Subjectivities and the right-wing in Latin America: mapping out what’s out there

Abstract

ABSTRACT This introduction discusses the difficulties, complexities and trajectories that a cultural studies analyst needs to have in order to understand the trajectories and characteristics of the Right-wing label in Latin America and the Caribbean. Neither a copy nor a template, this particular trajectory speaks of singularities, contexts and histories of the region. I identify several conversations stemming from Latin America and the Caribbean that have examined these trajectories from the vantage point of the analysis of the complex relation between culture and power, a radical contextualist approach and everyday life. This special section includes articles devoted to understanding the pedagogies of cruelty and the female body as a new object of surveillance and intervention; the rise and spread of evangelical churches in particular conjunctures in recent decades in the Southern Cone; a critical analysis of the peace negotiations in Colombia and the reproduction of inequalities and the status quo; and, finally, a somehow pessimistic assessment of the role that the institutionalization and dissemination of the Cultural Studies academic programmes have had alongside these trends in recent years. Without foreclosing other possible conversations, this special section seeks to contribute – from a materialist, Cultural Studies point of view grounded in complexity – to a better understanding of Right-wing trajectories in the region.