The Lawyer And Political Scientist Mapping Latin America's Rising Political Movements

Throughout Latin America, an anticorruption movement has in the past few years been dealing with endemic corruption. Prosecuting heads of state, businessmen, and billionaires, it has effectively been "draining the swamp" in many of the region's countries. But as old models die, movements throughout the hemisphere are still trying to figure out what the new way of doing politics entails, and setting in motion a strategy to make it happen. 

In this context, OZY's Catherine Osborn profiles a political scientist, Beatriz Pedreira, and a lawyer, Rafael Poço, who are mapping and documenting the process. "If a new way of doing politics in Latin America is a baby on the way, as traditional models die, we’re doing the ultrasound," explains the latter. 

Beyond outrage

Leaders throughout the country have failed to deliver on their promises and deliver on the hemisphere's long-dated development challenges. But as their work shows, several organizations have realized that outrage is not enough to enact change. 

So far, the team and their project — called Update Politics — have identified several patterns in the action of new political groups in Latin America: "Peer-to-peer-inspired direct action (for example, high school takeovers to protest poor-quality education); a new activist aesthetic incorporating slang and humor; leaders of protest movements running for office; elected officials soliciting heightened levels of citizen input at town hall-style events; and watchdog groups translating dense public data for lay readers".

“The language and behavior that get people motivated about politics today is new,” Pedreira says, “but the battles — inequality, violence and corruption — are not". Indeed, if these groups are to succeed in reforming politics, they will need to remain active and gain other skills, but hopefully remain committed to these long-standing challenges.