Dynamism and Change of Global South. The social construct of race shape political institutions, socio-economic hierarchies and the territoriality of the state in Latin America (eBook)

Essay from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - Region: Middle and South America, grade: 1,3, University of Westminster, language: English, abstract: Latin America is nearly twice the size of Europe and includes thirteen states in this territory of different spreads, with the same historical fate of colonization and the same connection to violence, but with great differences in economic development and population density as well as ethnic and cultural values and traditions.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Latin America was one of the regions with the highest inequality rates apart from Africa. These are reflected in income and assets disparities as well as central distribution and access asymmetries; this primarily means access to public goods such as education, health and social security . The rate of inequality is much higher in the rural areas of Latin America than in urban areas. A key element of inequality is the concentration of land in Latin America. The Gini Index measures Inequality with a statistical instrument: the nearer the coefficient approaches 1 the higher the inequality. As Wehr summarizes in her article, “2.4% of the arable land, while much of it of the cultivable soil in the hands of a few large landowners (0.22% of the population)”. Such blatant property conflicts, however, are not isolated cases”.