Refeudalization and the Crisis of Civilization

Refeudalization and the Crisis of Civilization
Author: Olaf Kaltmeier
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2023-06-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000888959

Discussing the civilizatory crisis and processes of refeudalization this volume brings into dialogue two of the most creative approaches, in Olaf Kaltmeier and Edgardo Lander, to rethink capitalism in the 21st century. In Part 1, Olaf Kaltmeier, takes issue with the state of social inequality in the region, highlighting the concentration of wealth within the upper 1% of society in Latin America. Comparing the current economic situation with the ancient regime, the discussion centers around the new phenomena like billionaires as president, increased luxury consumption, an emerging culture of distinction, and the intensification of land and spatial segregation. In Part 2, Lander urgently assesses the current state and political legacy of the "Pink Tide" governments in his essay "Crisis of Civilization." Reviewing the past two decades of the new millennium, Lander critiques the failure of these governments to provide alternatives to extractivism and economic dependencies. Finally, Hans-Jürgen Burchardt connects the arguments through interviews where both authors sum their efforts to open the issues to future dialogue. Refeudalization in Latin America provides an accessible and thought-provoking political diagnosis from the Global South which departs from the oft idiosyncratic and cyclical debates of the Global North to offer new vocabulary for social change. It will interest scholars and students of global studies, sociology, and political science.

Setbacks and Advances in the Modern Latin American Economy

Setbacks and Advances in the Modern Latin American Economy
Author: Pablo A. Baisotti
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2021-12-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000523721

This volume explores several notable themes related to the economy in Latin America and offers insightful historical perspectives to understand national, regional, and global issues in the continent since the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. The collected essays focus on economic crises, the relationship of growth models to society and politics, the fluctuations of local economies, and regional protests. Other aspects of consideration in this area include the evolution of integrated regional trading blocs, the informal economy, and the destruction of the productive potential that has had a serious social, cultural, and environmental impact. The volume refuses to impose a traditional and uncritical linear historical narrative onto the reader and instead proposes an alternative interpretation of the past and its relation to the present.

Social and Political Transitions During the Left Turn in Latin America

Social and Political Transitions During the Left Turn in Latin America
Author: Karen Silva-Torres
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000440168

Social and Political Transitions During the Left Turn in Latin America provides fourteen contributions to understand, from a multidisciplinary perspective, processes of socio-political reconfigurations in the region from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s. The Left Turn was the regional shift to left-of-center governments and social movements that sought to replace the neoliberal policies of the 1990s. This volume aims to answer the overarching research question: how do state and societal (national and transnational) actors trigger and shape processes of political and socio-economic transitions in Latin America from the rise to the decline of the Left Turn. The book presents case studies in which transitions are moments of change and uncertainty, which one cannot predict their definitive outcomes. The various case studies presented in the book place actors and processes in specific historical and socio-political contexts, which are influenced directly or indirectly by the historical trajectory of Latin America’s Left Turn. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of Social and Political History, Latin American History, and those interested in the social and political developments in Latin America more broadly.

The Making of Citizens

The Making of Citizens
Author: Bryan Roberts
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2020-11-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1000161498

Originally published as 'Cities of Peasants', this highly-acclaimed account of the expansion of capitalism in the developing world has now been extensively rewritten and updated. Focusing on Latin America, Bryan Roberts traces the evolution of developing societies and their economies to the present. Taking account of the move towards more 'open' economies, a shrinking of the state and various transitions towards democracies, he shows how urban growth has produced new patterns of social stratification, creating opportunities for social mobility, but doing little to decrease income inequality or political and social pressures. Underlying social changes have broadened the practice of citizenship in developing countries, limiting authoritarian rule but within a context of entrenched social inequalities and persisting political instability. This book conveys both the flavour of life in the cities of the third world and the immediacy of their problems.

A Marxist History of Capitalism

A Marxist History of Capitalism
Author: Henry Heller
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2018-08-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351023160

Henry Heller’s short account of the history of capitalism combines Marx’s economic and political thought with contemporary scholarship to shed light on the current capitalist crisis. It argues that capitalism is an evolving mode of production that has now outgrown its institutional and political limits. The book provides an overview of the different historical stages of capitalism, underpinned by accessible discussions of its theoretical foundations. Heller shows that capitalism has always been a double-edged sword, on one hand advancing humanity, and on the other harming traditional societies and our natural environment. He makes the case that capitalism has now become self-destructive, and that our current era of neoliberalism may trigger a transition to a democratic and ecologically aware form of socialism.

forum for inter-american research Vol 5

forum for inter-american research Vol 5
Author: Wilfried Raussert
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 538
Release: 2023-07-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3946507816

Volume 5 of 6 of the complete premium print version of journal forum for inter-american research (fiar), which is the official electronic journal of the International Association of Inter-American Studies (IAS). fiar was established by the American Studies Program at Bielefeld University in 2008. We foster a dialogic and interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Americas. fiar is a peer-reviewed online journal. Articles in this journal undergo a double-blind review process and are published in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

Critical Interculturality and Horizontal Methodologies in Latin America

Critical Interculturality and Horizontal Methodologies in Latin America
Author: Sarah Corona Berkin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2023-06-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000900703

In this edifying volume Sarah Corona and Claudia Zapata extrapolate the causes for the divisions between groups in Latin American society, bringing their years of experience investigating the conditions and consequences of heterogeneity in the region. First, Corona approaches the problem of difference and heterogeneity epistemologically, asking about the possible benefits of horizontal modes of knowledge production between academics and the "social other." She demands reification for those without access to institutions who experience social ills and theorizes a trans-disciplinary dialogue to discover a horizontal construction of knowledge. Zapata evaluates and questions whether indigenous people throughout the continent have had their quality of life improved by the recognition of their collective rights as peoples. These two works provide overviews of a Latin American multiculturalism that connects to parallel movements in North America and Europe. Combined they offer a guide that could be vital to future activism and social work whether in the classroom or on the streets. Critical Interculturality and Horizontal Methodology in Latin America will appeal to scholars and students who are in need of new ways to comprehend the current strain of multiculturalism and plurality. It offers reflections on how social research can be not only sensitive to the epistemologies and interests of the "cultural other," but approach parity and horizontality in dialogue.

Post-Popular Cultures and Digital Capitalism in Latin America

Post-Popular Cultures and Digital Capitalism in Latin America
Author: Pablo Alabarces
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2024-03-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1003853773

In this book, renowned Latin American intellectuals, Pablo Alabarces and Néstor García Canclini, bring us up to date on the changes in the status and role of the popular classes in Latin American democracies over the past two decades. Building on decades-long research and experience in the field of cultural studies, the authors ask how the digitalization and economization of society are changing the reality of political participation and social inequality in Latin America and beyond, leading to new forms of economic and cultural marginalization. García Canclini focuses on the rapid digitalization of our society and economies, ruminating over the future of political participation and democracy in the coming age of algorithms, transnationalization, and social precarity for growing swaths of the population. By contrast, Alabarces focuses on the disintegration and commodification of popular cultures throughout Latin America in the last two decades and discusses the consequences on democratic projects in the region. Both pieces approach the question of how democratic projects on a local, regional, national, and transnational level can deal with galloping social disintegration and accelerating political discontent as an increasing number of people within the course of this digital revolution gain voice: all this against the authoritarian or technocratic alternatives that have been gaining ground again. The introduction by Sarah Corona contextualizes the contributions and their authors in the academic and political debate. She connects their focus on popular cultures to broader questions regarding the future of nation-states and democracies facing multiple crises in the region and beyond. Post-Popular Cultures and Digital Capitalism in Latin America will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students in political science, sociology, and cultural studies looking to freshen their views as well as develop an understanding of the Global South’s perspective on current global issues.

Wealth, Development, and Social Inequalities in Latin America

Wealth, Development, and Social Inequalities in Latin America
Author: Hans-Jürgen Burchardt
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2023-09-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000937941

In this book, Hans-Jürgen Burchardt and Irene Lungo-Rodríguez lead a transdisciplinary team of experts to advance our understanding of wealth in Latin America. Combining conceptual discussions with empirical research, they analyze characteristics of wealth, and the implications for inequality. Three thematic sections provide a unique overarching structure to understand the economic, social, political, and cultural complexity of wealth. Questions examined include: What economic, institutional, and structural factors contribute to the excessive accumulation of wealth? What political dynamics promote the concentration of wealth and power? What type of social, political, and economic relations are generated in these contexts of extreme wealth concentration? What socio-cultural processes contribute to legitimizing and reproducing wealth? What are the local, regional, and national socio-ecological effects of these dynamics? Wealth, Development and Social Inequalities in Latin America provides thought-provoking reading for students and researchers alike who wish to look beyond the Global North for answers on the importance of studying wealth.

Development in Theory and Practice

Development in Theory and Practice
Author: Ronald H. Chilcote
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2003
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780742523937

This definitive reader brings together seminal articles on development in Latin America. Tracing the concepts and major debates surrounding the issue, the text focuses on development theory through three contrasting historical perspectives: imperialism, underdevelopment and dependency, and globalization. By offering a rich array of essays from Latin American Perspectives, the book allows students to sample all the important trends in the field. A new general introduction and conclusion, along with part introductions, contextualize each selection. One of the leading figures in development studies, Ronald Chilcote shows in this text why work on imperialism dating to the turn of the twentieth century informs the controversies on dependency and underdevelopment during the 1960s and 1970s as well as the globalization debates of the past decade. If students are to understand development in Latin America, they must not only be familiar with historical examples and recognize that various theoretical perspectives affect our interpretation of events, they must be willing to keep an open mind. Thus, rather than setting out established premises, this reader offers different points of view, raising provocative questions about Latin America that remain largely unanswered even today. Students will come away from this rewarding collection ready to pursue new understanding through critical inquiry and thinking.