Socialism of the 21st century is an interpretation ofsocialist principles first advocated by German sociologist and political analystHeinz Dieterich and taken up by a number of Latin American leaders. Dieterich argued in 1996 that bothfree-marketindustrial capitalism and20th-century socialism have failed to solve urgent problems of humanity such as poverty, hunger, exploitation of labour, economic oppression, sexism, racism, the destruction of natural resources and the absence of truedemocracy.[1] Socialism of the 21st century hasdemocratic socialist elements, but it also resemblesMarxist revisionism.[2]
Leaders who have advocated for this form of socialism includeHugo Chávez of Venezuela,Rafael Correa of Ecuador,Evo Morales of Bolivia,Néstor Kirchner andCristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina,[3]Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil andMichelle Bachelet of Chile.[4] Because of the local unique historical conditions, socialism of the 21st century is often contrasted with previous applications of socialism in other countries, with a major difference being the effort towards a more effectiveeconomicplanning process.[2] Outside Latin America, socialism of the 21st century has been promoted by left-wing leaders such asMark Drakeford andJeremy Corbyn in the United Kingdom[5][6][7] andLothar Bisky,Egon Krenz andOskar Lafontaine in Germany,[8][9] and also by parties such as theCommunist Party of Spain[10] andUnited Left in Spain[11] and theCommunist Party of the Russian Federation andJust Russia.[12]
After a series ofstructural adjustment loans and debt restructuring led by theInternational Monetary Fund in the late 20th century, Latin America experienced a significant increase in inequality. Between 1990 and 1999, theGini coefficient, a measure of inequality in the income or wealth distribution, rose in almost every Latin American country.[13] Volatile prices and inflation led to dissatisfaction. In 2000, only 37% of Latin Americans were satisfied with their democracies (20 points less than Europeans and 10 points less than sub-Saharan Africans).[14] In this context, a wave of left-leaning socio-political movements, called thePink tide, on behalf of indigenous rights,cocaleros, labor rights, women's rights, land rights and educational reform emerged to eventually provide momentum for the election of socialist leaders.[2]
Socialism of the 21st century draws on indigenous traditions of communal governance and previous Latin America socialist and communist movements, including those ofSalvador Allende,Fidel Castro,Che Guevara and theSandinista National Liberation Front.[2]
According to Dieterich, this form of socialism is revolutionary in that the existing society is altered to be qualitatively different, but the process itself should be gradual and non-violent, instead utilising democracy to secure power, education, scientific knowledge about society and international cooperation. Dieterich suggests the construction of four basic institutions within the new reality ofpost-capitalist civilisation:[1]
Post-neoliberalism, also known asanti-neoliberalism, is a set of ideals characterized by its rejection ofneoliberalism and the economic policies embodied by theWashington Consensus.[15][16][17] While there is scholarly debate about the defining features of post-neoliberalism, it is often associated witheconomic progressivism as a response to neoliberalism's perceived excesses or failures, ranging fromnationalization andwealth redistribution to embracingprotectionism andrevival of trade unions; it can also refer toleft-wing politics more generally.[17][18]
The movement has had particular influence inLatin America, where thepink tide brought about a substantial shift towards left-wing governments in the 2000s.[19] Examples of post-neoliberal governments include the former governments ofEvo Morales inBolivia andRafael Correa inEcuador.[20] It has also been claimed by some analysts that theJoe Biden administration in theUnited States exhibited post-neoliberal characteristics.[21][22][23]
The idea of post-neoliberalism arose during thepink tide of the 1990s and 2000s, in which left-wing Latin Americancritics of neoliberalism likeHugo Chávez andEvo Morales were thrust into power. According to researchers, the election of Chávez as the president ofVenezuela in 1999 marked a definite start to the pink tide and post-neoliberal movement.[24][25] Following his election,Rafael Correa,Néstor Kirchner,Evo Morales, and numerous other leaders associated with the post-neoliberal movement were elected in Latin America during the 2000s and 2010s.[17] Into the 2020s, the Chilean president-electGabriel Boric, who emerged victorious in the2021 Chilean general election, pledged to end the country's neoliberal economic model, stating: "If Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave."[26]
While the ideas of post-neoliberalism are not exclusive to Latin America, they are largely associated with the region.[27][28] Post-neoliberalism has drawn criticism from the right of thepolitical spectrum;right-wing andfar-right critics have claimed that the term itself is vague andpopulistic, while also arguing that "post-neoliberal" policies harminternational investment andeconomic development.[20]
Post-neoliberalism seeks to fundamentally change the role of the state in countries where theWashington Consensus once prevailed.[29] To achieve this, post-neoliberal leaders in Latin America have advocated for thenationalization of several industries, notably the gas, mining, and oil industries.[17] Post-neoliberalism also advocates for the expansion ofwelfare benefits, greater governmental investment in poverty reduction, and increasedstate intervention in the economy.[30]
The model of socialism of the 21st century encourages economic and political integration among nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is often accompanied with opposition to North American influence. Regional organizations likeALBA andCELAC promote cooperation with Latin America and exclude North American countries. ALBA is most explicitly related to socialism of the 21st century while other organizations focus on economic integration, ALBA promotes social, political and economic integration among countries that subscribe to democratic socialism. Its creation was announced in direct opposition toGeorge W. Bush's attempts to establish aFree Trade Area of the Americas that included the United States. In 2008, ALBA introduced a monetary union using theSUCRE as its regional currency.
Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez initiated a process of social reforms in Venezuela known as the Bolivarian Revolution. This approach was more heavily influenced by the theories ofIstván Mészáros, Michael Lebowitz andMarta Harnecker (who was Chávez's adviser between 2004 and 2011) than by those of Heinz Dieterich. The process draws its name from Latin American liberatorSimón Bolívar and is a contemporary example ofBolivarianism.[citation needed]
Often translated to good living or living well, the concept ofbuen vivir is related to the movement for indigenous rights andrights of nature. It focuses on the living sustainably as the member of a community that includes both human beings and Nature.[31]Buen vivir is enshrined in2008 Constitution of Ecuador as an alternative toneoliberal development. The constitution outlines a set of rights, one of which is the rights of nature.[32] In line with the assertion of these rights,buen vivir seeks to change the relationship between nature and humans to a more bio-pluralistic view, eliminating the separation between nature and society.[32][33] This approach has been applied to theYasuní-ITT Initiative.Buen vivir is sometimes conceptualised ascollaborative consumption in asharing economy and the term is used to look at the world in way sharply differentiated fromnatural,social orhuman capital.[34]
Critics claim that socialism of the 21st century in Latin America acts as a façade forauthoritarianism. The charisma of figures like Hugo Chávez and mottoes like "Country, Socialism, or Death!" have drawn comparisons to the Latin American dictators andcaudillos of the past.[35] According toSteven Levitsky ofHarvard University: "Only under the dictatorships of the past [...] were presidents reelected for life", with Levitsky further stating that while Latin America experienced democracy, citizens opposed "indefinite reelection, because of the dictatorships of the past".[36] Levitsky then noted: "In Nicaragua, Venezuela and Ecuador, reelection is associated with the same problems of 100 years ago".[36]The Washington Post also stated in 2014 that "Bolivia'sEvo Morales,Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez [...] used the ballot box to weaken or eliminate term limits".[37]
In 2015,The Economist stated that theBolivarian Revolution in Venezuela—now underNicolás Maduro afterChávez's death in 2013—was devolving from authoritarianism to dictatorship as opposition politicians were jailed for plotting to undermine the government, violence was widespread and opposition media shut down.[38] Western media coverage of Chávez and other Latin American leaders from the 21st-century socialist movement has been criticised as unfair by their supporters andleftist media critics.[39][40]
The sustainability and stability of economic reforms associated with governments adhering to socialism of the 21st century have been questioned. Latin American countries have primarily financed theirsocial programs with extractive exports like petroleum, natural gas and minerals, creating a dependency that some economists claim has caused inflation and slowed growth.[41] For the Bolivarian government of Venezuela, their economic policies led toshortages in Venezuela, a high inflation rate and a dysfunctional economy.[42] However, theeconomic policy of the Hugo Chávez administration andMaduro governments have attributed Venezuela's economic problems to the decline in oil prices, sanctions imposed by the United States and economic sabotage by the opposition.[43]
In 2015,Venezuela's economy was performing poorly—the currency had collapsed, it had the world's highestinflation rate and itsgross domestic product shrank into aneconomic collapse in 2016.[44]
Although democratic socialist intellectuals have welcomed a socialism of the 21st century, they have been skeptical of Latin America's examples. While citing their progressive role, they argue that the appropriate label for these governments is populist rather than socialist.[45][46] Similarly, some of the left-wing pink tide governments were criticised for turning from socialism to authoritarianism and populism.[47][48]
"If Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave."[26]
South America:
North America:
Asia
Europe
Oceania
This socialism of the XXI century, overflowed the Venezuelan experience and became a trend that took greater force throughout Latin America, especially in Ecuador with its President Rafael Correa, in Bolivia implemented by its president Evo Morales and in Argentina initially with Néstor Kirchner and later with his wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, as well as in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Uruguay. This ideological conception sought primarily to give responses to the serious problem of underdevelopment in which the region lives due to the social imbalances, injustice and inequality (Hamburger, 2014).
The main objective of this article is to perform a critical conceptual review of post-neoliberalism to find consensus and discord in the existing literature. ... Although our search was not limited to literature on any specific region, the overwhelming amount of research we encountered was focused on Latin America, with little material identified through the search on post-neoliberalism in Africa or Asia.
In a broad historical sense Chávez has undoubtedly played a progressive role but he is clearly not a democratic socialist [...].
Most of the world's democratic socialist intellectuals have been skeptical of Latin America's examples, citing their authoritarian qualities and occasional cults of personality. To critics, the appropriate label for these governments is not socialism but populism.
South America, a historical bastion of populism, has always had a penchant for the left, but the continent's predilection for unsustainable welfarism might be approaching a dramatic end. [...] This "pink tide" also included the rise of populist ideologies in some of these countries, such as Kirchnerismo in Argentina, Chavismo in Venezuela, and Lulopetismo in Brazil.
The wrong left, by contrast, was said to be populist, old-fashioned, and irresponsible [...].
When Mr Boric won the candidacy of his leftist bloc to run for president, he made a bold pledge. 'If Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave,' he said. 'Do not be afraid of the youth changing this country.'
민중당은 조직 노동자, 비정규직 노동자들의 지지를 받으며 좌파민족주의적 입장에서 신자유주의를 비판하는 정당이다. [Minjungdang-eun jojig nodongja, bijeong-gyujig nodongjadeul-ui jijileul bad-eumyeo jwapaminjogjuuijeog ibjang-eseo sinjayujuuileul bipanhaneun jeongdang-ida.][Minjung Party is a political party that is supported by organizational and non-regular workers and criticizes neoliberalism from a left-wing nationalist standpoint.]
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