by JASON TOCKMAN
Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America
Benjamin Dangl, AK Press (2010), 206 pp., $15.95 (paperback)
In fast-moving and colorful narratives, Dangl dedicates a chapter to each of seven South American countries that are generally seen as part of the region’s “pink tide,” covering the social movement contestation that emerged from recent histories of neoliberal rule – the shortcomings of which led to the election of left and left-leaning governments. The case studies depict the particularities of the “dances” that have taken place between states and social movements under these left-of-center presidencies – ranging from somewhat collaborative in Venezuela and Bolivia to more repressive and demobilizing in Ecuador and Paraguay, with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay falling somewhere in between.