The Political Economy of Oil in Venezuela
Class Conflict, the State, and the World Market
Book •
Kristin Ciupa's book examines the historical development of Venezuela's political economy through the lens of its oil industry, arguing that national and international power relations perpetuate oil dependence rather than simple policy failure.
The work traces Venezuela from an export-oriented agricultural economy through dictatorships, nationalization, neoliberal reforms, and the Bolivarian era under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
Ciupa deploys Marxist theory of rent and state theory to analyze how the Venezuelan state functions as a landlord controlling oil rents and how class struggles shape possibilities for transformation.
The book situates Venezuela within broader regional leftward shifts and global oil market dynamics, offering detailed empirical history alongside theoretical interventions.
It assesses the Bolivarian project's efforts to redistribute oil rents and the constraints that persisted, concluding with reflections on more recent changes to Venezuela's oil governance and prospects for the future.
The work traces Venezuela from an export-oriented agricultural economy through dictatorships, nationalization, neoliberal reforms, and the Bolivarian era under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
Ciupa deploys Marxist theory of rent and state theory to analyze how the Venezuelan state functions as a landlord controlling oil rents and how class struggles shape possibilities for transformation.
The book situates Venezuela within broader regional leftward shifts and global oil market dynamics, offering detailed empirical history alongside theoretical interventions.
It assesses the Bolivarian project's efforts to redistribute oil rents and the constraints that persisted, concluding with reflections on more recent changes to Venezuela's oil governance and prospects for the future.
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Elliot Dolan-Evans
Kristin Ciupa, "The Political Economy of Oil in Venezuela: Class Conflict, the State, and the World Market" (Brill, 2026)
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Kristin Ciupa
Kristin Ciupa, "The Political Economy of Oil in Venezuela: Class Conflict, the State, and the World Market" (Brill, 2026)
