Until the Rulers Obey ─ Voices from Latin American Social Movements

Bringing together voices from the movements behind the wave of change that swept Latin America at the turn of the 21st century, this unique collection of interviews features five dozen leaders and grassroots activists from 15 countries, presenting their work and debating pressing questions of power, organizational forms, and relations with the state. These movements have galvanized long-silent—or silenced—sectors of society: indigenous people, campesinos, students, the LGBT community, the unemployed, and all those left out of the promised utopia of a globalized economy. They have deployed a wide range of strategies and actions, sometimes building schools or clinics, sometimes occupying factories or fields, sometimes organizing political parties to take the reins of the state, and sometimes resisting government policies in order to protect their new-found power in community. This indispensable compilation of primary source material is organized in chapters by country, with each chapter introduced by a solidarity activist, writer, or academic with deep knowledge of the place. It addresses a wide range of issues, from fighting against mines and agribusiness to demanding equal participation through the recognition of language and culture, giving participants, students, and observers of social movements a chance to learn from their experiences.

Clifton Ross is a translator, a filmmaker, and a writer who has traveled extensively in Latin America and worked in solidarity with its social movements for more than 30 years. His first feature-length film, Venezuela: Revolution from the Inside Out, was released in 2008 by PM Press. In 2005 Ross represented the United States in the Second World Poetry Festival of Venezuela, and his book of poetry, Translations from Silence, was the recipient of PEN Oakland’s 2010 Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence. Marcy Rein is a writer, an editor, and an organizer who has engaged with a wide range of social movements during the last 35 years, including publication collectives, labor unions, and community organizations. Her articles have appeared in women’s, queer, labor, and left publications from the pioneering radical feminist journal Off Our Backs to Race, Poverty & the Environment. She also worked for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for almost 12 years, writing for its newspaper and serving as the communications specialist for its organizing department. They both live in Berkeley, California. Raul Zibechi is an international analyst for Brecha, the weekly newspaper of Montevideo, Uruguay. He has published numerous books, including Dispersing Power: Social Movements as Anti-State Forces and Territories in Resistance: A Cartography of Latin American Social Movements.