Venezuelas „bolivarianischer Prozess“ Mit Gilles Deleuze in Caracas

Abstract

The „Bolivarian Process“ in Venezuela is the result of a profound crisis of representation that affects the Venezuelan society since the economic crisis of the 1980s. The election of officer Hugo Chávez in 1998 has brought, through the years, an important change of government policies, but it is not identical to the radical social processes that overthrew the old system. To understand what is going on in Venezuela, it might be useful to discuss Deleuzes/Guattaris concept of rhizomes and machines. The French philosophers argued that changes (in society and elsewhere) should not be understood as “evolutions”, but as complex combinations of singularities. The Venezuelan transformation in the last years can be analyzed in this sense as a process without central leadership, representation, and subject – in spite of the overwhelming figure of president Chávez.