Latin America
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This innovative contribution to comparative area studies evaluates Latin America's distinctiveness, and shows how 'large regions' can be compared. The overwhelming impact of Europe followed by precocious independence produced an exceptional outward orientation, which has prompted successive waves of reform 'from above and without', often resisted and superceded rather than fully assimilated. This book explores the resulting patterns that can be observed in multiple domains, through the optic of a 'mausoleum of modernity.' By applying this perspective to state organization, the politics of expertise, privatization, poverty and inequality, and citizenship insecurity, it generates an overall new interpretation of Latin America's regional distinctiveness.
Preface viiAcknowledgments ixAcronyms xiIntroduction: Latin America in Comparative Perspective 1I Introduction 1II Latin America Compared to Other Large World Regions 3III Latin America and Europe 8IV Configurative Characteristics 10V Themes and Organization 18Chapter 1 Latin America as a "Mausoleum of Modernities" 23I Introduction 23II Latin America's Distinctive Relation to "Modernity" 27III Successive Waves of "Modernity" in Latin America 35IV The Littered Landscape 44V How Durable A Break with the Past? 53VI Conclusion: Reflections on Multiple Modernities 66Chapter 2 Latin American State Organization 71I Introduction 71II Territorial Control 85III Administration 93IV "Cognitive" Capacity 98V Command Over Resources 105VI Postscript on Citizenship 116VII Conclusion 117Chapter 3 The Politics of Expertise 121I Introduction 121II Antecedents 125III Actualities 128IV Conclusion 137Chapter 4 Economics in Mexico: The Power of Ideas and Ideas of Power 141I Introduction 141II Origins of the Profession 142III The Rise of the Economic Technocrats 144IV Comparisons 148V The Profession 150VI The "NeoLiberal" Ascendancy 154VII External Derivations 157VIII The Authoritarian Style 160IX Performance 162X Conclusion: The Prospects 164Chapter 5 Privatization and the Public Interest: Partial Theories, Lopsided Outcomes 169I Introduction 169II "Privatization" and "The Public Interest" 172III Alternative Styles of Privatization: Timing and Sequencing 180IV The Contemporary Scene: Momentum and Resistance 186V Lopsided Theories 189VIConclusion: Partial Outcomes 198Chapter 6 Democracy, Inequality, and Insecurity: Three Sources of Contestation 203I Introduction 203II Inequality and Social Injustice 205III Democracy and Insecurity 217IV Conclusions 226Conclusion: On Characterizing Latin America 233Notes 251Bibliography 285Index 301
