Latin America and global capitalism : a critical globalization perspective /

Robinson (sociology, global studies, and Latin American and Iberian studies, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) views contemporary Latin America through the prism of his own "critical globalization studies." The emphasis should be on "critical," for he catalogs many detrimental effects of globalization on Latin America. Globalization is the "fourth epoch of global capitalism" and has entered crisis since 1999. The current world financial turmoil can only underline Robinson's claims, though differences across countries suggest that classes and production are not as homogeneously globalized as he maintains. The book's strongest point is its detail on central elements of Latin American political economy today: the growth of nontraditional agriculture exports such as Andean flowers; growth of tourism and "transnational subcontracting" (e.g., Korean textile production in Guatemala); and migration and the transformation of sectors such as retailing by Wal-Mart and other global actors. The result is social polarization, overaccumulation, and the delegitimation of the state, according to Robinson. The bright spot is the growth of new forms of resistance by indigenous peoples, governments such as Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, and immigrant rights activity in the US. These challenges to globalized capitalism may ultimately transform it positively. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional audiences. K. P. Jameson University of Utah