This book offers a discussion of the origins of Latin American dependency theories and their implications for contemporary social theory. The book explores the conditions of emergence of this intellectual movement, the trajectories of some of its main formulators, as well as the circulation of their ideas, their reception in other contexts, and their influence on other theoretical formulations and problems of the present. The book is aimed at social scientists interested in broadening the scope of social theory towards the Global South, in processes of knowledge circulation between central and semi-peripheral regions, as well as in understanding the problems of dependency, modernisation, and development processes in Latin America. The book can be used both as an introduction to these themes and to delve deeper into specific issues.
Of Panamanian nationality, Dr. José E. Torres Ábrego, is a master's degree in Economics on Universidad de la Amistad de los Pueblos (Patricio Lumumba) from Moscow, a doctoral candidate for specialty in Theory of Development and History of Economics of University of Paris, and doctor in Political Sciences of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (U.N.A.M). Among other charges employed in Mexico, he has been professor of the Faculty of Economy of the U.N.A.M. and the Division of Higher Studies of the Faculty of Political Sciences. Since 1983 he is a full professor at the Faculty of Economics of the Universidad de Panama where he teaches the subjects national economic problems, Economic policy, Public finance, Economic fundamentals and social sciences in Latin America, Research methodology, etc. He has been director of the Research and Postgraduate Department of the Faculty of Economics of the Universidad de Panama. In his non-teaching experience, it is important to note that he has been an Expert in Administrative and Financial Matters of the Banco Interamericano de (B.I.D) to advise small and medium enterprises; and advisor trade union organizations and professions. Has delivered and participated in multiple conferences and round tables, and has published countless articles and works in various national and international journals. Among his main works are Population, Economy and Society in Panama (Contribution to the critique of Panamanian historiography), in two volumes, Volume 2 of the Panamanian Culture Library; Editorial Universitaria, 2nd. edition, Panama, 2014; The major challenges posed by the reversal of Canal and its Adjacent Areas to Panama and World Trade; Editorial. edition, Panama, 1999; Contribution to the study of underdevelopment (from monoproduction to modern oligarchy), Editorial Universitaria, 3rd. edition, Panama, 1995. In the process of awareness of the objective reality arise certain concepts through which man fixate and express the proprieties, characteristics and links of the objects and phenomena’s of the outside world. The concepts that reflect the most important aspects, links and or characteristics of a field of phenomena’s constitute its categories. Each science possesses its own categories. In the case of the field of Theory of underdevelopment its categories arise during the first postwar period. After the Second World War, in publications of the United Nations began the utilization of the category underdeveloped to designate the specific-historical reality of the peripheral countries linked to the capitalist system. It was expressed, with this category, the set of properties, characteristics, links and relationships, generally-essential and specific, of the new phenomena that reached in the process of its evolution the point of its full maturity. It was the way, to say it in a different manner, that the thought was taking ownership of this new historical reality. To such a point did society become aware of the underdevelopment that innumerable dependencies arose state, international, academically and university wide by those overseeing the phenomenon.
A foundational essay of class struggle published in English for the first time Considered one of the most important intellectuals in Latin American social thought, Ruy Mauro Marini demonstrated that underdevelopment and development are the result of relations between economies in the world market, and the class relations they engender. In The Dialectics of Dependency, the Brazilian sociologist and revolutionary showed that, as Latin America came to specialize in the production of raw materials and foodstuffs while importing manufactured goods, a process of unequal exchange took shape that created a transfer of value to the imperialist centers. This encouraged capitalists in the periphery to resort to the superexploitation of workers – harsh working conditions where wages fall below what is needed to reproduce their labor power. In this way, the economies of Latin America, which played a fundamental role in facilitating a new phase of the industrial revolution in western Europe, passed from the colonial condition only to be rendered economically “dependent,” or subordinated to imperialist economies. This unbalanced relationship, which nonetheless allows capitalists of both imperialist and dependent regions to profit, has been reproduced in successive international divisions of labor of world economy, and continues to inform the day-to-day life of Latin American workers and their struggles. Written during an upsurge of class struggle in the region in the 1970s, and published here in English for the first time, the revelations inscribed in this foundational essay are proving more relevant than ever. The Dialectics of Dependency is an internationalist contribution from one Latin American Marxist to dispossessed and oppressed people struggling the world over, and a gift to those who struggle from within the recesses of present-day imperialist centers—nourishing today’s efforts to think through the definition of “revolution” on a global scale.
This edited collection uses a history of economic thought perspective to explore the evolving role of Latin America within the context of globalization. In particular, it examines the region’s resilience in the face of the global financial crisis. Economic Development and Global Crisis explains that Latin America is a region with distinct characteristics and peculiarities which have been shaped from the colonial era up to the present day. The contributions suggest that several features which were perceived as economic backwardness have turned out to be advantageous, and this may explain why Latin America is withstanding the crisis much better than Europe, Japan and the USA. This book will be of interest to scholars working in the areas of economic development, economic history, the history of economic thought and Latin American studies.
La grave crisis económica mexicana ha impulsado a no pocos economistas y sociólogos mexicanos o extranjeros a estudiar su condicionamiento y proponer soluciones. El profesor Barkin sitúa en el centro de su reflexión la contradicción entre los problemas ingentes del campo mexicano y el propósito de integrar a México en el mercado internacional. Su propuesta es aprovechar mucho mejor las enormes reservas productivas del agro mexicano para reiniciar un proceso sostenido de crecimiento económico para la sociedad en su conjunto.
French and Bell explore the improvement of organizations through planned, systematic, long-range efforts focused on the organization's culture and its human and social processes. They present a concise but comprehensive exposition of the theory, practice and research related to organization development. The Fifth Edition reflects recent developments, advances and expansions, and research.
Cuban Studies 38 examines topics that include: liberalism emanating from Havana in the early 1800s; Jose Martí's theory of psychocoloniality; the relationship between sugar planters, insurgents, and the Spanish military during the revolution; new aesthetics in Cuban cinema, the “recovery” of poet José Angel Buesa, and the meaning of Elián Gonzales in the context of life in Miami.
First Published in 1994. Volume 6 in the 7-volume series titled Essays on Mexico, Central and South America: Scholarly Debates from the 1950s to the 1990s. The central scholarly articles concern interstate peace along with a U.S. propensity to intervene, and international structural vulnerabilities and economic asymmetries along with the significance of elite skills and choices. This title recognises that scholars have paid more attention to international economics in Latin America and seeks to balance the range study.
Since the mid-1980s, the psychology of liberation movement has been a catalyst for collective and individual change in communities throughout Latin America, and beyond; and recent political developments are making its powerful, transformative ideas more relevant than ever before. Psychology of Liberation: Theory and Applications updates the activist frameworks developed by Ignacio Martin-Baro and Paulo Freire with compelling stories from the frontlines of conflict in the developing and developed worlds, as social science and psychological practice are allied with struggles for peace, justice, and equality. In these chapters, liberation is presented as both an ongoing process and a core dimension of wellbeing, entailing the reconstruction of social identity and the transformation of all parties involved, both oppressed and oppressors. It also expands the social consciousness of professionals, bringing more profound meaning to practice and enhancing related areas such as peace psychology, as shown in articles such as these: Philippines: the role of liberation movements in the transition to democracy. Venezuela: liberation psychology as a therapeutic intervention with street youth. South Africa: the movement for representational knowledge. Muslim world: religion, the state, and the gendering of human rights. Ireland: linking personal and political development. Australia: addressing issues of racism, identity, and immigration. Colombia: building cultures of peace from the devastation of war. Psychology of Liberation demonstrates the commitment to overcome social injustices and oppression. The book is a critical resource for social and community psychologists as well as policy analysts. It can also be used as a text for graduate courses in psychology, sociology, social work and community studies.
This book challenges the wide-ranging generalizations that dominate the literature on the impact of export-led growth upon Latin America during the first export era. The contributors to this volume contest conventional approaches, stemming from structuralism and dependency theory, which portray a rather negative view of the impact of nineteenth-century globalization upon Latin America. It has been considered that, as a result of the role of Latin American countries as providers of raw materials produced in enclaves dominated by foreign capital, their participation in the world economy has had adverse consequences for their long-term development. This volume addresses a representative sample of countries with varied initial conditions and resource endowments, a diverse productive specialization, as well as different degrees of integration to the world economy. This allows a direct comparison among the different experiences within the region, which in turn enables a more nuanced understanding of the contribution of exports to economic growth and economic modernization. Seven national case studies are presented – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Bolivia – which offer an insight into the successes of a region traditionally viewed as disadvantaged by globalization and export-led growth. Winner of the Vicens Vives prize for the best economic history book granted by the Spanish Economic History Association.
