In this innovative synthesis and reconstruction of the role of trade in Latin American development, the author asks what have been the political terms of trade in Latin America, and why have they differed so much from the multilateral and national trade politics of the advanced capitalist countries, especially the United States? He shows, in great detail, how a new conceptual approach to this question can help us to understand why, and with what limits, Latin America now seems ready to accept the mantle of free trade. This book is a unique attempt to link some of the most provocative hypotheses from the literatures of international trade, development, regional economic history, and resource management to national politics in Latin America. It takes a fresh look at old academic questions, critiques the received knowledge on trade, and offers some new data, documents, and indexes. To the standard literature on Latin American trade, the author adds insights and information from other literatures - resource conservation, poverty alleviation, and national development strategies, to name a few. The current trend toward looking at constraints and possibilities in the trade system is reshaped to ask familiar questions in a concrete, empirical way. What changes in development design come from external shock, and under what conditions? Does the pressure of the international system actually force Latin American countries to alter their rates and kinds of natural resource exploitation? Can a political course of export promotion address the debt crisis effectively? Are the multilateral trade negotiations a useful format for Latin American trade and development problems? And, finally, can we sayanything with authority about Latin America as a region?

Globalization and Development draws upon the experiences of the Latin American and Caribbean region to provide a multidimensional assessment of the globalization process from the perspective of developing countries. Based on a study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), this book gives a historical overview of economic development in the region and presents both an economic and noneconomic agenda that addresses disparity, respects diversity, and fosters complementarity among regional, national, and international institutions. For orders originating outside of North America, please visit the World Bank website for a list of distributors and geographic discounts at http://publications.worldbank.org/howtoorder or e-mail [email protected].