INTS 323/SBS 323 : Political Economy of Latin America

How does equitable growth occur, especially in a region where sustained growth and equality have long been elusive goals? In the last two decades, millions of Latin Americans have risen out of dire poverty, much of the region has democratized, and Latin American commodities have expanded into vast new markets, such as China. Nonetheless, poverty and inequality in the region (and its violent effects) remain pervasive and nearly intractable problems. Besides poverty and inequality, other course themes include liberalism, neoliberalism, structuralism, institutions and norms, civil society, foreign investment, globalization, and regional integration. The imposition of policies and “structural adjustment” by outsiders will be considered, as is the capacity of this region to generate new political and economic paradigms or policies, such as dependency theory and conditional cash transfers. Since “development” is a particular kind of utopia, cultural studies and anthropology are not excluded, but most material comes from economics and political science.