ABSTRACT
In order to understand the role of social movements in Brazil in this new millennium, some preliminary considerations about the socio-political, economic, and cultural setting in which these movements take place are in order, so as to position these actions in a Latin American context. Latin America has presented different national answers to the already cyclical economic crises, especially the one that befell the globalized world at the end of 2008. Significant changes in the global scenario, both at an international level (globalization, wars, crises, new hegemonic disputes, and so on) as well as at a regional level (a relatively more autonomous repositioning of Latin America in the world system) have resulted in a socio-political scenario which is both diverse and differentiated from that of previous decades, from an economic, social, and political viewpoint, as well as being manifested in countless cultural innovations. Some countries, like Argentina, suffered great impacts and began to experience social problems previously felt on a smaller scale. Others underwent political transformations with the rise to power of new groups and the formulation of policies denominated by them as state refunding, as is the case of Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Others capitalized on the crisis, positioning themselves in niches of the international market, adopting strong social protectionist policies, with social programs that promote interaction between some social movements, trade unions, associations, and collective actions, as well as government organs. This interaction is achieved by means of institutionalized policies and can be observed in big national conferences and in the policies focused on social segments, such as African descendants, or in policies on social themes such as food. They are all policies based on inclusion or social protection, as is the case of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. In every case, the common element is territorialization or spatialization of collective actions and the transforming of socio-political conflicts into thematics.
