Latin America and the Caribbean at the CROSSROADS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE

Roberto Regalado in his new book, LATIN AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS, analyzes the structures of domination that characterize Latin America and the Caribbean, the nature of the contemporary crisis, the character of popular movements including resistance movements, and the debate over political and economic alternatives. Latin America and the Caribbean have been undergoing a profound transformation since the early 1980s. The neoliberal turn in global capitalism gathered momentum with the onset of the debt crisis of the 1980s. By the early 1990s, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a growing emphasis on democratization and the enhancement of constitutional democracy across the region, and especially in the countries that had been dominated by military dictatorships. By the end of the twentieth century and into the early years of the 21st century however it became clear that the neoliberal experiment pointed not to the enhancement or deepening of democracy but rather in the direction of the reconstitution and restoration of power in favor of especially dominant private economic interests and the deepening of social and economic inequality at the expense of the broad mass of working people. Professor William Robinson labels the reality “polyarchy.” Professor David Harvey speaks of “accumulation by dispossession.” This reality has given rise to sustained cynicism about neoliberalism and skepticism about the content of democratization. (learn more)

Schedule of Events:

Visions and Reality in Caribbean/Latin American Relations - Update: This event has been cancelled.
Anthony T. Bryan
Sept. 27, 2007
7 p.m.
Elaine Langone Center Forum

Corporate Social Responsibility: Was Milton Friedman Right? Applications from Latin America
Patrice Franko
Nov. 8, 2007
7 p.m.
Elaine Langone Center Forum

American Visa Dreams
Debra A. Castillo
March 27, 2008
7 p.m.
Elaine Langone Center Forum

Mexican Immigration: The Facts, the Reality, and the Consequences – What to do?
Douglas S. Massey
April 10, 2008
7 p.m.
Elaine Langone Center Forum