Bottom-Up Democracies, Cannibal Capitalism and the Eclipse of Democratic Hope: Latin America between 2001 and the Trumpian Present
This article offers a historical and critical rereading of bottom-up democracies in Latin America through two emblematic early twenty-first-century experiences: the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico and the citizen-led Flag-Washing Movement in Peru. These cases are situated within the...
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| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Artículo revista |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
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Universidad Nacional de Rosario
2026
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| Acceso en línea: | https://relasp.unr.edu.ar/index.php/revista/article/view/176 |
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| Sumario: | This article offers a historical and critical rereading of bottom-up democracies in Latin America through two emblematic early twenty-first-century experiences: the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico and the citizen-led Flag-Washing Movement in Peru. These cases are situated within the 1990–2001 cycle, characterized by the imposition of neoliberalism and the centrality of human rights as a democratic horizon. Taking the September 11, 2001 attacks as a global turning point, the article analyzes the shift toward a cannibal and fragmented form of capitalism that has undermined the material and symbolic foundations of democracy. Engaging contemporary critical theory, it argues that the Trumpian present represents a post-democratic mode of governance compatible with the erosion of political life. The article concludes that the current democratic crisis is structural rather than conjunctural, and that early bottom-up democratic experiences provide key insights into both the limits and the fragile possibilities of democratic recomposition today. |
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