Collective Action Frames and Policy Windows: The Case of the Project to Export Liquefied Natural Gas from Bolivia to California

How and why can a political mobilisation prevent what appears to be an economically rational and beneficial government investment? The present paper explores the ways in which both public policy and contentious politics theories can be potentially bridged to answer this question. It suggests ways in which concepts used by public policy theorists such as 'policy windows' (Kingdon, 1984) or 'advocacy coalitions' (Sabatier, 1999) may be useful to understand the emergence of political opportunities or the construction of collective action frames. The case study to be used is the project to export liquefied gas from Bolivia to California, which was promoted by the administration of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada in 2002 and was cancelled after civil society groups not only mobilise to resist it, but to demand the resignation of the president.

Discourses and Conditions of Possibility in Latin American Social Movements: The Cases of the Bolivian 'Water War' and the Movement of Opposition against the New Airport in Mexico City

This work presents a comparative analysis of two Latin American social movements. The first case is the movement of opposition against the privatisation of water and sanitation services (WSS) in Cochabamba, Bolivia and the second case is the movement of opposition against the project for a new international airport in Mexico City. Both case studies are used to illustrate how the study of collective discourses or collective action frames (CAFs) and the study of collective identities from a new social movement (NSM) perspective can be linked to improve our understanding of contemporary social movements. For these purposes, the work proposes the concept of conditions of possibility, defined as the contextual and organisational conditions that allow the resonance between constructed discourses and collective identities during the visible and the non-visible stages of a social movement.

Social Movements, Public Policy, and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America

This work studies how different social mobilisation processes have influenced policy processes in Latin America (2000-2003) and vice versa. Studying these interrelations includes three issues of empirical and theoretical importance. First, it explores under what conditions an investment project or policy initiative that is strongly supported by a democratically elected government on the basis of economic and technical arguments may trigger the emergence of a social movement; and under what conditions a social movement may successfully preclude the implementation of such project or policy initiative. Second, this work explores if these social movements have actually compensated for the absence of channels of participation and representation that work to influence the institutional policy process. Third and final, it studies if the influence and impact of these social movements have contributed to improve the design and implementation of public policies in the medium term and to promote the democratic consolidation in the region. Although the work is based on evidence from many countries in the region, there are mainly two case studies presented with more detail: the 'Water War' in Cochabamba, Bolivia (2001-2002) and the conflict triggered by the project to build a new airport in Mexico City (2001-2002). The 'Gas War' of Bolivia (2003) is also explored with less detail.

Agenda-setting and The Political Ecology of Large Infrastructure Projects in Latin America

This paper analyses the complex interplay between the environmental acceptability of large infrastructure projects and other normative values that may influence policy decisions, such as 'social justice' and 'economic growth'. It explores how historical changes in policy ideas may determine if a project survives on the policy agenda, if it is moved up to the decision-agenda; and whether and how it is finally implemented. Two case studies are presented with more detail: the project for a new international airport in Mexico City (1964-2000) and the Misicuni Multipurpose Project, aimed at solving the problems of water scarcity in Cochabamba, Bolivia (1952-2000).