Now We Are in Power

The Politics of Passive Revolution in Twenty-First-Century Bolivia

Angus McNelly

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9780822989929
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

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 Power makes 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.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Black October: Crisis, Catharsis, and Social Movement Insurgency
• 2. Building the Government of Social Movements: Transformism under the MAS
• 3. The Autonomy Movement, Two Bolivias, and the Spatiality of Passive Revolution
• 4. The Indigenous Apostle: Caesarism, State Formation, and the Figure of Evo Morales
• 5. Extractivism, Infrastructure, and the Spatiotemporal Dimensions of Passive Revolution
• 6. Contradictions, Crisis, and the End of Evo Morales
• Conclusion: Theoretical and Political Reflections on Passive Revolution
• Notes
• List of Interviews
• References
• Index