Sandinismo and the Problem of Democratic Hegemony
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4500734 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Doug Brown (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1990 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 39-61 |
| Publication date | 1990-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Latin American Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0094-582X • E-ISSN: 1552-678X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0094582x9001700203 |
| OpenAlex | W2057225496 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 10 |
It has become clear to both experts and casual observers that the Nicaraguan Revolution, after nearly a decade of endless adversity, has an enigmatic character that may well be the basis for its endurance (for a summary of the first eight years, see Envio, 1987b). Most of us interested in the process of social change in Nicaragua have by now had to admit that there are dimensions to it that are historically unusual and unique and which, in part, are due to its complexity (see, for example, Martin and Zwerling, 1985). Whether through the proliferation of Nicaraguan literature, the mainstream media, or personal experience, we have become aware of and possibly fixated upon its contradictions. There is clearly both repression and pluralism as well as both popular participation and elitism that inform the practice and ideology of Sandinismo. The following remarks are primarily exploratory but address the revolution's enigmatic quality by outlining a conceptual framework through which we can assess the revolution's democratic character and the extent to which Nicaragua can carve out a novel political-economic model. Although the revolution is still in its infancy, enough time has elapsed that we can make one significant judgment about it: It is one of the first revolutions which has consistently attempted to ground a strategy within what Claude Lefort has termed a politics of human rights. The Nicaraguan Revolution, as witnessed through its ideology of Sandinismo, is explicitly but has not based its political strategy on the economistic view that social and political consciousness is ultimately determined or revealed by one's relation to the means of production. This gives the Sandinista Revolution a unique post-Marxian flavor, and, more important, it forces us to confront some difficult questions regarding this strategy of socialist populism. At the theoretical level the American left has been groping toward a new vision of politics, articulated through some notable analytical
Aesthetics · Casual · Democracy · Democratization · Elitism · Hegemony · Ideology · Mainstream · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Marxism and Critical Theory · Political theory and Gramsci · Politics and Society in Latin America
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 1991 - 2004 (14) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |