Beyond the Comandantes: Revolutions and Revolutionaries since 1959 (original) (raw)
2022, Latin American Research Review
The spread of “history from below” in the late twentieth century was, paradoxically, slow to reach studies of the Latin American Left. Research on revolutionary movements has tended to privilege the voices of formal leadership, and usually the top national leadership, of leftist organizations. There have always been exceptions to the pattern, however, and more appear each year. Recent studies of the Left have begun to piece together a more robust picture of revolutionary movements both armed and unarmed. They have made clear that the Left is far more than the comandantes who have commanded so much attention from external observers. When top leaders are decentered, revolution appears as a complex process involving many important actors. Internal conflicts over strategies, structures, and values take on new importance, mediated by factors like race, nation, gender, sexuality, friendship, love, youth, religion, and personal transformation.