Post-neoliberalism in Latin America: in the search of the lost paradigm

Abstract

During the last decade, Latin America – and particularly South America – has been the terrain of dispute and resistance to the hegemony of neo-liberalism by different governments and social movements. New winds are blowing and, some argue, there has been a ‘left turn’ in the hearts and minds of Latin Americans as a sign of frustration with the failures of the neoliberal model that marked previous decades. This work explores some of the policies that transcend neoliberalism and have been or are being implemented in the region. The work scrutinizes the emergence of a new post-neoliberal model arguing that while the so-called post-neoliberal governments have shown more ‘social sensitivity’, there is, in many countries, a continuation of the neoliberal doctrine and the power structures that reproduce social exclusion and inequality. ‘Post- neoliberalism’ in Latin America is, thus, yet an unconcluded quest.