Syftet med undersökningen var att med hjälp av lämpliga statistiska metoder testa det så kallade ”Första petropolitiska lagen” med vilket menas en negativ korrelation mellan priset på råolja och graden av friheten hos petropolitiska länder. Med stöd av ett lämplig teoretisk referensram och diskussion över de kausala mekanismerna, har en hypotes över sambandet tagits fram. Trettio tre petropolitiska stater har identifierats vilket omfattar hela populationen. Demokratiska friheter och priset på råolja har definierats och omvandlats till en kvantifierbar form och sedan testats statistiskt. Samtliga variabler har kodats i form av tidsserieobservationer och en paneldata har konstruerats innehållande totalt 939 årliga observationer för de trettio tre petropolitiska länder. Den aggregerade sambandet över hela populationen har testats med en OLE regressionsanalys med så kallad ”first-order” autokorrelation med panelspecifika standardavvikelser. Den första petropolitiska lagen har även testats individuellt för varje petropolitisk land som ingick i urvalet. Erhållen resultat från aggregerat regressionsanalys tyder på att det föreligger ett svagt, med 95 % statistiskt signifikant, positiv samband mellan den beroende och den oberoende variabeln. När sambandet testades enskilt för varje land, har endast 16 av 33 länder fått signifikanta korrelationsnivåer. Fem av länder visade en negativ samband medan elva länder visade en positiv samband mellan beroende och oberoende variabler. Hypotesen har därmed kunnat falsifieras. Förklaringsgraden, samt autokorrelationsproblem tyder dock på att en mer omfattande analys krävs för att kunna säkerställa erhållna resultat. / The purpose of this study was to, with proper statistical methods, investigate so called ”The First Law of Petropolitics”. The First Law of Petropolitics postulates that there exists a negative correlation between price of oil and pace of freedom in the oil-rich petrolist states. A hypothesis has been formulated based on appropriate theoretical references and a discussion about its causal mechanisms. Thirty three petropolist states have been identified which comprises the whole population. The pace of freedom and the price of oil has been defined and transformed into a quantifiable measure and tested statistically. Variables were coded into a time-series panel-data form which included 939 annual observations for those thirty three petrolist states. The aggregated correlation between dependent and independent variables has been tested with an OLE regression analysis with so called “first-order autocorrelation with panel-specific standard errors”. The first law of petropolitics also has been individually tested for each petrolist state. The results from the aggregate regression suggest that there exists a weak, with 95 % statistically significant, positive correlation between a dependent and an independent variables. When each petrolist state has been regressed individually the results showed that only 16 of 33 states had significant levels of correlation. Five of those states had a negative correlation, while other eleven states had a positive correlation. The hypothesis has therefore been falsified. The low R2 –value obtained in both tests and autocorrelation problems suggest that a further investigation of the First Law of Petropolitics is necessary in order to secure the obtained results.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-04-19T14:05:45Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Tese Versão Biblioteca.New.pdf: 8228465 bytes, checksum: 555e31ae83e9955c8ba2d9d9fc24b9ae (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-19T14:05:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Tese Versão Biblioteca.New.pdf: 8228465 bytes, checksum: 555e31ae83e9955c8ba2d9d9fc24b9ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-18 / FACEPE / Grandes empresas e grupos econômicos, dentro do atual processo de reprodução ampliada do capital e de seu regime de acumulação com dominância da valorização financeira, requerem, cada vez mais, grandes negócios (megaprojetos, megaeventos), e esses só são viáveis em parceria com o Estado. Esta relação, com o tempo, torna-se mais complexa e envolve uma série de inovações em arranjos político-institucionais e espaciais. Assim, questionou-se se grandes obras ligadas à reestruturação do espaço metropolitano implementadas na Região Metropolitana do Recife - RMR podiam ser consideradas expressões de uma acumulação rentista-patrimonial ampliada entre o Estado e diferentes frações do capital, amplificando a unidade contraditória entre fixos e fluxos própria da reprodução do capital contemporâneo. Para responder a essa, questão buscou-se demonstrar as ações do Estado e o seu papel na concentração e centralização do capital nas mãos de oligarquias econômicas, neste caso, grupos econômicos nacionais ligados à produção do espaço (construção civil) e ao capital financeiro, e em assegurar importantes condições econômicas e extraeconômicas para a acumulação, com o uso dos fundos públicos, créditos subsidiados, incentivos fiscais, terras entre outros. Identificou-se que setores como o da construção civil ganham com o crescimento da economia nacional que leva à busca por investimentos em capital fixo, que também ocorre em períodos de crises econômicas do sistema capitalista. Optou-se por uma pesquisa do tipo qualitativa, explicativa, documental e bibliográfica. Fundamenta-se aqui na compreensão de que urbanização, modernização, política econômica e o planejamento são realidades sociais, e que toda realidade social é espacial e historicamente determinada. Na organização da exposição da tese, optou-se por seguir o método regressivo-progressivo de H. Lefebvre. Entende-se, nesta pesquisa, que os grandes negócios da produção do espaço têm como principais beneficiados as grandes empreiteiras “As Campeãs Nacionais”. Analisaram-se os grandes projetos: Cidade da Copa/Arena Itaipava; Rota dos Coqueiros e Cidade Saneada como representativos de uma “nova” articulação entre o público e o privado dentro do processo chamado por nós de acumulação rentista-patrimonial ampliada entre Estado e capital. Assim, o estudo focou-se na reestruturação econômica e espacial da RMR ligadas a esses projetos e concluiu que este processo é produto da concorrência global capitalista agora movida por um amplo processo de financeirização da economia mundial, fruto de um ajuste espaço temporal do sistema e sua ligação com a produção do espaço, e também representa uma coalizão de interesses entre frações do capital nacionais e locais representantes de grupos econômicos ligados ao setor da construção civil, via arranjos político-institucionais e espaciais como concessões e parcerias público-privadas, financiamentos de longo prazo e participações no capital social de um número seleto de empresas do setor da construção pesada ligadas a grandes holdings nacionais, agentes esses capazes de manipular o fundo público via poder político e econômico, dentro de um contexto de imbricação de escalas geográficas. / Major companies and economic groups, within the current expanded reproduction process of the capital and its accumulation regime with dominance of financial valuation, require, increasingly, major business (mega projects, mega-events), and those can only be feasible in partnership with the State. This relationship, over time, becomes more complex and includes a number of innovations in political-institutional and spatial arrangements. Thus, the question has been raised as to whether great works connected to the restructuring process of the metropolitan space implemented in the Metropolitan Region of Recife – MRR could be considered as expressions of an expanded patrimonial rentier accumulation among the State and different fractions of the capital, amplifying the contradictory unity between ‘’fix and flows’’ peculiar of the reproduction of the contemporary capital. To solve this question efforts have been made to demonstrate the actions of the State and its role regarding the concentration and centralization of the capital in the hands of economic oligarchies, in this case, national economic groups connected to space production (building construction) and to the financial capital, and to assure important economic and extra-economic conditions for accumulation, using public funds, subsidized credit, tax incentives, lands and others. It has been identified that sectors such as building construction gain from the growth of the national economy, leading to the search for investments in fixed capital, which also occurs in times of economic crises of the capitalist system. It has been chosen a qualitative, explanatory, documentary and bibliographic type of research. It is based here on the understanding that urbanization, modernization, economic policy and planning are social realities, and that all social reality is spatially and historically determined. In the organization of the thesis exhibition it was chosen to follow the regressive-progressive method of H. Lefebvre. It is understood in this research that the big businesses of production of the space have as main beneficiaries the great contractors "The National Champions". The major projects have been analyzed: The Cup City/Itaipava Arena; Rota dos Coqueiros e Cidade Saneada as representative of a ‘’new’’ articulation between public and private within the process which we call expanded patrimonial rentier accumulation between State and capital. Thus, the study focused on the economic and spatial restructuring of the MRR linked to those projects and concluded that this process is the result of global capitalist competition now driven by a broad process of financialization of the world economy, result of an space-time adjustment of the system and its link with the production of the space, and also represents a coalition of interests among national and local fractions of the capital which represent economic groups connected to the construction industry, via political-institutional and spatial arrangements such as concessions and public-private partnerships, long-term debt and shares in the social capital of a select number of companies from the heavy construction sector linked to great national holdings, being those agents able to manipulate the public fund via political and economic influence, in an overlay context of geographic scales.

Diplomová práce - abstrakt Dulovcová Iva Abstract The main objective of this Master thesis is to test the hypothesis that economic dependence on the export of minerals allows the monopolization of power and thus reduces the possibility of democracy. The hypothesis will be tested on cases of mineral economies in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. The hypothesis is based on the resource curse theory, which assumes a negative relationship between the presence of natural resources, their export, and level of democracy. In this thesis I expanded this theory with mineral economies factor, therefore beyond purely petroleum countries. Another expansion of the theory lies with international dimension that strongly influences events in selected countries. The thesis will analyze cases of Peru, Bolivia and Chile, especially role of natural resources in these countries, but also economic results and role of democracy in selected countries. In this thesis I use qualitative and quantitative elements. Economic and political development will be analyzed on the basis of process analysis method and method of dependence on previous development. The validity of theoretical concept for these cases will be tested on the basis of the compliance method. Quantitative part of the thesis will be based on causal mechanisms designed by Ross. By...

For decades, the two biggest oil producers in the Middle East have been Saudi Arabia and Iran, two autocratic states that are also rivals in the region. With time, oil revenues have lowered and public discontent has risen. Through the use of a qualitative, comparative case study, this Bachelor’s Thesis aims to examine how the economic, social and political development in these countries has been affected by the oil revenues. From the theoretical viewpoints of Rentier State Theory and Assabiyya, the study concludes that oil revenues, as a considerable source of national income, has created undiversified economies in both Saudi Arabia and Iran. This has caused demands for economic, social and political change, leading to different responses from the respective states. Saudi Arabia has begun to diversify its economy to create several sources of income. The country has also initiated to loosen up its strict religious social codes in the public sphere. This is in contrast to Iran, where the government faces significant financial deficits and has started to exploit its population to compensate for the strained public economy. Additionally, no indication of political reforms towards a more democratic system of governance is seen in any of the two states.

The following paper analyses the similarities and differences as well as the motives and strategies of the demonstrations in Iran which occurred in 2017/2018 and since September of 2022. The findings are discussed using the Rentier State Theory. A pure comparative analysis is not made, rather a case study with the demonstrations as two components. The demonstrations that started in September 2022 is ongoing as of the writing of this paper, despite this are several findings made. Similarities are seen in the participating people between the years, as well as some recurring cities. The biggest differences are the longevity of the demonstrations despite interventions of the regime, the greater unity amongst socioeconomic groups in the ongoing demonstrations as well as the grievances of electoral frauds leading up t. The motive of 2022 is more focused on revolution instead of the reforms of 2017, these differences is however partly uncertain. The strategies were in the beginning similar, with taking of the headscarf as a more prominent action in the demonstrations of 2022. Many of the underlying grievances can be discussed via the Rentier State Theory, for example the democratic deficit and economic hardships. The details and observations are several, but the main conclusion is how the ongoing demonstrations are greater in both numbers, motives, and strategies. The theory is found useful to explain this phenomenon of instability and grievance between state and civilians.

This study explores the socio-economic development path of the former Trucial State of Dubai, now an economic powerhouse within the Federal State of the United Arab Emirates. This thesis emanated out of the researcher’s need to understand the development trajectory of Dubai from the perspective of a development discourse, as literature and debates on the city’s developmental trajectory have generally focused on micro-and macro-economic variables and a sectoral emphasis without considering the total and complex development matrix. The author proposes a rentier, developmental and competition (RDC) Model as a basis for understanding the state-led social and economic development of the Emirate of Dubai. Empirically, the study examines a whole raft of home-grown social and economic development policies that fall exclusively within the domain of the Dubai Strategic Plans (DSPs). Conceptually, the thesis argues that although the Dubai Inc model has successfully changed the socio-economic landscape of the Emirate, nevertheless, a soft underbelly of the model displays the exploitative nature of unbridled free market capitalism. Methodologically, triangulation backed up the qualitative research methodology by utilising a mixed-methods approach to enhance the richness of the research. Specific data collection methods used included in-depth semi-structured interviews and non-participative observation, supported by documentation analyses of relevant documents. The research findings unambiguously demonstrated that the socio-economic transformation of Dubai, between 1998 and 2008, was a result of the aforementioned hybrid model, which this thesis uses as its theoretical framework. The conclusion drawn from the study is that there is no one path to development; the Government of Dubai is cognisant of that and has thus used the capacity of the state to transform the once impoverished and marginalised sheikhdom into a ‘commodified’ city-corporate entity. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Developmental Studies)

Este trabalho analisa a trajetória da classe trabalhadora venezuelana como parte do Proceso Bolivariano, sendo este entendido como um conjunto de acontecimentos de caráter político e social inaugurado na Venezuela pela crise pré-revolucionária do Sacudón (27 de Fevereiro de 1989 – 27F) e que se desenvolve como resultado de diferentes correlações de forças sociais até os dias atuais, sob o governo dirigido pelo Presidente Hugo Chávez. A tese volta-se para o estudo de dois sujeitos fundamentais do Processo Bolivariano que se encontram muitas vezes preteridos nos estudos sobre a Venezuela atual, cuja ênfase orienta-se para a análise da liderança chavista e seu governo. São eles, a classe operária industrial e os trabalhadores precarizados moradores dos barrios ─ espaço de segregação social que ocupa parte significativa da paisagem urbana venezuelana. Para compreender e explicar a emergência desses sujeitos no cenário nacional são buscadas suas raízes econômico-sociais nos elementos próprios da estrutura do capitalismo dependente petroleiro-rentista. Partindo de uma história econômica da Venezuela desde os anos 1920, identificamos a constituição de um Exército Industrial de Reserva de proporções inauditas. Com base na experiência de mais de três gerações vivendo nos barrios, os trabalhadores precarizados ingressaram no cenário político nacional venezuelano como um movimento de massas particular, com demandas e modos de luta específicos. Inspiradas em práticas insurgentes que remanescem da experiência guerrilheira dos anos 1960, essas lutas ganham forma nas mobilizações callejeras das décadas de 1980 e 1990. A intensa atividade política desse setor, em aliança com setores reformistas das Forças Armadas Nacionais venezuelanas que se arremetem na busca pelo controle do aparato estatal em 4 de fevereiro de 1992, os militares bolivarianos, constitui-se um movimiento bolivariano radical de masas, de caráter policlassista. Depois de abandonar a estratégia insurrecional de acesso ao poder em prol da via institucional, a chegada de Hugo Chávez na Presidência inaugurará uma nova fase do Proceso. Ocupando posição nada desprezível no aparato estatal, a aliança policlassista consubstanciada no governo bolivariano enfrentará o acirramento da luta de classes no interior da qual se recolocará a centralidade do operariado industrial como sujeito central da mudança estrutural. Assim, se o 27F marcou a crise pré-revolucionária e o 4F uma situação revolucionária, o governo bolivariano vem revelando-se mais recentemente como um instrumento de contenção das demandas sociais. Ao mesmo tempo, a exacerbação da luta de classes abriu caminhos para o comparecimento da classe operária industrial na luta pelo poder com experiências significativas de controle da produção em importantes atividades econômicas do país, como são as indústrias do petróleo (PDVSA), alumínio (CVG-ALCASA) e siderúrgica (SIDOR). Baseado em fontes quantitativas e qualitativas, com uso de séries estatísticas históricas e coleta de testemunhos de História Oral, este trabalho procura oferecer uma interpretação rigorosa, ainda que provisória, da história recente venezuelana a partir da perspectiva da luta de classes. / The present thesis annalyses the trajectory of Venezuelan working class within the Proceso Bolivariano, which is understood as a compound of political and social events in this country inaugurated by the pre revolutionary crisis driven by the Sacudón (February the 27th, 1989 – 27F) and since then has evolved as a result of varying correlation of the social forces up to the present. Stemming from an economic history of Venezuela since the 1920s, the thesis presents evidence on the upsurging of precarious urban workers as the main actors of the Proceso Bolivariano. The relevance assumed by this working class sector is discussed as resulting from the very constitution of the Venezuelan oil dependent capitalism and its rentier bias. The thesis remarks that this particular form of capitalism reproduced throughout the twentieth century an Industrial Reserve Army of incomparable dimensions. In this process, the precarious urban workers have been socially segregated in the barrios (shantty towns) and had their identity forged on day-to-day struggles experience for survival. In this sense, it is argued that this working class sector emerged at the national political escenario in Venezuela as a particular mass movement, carrying out its claims and specific ways of struggles. The political actions sustained by those social subjects, in an alliance with reformer military from the Venezuelan National Armed Forces – the Bolivarian Military – crafted what we named the Bolivarian radical mass movement, inaugurating a new historical bloc which accessed Venezuela’s state apparatus departing from 1999. Using insurgent methods derived both from the 1960s guerrilla experience and the popular extraction within the Venezuelan Army, this historical bloc unfolded a strategy to control State’s apparatus evoking a political discourse advocating for a revolutionary transformation. Regarding the former elements, the thesis discusses how the pre revolutionary crisis of the 27F moved towards a revolutionary situation, when dominant classe’s difficulties for unity opposed them in a stalemate with the military, on February the 4th, 1992 (4 F), and, finally, how this situation evolved to an institutional outcome with ex-Liutenenent Colonel Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías candidature and election for Presidency in 1999. In this sense, the Bolivarian Government is depicted as a new phase of the Proceso. The thesis contends this new phase has sharpen the class struggles and put the industrial working class into centrality, as it will reemerge as main protagonist for social structural change. In conclusion, if the 27F stressed a pre revolutionary crisis and the 4F remarked a revolutionary situation, the thesis contends that multiclassis Bolivarian government turned out to be an instrument for countering radical social demands of the industrial working class and the precarious workers, while at the same time sharpening the class struggles, unfolding a new path for the working class to fight for an alternative power. Using quantitative and qualitative methods and different sorts of research sources, such as historical statistics and Oral History records, this thesis aims at offering a yet provisional contribution to the field of the Venezuelan recent history, considering the class struggles theoretical perspective.

This study explores the socio-economic development path of the former Trucial State of Dubai, now an economic powerhouse within the Federal State of the United Arab Emirates. This thesis emanated out of the researcher’s need to understand the development trajectory of Dubai from the perspective of a development discourse, as literature and debates on the city’s developmental trajectory have generally focused on micro-and macro-economic variables and a sectoral emphasis without considering the total and complex development matrix. The author proposes a rentier, developmental and competition (RDC) Model as a basis for understanding the state-led social and economic development of the Emirate of Dubai. Empirically, the study examines a whole raft of home-grown social and economic development policies that fall exclusively within the domain of the Dubai Strategic Plans (DSPs). Conceptually, the thesis argues that although the Dubai Inc model has successfully changed the socio-economic landscape of the Emirate, nevertheless, a soft underbelly of the model displays the exploitative nature of unbridled free market capitalism. Methodologically, triangulation backed up the qualitative research methodology by utilising a mixed-methods approach to enhance the richness of the research. Specific data collection methods used included in-depth semi-structured interviews and non-participative observation, supported by documentation analyses of relevant documents. The research findings unambiguously demonstrated that the socio-economic transformation of Dubai, between 1998 and 2008, was a result of the aforementioned hybrid model, which this thesis uses as its theoretical framework. The conclusion drawn from the study is that there is no one path to development; the Government of Dubai is cognisant of that and has thus used the capacity of the state to transform the once impoverished and marginalised sheikhdom into a ‘commodified’ city-corporate entity. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Developmental Studies)

Este trabalho analisa a trajetória da classe trabalhadora venezuelana como parte do Proceso Bolivariano, sendo este entendido como um conjunto de acontecimentos de caráter político e social inaugurado na Venezuela pela crise pré-revolucionária do Sacudón (27 de Fevereiro de 1989 – 27F) e que se desenvolve como resultado de diferentes correlações de forças sociais até os dias atuais, sob o governo dirigido pelo Presidente Hugo Chávez. A tese volta-se para o estudo de dois sujeitos fundamentais do Processo Bolivariano que se encontram muitas vezes preteridos nos estudos sobre a Venezuela atual, cuja ênfase orienta-se para a análise da liderança chavista e seu governo. São eles, a classe operária industrial e os trabalhadores precarizados moradores dos barrios ─ espaço de segregação social que ocupa parte significativa da paisagem urbana venezuelana. Para compreender e explicar a emergência desses sujeitos no cenário nacional são buscadas suas raízes econômico-sociais nos elementos próprios da estrutura do capitalismo dependente petroleiro-rentista. Partindo de uma história econômica da Venezuela desde os anos 1920, identificamos a constituição de um Exército Industrial de Reserva de proporções inauditas. Com base na experiência de mais de três gerações vivendo nos barrios, os trabalhadores precarizados ingressaram no cenário político nacional venezuelano como um movimento de massas particular, com demandas e modos de luta específicos. Inspiradas em práticas insurgentes que remanescem da experiência guerrilheira dos anos 1960, essas lutas ganham forma nas mobilizações callejeras das décadas de 1980 e 1990. A intensa atividade política desse setor, em aliança com setores reformistas das Forças Armadas Nacionais venezuelanas que se arremetem na busca pelo controle do aparato estatal em 4 de fevereiro de 1992, os militares bolivarianos, constitui-se um movimiento bolivariano radical de masas, de caráter policlassista. Depois de abandonar a estratégia insurrecional de acesso ao poder em prol da via institucional, a chegada de Hugo Chávez na Presidência inaugurará uma nova fase do Proceso. Ocupando posição nada desprezível no aparato estatal, a aliança policlassista consubstanciada no governo bolivariano enfrentará o acirramento da luta de classes no interior da qual se recolocará a centralidade do operariado industrial como sujeito central da mudança estrutural. Assim, se o 27F marcou a crise pré-revolucionária e o 4F uma situação revolucionária, o governo bolivariano vem revelando-se mais recentemente como um instrumento de contenção das demandas sociais. Ao mesmo tempo, a exacerbação da luta de classes abriu caminhos para o comparecimento da classe operária industrial na luta pelo poder com experiências significativas de controle da produção em importantes atividades econômicas do país, como são as indústrias do petróleo (PDVSA), alumínio (CVG-ALCASA) e siderúrgica (SIDOR). Baseado em fontes quantitativas e qualitativas, com uso de séries estatísticas históricas e coleta de testemunhos de História Oral, este trabalho procura oferecer uma interpretação rigorosa, ainda que provisória, da história recente venezuelana a partir da perspectiva da luta de classes. / The present thesis annalyses the trajectory of Venezuelan working class within the Proceso Bolivariano, which is understood as a compound of political and social events in this country inaugurated by the pre revolutionary crisis driven by the Sacudón (February the 27th, 1989 – 27F) and since then has evolved as a result of varying correlation of the social forces up to the present. Stemming from an economic history of Venezuela since the 1920s, the thesis presents evidence on the upsurging of precarious urban workers as the main actors of the Proceso Bolivariano. The relevance assumed by this working class sector is discussed as resulting from the very constitution of the Venezuelan oil dependent capitalism and its rentier bias. The thesis remarks that this particular form of capitalism reproduced throughout the twentieth century an Industrial Reserve Army of incomparable dimensions. In this process, the precarious urban workers have been socially segregated in the barrios (shantty towns) and had their identity forged on day-to-day struggles experience for survival. In this sense, it is argued that this working class sector emerged at the national political escenario in Venezuela as a particular mass movement, carrying out its claims and specific ways of struggles. The political actions sustained by those social subjects, in an alliance with reformer military from the Venezuelan National Armed Forces – the Bolivarian Military – crafted what we named the Bolivarian radical mass movement, inaugurating a new historical bloc which accessed Venezuela’s state apparatus departing from 1999. Using insurgent methods derived both from the 1960s guerrilla experience and the popular extraction within the Venezuelan Army, this historical bloc unfolded a strategy to control State’s apparatus evoking a political discourse advocating for a revolutionary transformation. Regarding the former elements, the thesis discusses how the pre revolutionary crisis of the 27F moved towards a revolutionary situation, when dominant classe’s difficulties for unity opposed them in a stalemate with the military, on February the 4th, 1992 (4 F), and, finally, how this situation evolved to an institutional outcome with ex-Liutenenent Colonel Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías candidature and election for Presidency in 1999. In this sense, the Bolivarian Government is depicted as a new phase of the Proceso. The thesis contends this new phase has sharpen the class struggles and put the industrial working class into centrality, as it will reemerge as main protagonist for social structural change. In conclusion, if the 27F stressed a pre revolutionary crisis and the 4F remarked a revolutionary situation, the thesis contends that multiclassis Bolivarian government turned out to be an instrument for countering radical social demands of the industrial working class and the precarious workers, while at the same time sharpening the class struggles, unfolding a new path for the working class to fight for an alternative power. Using quantitative and qualitative methods and different sorts of research sources, such as historical statistics and Oral History records, this thesis aims at offering a yet provisional contribution to the field of the Venezuelan recent history, considering the class struggles theoretical perspective.

Este trabalho analisa a trajetória da classe trabalhadora venezuelana como parte do Proceso Bolivariano, sendo este entendido como um conjunto de acontecimentos de caráter político e social inaugurado na Venezuela pela crise pré-revolucionária do Sacudón (27 de Fevereiro de 1989 – 27F) e que se desenvolve como resultado de diferentes correlações de forças sociais até os dias atuais, sob o governo dirigido pelo Presidente Hugo Chávez. A tese volta-se para o estudo de dois sujeitos fundamentais do Processo Bolivariano que se encontram muitas vezes preteridos nos estudos sobre a Venezuela atual, cuja ênfase orienta-se para a análise da liderança chavista e seu governo. São eles, a classe operária industrial e os trabalhadores precarizados moradores dos barrios ─ espaço de segregação social que ocupa parte significativa da paisagem urbana venezuelana. Para compreender e explicar a emergência desses sujeitos no cenário nacional são buscadas suas raízes econômico-sociais nos elementos próprios da estrutura do capitalismo dependente petroleiro-rentista. Partindo de uma história econômica da Venezuela desde os anos 1920, identificamos a constituição de um Exército Industrial de Reserva de proporções inauditas. Com base na experiência de mais de três gerações vivendo nos barrios, os trabalhadores precarizados ingressaram no cenário político nacional venezuelano como um movimento de massas particular, com demandas e modos de luta específicos. Inspiradas em práticas insurgentes que remanescem da experiência guerrilheira dos anos 1960, essas lutas ganham forma nas mobilizações callejeras das décadas de 1980 e 1990. A intensa atividade política desse setor, em aliança com setores reformistas das Forças Armadas Nacionais venezuelanas que se arremetem na busca pelo controle do aparato estatal em 4 de fevereiro de 1992, os militares bolivarianos, constitui-se um movimiento bolivariano radical de masas, de caráter policlassista. Depois de abandonar a estratégia insurrecional de acesso ao poder em prol da via institucional, a chegada de Hugo Chávez na Presidência inaugurará uma nova fase do Proceso. Ocupando posição nada desprezível no aparato estatal, a aliança policlassista consubstanciada no governo bolivariano enfrentará o acirramento da luta de classes no interior da qual se recolocará a centralidade do operariado industrial como sujeito central da mudança estrutural. Assim, se o 27F marcou a crise pré-revolucionária e o 4F uma situação revolucionária, o governo bolivariano vem revelando-se mais recentemente como um instrumento de contenção das demandas sociais. Ao mesmo tempo, a exacerbação da luta de classes abriu caminhos para o comparecimento da classe operária industrial na luta pelo poder com experiências significativas de controle da produção em importantes atividades econômicas do país, como são as indústrias do petróleo (PDVSA), alumínio (CVG-ALCASA) e siderúrgica (SIDOR). Baseado em fontes quantitativas e qualitativas, com uso de séries estatísticas históricas e coleta de testemunhos de História Oral, este trabalho procura oferecer uma interpretação rigorosa, ainda que provisória, da história recente venezuelana a partir da perspectiva da luta de classes. / The present thesis annalyses the trajectory of Venezuelan working class within the Proceso Bolivariano, which is understood as a compound of political and social events in this country inaugurated by the pre revolutionary crisis driven by the Sacudón (February the 27th, 1989 – 27F) and since then has evolved as a result of varying correlation of the social forces up to the present. Stemming from an economic history of Venezuela since the 1920s, the thesis presents evidence on the upsurging of precarious urban workers as the main actors of the Proceso Bolivariano. The relevance assumed by this working class sector is discussed as resulting from the very constitution of the Venezuelan oil dependent capitalism and its rentier bias. The thesis remarks that this particular form of capitalism reproduced throughout the twentieth century an Industrial Reserve Army of incomparable dimensions. In this process, the precarious urban workers have been socially segregated in the barrios (shantty towns) and had their identity forged on day-to-day struggles experience for survival. In this sense, it is argued that this working class sector emerged at the national political escenario in Venezuela as a particular mass movement, carrying out its claims and specific ways of struggles. The political actions sustained by those social subjects, in an alliance with reformer military from the Venezuelan National Armed Forces – the Bolivarian Military – crafted what we named the Bolivarian radical mass movement, inaugurating a new historical bloc which accessed Venezuela’s state apparatus departing from 1999. Using insurgent methods derived both from the 1960s guerrilla experience and the popular extraction within the Venezuelan Army, this historical bloc unfolded a strategy to control State’s apparatus evoking a political discourse advocating for a revolutionary transformation. Regarding the former elements, the thesis discusses how the pre revolutionary crisis of the 27F moved towards a revolutionary situation, when dominant classe’s difficulties for unity opposed them in a stalemate with the military, on February the 4th, 1992 (4 F), and, finally, how this situation evolved to an institutional outcome with ex-Liutenenent Colonel Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías candidature and election for Presidency in 1999. In this sense, the Bolivarian Government is depicted as a new phase of the Proceso. The thesis contends this new phase has sharpen the class struggles and put the industrial working class into centrality, as it will reemerge as main protagonist for social structural change. In conclusion, if the 27F stressed a pre revolutionary crisis and the 4F remarked a revolutionary situation, the thesis contends that multiclassis Bolivarian government turned out to be an instrument for countering radical social demands of the industrial working class and the precarious workers, while at the same time sharpening the class struggles, unfolding a new path for the working class to fight for an alternative power. Using quantitative and qualitative methods and different sorts of research sources, such as historical statistics and Oral History records, this thesis aims at offering a yet provisional contribution to the field of the Venezuelan recent history, considering the class struggles theoretical perspective.