The Limits of Democratization and Social Progress: Domination and Dependence in Latin America

Abstract

This chapter first reviews the record of social progress and policy reform in Latin America during the export boom decade of the twenty-first century. It then turns to the obstacles that block deeper and more sustainable transformation with respect to national and international power structures that are discussed or identified in the case studies. In the domestic realm, reconfigured elites continue to oppose redistributive reforms and the taxation levels necessary to finance social programs; they participate in the formation and expansion of latino transnationals, especially in “flex crop” sectors that engage in often violent land grabbing; and they sponsor the criminalization of social protest against extractivism. With reference to the international context, powerful region-wide criminal networks have integrated into elite networks while old patterns of economic and military dependence persist.