Development from within : toward a neostructuralist approach for Latin America /

This is an important book. The 13 essays are written by eminent Latin American economists who identify with the "structuralist" tradition, initially formulated in the 1940s and 1950s by the UN Economic Commission on Latin America. The purpose is to revive structuralism, overshadowed in the 1980s by free-market convictions of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and US and European governments. The essays are thematically defined (e.g., agriculture, the state, poverty) and organized in a parallel manner: the structuralist argument of the 1950s, what happened, and the need to revise that argument in light of circumstances. The result is a series of interesting intellectual and economic histories of Latin America, complementing Crist'obal Kay's Latin American Theories of Development and Underdevelopment (CH, Dec'89). The essays also illustrate some of the shortcomings of Latin American structuralism: a chronic tendency to generalize about "Latin America" rather than compare and contrast national experiences; and a reluctance to address the implications of social, political, and economic power. Recommended for collections serving graduate students and research faculty. F. S. Weaver; Hampshire College