Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition.
While there has been much coverage in the media and in academic work on the crisis in Venezuela, little has been written about the Venezuelan Opposition, grouped in the Democratic Unity Coalition (MUD) and even less about their economic and social policies. This paper seeks to address this latter la...
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| 发表在: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/framespa, |
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| 主要作者: | |
| 格式: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| 语言: | Anglais |
| 出版: |
Les Cahiers de Framespa
2021
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| 主题: | |
| 在线阅读: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:framespa_10371 |
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openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
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Anglais |
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Article ou chapitre numérique |
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0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
Néolibéralisme Venezuela Opposition vénézuélienne (MUD) Socialisme La démocratie Neoliberalismo Democracia Venezuela Oposición Venezolana (MUD) Socialismo Venezuela Venezuelan Opposition (MUD) Socialism Democracy Neoliberalism |
| spellingShingle |
Néolibéralisme Venezuela Opposition vénézuélienne (MUD) Socialisme La démocratie Neoliberalismo Democracia Venezuela Oposición Venezolana (MUD) Socialismo Venezuela Venezuelan Opposition (MUD) Socialism Democracy Neoliberalism Cannon, Barry Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition. |
| description |
While there has been much coverage in the media and in academic work on the crisis in Venezuela, little has been written about the Venezuelan Opposition, grouped in the Democratic Unity Coalition (MUD) and even less about their economic and social policies. This paper seeks to address this latter lacuna by providing a critical examination of three key MUD policy documents. Situating this analysis within a wider discussion on the relationship between democracy and neoliberalism, and using a framework derived from Wendy Brown’s book “In the Ruins of Neoliberalism”, the article argues that the Venezuelan Opposition is fundamentally neoliberal in ideological orientation. This means that it seeks to, paraphrasing Brown, critique and dismantle society, using anti-socialism as its principle trope to do so; attack “democracy understood as popular sovereignty and shared political power”, even while it uses democracy as its main discursive banner; and extend the personal protected sphere at the expense of the public. This may result, the article concludes, in a form of neoliberal authoritarianism rather than ‘restored’ democracy as the Opposition claims. |
| author |
Cannon, Barry |
| author_facet |
Cannon, Barry |
| author_sort |
Cannon, Barry |
| title |
Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition. |
| title_short |
Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition. |
| title_full |
Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition. |
| title_fullStr |
Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition. |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition. |
| title_sort |
socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary venezuelan opposition. |
| publisher |
Les Cahiers de Framespa |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/framespa |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/framespa.10371 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/framespa/10371 |
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1877293667796910080 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:framespa_10371 https://doi.org/10.4000/framespa.10371 urn:doi:10.4000/framespa.10371 en https://journals.openedition.org/framespa/10371 2021-03-31T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/gdtj https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Socialism equals death, market equals life: anti-socialist and pro-market policy discourse among the contemporary Venezuelan Opposition. Les Cahiers de Framespa UMR 5136 – FRAMESPA info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1760-4761 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/framespa Cannon, Barry Néolibéralisme Venezuela Opposition vénézuélienne (MUD) Socialisme La démocratie Neoliberalismo Democracia Venezuela Oposición Venezolana (MUD) Socialismo Venezuela Venezuelan Opposition (MUD) Socialism Democracy Neoliberalism While there has been much coverage in the media and in academic work on the crisis in Venezuela, little has been written about the Venezuelan Opposition, grouped in the Democratic Unity Coalition (MUD) and even less about their economic and social policies. This paper seeks to address this latter lacuna by providing a critical examination of three key MUD policy documents. Situating this analysis within a wider discussion on the relationship between democracy and neoliberalism, and using a framework derived from Wendy Brown’s book “In the Ruins of Neoliberalism”, the article argues that the Venezuelan Opposition is fundamentally neoliberal in ideological orientation. This means that it seeks to, paraphrasing Brown, critique and dismantle society, using anti-socialism as its principle trope to do so; attack “democracy understood as popular sovereignty and shared political power”, even while it uses democracy as its main discursive banner; and extend the personal protected sphere at the expense of the public. This may result, the article concludes, in a form of neoliberal authoritarianism rather than ‘restored’ democracy as the Opposition claims. Si bien ha habido mucha cobertura mediática y trabajos académicos sobre la crisis en Venezuela, poco se ha escrito sobre la oposición venezolana, agrupada en la Coalición de Unidad Democrática (MUD) y menos aún sobre sus potenciales políticas económicas y sociales. Este texto busca abordar esta laguna al proporcionr un examen crítico de tres documentos clave de política de la MUD. Este análisis se sitúa dentro de una discusión más amplia sobre la relación entre democracia y neoliberalismo y utiliza el marco derivado del libro de Wendy Brown "En las ruinas del neoliberalismo", lo que le permite sostener que la oposición venezolana es fundamentalmente neoliberal en su orientación ideológica. Esto significa que busca, parafraseando a Brown, criticar y desmantelar la sociedad y para ello utiliza el anti-socialismo como su principal tropo; atacar a “la democracia entendida como soberanía popular y poder político compartido”, aun cuando usa la democracia como su principal bandera discursiva; y ampliar la esfera de protección personal a expensas del bien público. Esto puede resultar, concluye el artículo, en una forma de autoritarismo neoliberal en lugar de una democracia "restaurada" como afirma la oposición. Bien que les médias et les travaux universitaires aient largement couvert la crise au Venezuela, peu de choses ont été écrites sur l'opposition vénézuélienne, regroupée au sein de la Coalition pour l'Unité Démocratique (MUD), et encore moins sur leurs politiques économiques et sociales. Cet article veut combler cette dernière lacune en fournissant un examen critique de trois documents politiques clés du MUD. Situant cette analyse dans une discussion plus large sur la relation entre démocratie et néolibéralisme, et utilisant un cadre dérivé du livre de Wendy Brown In the Ruins of Neoliberalism, l’article établit que l’opposition vénézuélienne est fondamentalement néolibérale sur le plan idéologique. Cela signifie que le MUD cherche à, paraphrasant Brown, critiquer et démanteler la société, en utilisant l'antisocialisme pour arriver à ses fins, alors même qu’il utilise la démocratie comme principale bannière discursive, tout en étendant la sphère de protection personnelle aux dépens du public. L’article s’achève sur la possibilité qu’advienne une forme d’autoritarisme néolibéral, en lieu et place de la démocratie « restaurée » à laquelle l’opposition prétend revenir. |