Processes of social democratization during periods of political transition

During the nineteen eighties, democratic political regimes replaced military dictatorships in several South American countries. Many social movements arose under conditions of severe repression and then gained considerable strength in contexts defined by the inception of these political transitions. But subsequently they tended to slow down, weaken, and even to dissolve. While under very adverse political conditions social groups developed autonomous forms of organization and action, yet once these conditions started to improve they were not able to maintain their initial momentum. This dissertation provides a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. In advancing a conceptualization addressing the emergence, further development, and ensuing destiny of diverse social democratization processes during different political transitions, we constructed a descriptive model of transition, using secondary sources. Also, we gathered empirical information and elaborated detailed descriptions of different social groups belonging to several social movements which were active during the transitions that occurred in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. These include groups related to student, labor, human rights, and landless movements. Based on this, and using the descriptive model as a background scenario, comparisons were developed which lead to the finding of several recurrent patterns, enabling a better discernment of the factual interweaving between social democratization and political democratization processes in local realms. Once we reached this discernment, it was possible to advance a middle range theorization which faces the consequences these analyses have for questions around identity, antagonism, and rights. Even though such a theorization has grown from an effort to understand a very specific phenomenon, it provides good grounds not to answer, but at least to pose some questions about democracy as such