By Taking Power

Jacobin #25

by Jacobin

Bolívar prophesied shrewdly that the United States seemed fated by Providence to plague America with woes in the name of liberty. General Motors or IBM will not step graciously into our shoes and raise the old banners of unity and emancipation which fell in battle; nor can heroes betrayed yesterday be redeemed by the traitors of today. It is a big load of rottenness that has to be sent to the bottom of the sea on the march to Latin America’s reconstruction. The task lies in the hands of the dispossessed, the humiliated, the accursed. The Latin American cause is about all a social cause: the rebirth of Latin America must start with the overthrow of its masters, country by country. We are entering times of rebellion and change. There are those who believe that destiny rests on the knees of the gods; but the truth is that it confronts the conscience of man with a burning challenge.
— Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America (1971)

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

128 pages, Magazine

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Jacobin is a leading voice of the American left, offering socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture. The print magazine is released quarterly and reaches over 10,000 subscribers, in addition to a web audience of 600,000 a month.

Reviews

[Timothy Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are interested in latin american politics, this is for you. I had a hard time with some of it, not as aware as I should be on this part of the world. Seems the general trend for awhile was massive american intervention that directed these 'democracies' and leadership, frequently with military mobilization. Then many went to the progressive, populist side of the spectrum; bolivia, peru, brazil, venezuela, etc. But lately more conservative governments have been elected. The US never allowed these populist governments a chance to make good on their promises, however they made huge strides in lowering poverty, raising literacy and healthcare. They made their mistakes though.

[Augusto Delgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeously edited mag, very clever prose, well intended analyses, information and data thoroughly collected and exhibited within a costly volume, but..

Jacobin just not that far from capitalism and not far enough for Socialism

just like the so called Latin American left and their pink tide governments, which in fact are immersed in the reformist farce of an electoral way to socialism, completely disregarding the vital need to organise the mass and workers and create their own democratic organisms, while at the same time being servile to their own "patriotic" bourgeoisie in the ungrateful task of administering the capitalist crises for them.

The world politics have crawled to the utmost right since the late capitalism neoliberal stage has been forced fed to the undeveloped economies by the imperialist financial institutions, that these lame "leftist" attempts by the very systems' own left are deemed revolutionary or even communist.

The Jacobin crew fall short, by leading us to think that the pink tide could have advanced some socialist conquests by having better behaviour or taken some measures instead of the actual ones; when it ain't possible, least of all with the useless tale of a united latinoamérica against yank imperialism. These sort of third world chauvinism oversees the only allies that the "latino" countries have in common: the US and imperialist countries' working class -including the Chinese as this country have somewhat replaced the bloody old yanks in the capital investments on commodities extraction as the only viable model of growth.
Otherwise it is the same old stalinist trap of socialism in one country, and its traitorous pacific ways of adaptation to the democratic reaction.

Don't forget that Socialism is international or it isn't.

Very recommended reading, though.

[Nato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler alert—as of this writing, the advances of the left in Latin America are being rolled back. This issue was a great, heady, analysis of the left in many Latin American countries and the challenges of talking power. How to build a socialist economy not based on extraction? How to take power without demobilizing the movements that got you there? These are the big questions!

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely some interesting articles in this one. Cool to see a left interpretation of Venezuela's crisis thats focused on economics and was willing to call out shortcomings in various pink tide governments. Wish they listed their sources for their statistics, though.

[Soph Nova · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best issues yet - pick it up and subscribe, already!