Movimientos urbanos y desempoderamiento en Perú y Venezuela

Abstract

This paper addresses a core puzzle: why is continued citizen mobilization accompanied by growing disempowerment of those same citizens? Why do movements fail, leaders burn out and members disperse, and what are the implications of this organizational failure for demo¬cratic representation? Our consideration of the issues is rooted in a close examination of urban movements, mobilization, empowerment and disempowerment in the recent experience of Venezuela and Perú. The puzzle that concerns us is of course not limited to these two countries: it is common to all the Andean republics, and in different ways, to much recent experience of urban mobilization in Latin America and beyond. After a brief account of urban citizen move¬ments and politics in our two cases, we outline general reflections on the nature of empowerment and disempowerment, on the peculiar combination of strengths and weaknesses that mark many contemporary movements. A close examination of types of movements and their links with poli¬tical parties and protest follows. The character of city life is important here. We close with analysis of recent waves of urban mobilization in Perú (that sparked the ouster of president Alberto Fujimori) and in Venezuela (both for and against president Hugo Chávez Frías), and with reflections on the likely future of empowerment and disempowerment for urban citizens and the implications of this perspective for democratic representation