Social movements, construction of collective subjectivities and new sociopolitical processes: a sociological analysis on the basis of the cases of Brazil and the southern cone

Abstract

The article discusses an angle of analysis based on the perspective of the construction of social or collective subjectivities, in order to account for the tension between social regulation and emancipation (in Boaventura de Souza Santos’ terms) that permeates the new sociopolitical processes occurring in the southern cone of Latin America and Brazil and in order to delineate some possible scenarios. Starting from the conceptual framework proposed, it shows how the expansion of a cooperative subjectivity in different social spaces, sometimes microspaces, is a condition for the transformation of the current pattern of power. This is a direction that the administrations of Lula, Vazquez, Kirchner and Bachelet seem to be notoriously unwilling or unable to pursue. This implies rethinking the popular forces in their relationship with the current administrations and the latter’s ability to construct a new political consensus. Thus, it is necessary to start delineating the conflicts cuabetween both spheres in the new period, the pressures from each side, as well as the dynamics of cooptation between governments and various movements. To do this, this paper focuses on some recent examples taken from these countries.

Key words: collective subjectivity, popular forces, new political consensus.