Social mobility, class relations, and nationalism in Latin America

Abstract

A sociological study of industrialization consists not so much in the search for consequences or social conditions in economic development as in elucidating the normative orientations toward action which define social movements. When applied to the Latin American case this approach allows three principles of analysis to be brought into focus: social mobility class relations and nationalism. By combining these three principles according to the different stages of development it is possible to characterize different kinds of social movements. We shall distinguish in particular popular revolt national popular movements and popular front movements. The dynamics accounting for the shifts from one stage to another rests on the internal oppositions existing between these three principles. We shall distinguish two kinds of elites one which leads and one which launches. The spillover of a leadership elite into a launching elite explains the ambiguous role of elites in national popular movements. (excerpt)