Hugo Chavez won re-election in the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, despite a closer margin between candidates than in previous elections. The results were puzzling for those who believed that Chavez's government had long ago reached its limits, while Chavez's supporters were struck by the growth of the opposition vote. Thus understanding the Venezuelan election of 2012 has proved to be challenging, with various recent studies focused upon it. Luis F. Angosto Ferrandez's book advances two ideas not previously discussed: the relationship between electoral behavior in Venezuela and contemporary Latin American geopolitics, and the way that relationship is projected through the candidates' appeal to narratives that situate Venezuela at the core of a heroic Latin American tradition and of a new regional process of integration. This edited volume first contextualizes and explains the results of the last re-election of Hugo Chavez in terms of its geopolitical conditionings and implications. Contributors tackle Latin American geopolitics by analyzing Venezuelan foreign policy and the country's role in continental projects of supra-national integration. Contributors also examine electoral strategy and tactics in order to show how the two main candidates built their campaign on emotional grounds as much on rational ones. This will be connected to the investigation of new narratives of national identification in contemporary Venezuela and how they may have practical implications in the design of policies addressing issues such as indigenous rights, community media and national security. Compiling state-of-the-art research on Latin American and Venezuelan politics, this book will appeal to academics and professionals who specialize in Latin American studies, international relations, democracy, and indigenous peoples.

Hugo Chavez won re-election in the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, despite a closer margin between candidates than in previous elections. The results were puzzling for those who believed that Chavez's government had long ago reached its limits, while Chavez's supporters were struck by the growth of the opposition vote. Thus understanding the Venezuelan election of 2012 has proved to be challenging, with various recent studies focused upon it. Luis F. Angosto Ferrandez's book advances two ideas not previously discussed: the relationship between electoral behavior in Venezuela and contemporary Latin American geopolitics, and the way that relationship is projected through the candidates' appeal to narratives that situate Venezuela at the core of a heroic Latin American tradition and of a new regional process of integration. This edited volume first contextualizes and explains the results of the last re-election of Hugo Chavez in terms of its geopolitical conditionings and implications. Contributors tackle Latin American geopolitics by analyzing Venezuelan foreign policy and the country's role in continental projects of supra-national integration. Contributors also examine electoral strategy and tactics in order to show how the two main candidates built their campaign on emotional grounds as much on rational ones. This will be connected to the investigation of new narratives of national identification in contemporary Venezuela and how they may have practical implications in the design of policies addressing issues such as indigenous rights, community media and national security. Compiling state-of-the-art research on Latin American and Venezuelan politics, this book will appeal to academics and professionals who specialize in Latin American studies, international relations, democracy, and indigenous peoples.

Anthropologies of Value analyses the creation of value in a wide range of political and cultural contexts. This edited collection includes anthropological case studies from around the globe; from the commodification of a Venezuelan waterfall to the relative value of penguins in periods of imperialist expansion. Questioning the validity of binary oppositions such as 'north/south', 'core/periphery' and 'west/the rest' as the basis of generalisations about culturally-mediated engagements with capitalism, this collection leaves no stone unturned in its search to understand and define anthropological value theory. It provides much-needed, controversial new material for students of anthropology, and proposes an alternative, rarely discussed method of studying the world system which challenges mainstream existing work in the field.

The role of the indigenous population in the formation of the Bolivarian constitution is one of Latin America's most important untold stories. Considered a beacon of twenty-first century socialism by many, Venezuela is witnessing the paradoxical emergence of 'indigenous capitalisms' as the government and various indigenous actors are driven by notions of development and enfranchisement grounded in the ideology of multiculturalism. Venezuela Reframed shows that a considerable part of indigenous activism, aligned with the Bolivarian governments, has paved the way for development in classical, social-democratic terms. It looks at how, in opposition to sectors of the indigenous population fighting for effective autonomy, many legitimate claims are being usurped to consolidate capitalist relations. Boldly arguing that romanticized notions of cultural indigeneity hide growing class struggle, this book is essential reading not just for those interested in Venezuela, but all those interested in the prospects of democracy, contemporary states and alternatives to capitalism worldwide.