DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS IN THE ALBA

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/41945945
• Pages: 198-220
• Published date: 01 July 2011
• Date: 01 July 2011
• Author: Emine Tahsin

DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS IN THE ALBA

Emine Tahsin

University

of

Istanbul

Abstract

This article

focuses

on the economic

development

policies

of the

ALBA

process

that have

emerged

as an alternative

pattern

of

integration. By focusing

on the main

principles

and

theoretical foundations

of

the

ALBA,

the

article

will

try

to assess the extent of its

discontinuity

from neoliberal

policies

and

the

Washington

Consensus.

In

addition,

the article

will

analyse

the

neodevelopmentalist approaches developed

by

the Comisión Economica

para

América

Latina

(CEPAL)

and the

applied

economic

development policies

under the

ALBA

and

the

Bolivarian Revolution

process

in

Venezuela. For this

analysis

the

roots of the

endogenous

development concept

will

be examined. Under the

given

circumstances

and constraints

of

today's

economic and

political

climate,

it

argues

that the

ALBA

provides

a

unique approach

to the formation of economic

development policies

in

the

twenty-first century.

Keywords:

economic

integration, endogenous development,

ALBA,

Latin

American

economies,

economic

development

Introduction

Today,

when

considering

the alternative

politics

that are

emerging

in

Latin

America,

the

ALBA

(Alianza

Bolivariana

para

los

Pueblos de

Nuestra

América)

has been seen as one

of the main initiatives.

In

this

article,

rather than

focusing

on the

ALBA

as an

alternative

integration process,

the dimensions of the

alliance

as a development strategy

will be

analysed.

Historically,

the

debate on alternative

development policies

in

Latin America

has a strong

tradition.1 Attention focuses on the one

hand on the

independence

struggle by

Latin American societies and its roots

within

the

anti-capitalist

and anti-imperialist

current

and,

on the

other

hand,

developmentalism

and

modernisation.

The debate on alternative

policies

in

Latin America includes

the

question

of how

development

can be achieved and how the

exploited

societies

can achieve

recognition

and

representation.

The

questioning

of

underdevelop-

ment and

exploitation,

and support

for

populations, shapes

the

hardcore

of

alternative

policies.

International

Journal

of Cuban Studies

3.2

& 3.3 Summer/Autumn

2011

DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

IN THE ALBA

199

Latin America was the first area where monetarist

policies

were

applied

following

Allende's

overthrow

by

the

military coup

led

by

Pinochet

in

1973.

In

addition to

this,

as stated

by

John

Williamson

(2004: 1),

the

Washington

Consensus

(WC)

has been

applied

to Latin

America since the 1950s.

These two

facts

imply

that Latin America

has been the

specific region

where neoliberal

policies

have

been

most

applied.

The

policies

associated with WC and neoliberalism

presume

that the state is

inefficient

and market is efficient. Therefore the

market,

rather than the

state,

should

address

the

economic

problems

of

development

(Saad-Filho

2005a: 113).

In

other

words,

neoliberalism

implies

that the main reason

why poor

countries

remain

poor

is not because

they

lack

technology,

infrastructure

or

money

but

rather because of misconceived state

intervention,

corruption, inefficiency

and

misguided

economic incentives

(Saad-Filho

2005a: 114).

Briefly,

it is

possible

to

state that neoliberalism and the WC at the microeconomic

level redefine

the state

and market relations whereas at macroeconomic

level this

approach presumes

that

the world

economy

is characterised

by

capital

mobility

and the relentless advance

of

globalisation

(Saad-Filho

2005a: 113). The neoliberal

era in

Latin America

has been labelled as a period

of

deepening

social

polarisation

and

increasingly

unequal

development

and

economic and social

polarisation

(Saad-Filho 2005b).

The increase

in

poverty

rates

in

Latin America

and the Caribbean also reflects the

dimension of

this

increased

inequality.

As stated

by

the

UN Comisión Economica

para

América Latina

(CEPAL

2010),

while

the

poverty

rate was 40.5 per

cent

in

1980 it increased to 48.3 per

cent

in

1990,

and

in

2007 it was calculated at

34.1

per

cent.

After the lost decades of the 1980s the

validity

of neoliberal

policies

has been

investigated

and alternatives to neoliberalism have

been discussed.

Especially

after

the 1990s as

a

reaction

against

neoliberal

policies,

the

outcomes of

elections

in

the

region

have resulted in the

victory

of leftist

parties.2

In

Brazil,

the

largest

country

of the

region,

the Workers'

Party

of

Brazil has taken

power

in

the elections

(2002).

In

addition,

the

emergence

of the Bolivarian

Revolution

in

Venezuela has

been

accepted

as a reflection of the

depth

of the

rejection

of neoliberalism

(Azzi

and Harris 2006: 5). As stated

above,

after the

lost decade of the

1980s,

by

the

2000s a different

period

started

in which the search for alternatives has led to

change

in

the

political

arena.3

The

increasing

voices

against globalisation

at the Porto

Alegre

World Social

Forum

in

2005,

the

protests against

the

Free Trade Area of the Americas

(FTAA)

at the Mar del Plata Summit have stood

out as the

high points

in

the 2000s for

the Latin American and Caribbean

region.

Also as a result,

the reaction

against

neoliberalism

was carried

into the international arena

and the FTAA

project

was

paralysed.

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