Resumo

LOPEZ MAYA, Margarita. Participative Innovations in Bolivarian Caracas:: The Experience of the Technical Water Roundtables in La Pedrera and the Self-Managing Community Organization in Barrio Unión - Carpintero. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2008, vol.14, n.1, pp.65-93. ISSN 20030507.

The different spaces which have been opened up by the Chávez government since 1999 with a view to encouraging the participation of community organizations in the management of public affairs, form a central element in the overall national revolutionary project. In this article, the implications of these policies are examined on the basis of two case studies in Caracas: the Technical Water Roundtable in La Pedrera in the Antímano parish, and the Self-Managing Community Organization in Barrio Unión- Carpintero in Petare. Based on semi-structured interviews and ethnological notes accumulated during two years of fieldwork, the advantages and the weaknesses of these participative forms are evaluated on the basis of three central preoccupations: Is the quality of life in the barrios improving? Has popular autonomy been strengthened? And, have they implied an improvement in the quality of democracy in Venezuela?

Palavras-chave : Participative Democracy; Barrios; Technical Water Roundtables; Self-Managing Community Organizations; Popular Autonomy; Caracas; Venezuela.