Dominant elites in Latin America: from neo-liberalism to the ´pink-tide´

This volume examines the ways in which the socio-economic elites of the region have transformed and expanded the material bases of their power from the inception of neo-liberal policies in the 1970s through to the so-called progressive 'pink tide' governments of the past two decades. The six case study chapters-on Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatemala-variously explore how state policies and even United Nations peace-keeping missions have enhanced elite control of land and agricultural exports, banks and insurance companies, wholesale and import commerce, industrial activities, and alliances with foreign capital. Chapters also pay attention to the ways in which violence has been deployed to maintain elite power, and how international forces feed into sustaining historic and contemporary configurations of power.

Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Editors and Contributors -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Chapter 1 Introduction-Reconfiguring Domination: Case Studies from Latin America -- Introduction -- Histories of Domination -- The Six Case Studies -- Concluding Remarks -- References -- Chapter 2 The Paradox of the Neoliberal Developmentalist State: Reconstructing the Capitalist Elite in Pinochet's Chile -- Introduction -- The Chicago Boys and the Revolutionary State -- The Reconstruction of Finance -- Reconstruction and Subsumption of Agriculture -- State Supports, Subsidies, and Credits -- Financial Crisis and Re-privatization -- The Chilean Capitalist Elite Today -- Conclusion: Was the Capitalist Revolution Too Successful? -- References -- Chapter 3 Quasi-post-neoliberal Brazil: Social Change Amidst Elite Adaptation and Metamorphosis -- Introduction -- Brazil's History of Class Adaptation and Metamorphosis -- The Context of Lula's Presidential Election in 2002 -- A "New Social Contract" -- Class Adaptation and Metamorphosis -- Final Thoughts -- References -- Chapter 4 Concentration of Assets and Poverty Reduction in Post-neoliberal Ecuador -- Introduction -- Land Concentration and Lack of Agrarian Reform -- The Concentration of Income and Assets in the Urban and National Economies -- Poverty and Inequality: Labour's Share -- Policy Alternatives for Reducing Poverty and Inequality -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 5 Rural Colombia: The Architecture of State-Sponsored Violence and New Power Configurations -- Introduction -- The Historical Phases of Political and Armed Conflict -- New Powers, Illegal Economies, and Dispossession -- Antioquia and the Magdalena Medio: The Militarization of Agrarian Conflict -- The Peace Process: Mapping Local and Regional Histories -- Conclusions -- References