Utopian disjunctures: popular democracy and the communal state in urban Venezuela

Wilde, Matt (2017) Utopian disjunctures: popular democracy and the communal state in urban Venezuela. Critique of Anthropology, 37 (1). pp. 47-66. ISSN 0308-275X

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Abstract

This article examines the Venezuelan government’s efforts to establish a “communal state” through the eyes of working-class chavista activists in the city of Valencia. It argues that the attempt to incorporate grassroots community organisations into a state-managed model of popular democracy produces a series of “utopian disjunctures” for the actors involved. These disjunctures, the article contends, stem from conflicting political temporalities within the chavista project, as long-term aspirations of radical democracy clash with more short-term demands to obtain state resources and consolidate the government’s power. The case highlights the tensions generated by efforts to reconcile radical democratic experiments with left-nationalist electoral politics.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://coa.sagepub.com/
Additional Information:	© 2016 The Author
Divisions:	Anthropology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology J Political Science > JL Political institutions (America except United States)
Date Deposited:	29 Jun 2015 08:18
Last Modified:	13 Oct 2025 23:21
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council, Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS)
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/62523

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