ABSTRACT
In recent decades, social movements in Latin America seem to have taken a view that synthesizes these two diff erent ways of thinking about the state and civil society. Social movements are loosely associated individuals or organizations that take action in response to common problems, in defense of common interests, or in the quest to force the government or other social actors to respond to widely supported demands. Th ey are wary of attempts at subordination by populist parties and politicians, but they also mistrust the market. Whereas neoliberals see the market as enhancing freedom in civil society, many social movements fear that the competitive nature of the market, left unchecked, will corrode the social solidarity needed for a strong civil society, imposing the greatest costs of economic change on those least able to bear it. Th ey want a strong, democratic state that works in and with civil society, not standing apart from it. Whether they can achieve this without clientelism and corporatism is a signifi cant issue.
