Civil society and regional integration in South America. From MERCOSUR to UNASUR: A step forward?

BOTTO, MERCEDES

Regions of Citizens. How Civil Society Reshapes World Regions in Times of Crisis

lexington books

Lugar: plymouth; Año: 2014; p. 49 - 62

Civil society participation in the development of regional blocks is a new phenomenon, still unclear in terms of impacts. This should not be surprising, as the process of regionalization at the global level has been traditionally driven by political elites, often excluding other forces in society. Such a government-centred tradition has been gradually shifting in the past few decades in Latin America, largely thanks to economic globalization processes. In an effort to respond to the movement of capital across the globe, states have coalesced in regional blocs with a view to attracting local and foreign investment. Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as  civil society organizations (e.g. NGOs, trade unions) were largely excluded from this regionalist agenda (and from the benefits that  integration was believed to produce),  they did not remain passive: as a matter of fact, they tried to make their voices heard through transnational/regional collective action.This chapter analyses the way in which civil society actors have built transnational networks and created an identity that goes beyond their particular sectoral interests, capable of putting forward an alternative to the dominant models of regional integration (largely inspired by neoliberal globalization). This analysis moves from the assumption that collective action stems not only from the mobilization of resources, opportunity structures and rational choices (easily measurable dimensions), but also from the framing of cultural codes and innovative practices (Melucci, 2002; Fioramonti and Fiori 2010).