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The market and the masses in Latin America : policy reform and consumption in liberalizing economies / Andy Baker.

By: Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Series: Cambridge studies in comparative politicsPublication details: Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009.Description: xvii, 331 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.ISBN:
  • 9780521899680
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 339.4/7098 22
LOC classification:
  • HC125 .B22 2009
Contents:
Introduction and theory — Consuming the Washington consensus — Theoretical framework: the top-down and bottom-up sources of public opinion — Mass beliefs about market policies in Latin America — The economic consequences and elite rhetoric of market reform in Latin America — Are Latin Americans neoliberals? — Are the poor neoliberals? — Mass support for reform in Brazil — The economic consequences and elite rhetoric of market reform in Brazil — How many Brazilians support market reforms? — Which Brazilians support market reforms? — Conclusion — The politics of consumismo in Latin America.
Summary: What do ordinary citizens in developing countries think about free markets? Conventional wisdom views globalization as an imposition on unwilling workers in developing nations, concluding that the recent rise of the Latin American left constitutes a popular backlash against the market. In this book, Baker marshals public opinion data from eighteen Latin American countries to show that most of the region's citizens are enthusiastic about globalization because it has lowered the prices of many consumer goods and services while improving their variety and quality. Among recent free-market reforms, only privatization has caused pervasive discontent because it has raised prices for services like electricity and telecommunications. Citizens' sharp awareness of these consumer consequences informs Baker's argument that a political economy of consumption has replaced a previously dominant politics of labor and class in Latin America.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Book TBS Barcelona HC125 BAK (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available B04105

Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-315) and index.

Introduction and theory — Consuming the Washington consensus — Theoretical framework: the top-down and bottom-up sources of public opinion — Mass beliefs about market policies in Latin America — The economic consequences and elite rhetoric of market reform in Latin America — Are Latin Americans neoliberals? — Are the poor neoliberals? — Mass support for reform in Brazil — The economic consequences and elite rhetoric of market reform in Brazil — How many Brazilians support market reforms? — Which Brazilians support market reforms? — Conclusion — The politics of consumismo in Latin America.

What do ordinary citizens in developing countries think about free markets? Conventional wisdom views globalization as an imposition on unwilling workers in developing nations, concluding that the recent rise of the Latin American left constitutes a popular backlash against the market. In this book, Baker marshals public opinion data from eighteen Latin American countries to show that most of the region's citizens are enthusiastic about globalization because it has lowered the prices of many consumer goods and services while improving their variety and quality. Among recent free-market reforms, only privatization has caused pervasive discontent because it has raised prices for services like electricity and telecommunications. Citizens' sharp awareness of these consumer consequences informs Baker's argument that a political economy of consumption has replaced a previously dominant politics of labor and class in Latin America.

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