Pink tide, extractivism, and labour: the bumpy road of radical post-neoliberalism

• In Event: Work in XXI Century Latin America: Options, Challenges and Promises I

Abstract

Labour political capacity is an important factor in determining the nature of development models and the quality of jobs generated within them. Paradoxically, radical pink tide governments in South America have undermined to a great extent the autonomous exercise of such capacity.
This paper proposes a historical comparison to illustrate the transformation in the patterns of accumulation in countries that recently switched to more radical left wing governments. In these countries, the natural resource rent captured by the state is not inserted in development programs aiming at fostering industrialization like it was the case during the ISI era; neither is it used to strengthen international investors’ confidence by investing financial resources in debt repayment. Instead, rent is channeled through direct and indirect redistributive policies aimed at addressing the increase in inequalities generated during the neoliberal era. The resulting development model, I will argue, does not focus on employment as its main source of integration. In consequence, reliance on extractivism places radical left wing governments in a tense position vis-à-vis organized labour. In addition, the pattern followed requires also a tighter control over labour organizational capacity. I will explore these issues in reference to Ecuador and Venezuela, countries where I have completed extensive fieldwork over the last 4 years.

Author

• Thomas Chiasson-LeBel, York University