Book review

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.6.2.0228
• Pages: 228245-229
• Published date: 01 December 2014
• Date: 01 December 2014
• Author: Laurence Goodchild

228 BOOK REVIEWS

I J  C S 6.2 W 2014

Thomas Muhr ed., Counter-Globalization and Socialism in the 21st Century:

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Abingdon: Routledge,

2013) hb 245pp. ISBN: 9780415669078

Reviewed by Laurence Goodchild

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) is a political,

economic and social alliance founded by the governments of Venezuela and

Cuba in 2004. Over the last decade there had been considerable interest in

Latin America’s ‘pink tide’ and renewed debates around ‘Twenty-First Century

Socialism’; despite this, the ALBA has been notably absent from research

agendas. Counter-Globalization and Socialism in the 21st Century does an

excellent job of amending this situation. The 13 chapters of this edited volume

combine primary research with theoretical depth to explore the progress and

limitations of the ALBA, challenge existing assumptions and emphasise its

importance beyond the region.

After giving a brief history of the ALBA, Thomas Muhr uses the introductory

chapter to establish a theoretical framework and explain the shortcomings

of previous literature. Referencing a range of theorists, Muhr emphasises the

importance of transnational processes, the need to take into account structural

context and the idea of revolution as a process rather than event. As such the

book is positioned with a clear sense of purpose: the ALBA is constructing a

‘rival structure to capitalism’, but to understand this we need to move beyond

asking ‘is country X socialist?’ and view the ALBA as a global counter-hegemony

within structural constraints (p. 21). This bold stance conceptualises the ALBA

in a unique manner and is a clear challenge to some orthodox socialist positions.

Ref‌lecting the ALBA’s holistic approach to development, the contributors’

chapters avoid focussing solely upon the organisation of production and instead

address how this ‘rival structure’ is being constructed across a broad range

of f‌ields. For example, Rosales and Cerezal discuss the ALBA’s alternatives to

traditional international f‌inancial architecture (p. 142), Cardozo and Strauss

speak about a new ‘decolonized’ education led by Bolivia (p. 203), while

Villazana explains how the ALBA is resisting the audiovisual hegemony of the

USA over the continent (p. 188). As well as the ALBA’s multifaceted nature, what

becomes apparent is the plurality of actors involved. States retain a key role,

such as Cuba’s contribution of its expertise in achieving human development

under immense imperialist pressure, as accentuated by Helen Yaffe. Yet it is the

participation of sub-national governments in non-member countries such as El

Salvador and the USA, alongside social movements from across the continent,

which really give weight to Muhr’s theoretical considerations.

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