Book Description

A bold, insightful analysis of Chilean political economy from Pinochet to the present. Marcus Taylor is breaking new ground in bringing the story of Chilean neoliberalism into contemporary debates on globalisation and its political futures. RONALDO MUNCK, Dublin City University, author of 'Contemporary Latin America' (2002)."Detailed, incisive, carefully constructed, lean yet sweeping, this book is a supreme dissection of Chile's socially-engineered contemporary dystopia." JAMES M. CYPHER, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico, author of 'Processes of Economic Development' (2004).This is the first book to provide comprehensive analysis of three decades of neoliberal economic, labour and social policies in Chile, from the Pinochet dictatorship until today.Chile is often described as a 'model' of neoliberal development policy. Marcus Taylor questions this description. Examining the contradictions of neoliberal reform from a political economy perspective, he demonstrates how neoliberalism has created a society that is deeply ridden with inequalities in all areas of life.Taylor presents an overview of the implementation and consequences of the reforms of the Pinochet era. He shows how the tensions that arose from this social inequality led to the emergence of a 'Third Way' neoliberalism in the post-dictatorship period. Taylor argues that this new development paradigm has failed to achieve the goals it set for itself. This is a result of the inability of 'Third Way' neoliberalism to significantly transform social relationships and institutions. The nature of this failure is of significant consequence for the direction of popular movements for social change in Latin America during a time of renewed social and political upheaval.The book will be of interest to anyone studying the problems of neoliberal reform and 'Third Way' projects across the developing world.