Now We Are in Power: The Politics of Passive Revolution in Twenty-First Century Bolivia

Abstract
During the first decade of the century, Evo Morales and other leftists took control of governments across Latin America. In the case of Bolivia, Morales was that country’s first Indigenous president and was elected following five years of popular insurrection after decades of neoliberal governance. I his first monograph, Now We Are in Power, Angus McNelly draws on over two years of ethnographic fieldwork and a plethora of interviews with social movement leaders, activists and state functionaries to make the argument that the so-called Pink Tide should be understood as a passive revolution, a process that has two phases: a period of subaltern struggle from average citizens strong enough to culminate in a political crisis, which is followed by a time of reconciliation and transformation. Starting from the surprising findings that emerged from his fieldwork, McNelly examines the incongruencies and contradictions of Morales' government and evaluates how passive revolution plays out over a prolonged crisis, ultimately demonstrating the inherent contradictions and complications of the process.

Bio
Dr Angus McNelly is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Greenwich. His research agenda looks at the politics of transformative change through, on the one hand, the Left in power in twenty-first century Latin America and, on the other hand, the political economy of development in Latin America. His first monograph, Now We Are in Power: The Politics of Passive Revolution in Twenty-First Century Bolivia was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in 2023.

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