Transnational Social Movements in Latin America

Abstract

Abstract Latin America has been an important cradle of transnational social movements since the beginning of the twentieth century. These movements not only launched reactive campaigns to counter threats, but also built new organizational fora and events to think about policy alternatives. They had substantial impacts on international negotiations and on the organizational infrastructure of civil society globally. Two examples discussed in this chapter are the creation of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, at the Inter-American level, and the World Social Forum meetings, at the global level. The scholarly literature on Latin American transnationalism has added to key debates about the emergence of transnational collective action and its consequences. It has also helped reach a better understanding of why and how actors shift through domestic and international scales, and the challenges they face as they do so. Important gaps remain, however, most importantly the study of conservative and right-wing transnational movements, and research on the impacts of the incorporation of digital repertoires on transnational collective action.