The Current State of Development in Latin America essays

The Current State of Development in Latin America essays In attempting to establish the current state of development in Latin America, historical chronology serves as the foundation necessary for a comprehensively logical position. Latin American development has evolved in distinct phases, which lead to the present day standings of the politics and peoples throughout the region. The culmination of distinct historical attributes: conquest, colonialism, mercantilism, captalism, industrialism, and globalism, serve as the developmental path from the past, to allow an understanding of the current state of development. In overview of this, as perceived by Latin American governments, the four primary areas of concern as reported from 1994, "Summit of the Americas" held by heads of 34 countries, were as follows: (1) preserving and strengthening the community of democracies of the Americas, (2) free trade area of the Americas (FTAA), (3) eradicating poverty and discrimination in the hemisphere, (4) education (Americas Net). Each issue examined by m embers of the summit involves aspects of politics and economics. The desired changes in Latin American society can be shown connected to these two subject areas, as held by authors Skidmore and Smith, "From modernization theory, we take the casual premise that economic transformations induce social changes which, in turn, have political consequences."(Skidmore and Smith, 10) The understanding of the historical background, an awareness of current political goals, and the incorporation of modern political and social theory allow an increasingly accurate depiction of the state of development in Latin America to be constructed. Development, largely defined as bringing to a more advanced or effective state, often stands as the product of the successful management and collaboration of economic, social, and political areas. The current state of development should, therefore, gauge today's level of success in creating a more advanced and effective state. In conside...