‘To Fill Yourself with Goodness’: Revolutionary Self‐Making in Bolivarian Venezuela

Abstract

This article explores how utopian visions are articulated by chavista activists in Venezuela through the practice of "revolutionary self-making". Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the city of Valencia between 2008 and 2012, it aims to demonstrate how close attention to the formation of new moral and spiritual selves is an integral part of the way that chavistas enact and experience political protagonism. In doing so, the article seeks to provide a ground level view of utopian visions as they are manifested discursively and practically in everyday life.

Breeding sovereignty: the production of race, nature, and capital in Venezuela

“…Experts preferred to work at dawn because the animals were more docile, and the tropical sun more bearable. On days when he was scheduled for duty, Miguel enjoyed waking me up before first light in our bunkhouse near the Florentino headquarters by saying, ‘In this process, we cannot sleep!’ – ironically invoking official exhortations to self‐sacrifice on the part of the revolution's cadres (see Wilde 2017).…”

Chávez’s Bolivarian Republic Viewed With a Quality Lens

“…To counter bad economic news, Chávez appeared on television and radio with inflammatory rhetoric that targeted the media, businesses, and foreign countries often demonizing American imperialism and neoliberalism (McCarthy-Jones, et.al., 2011). Chávez used semi-theological rhetoric about reinventing individuals, so that a new society could be built based upon a new man, new society, and new ethos (Wilde, 2018). This concept reappears much later in Mission Vuelvan Caras goals that emphasized values of altruism, solidarity, and social utility of work as alternatives to both consumerism and individualism (Upchurch, et.al., 2014).…”

“…But due to a lack of administrative and technical skills, the cooperatives failed to meet the broad goals of 21 st Century Socialism and could not compete with capitalist alternatives (Upchurch, et.al., 2014). The government explanation for the failure of tens of thousands of cooperatives was greed; however, struggles of everyday life such as insecure employment, multiple jobs, family obligations and merely the precarious nature of life in the barrio interfered with many of Chávez's lofty goals, simply because workers had other priorities (Ellner, 2010;Upchurch, et.al., 2014;Wilde, 2018).…”

“…Chávez also intended to make Venezuela more self-sufficient in agriculture, however this lofty goal was highly dependent upon training urban people in agricultural production; yet initial volunteers for his agricultural program did not receive critical training and resources as promised (Page, 2010;Ellner, 2010;Upchurch, et.al., 2014;Wilde, 2018).…”