A Break in Elite Class Hegemony and the Rise of the Latin American Left

• In Event: Élites Políticas en América Latina

Abstract

This study unpacks the leftism and political discontent that ushered in a wave of left presidencies in Latin America since 1998. The findings support a Gramscian-inspired class hegemony theory and challenge Polanyian backlash to neoliberalism theories of left electoral power. The study situates an individual level quantitative analysis of the region’s premier poll, Latinobarómetro, in a comparison between five contexts where the left won and seven comparable contexts where it lost. It demonstrates that left-win contexts are defined not just by frustration with political failures, or a backlash to neoliberalism, but also by politicized views of business emblematic of a break in elite class hegemony.

Author

• Leslie C Gates, SUNY/Binghamton University