The politics of energy privatization in Latin America: Contours and directions

Abstract

Prescribed as a measure from international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and networks of creditors to manage debt, privatization of energy in Latin America has been a key policy from the Washington Consensus since the 1980s into the current period. The waves of privatization and neoliberal reforms that have swept Latin America during the 1980s and through the 1990s and 2000s have also brought with them massive resistance from constituencies such as labor unions, indigenous communities, students, and workers in the region. This review essay explores key debates on the politics of energy privatization in Latin America, with attention to three central questions: (1) How do foreign (exogenous) and national (endogenous) factors interact in the diffusion and implementation of energy privatization? (2) Under what conditions are protests against energy privatization effective in reversing these policies? And (3) What are the broader effects of energy privatization in the 21st century? I end this review essay with new directions for research that can help sociologists synthesize insights across political science and economics, and shed light to approaches that can be beneficial to sociologists conducting research on privatization and neoliberal reforms in Latin America in the 21st century.