ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies changes in the approaches made by the Latin American Left to the relationship between culture and politics, as a result of the broader process of renovation within the Left that began to take place at the end of the 1970s. It discusses the new directions emerging from concrete political contexts, namely the process of democratization and particularly the crucial role played by social movements in that process. The chapter addresses the previously dominant theoretical tendencies in the traditional Marxist approach to the relationship between culture and politics. It analyzes new conceptions of democracy and citizenship emerging from the struggles of social movements, which have decisively contributed to new approaches to the relationship between culture and politics. The chapter suggests that emphasis on cultural change as an element of social movements' strategy is not confined to civil society as a privileged site for politics but extends to the state and political institutionality.
