THE ORIGINS OF THE CHÁVEZ (BOLIVARIAN) REVOLUTION

2017 ◽  
pp. 18-49
Keyword(s):  
Bolivarian Revolution

scholarly journals A Venezuelan Position on the Bolivarian Revolution

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-13
Author(s):  
Douglas Amundaray
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Bolivarian Revolution ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

My interest in politics started during my high school years. At 13 I got hooked on the Venezuelan political scenario with the same intensity as most adults. It is not usual for a teenager to be interested in politics, but the impact of the 1998 Venezuelan presidential election was so significant, the coverage by media so widespread, that it was practically inevitable that I would become enthralled in the outcome. “How does who you are and where you stand in relation to others shape what you know about the world?” By raising this question, David Takacs (2002) introduces the importance of positionality to knowledge production. Positionality provides a way to understand how objective or subjective researchers are during knowledge production (Lave & Wenger, 1991). I can firmly say that the representations portrayed in Venezuela’s mainstream media built up my character, and shaped the analytical approach that I follow today as a scholar.

scholarly journals 21st Century Socialism: Making a State for Revolution

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 537-554
Author(s):  
Lee Artz
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Bolivarian Revolution ◽  
Media Access ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Cultural Challenges ◽  
Public Media

The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela has built mass organizations of workers and communities that have erratically challenged class and market relations—verifying that taking political power is difficult but essential to fundamental social change and that capitalist cultural practices complicate the revolutionary process. This work identifies components of state power, separating state apparatus (government) as a crucial site for instituting social change. The case of democratic, participatory communication and public media access is presented as central to the successes and problems of Venezuelan 21st century socialism. Drawing on field research in community media in Caracas, the essay highlights some of the politico-cultural challenges and class contradictions in producing and distributing cultural values and social practices for a new socialist hegemony necessary for fundamental social change.

Defining the “Bolivarian Revolution”: Hugo Chávez's Venezuela

2001 ◽  
Vol 100 (643) ◽  
pp. 80-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer McCoy ◽  
Laura Neuman
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Bolivarian Revolution ◽  
Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chávez has taken on the mantle of the people's will. He has also taken on an ever-larger share of political power and shown an increasing interest in spreading his “Bolivarian revolution” to the downtrodden in nearby Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

scholarly journals A Starving Revolution: ID Cards and Food Rationing in Bolivarian Venezuela

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 590-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Ragas
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Database System ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Bolivarian Revolution ◽  
Surveillance Technology ◽  
Identity Card ◽  
The Government ◽  
Identity Cards ◽  
Hugo Chavez

In this essay, I examine the controversy around the “Carnet de la Patria,” a national identity card issued in Venezuela in December 2016. I argue that this ID card belongs to a larger project of surveillance and regulation of identity developed by the Bolivarian Revolution and implemented by the late Hugo Chavez and continued by current president Nicolas Maduro. Amid its worst economic crisis, the government claims that the new ID card will allow citizens a better access to goods from supermarkets, replacing the fingerprint system (“captahuella”) that provoked massive protests in 2014. Opponents to this document have highlighted the parallel with the cards that exist in Cuba (“ration books”), and the manipulation of the database system to benefit only those who support the government and are already registered in previous official databases. The Venezuelan case provides an intriguing scenario that defies the regional region addressed to provide personal cards to undocumented groups. It also provides valuable comparative lessons about the re-emergence of surveillance technology and identity cards in modern authoritarian regimes.

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