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Latin America and Global Capitalism

A Critical Globalization Perspective

William I. Robinson

Publication Date
Binding Type

2009 Best Book, International Political Economy Group of the British International Studies Association

This ambitious volume chronicles and analyzes from a critical globalization perspective the social, economic, and political changes sweeping across Latin America from the 1970s through the present day. Sociologist William I. Robinson summarizes his theory of globalization and discusses how Latin America’s political economy has changed as the states integrate into the new global production and financial system, focusing specifically on the rise of nontraditional agricultural exports, the...

2009 Best Book, International Political Economy Group of the British International Studies Association

This ambitious volume chronicles and analyzes from a critical globalization perspective the social, economic, and political changes sweeping across Latin America from the 1970s through the present day. Sociologist William I. Robinson summarizes his theory of globalization and discusses how Latin America’s political economy has changed as the states integrate into the new global production and financial system, focusing specifically on the rise of nontraditional agricultural exports, the explosion of maquiladoras, transnational tourism, and the export of labor and the import of remittances. He follows with an overview of the clash among global capitalist forces, neoliberalism, and the new left in Latin America, looking closely at the challenges and dilemmas resistance movements face and their prospects for success.

Through three case studies—the struggles of the region's indigenous peoples, the immigrants rights movement in the United States, and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela—Robinson documents and explains the causes of regional socio-political tensions, provides a theoretical framework for understanding the present turbulence, and suggests possible outcomes to the conflicts.

Based on years of fieldwork and empirical research, this study elucidates the tensions that globalization has created and shows why Latin America is a battleground for those seeking to shape the twenty-first century’s world order.

Reviews

Reviews

A scathing indictment of neoliberal globalization from an explicitly anti-capitalist perspective... An exemplary treatment of Latin America’s present day political economy and social predicaments.

An important book for anyone interested in where our imperiled planet is headed. Robinson... is admirably thorough in his overview of the direction capitalism has taken in Latin America since the 1970s.

Robinson's latest book offers brilliant insight into the underlying causes and current dilemmas of globalization.

This book is a must read, not only for Latin American specialists, but for all those who draw the connection between political economy at the world level and strategies for change.

An important contribution to globalization studies.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
444
ISBN
9780801898341
Illustration Description
11 halftones, 1 map
Table of Contents

List of Tables
Preface
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
1. An Epochal Shift in World Capitalism
2. Global Economy and Latin America, I: Nontraditional Agricultural Exports and Agro-Industry
3. Global

List of Tables
Preface
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
1. An Epochal Shift in World Capitalism
2. Global Economy and Latin America, I: Nontraditional Agricultural Exports and Agro-Industry
3. Global Economy and Latin America, II: Industrial Subcontracting, Transnational Services, Tourism, and the Export of Labor
4. Transnational Processes in Latin America: Class, State, and Migration
5. The Antinomies of Global Capitalism and the Twilight of Neoliberalism
6. A New Cycle of Resistance: The Future of Latin America and Global Society
References
Index

Author Bio
Featured Contributor

William I. Robinson, Ph.D.

William I. Robinson is a professor of sociology, global studies, and Latin American and Iberian studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of several books on globalization, including A Theory of Global Capitalism, also published by Johns Hopkins.
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