Solidarity: Latin America and the US Left in the Era of Human Rights (Wilcat: Workers' Movements and Global Capitalism)

Solidarity offers the first history of US-Latin American solidarity from the Haitian Revolution to the present day. Steve Striffler traces the history of internationalism through the Cold War, exploring the rise of human rights as the dominant current of international solidarity, before turning to the period after 1990 when the focus of solidarity shifted from human rights/peace to labour-related issues. In a broad-ranging landscape defined by case studies, the book asks: how and why has solidarity changed over time? Why have particular strategies, tactics, and strands of internationalism emerged or re-emerged at particular moments? And how has solidarity shaped the history of the US left in particular? Striffler argues that although a reorientation of solidarity occurred as the US labour movement began to embrace a progressive brand of internationalism, it has produced modest results, as it largely retained an organisational infrastructure inherited from the human rights movement. Additionally, very little of this solidarity has been channelled towards the most powerful response to neoliberalism in the Americas: the Latin American left. Solidarity has largely been explored in an ahistorical context, and therefore this book provides a distinctive intervention in the history of progressive politics in both the US and Latin America, the past and present of US imperialism and anti-imperialism, and the history of human rights and labour internationalism. How and why has solidarity changed over time? Why have particular strategies, tactics, and strands of internationalism emerged or re-emerged at particular moments? And how has solidarity shaped the history of the US left in particular?

In Solidarity, Steve Striffler addresses these key questions, offering the first history of US-Latin American solidarity from the Haitian Revolution to the present day. Striffler traces the history of internationalism through the Cold War, exploring the rise of human rights as the dominant current of international solidarity. He also considers the limitations of a solidarity movement today that inherited its organisational infrastructure from the human rights movements.

Moving beyond conventionally ahistorical analyses of solidarity, here Striffler provides a distinctive intervention in the history of progressive politics in both the US and Latin America, the past and present of US imperialism and anti-imperialism, and the history of human rights and labour internationalism. "How and why has solidarity changed over time? Why have different strategies, tactics, and strands of international solidarity emerged or re-emerged at particular moments throughout history? And how has the concept of solidarity shaped the history of the US left in particular? In Solidarity, Steve Striffler addresses all these questions, offering the first history of US-Latin American solidarity from the Haitian Revolution to the present. Striffler traces the history of internationalism through the Cold War, exploring the rise of human rights-and later, labor issues-as the dominant currents of international solidarity. He also considers the limitations of today's solidarity movement, which inherited its organizational infrastructure from the human rights tradition. Moving beyond conventionally ahistorical analyses of solidarity, Striffler provides a distinctive intervention in the history of progressive politics in both the United States and Latin America" -- (ed.) Cover Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. US Empire, Anti-Imperialism, and Revolution 2. The Caribbean under US Occupation 3. The Cuban Revolution and the Cold War 4. South American Dictatorships and the Rise of Human Rights 5. Central American Solidarity in Reagan's America 6. NAFTA, Fair Trade, and Globalization 7. Zapatistas and Global Justice 8. Corporate Campaigns and Sweatshop Activism Conclusion Notes Index The first comprehensive history of US-Latin American solidarity from the Haitian Revolution to the present day. Striffler engages with the latest cutting-edge critical literature on the rise of the human rights paradigm. The author is an accomplished Latin-Americanist & US Labour scholar, involved in Latin American solidarity for over two decades.