Neo-Extractive Development Models, Anti-Neoliberal Social Policies, and Radical Democracy: Myths and Paradoxes of Venezuela’s 21st Century Eco-socialism

Speaker: Maria Pilar García-Guadila 

Professor, Universidad Simón Bolívar
Caracas, Venezuela
 
255 Hagerty Hall  
1775 College Road
 
Economic and social development models of new left countries like Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia are purported to be environmentally sustainable, socially equitable and participatory. However, to finance social policies, these countries have turned to an “extractive” economic development model that damages one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems in the world and neglects the rights of the poor and indigenous communities located in that eco-system. This talk focuses on the case of 
Venezuela to illustrate the contradictions and conflicts of 21st Century Eco-Socialism with its extractive development model and its antineoliberal social policies.  
 
Dr. García-Guadilla is a Professor in the Graduate Program on Political Science, Environment and Development in the Department of Urban Planning at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas. She directs the Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory on Environmental, Urban, and Sociopolitical Management. She received her Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Chicago.
 
For info contact: rakowski.1@osu.edu

This event is being presented by the Center for Latin American Studies and the School of Environment and Natural Resources.