The Structuralism of Prebisch and the Integration of Latin America

Abstract

This chapter examines the differences between the Latin American structuralist and neo-structuralist paradigms, based on the different conceptions that each of them formulated regarding the topic of Latin American integration. The examination of these differences allows us to identify the “birth certificate” of neo-structuralism at the beginning of the nineties under specific historical circumstances. The principles of Latin American Neo-Structuralism not only distort but also produce a reductionism of the basic principles of structuralism that were formulated in the late forties and early fifties. On the other hand, the thread of structuralism is taken up again at the beginning of the eighties by Prebisch himself, emphasizing the continuity of structuralist thinking through his last book Peripheral Capitalism: Crisis and Transformation (1981) and providing some clues about the role of regional integration for the twenty-first century.