Latin America Transformed

This text provides an introduction to contemporary development issues in Latin America. It examines a continent that is becoming more international in its economic relationships and more homogeneous in its political framework, but in which a variety of social and cultural patterns can be observed.

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This text provides an introduction to contemporary development issues in Latin America. It examines a continent that is becoming more international in its economic relationships and more homogeneous in its political framework - but in which a wide variety of social and cultural patterns can be observed. Rapid economic growth may have brought prosperity to a minority but for most people many of the problems of uneven development and inequality seem to be greater than ever. The text is divided into two parts. The first summarizes the theoretical frameworks that have attempted to contextualize Latin American development: structuralism, dependency, neoliberalism and cultural change. The second introduces key development issues of relevance to Latin America as the 21st century approaches, and relates them to the theoretical frameworks previously discussed. It then concludes by contrasting the rapid change in economic and political variables with slower change in the social and cultural milieux.