Social movements and social change

Hegemony or autonomy; take power or build it from below?

Abstract

Latin America is experiencing moments of great political and social transformation. Progressive governments and popular struggles are part of the dispute for a social transformation that strengthens the state, weakens the right wing and neoliberalism, and expands democracy base on citizen participation. The article discusses the ways or means by which social movements seek social change from the political organization of the popular field. To do this, it is proposed to analyze two dichotomies that allow us to observe the possibilities of social change and the role that social movements play in each one: hegemony-autonomy and take the power-construction of power from below. The text concludes with some ideas about the possibility of thinking about social change as the conjunction of autonomic and counter-hegemonic struggles.