The Progressive Cycle: a Turn to the Left in Latin American Politics

Abstract

This article explores the political dynamics associated with what has been described as a ‘pink tide’ of regime change and an associated 'progressive cycle' in Latin American politics. This refers to regimes that are concerned to move beyond neoeliberalism in the search for a more inclusive form of development. This progressive cycle, which not coincidentally coincided with ‘a commodities boom  in capitalist markets, unfolded in South America (Venezuela, Brazil and the Andes countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador) from 2002 to 2012. The article also highlights the limitations of neodevelopmentalism, which relates to the neoextractivist model used by the progressive governments to advance their political agenda. This model entraps the political economy of these countries in the inescapable contradictions of the capitalist system.