Overview
- Broadens current inquiries in Latin American studies by focusing on the composition and character of the elites in the region
- Casts new light on 20th-century studies of the economic and political power of traditional Latin American elites by providing updated empirical material from key countries
- Features six highly relevant case studies from Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatemala
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Latin American Political Economy (LAPE)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
This volume examines the ways in which the socio-economic elites of the region have transformed and expanded the material bases of their power from the inception of neo-liberal policies in the 1970s through to the so-called progressive ‘pink tide’ governments of the past two decades. The six case study chapters—on Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatemala—variously explore how state policies and even United Nations peace-keeping missions have enhanced elite control of land and agricultural exports, banks and insurance companies, wholesale and import commerce, industrial activities, and alliances with foreign capital. Chapters also pay attention to the ways in which violence has been deployed to maintain elite power, and how international forces feed into sustaining historic and contemporary configurations of power.
Reviews
“Latin America’s ruling elites are back—or rather they never left the stage in the first place. In this outstanding new collection, the authors reveal that, despite some social progress in the new millennium, Latin American remains as unequal as ever. And its elites, far from having taken a back seat in the post-neoliberal era, have reconfigured their domination in new ways. With commodity prices declining, public spending falling, and unemployment rising, the urgency and importance of North and Clark’s new book cannot be exaggerated. It is bold and authoritative, grounded in rich empirical and historical case studies, and bound to have a major impact on a new generation of scholars, students, and activists seeking to understand the persistence of violence and injustice in the new Latin America.” (Gavin Fridell, Canada Research Chair in International Development Studies, Saint Mary’s University, Canada)
“Dominant Classes in Latin America: From Neo-Liberalism to the Pink Tide” provides interesting analysis of new strategies of elite dominance, explores new and on-going forms of dispossession, and outlinesheightened inequality despite more than two decades of ‘democratic’ politics throughout Latin America. With detailed and carefully argued chapters on six countries, this is an important, readable, and superbly useful collection.” (Jim Handy, Professor of History, University of Saskatchewan, Canada)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Timothy D. Clark is Principal at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Dominant Elites in Latin America
Book Subtitle: From Neo-Liberalism to the ‘Pink Tide’
Editors: Liisa L. North, Timothy D. Clark
Series Title: Latin American Political Economy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53255-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-53254-7Published: 01 September 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-85105-1Published: 03 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-53255-4Published: 18 August 2017
Series ISSN: 2945-7076
Series E-ISSN: 2945-7084
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 239
Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations, 2 illustrations in colour
Topics: Latin American Politics, Democracy, International Political Economy, Comparative Politics, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Development and Social Change