This study examines fundamental theoretical and conceptual issues of social change in Latin America in the context of detailed empirical analysis. It challenges the major assumptions and propositions that underlie globalization theory, reworking and fine tuning the concepts of imperialism and social class as relevant to understanding the 'new world order'. The study centers on the structural features of Latin America and the state policies reconcentrating power in the capitalist class at the expense of labor. The study surveys the contradictory tendencies of concentrated wealth and power and the emergence of new socio-political movements and alternative development strategies to the dominant paradigm.

Autorentext

HENRY VELTMEYER is Professor of Sociology and International Development at St Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Visiting Professor of Political Science at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico. He has published in areas of sociological theory, Canadian political economy and issues of class and developments in Latin America. He is the author of inter alia The Canadian Class Structure and Canadian Corporate Power, and (with F.Leiva and J.Petras) Poverty and Democracy in Chile. JAMES PETRAS is Professor of Sociology and Latin American studies at Binghamton University. He is the author of over 30 books dealing primarily with Latin America. His most recent book is titled Neoliberalism and Class Conflict in Latin America (Macmillan 1997). He has published over 250 articles in professional journals including the British Journal of Sociology, the American Sociological Review and the Journal of Peasant Studies. He has lectured at major universities in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia, Asia and North America. He has contributed essays to Le Monde Diplomatique, El Mundo, the Guardian and La Jornada.

Inhalt

Introduction Development in the New Imperial Context of Globalization The Neoliberal Project and the Search for Another Paradigm Restructuring Labour in Latin America Decentralization and Community-based Development The Neoliberal Electoral Cycle New Social Movements The Socialist Project Index