Now We Are in Power: The Politics of Passive Revolution in Twenty-First-Century Bolivia [Hardcover]

During the first decade of the century, Evo Morales and other leftists took control of governments across Latin America. In the case of Bolivia, Morales was that country’s first Indigenous president and was elected following five years of popular insurrection after decades of neoliberal governance.Now We Are in Powermakes the argument that the so-called Pink Tide should be understood as a passive revolution, a process that has two phases: a period of subaltern struggle from average citizens strong enough to culminate in a political crisis, which is followed by a time of reconciliation and transformation. Angus McNelly examines this movement as it unfolded and evaluates how passive revolution plays out over a prolonged crisis, ultimately demonstrating the inherent contradictions and complications of the process. “Both experts and new progressive thinkers will gain insight from McNelly’s analysis of how radical visions confront complex 21st century realities.”—ReVista, Harvard Review of Latin America
 “Now We Are in Poweroffers new insights into the government of Evo Morales and ongoing struggles for change in Bolivia. With original material and theoretical innovation rooted in Gramsci and Zavaleta, McNelly explores the achievements and limits of ‘passive revolution.’ A must-read for activists, students, and scholars of radical politics in Bolivia and Latin America.”—Bret Gustafson, Washington University in St. Louis “McNelly offers a careful study of Bolivia during the thirteen years of MAS government.Now We Are in Poweroffers an excellent interdisciplinary analysis of the structures and events that have shaped recent Bolivian history. The book takes us from early neoliberal reforms in the 1980s through the water and gas wars of the early 2000s, to Evo Morales’s election to the presidency and his years as president, and finally to the l$