Uruguay: social movements during Jose Mujica’s government (2010-2015)

Abstract

During the last five-year period, Uruguay showed signs of revitalization of its social participation, especially among youth sectors. In some cases this revitalization seemed to overwhelm political parties and multiple actors managed to mobilize thousands of people around several claims. When (and why) did this heterogeneity of social mobilization emerge? How did they organize themselves for such diverse objectives? What is the real impact their actions achieved over the multiple public policies that they encompassed? These are some of the questions we will cover in this paper. It is a analysis on the recent past, and is developed in four parts: at first, some theoretical aspects are covered; in the second, the background and our main intuition are presented; after, the emergence of new movements (when) is analyzed, as well its organizational characteristics (how), and the impact on public policies (what). Finally, a conclusion section is incorporated.