In Latin America, urban riots are increasingly frequent and have important consequences. However, existing research consists mostly of case studies, preventing generalizations about their causes, dynamics and consequences. This article discusses the literature on urban revolts in Latin America, and pro-- poses a conceptual framework for studying them. We define urban revolts on the basis of four attributes, distinguish them from other forms of contentious politics, and present propositions about their development and dynamics. We hypothesize that urban revolts are most likely to occur when urban and popular sectors have not been fully included politically, economically and culturally; when there are weak and inorganic ties between political elites and citizenry; and when popular sectors are weakly articulated in horizontally connected associations. However, the timing and dynamics of revolts depend on precipitat-- ing factors, government responses and conditions for the spread of protests.