Transnational conflicts : Central America, social change and globalization / William I. Robinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Robinson, William I.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social change--Central America.

Social change.

Structural adjustment (Economic policy)--Central America.

Structural adjustment (Economic policy).

Globalization.

International economic relations.

Central America--Social conditions--1979-.

Central America.

Social conditions.

Central America--Economic conditions--1979-.

Economic conditions.

Central America--Foreign economic relations.

Physical Description:

xvi, 400 pages : maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Verso, 2003.

Summary:

In this timely and provocative study, William I. Robinson challenges received wisdom on Central America. He starts with an exposition on the new global capitalism. Then, drawing on a wide range of historical documentation, interviews, and social science research, he proceeds to show how capitalist globalization has thoroughly transformed the region, disrupting the conventional pattern of revolutionary upheaval, civil wars, and pacification, and ushering in instead a new transnational model of economy and society. Beyond his focus on Central America, Robinson provides a critical framework for understanding development and social change in other regions of the world in the age of globalization. Demonstrating how the very forces of capitalism have brought into being new social agents and political actors unlikely to acquiesce in the face of the emerging order, Transnational Conflicts shows why the Isthmus, along with other regions, is likely to return to the headlines in the near future.

Contents:

Introduction: Development and Social Change 1

Towards A Globalization Perspective 1

1 The Dialectics of Globalization and Development 9

The Problematic of Globalization and Development 10

Globalization as Epochal Shift and Systemic Change 10

From a World Economy to a Global Economy 13

Beyond Nation-State Paradigms: Towards a New Transnational Studies 20

Towards a New Conceptualization of Development 28

Contours of Global Capitalist Society 35

Global Class Formation: From National to Transnational Classes 35

Transnationalization of the State 42

Transnational Hegemony and a Global Social Structure of Accumulation 48

Conceptualizing Global-Regional-Local Change 55

Transnational Processes and Transitions to Global Capitalism 56

A Globalization Model of Third World Transitions 56

A Model of Transnational Processes 61

2 The Politics of Globalization and the Transitions in Central America 63

Central America as a Site of Transnational Processes 64

Central America's Integration into the Global Economy and Society 64

Social Structures and Social Forces in Central America: An Overview of the Transitions 66

Divergence and Convergence in Paths to Globalization: Country Case Studies 71

Nicaragua: From Revolution to Counterrevolution 71

El Salvador: Transition Under Direct US Tutelage 87

Guatemala: The Paradoxes of the "Counterinsurgency State" 102

Honduras: A Divergent Route to Globalization 118

Costa Rica: From "Exceptionalism" to Globalization 132

3 The New Transnational Model in Central America: I: Incorporation into the Global Economy 147

Central America in the World Economy Prior to Globalization 149

The Crisis of Central America's Post-WWII Social Structure of Accumulation 149

Central America's Emerging Profile in the Global Economy 156

The Fourth Period of Central American Rearticulation and Expansion 156

From ISI to the Maquiladoras 159

Non-Traditional Agricultural Exports 174

Tourism and Hospitality 189

The Export of Labor and Remittances 203

4 The New Transnational Model in Central America: II: Incorporation into Global Society 214

Restructuring the State and Civil Society 214

The Rise of Transnational Fractions and "Technopols" in Central America 214

From the "Developmental State" to the "Neo-Liberal State" and the New Hegemony of Capital 217

Transnationalization of Civil Society in Central America 222

The NGO Phenomenon in Central America 226

Structural Adjustment in Central America: Commodification, Financial Liberalization, and Proletarianization 235

Financial Liberalization and the New Financial Elite 236

Neo-Liberal Social Policies: The Privatization of Social Reproduction 244

Rural Transformation, Depeasantization, and Urbanization 252

Transnational Social Structure 259

Restructuring the Central American Labor Force: Informalization and the New Capital-Labor Relation 259

Transnational Migration 270

Women and Transnational Processes: Global and Central American Dimensions 283

5 The Contradictions of Global Capitalism and the Future of Central America 295

A New Cycle of Capitalist Development in Central America? 295

Can Capitalist Expansion be Sustained? 297

The Viability of the Transnational Model 300

Global Capitalism and Social Exclusion in Central America 303

Maldevelopment for Whom in Central America? 308

The Future of Popular Struggle in Central America and in Global Society 312

Global Polarization and the Crisis of Social Reproduction 312

The Illusion of "Peace and Democracy" in Central America 315

A Long March Through Civil Society? The Prospects for Counter-Hegemony 319

Final Considerations 325

Whither the Sociology of Development? From a Territorial to a Social Conception of Development 325

An Afterword on Researching Globalization and Social Change 330.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [333]-386) and index.

ISBN:

1859844391

1859845479

OCLC:

52312536