Publication
Omar Shaban Ismail · صحيفة محلية · 2003
A 2003 comparative article drawing inspiration from Latin American social movements against poverty and marginalization to pose questions about the possibility of similar movements emerging in the Arab world and the structural conditions that explain the difference.
A 2003 comparative article drawing inspiration from Latin American social movements against poverty and marginalization to pose questions about the…
Latin America witnessed in the 1990s and beyond a wave of social and political movements raising the banner of combating poverty, marginalization, and wealth distribution injustice. From Brazil to Mexico to Venezuela, popular movements overthrew economic models that had demonstrably failed to achieve social justice and brought to power leaderships that adopted radical social reform programs.
Latin America's poor did not merely complain — they organized, built institutions, and waged political struggles that lasted decades before bearing fruit. This model raises a legitimate question about the Arab world: why have similarly powerful and influential social movements not yet emerged in the Arab region?
The answer intersects with multiple political and social factors: political authoritarianism suppressing independent organization; the absence of effective political parties representing deprived social groups; and weak societal awareness of economic citizenship rights. However, accumulating economic crises and rising poverty rates may be forming fertile ground for the seeds of social and political transformation — a transformation that the Arab world's majorities will one day find the means to pursue.
Topic: International Economy — Poverty · Social Movements · Latin America · Arab World · Economic Justice