to democracy\u201d and that many democracies were formed through bargains among the elites. Cameron\u2019s third point was: International Context. He indicates that Latin America is overall much more autonomous than it used to be, partially because the United States is more concerned with the Middle East and partially because there is a gap in understanding from the US when regarding Latin America. At one-point Cameron points out that if the US was still as involved as before, there would\u2019ve probably been a sponsored coup to overthrow the Evo Morales government in Bolivia in the 1950\u2019s. This of course didn\u2019t happen, but his point got me thinking about what could\u2019ve been different had history played out differently in Latin America. He also brings up that with this newfound autonomy, countries were able to experiment with democracy on their own.<\/p>\n
I was intrigued by the two Lefts that exist in Latin America. There\u2019s the \u201cradical, populist, antidemocratic left in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela\u201d and the \u201cmature, responsible, reformist governments in Chile and Uruguay\u201d (Cameron). My question for the week is: what triggers countries to become one side of the Left or the other? What similarities and differences exist between these countries?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This week I focused on Max Cameron\u2019s video, \u201cThe Left Turns.\u201d Cameron, a professor of political science at UBC, took a more hopeful and uplifting look at Latin America than the previous weeks readings and videos. More specifically, he talked … Continue reading