Rituals of Resistance: A Critique of the Theory of Everyday Forms of Resistance

Abstract

In the context of new world orders threatening from above and new popular struggles breaking out from below, description and analysis of mass protest in Latin America is confronted with the need for comprehensive theories of social conflict. To account for these developments among the subaltern classes, Latin Americanists are increasingly turning to the views of James C. Scott regarding “everyday forms of resistance.” I hope to show that important aspects of his model hinder our efforts to understand and develop theories of conflict in Latin America.