Rethinking Latin America’s Left Turn: A Historical and Theoretical Approach (Pitt Latin American Series)

Posner, Paul W.

ISBN 10: 0822968002 / ISBN 13: 9780822968009

Published by University of Pittsburgh Press, 2026

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780822968009

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rethinking Latin America?s Left Turn: A Historical and Theoretical Approach (Pitt Latin American Series)
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0822968002
• ISBN 13: 9780822968009
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Around the turn of the century, a wave of leftist governments spread across Latin America. Paul W. Posner revisits this movement and diagnoses the reasons for its failure to achieve traditional leftist goals, such as reducing inequality, increasing inclusion of marginalized groups, and strengthening social solidarity. He investigates two sets of paired comparisons of paradigmatic cases: the moderate leftist regimes of Chile and Uruguay and the radical leftist regimes of Ecuador and Venezuela. He then compares their rhetoric with their actual practices and policies. Too often, these governments betrayed their self-avowed principles. Posner identifies the shortcomings in the conceptualizations used to understand this pink tide, provides the conceptual and empirical basis for challenging the established thinking regarding leftist governance in Latin America, and constructs the foundation for rethinking what an authentic left turn in Latin America might look like.

About the Author

Paul W. Posner is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Clark University. He directs the Latin American and Latinx Studies program and teaches courses on Latin American politics, U.S. – Latin American relations, comparative environmental politics, and democratic theory.