Most current analysis on Latin American politics has been directed
at examining the shift to the left in the region. Very little
attention, however, has been paid to the reactions of the right to
this phenomenon. What kind of discursive, policy, and strategic
responses have emerged among the right in Latin America as a result
of this historic turn to the left? Have there been any shifts in
attitudes to inequality and poverty as a result of the successes of
the left in those areas? How has the right responded strategically
to regain the political initiative from the left? And what
implications might such responses have for democracy in the region?
The Right in Latin America seeks to provide answers to these
questions while helping to fill a gap in the literature on
contemporary Latin American politics. Unlike previous studies,
Barry Cannon's book does not simply concentrate on party political
responses to the contemporary challenges for the right in the
region. Rather he uses a wider, more comprehensive theoretical
framework, grounded in political sociology, in recognition of the
deep social roots of the right among Latin America's elites, in a
region known for its startling inequalities. Using Michael Mann's
pioneering work on power, he shows how elite dominance in the key
areas of the economy, ideology, the military, and in transnational
relations, has had a profound influence on the political strategies
of the Latin American right. He shows how left governments,
especially the more radical ones, have threatened elite power in
these areas, influencing right-wing strategic responses as a
result. These responses, he persuasively argues, can vary from
elections, through street protests and media campaigns, to military
coups, depending on the level of perceived threat felt by elites
from the left. In this way, Cannon uncovers the dialectical nature
of the left/right relationship in contemporary Latin American
politics, while simultaneously providing pointers as to how the
left can respond to the challenge of the right's resurgence in the
current context of left retrenchment. Cannon's multi-faceted
inter-disciplinary approach, including original research among
right-leaning actors in the region makes the book an essential
reference not only for those interested in the contemporary Latin
American right but for anyone interested in the region's politics
at a critical juncture in its history.
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