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This paper critically appraises the core philosophies of the three Concertación governments with respect to agrarian change and rural restructuring in Chile since 1990. It identifies common ideological ground in the successive administrations' perspectives on the nature and role of agriculture in the wider economy, arguing that a 'neoliberal inheritance» has pervaded each. In drawing on primary and secondary data from the non‐traditional fruit export sector the paper challenges the concept of reconversión as a panacea for rural under‐development and grower failure. Given the simultaneously regionalising and globalising context which frames the Chilean transition, the paper highlights the tough choices that face policy makers at the current time. Developmental dilemmas are increasing in the sector, given the stated desire of the Concertación governments to move beyond pure, efficiency‐driven, neoliberalism towards the incorporation of equity and sustainability goals. After ten years of democratic transition it is timely to ask if policy shows any signs of moving beyond reconversión.

Abstract
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This paper explores the implications of increased competition in global fruit markets for the Chilean small‐grower sector. Stagnation in the growth trajectory of such exports has precipitated significant changes in the structure and strategy of the private fruit export company sector. It is proposed that this restructuring discriminates against small growers, whose position within the market has become increasingly vulnerable. To support this idea, evidence obtained from a field study of small‐scale grape growers operating in the locality of El Palqui, Region IV is presented. It is argued that increased vulnerability is not simply a function of the inefficiency of diminutive scale per se. Rather, the nature of economic power relations, which tilt heavily in the favour of export companies, form an important explanatory factor in the increasing rate of failure among the fruit growing parceleros. It is argued that the implications of the failure among small growers who have already 'reconverted' is of particular importance. It is proposed that steps re‐dress structural imbalances in the market could precipitate productive gains, increase the potential success of small growers attempting to 'reconvert' to fruit production and improve rural equity. If applied to the small scale fruit sector as a whole such moves could help sustain Chile's fruit export sector — an objective which can be seen as crucial to Chile's economic well‐being. In this way the argument of free‐market purists — that rural economic differentiation which has taken place to date is inevitable and desirable — is challenged.

Expansion in the non‐traditional agricultural export sector following neoliberal reform has precipitated an economic transformation in Peru. Non‐traditional agricultural export growth has brought environmental, social and distributive costs. This article critically examines the Peruvian asparagus boom and the impact of this on water availability among marginal groups. Based on primary case study fieldwork, the paper asserts that the agro‐export model is causing the over‐exploitation of important groundwater supplies in the Ica Valley where almost all of Peru's fresh asparagus is produced. This reveals wider issues concerning neoliberal development and the political economy of natural resource allocation in Latin America.

This article coins the term 'retroliberalism' to describe the aid regime that has evolved out of the post-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) world order. This approach sees a partial return to the principles of classical liberalism with respect to the role of the state vis-à-vis the market, whilst also perpetuating a number of the principles of neoliberalism. At the same time, the rejuvenation of an active state harks back to modernization principles prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. In describing this regulatory shift we suggest that a retroliberal 'manual' for aid practice can be discerned. Our analysis utilizes evidence from recent reforms in a range of Western aid donors that are members of the United Nation's DAC, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Netherlands. It also offers some comment on the increasing role and influence of non-traditional donors such as China in shaping the new regime. Ultimately, we argue that this state-led post-industrial modernization that serves to facilitate and sustain the accumulation of private capital harks back to the post-War development period.

This paper examines the participatory budgeting process that an increasing number of municipalities, primarily but not exclusively in Brazil, are using as a tool of governance. Background is provided on municipal governance in Brazil as well as on the Partido dos Trabalhadores, the political party primarily responsible for introducing participatory budgeting. This is followed by a comparison of the participatory budgets of two Brazilian cities: Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte. From this comparison we draw conclusions as to how geography can condition the outcomes of participatory budgeting processes. Resumen: Geografía y democracia participativa en Brasil: Comparación entre Porto Alegre y Belo Horizonte Este artículo estudia el proceso de presupuestos participativos que un número creciente de municipalidades, especialmente en Brasil, aunque no exclusivamente, está utilizando como instrumento de gobernabilidad. En el artículo se entrega información de fondo sobre los gobiernos municipales en Brasil y sobre el Partido de los Trabajadores, el partido político que es responsable de la introducción del presupuesto participativo, para posteriormente comparar los presupuestos participativos de dos ciudades brasileñas: Porto Alegre y Belo Horizonte. Sobre la base de esta comparación sacamos conclusiones sobre cómo puede la geografía condicionar el resultado de procesos de presupuesto participativo.

In the 2000s a new aid regime evolved. This promised to move beyond the former neoliberal approach in a number of ways. It would involve greater consultation between donors and recipients, shift the focus from economic growth to broader factors, including poverty, and hand back the responsibility for this to the nation-state. This approach bears strong resemblance to the rise of neostructuralism, a development paradigm that has become highly influential in Latin America. In this article we trace the shifts in the aid regime and ask to what extent the contemporary regime can be defined a postneoliberal paradigm.