The anti-capitalist chronicles

Abstract

The book is part of the Red Letter series, which is inspired by Antonio Gramsci, seeking to consolidate the debate of antiimperialism and social inequalities at the "heart of the political and intellectual agenda" (Harvey, 2020, p. 7), align to the democratic resistance struggle faced by progressive forces. Therefore, the writing took place through public discussions with social movements, aiming to help activists to design "political meanings" of cultural constructions by analyzing the current neoliberal conjuncture through the lens of Marxism.According to Harvey, in spite of neoliberalism having circulated for decades around the world, it has also encountered resistance. In Gramsci's expression, there is a neoliberal "crisis of authority" driven by the rising disbelief from the popular masses. This means that "[...] the neoliberal project is very much alive, but, significantly, with its legitimacy lost" (Harvey, 2020, p. 7), congregating with neofascism to survive. In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro uses "[...] violence and racist, sexist, and reactionary common-sense appeals" (Harvey, 2020, p. 8) to place the country in a neoliberal scenario, which is compared by the author to the Pinochet regime in Chile. Bolsonaro rising would be, according to him, a "[...] political expression of the crisis of capitalism and the neoliberal state" (Harvey, 2020, p. 8). In this context, the "[...] Ideologues of the far right are advocating that the poor, the ill, and the elderly sacrifice their lives by going to work for the so-called good of 'the nation.'" (Harvey, 2020, p. 8). This call, however, has generated global instability.For instance, the author refers to the protests in Chile in 2019, marked by police repression against demonstrators. Under pressure, Sebastián Piñera was forced to increase pensions, social security, and the minimum wage, in addition to suspending the state of emergency and retreating the military forces from the streets. Apart from Chile, Ecuador has also experienced similar protests. By determination of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), new taxes were implemented in the country and fuel subsidies were deployed. However, Lenin Moreno was only able to return to Quito after cancelling this program and negotiating with the protesters. In Bolivia, although in a different circumstance, Evo Morales was accused by the extreme right of rigging the elections in his favor, provoking protests among groups of contrasting positions.