Latin American Development from Populism to Neopopulism: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

(Hardback)

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Latin American Development from Populism to Neopopulism explores the socio-economic development of Latin America through the periods of populism, military dictatorships, neoliberalism and neopopulism by utilizing a multidisciplinary approach. By analyzing the trends and main socioeconomic structures in each period, Heydt Coca explains the interactions of economic, social, and political spheres. Paradigmatic case studies complement the picture of each period and draw on extensive literature covering economics, history, sociology, and anthropology. Special emphasis is placed on how the world economy constrains the socioeconomic development in the region by examining the influence of international monetary organizations and hegemonic countries. Heydt-Coca answers the complex question of why Latin American countries, blessed with a bounty of natural resources and capable of industrialization, could not escape their role as producers and exporters of primary goods.

Reviews

In this highly perceptive account, Magda von der Heydt-Coca ties together the experiences over the past century of the countries that make up Latin America into a cohesive and meaningful common history. This has been a tumultuous century, marked by continental waves of populism, military dictatorship, democratic opening, neoliberal restructuring, and neo-populism. Von der Heydt-Coca narrates this history with confidence, displaying both a comprehensive grasp of hemispheric trends and expert knowledge of particularities that have shaped the trajectories of individual countries. Moreover, she captures the dynamic ways in which events across Latin America are interrelated, and inevitably also involve outside powers, most prominently the United States, but also European states and, in recent years, China. The book will serve as an introduction for outsiders to the field, while also providing new insights for regional experts, and will make an excellent textbook for courses about Latin America.

--Joel Andreas, Johns Hopkins University

Latin American Development from Populism to Neopopulism is written in the best traditions of political economy, weaving together social structures, power relations and economic analysis to uncover Latin America's distinctly populous movements country by country. Magda von der Heydt-Coca achieves a detailed examination of the conditions of the poor and working class from the emergence of populism during W.W. I through the Pink Tide that defines the contemporary Latin American left. An outstanding contribution to our understanding of the complexity and inner connections of Latin American history.

--Jerry Harris, National Secretary Global Studies Association of North America

Von der Heydt-Coca focuses on phases of modern development in Latin America, ranging from 20th-century populism to 21st-century neopopulism and covering military dictatorship and neoliberalism, which separated the two phases.... Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

-- "Choice Reviews"

Author Bio

Magda von der Heydt-Coca is senior lecturer and assistant research scholar at the Department of Sociology and Program in Latin American Studies at Johns Hopkins University.