2026/05/01 by Oscar Gracia-Landaeta, Hernán Naranjo-Mejía, Andrés Laguna-Tapia · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Extractivism and Socioeconomic Issues #Latin American Cultural Politics #International Relations in Latin America
paper · doi:10.17141/iconos.85.2026.6968
openalex publication_date 2026/05/01 · openalex created_date 2026/05/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/17
The “left turn” that took place in Bolivia at the beginning of the 21st century, which was the product of interactions between internal and external factors, is the topic of this article. Employing a qualitative, analytical-descriptive methodology within a historical-structural framework, the article argues that this political shift cannot be attributed to a single cause but rather to the convergence of three core factors: 1) the exhaustion of the neoliberal model in both economic and political terms; 2) transformations in the international order, marked by the relative decline of U.S. hegemony, the rise of China, and the commodities boom; and 3) the construction of a new hegemonic project by the Movement for Socialism. The analysis combines a critical review of specialized literature with quantitative data on the outcomes of prior and subsequent development models, while also exploring the role of institutional reforms such as the Law of Popular Participation. It contends that Bolivia’s experience, though part of a broader regional trend, exhibits distinct features linked to the centrality of Indigenous and labor movements, the populist articulation of historical demands, and the use of cultural symbols in a sovereign, anti-neoliberal discourse. The article concludes with reflections on the political and economic implications of this cycle for the country’s subsequent trajectory.