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Through a Freireian lens, emancipation is understood as an entity that is sovereign and for itself. In this framework, the broadest possibilities for liberation can be best nurtured through dialogical processes that promote republican democracy and participatory economic systems. The analysis of forces that mold Nicaraguan political economic life in the post-Cold War era suggests that the most promising vehicles for emancipatory political economic developments in politically and economically dependent nations are
local grassroots cooperative organizations that promote popular egalitarian deliberation and exchange. Similarly, not-for-profit cooperative transnational models and international agreements may aid the realization of goals that are outlined by egalitarian grassroots deliberation, though the emancipatory nature of such larger structures are strained by the weights of bureaucracy, globally institutionalized power imbalances, and coexisting vested interests.