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Struggles against Accumulation by Dispossession in Bolivia

The Political Economy of Natural Resource Contention

York University

Jeffery R. Webber

University of Toronto

David Harvey suggests that, compared with struggles waged by traditional political parties and labor unions, struggles to "reclaim the commons" typically result in a less focused political dynamic of social action, which is both a strength and a weakness. While these social movements draw strength from their embeddedness in daily life, not all manage to make the link between the struggle against accumulation by dispossession and the struggle for expanded reproduction that is necessary to meet the material needs of impoverished and repressed populations. Social movements in Bolivia have framed their demands differently in the struggles against the privatization of natural gas and water depending on the different roles these resources play in the region’s political economy. Struggles against the privatization of natural gas pose a greater challenge to neoliberalism because of their macro frame and politics.

Key Words: Privatization • Social movements • Natural resources • Neoliberalism • Bolivia

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