Fernando Calderón

Latin America has experienced a profound transformation in the first two decades of the 21st century: it has been fully incorporated into the global economy, while excluding regions and populations devalued by the logic of capitalism. Technological modernization has gone hand-in-hand with the reshaping of old identities and the emergence of new ones. The transformation of Latin America has been shaped by social movements and political conflicts. The neoliberal model that dominated the first stage of the transformation induced widespread inequality and poverty, and triggered social explosions that led to its own collapse. A new model, neo-developmentalism, emerged from these crises as national populist movements were elected to government in several countries. The more the state intervened in the economy, the more it became vulnerable to corruption, until the rampant criminal economy came to penetrate state institutions. Upper middle classes defending their privileges and citizens indignant because of corruption of the political elites revolted against the new regimes, undermining the model of neo-developmentalism. In the midst of political disaffection and public despair, new social movements, women, youth, indigenous people, workers, peasants, opened up avenues of hope against the background of darkness invading the continent. This book, written by two leading scholars of Latin America, provides a comprehensive and up-do-date account of the new Latin America that is in the process of taking shape today. It will be an indispensable text for students and scholars in Latin American Studies, sociology, politics and media and communication studies, and anyone interested in Latin America today.

Latin America has experienced a profound transformation in the first two decades of the 21st century: it has been fully incorporated into the global economy, while excluding regions and populations devalued by the logic of capitalism. Technological modernization has gone hand-in-hand with the reshaping of old identities and the emergence of new ones. The transformation of Latin America has been shaped by social movements and political conflicts. The neoliberal model that dominated the first stage of the transformation induced widespread inequality and poverty, and triggered social explosions that led to its own collapse. A new model, neo-developmentalism, emerged from these crises as national populist movements were elected to government in several countries. The more the state intervened in the economy, the more it became vulnerable to corruption, until the rampant criminal economy came to penetrate state institutions. Upper middle classes defending their privileges and citizens indignant because of corruption of the political elites revolted against the new regimes, undermining the model of neo-developmentalism. In the midst of political disaffection and public despair, new social movements, women, youth, indigenous people, workers, peasants, opened up avenues of hope against the background of darkness invading the continent. This book, written by two leading scholars of Latin America, provides a comprehensive and up-do-date account of the new Latin America that is in the process of taking shape today. It will be an indispensable text for students and scholars in Latin American Studies, sociology, politics and media and communication studies, and anyone interested in Latin America today.

En los a os 50 los soci logos se preguntaban qu era lo que reemplazaba a las sociedades agrarias y qu caracteristicas asumir a el proceso de industrializaci n en sociedades como las latinoamericanas. Sesenta a os despu s, luego de laber nticos caminos recorridos por las sociedades latinoamericanas, los soci logos actuales se preguntan qu es lo que reemplaza a un ciclo de industrializaci n dependiente y trunca y qu nuevas consideraciones sociol gicas del desarrollo y de la democracia emergen con la crisis global y la sociedad de la informaci n y la comunicaci n a escala global. La cuesti n de un nuevo tipo de desarrollo est nuevamente en el escenario de la pol tica. Ciertamente responder estas indagaciones es muy dificil. En este libro Fernando Calder n plantea algunos temas y reflexiones a la luz de experiencias de investigaci n emp rica que ha realizado en temas de desarrollo humano, democracia y movimientos socioculturales en los ltimos 5 a os. Analiza temas como la globalizaci n pol tica, la inflexi n hist rica y algunas situaciones diferenciadas de inflexi n pol tica en Centroam rica y en el Cono Sur. Asimismo son estudiados los casos de Bolivia, Ecuador y Per , relevando la tem tica tnica y su relaci n con la pol tica. Otros temas analizados son la cuesti n de la cr tica de la cultura pol tica, la idea de un Estado de lo p blico y su relaci n con la ciudadan a y el desarrollo humano; y la reemergencia de nuevos movimientos socioculturales y de una nueva politicidad. Description in English] Latin America and the Caribbean: Changing Times New Sociological Considerations on Democracy and Development In the 1950s sociologists asked themselves what replaced agrarian societies and what features the industrialization process would adopt in societies such as those of Latin America. Sixty years on, following the labyrinthine paths taken by Latin American societies, present-day sociologists ask themselves what replaces a cycle of dependent and incomplete industrialization and what new sociological considerations on development and democracy emerge from the global crisis, the information society and global-scale communication. The issue of a new type of development is once again on the political agenda. Answering such questions is clearly no easy matter. In this book Fernando Calder n presents a number of topics and reflections in the light of experiences of empirical research he has carried out on issues related to human development, democracy and socio-cultural movements over the last 5 years. He analyzes topics such as political globalization, historical turning points and particular political turning points in Central America and the Southern Cone. He also examines the cases of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru and investigates ethnical issues and the way they relate to politics. Other topics analyzed are the question of criticism of political culture, the idea of a "public" State and its relation to the citizenry and human development, and the reemergence of new sociopolitical movements and a new politicity.