Latin America After NeoLiberalism (review)

Many Latin Americanists maintain the tide has turned away from the neoliberal model. Social scientists are busy coming to terms with the meaning of this potential shift. Hershberg and Rosen offer one of the first efforts at this analysis. It is an important preliminary step, one that will help frame future research and assist students with analysis of contemporary events.

The collection of essays examines the "context in which today's movements for change are operating, the particular challenges they confront, and the distinctive forms they take in different settings" (p. 2). The editor's Introduction divides the book into three thematic parts: Latin America's place in the world; the "stubborn challenges" confronting the region; and "the particular social forces" pressing for progressive change. The 14 essays in the collection provide excellent perspectives for each of these themes and contribute significantly to our understanding of Latin America's current moment of transformation. The essays are clearly written, present significant research, and offer important lines of analysis for understanding a complicated reality.

The essays focusing on Latin America's place in the world establish the basic context for understanding how the region arrived at the current historical moment. Paul Drake presents an excellent overview of regional economics, illustrating the hegemony of U.S. policy makers. Likewise, Lars Schoultz offers the diplomatic frame, emphasizing the "economic imperative" (p. 49) driving U.S. policy. These summaries are well done, but overlap with information presented in the editor's Introduction. By the end of Schoultz's essay, the horse appears well flogged. A chapter on the war on drugs by Colleta Youngers lacks strong focus on the relationship between the drug policy and neoliberalism, but presents a quality explanation of the policy's failure.

William Robinson's essay on Latin American polyarchy bridges between the book's opening focus on U.S. policy and the political consequences of neoliberalism in Latin America. His important essay sets the framework for understanding the central challenges caused by neoliberalism's injustice and brutality, a theme remarkably demonstrated by Luis Reygadas's presentation of statistical data exposing neoliberalism's production of inequality. Araceli Damian and Julio Boltvinik follow with a model for measuring poverty in Latin America. While it is not inherently flawed, the essay is redundant following Reygadas. Mark Ungar's essay on crime and insecurity illustrates the tragic consequences of the neoliberal state in its failure to provide for public security, and raises important questions as to how the problem will be fixed. A splendid chapter on historical memory and human rights by Katherine Hite demonstrates the importance of civil society's formation during the dirty wars and the struggle for accountability during the neoliberal period.

The topic of migration shows how neoliberalism produced new and sophisticated means of survival. Judith Adler Hellman's essay explains how migrant remittances are part of the family and community strategy of survival and resistance, but are also a form of compliance to the neoliberal project as migration allows the state to externalize costs to the poor. Carlos Vilas's essay on the emergence of a "new Left" in Latin America awkwardly shifts the book's focus away from the grassroots toward the domain of formal politics. Norma Chinchilla and Liesl Haas examine the contributions of feminism, and consider the challenges of the grassroots cooptation by the state and international NGOs.

Shane Greene analyzes the place of "multicultural citizenship" (p. 276) for understanding indigenous and afro-Latin Americans in the turning of the tide. Similar to the dilemma facing feminists, the challenge of entering formal politics, embracing constitutional reforms, or forming cross-ethnic alliances presents the problem of cooptation and betrayal. Finally, Mark Anner presents the challenges of cross-border labor organizing, illustrating the great obstacles to solidarity efforts.

A minor fault with this collection is the lack of a Conclusion. Readers needed the opportunity to revisit the core themes presented, and learn from the editors about...