This book takes an innovative look at international relations. Focusing on the worldwide campaign against abuses by the right-wing authoritarian regime in Uruguay (1973-1984), it explores how norms and ideas interact with political interests, both global and domestic. It examines joint actions by differently-motivated actors such as the leftist activists who had to flee Uruguay in these years, the Organization of American States, The United Nations, Amnesty International, and the United States. It traces language and procedures for making their claims. The chief goal, however, is to peruse the specific reasons that led these actors to endorse the central core of liberal rights that gave foundation to this system. A close examination of the available documents shows that even as they joined efforts to protest abuses, they were still pursuing their individual agendas, which is often overlooked in the existing scholarship on human rights transnational activism. The book pays special attention to the Uruguayan exiles, analyzing why and how leftist activists and leaders adopted the human rights language, which had so far been used to attack communism in the context of the Cold War.

This book takes an innovative look at international relations. Focusing on the worldwide campaign against abuses by the right-wing authoritarian regime in Uruguay (1973-1984), it explores how norms and ideas interact with political interests, both global and domestic. It examines joint actions by differently-motivated actors such as the leftist activists who had to flee Uruguay in these years, the Organization of American States, The United Nations, Amnesty International, and the United States. It traces language and procedures for making their claims. The chief goal, however, is to peruse the specific reasons that led these actors to endorse the central core of liberal rights that gave foundation to this system. A close examination of the available documents shows that even as they joined efforts to protest abuses, they were still pursuing their individual agendas, which is often overlooked in the existing scholarship on human rights transnational activism. The book pays special attention to the Uruguayan exiles, analyzing why and how leftist activists and leaders adopted the human rights language, which had so far been used to attack communism in the context of the Cold War.

The tumultuous 1960s saw a generation of Latin American youth enter into political life in unprecedented numbers. Though some have argued that these young-radical movements were inspired by the culture and politics of social movements burgeoning in Europe and the United States, youth activism developed its own distinct form in Latin America. In this book, Vania Markarian explores how the Uruguayan student movement of 1968 shaped leftist politics in the country for decades to come. She considers how students invented their own new culture of radicalism to achieve revolutionary change in Uruguay and in Latin America as a whole. By exploring the intersection of activism, political violence, and youth culture, Uruguay, 1968 offers new insights about such subjects as the "New Left" and "Revolutionary Left" that are central to our historical understanding of the 1960s across the globe.

The tumultuous 1960s saw a generation of Latin American youth enter into political life in unprecedented numbers. Though some have argued that these young-radical movements were inspired by the culture and politics of social movements burgeoning in Europe and the United States, youth activism developed its own distinct form in Latin America. In this book, Vania Markarian explores how the Uruguayan student movement of 1968 shaped leftist politics in the country for decades to come. She considers how students invented their own new culture of radicalism to achieve revolutionary change in Uruguay and in Latin America as a whole. By exploring the intersection of activism, political violence, and youth culture, Uruguay, 1968 offers new insights about such subjects as the "New Left" and "Revolutionary Left" that are central to our historical understanding of the 1960s across the globe.