The Left Turns as Multiple Paradigmatic Crises

Abstract

The left turns represent a ‘second incorporation crisis’ for Latin American countries. The discontent emerging from the effects of market reforms implemented in the context of weak states and highly unequal societies has fuelled this crisis, along with citizens’ widespread alienation with traditional parties and political elites. The left turns also yield three interrelated paradigmatic crises: one relates to political and economic praxis in the region, another concerns academic interpretations of the political economy of democracy and development for Latin America, and yet another concerns policy-making prescriptions. The failure to predict the left turn epitomises conventional wisdom's shortsightedness, which is also present in the now dominant interpretations on the current governing lefts in the region. A normative predilection for market economies and liberal democracy embedded in the theoretical and methodological toolbox of dominant approaches causes this myopia. The paper justifies this diagnostic and derives implications for future research.