Eco-dependency in Latin America
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Date
2006
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Publisher
WILEY
Abstract
This article develops an argument around the perpetuation of socioeconomic development models based on non-renewable natural resource exploitation, weak management and regulation of renewables and the deterioration in environmental quality across different natural resources. It concludes that the structural constraints pointed out during the 1940-80 period by the dependentistas (advocates of the various theorizations of dependency) and to a lesser extent the cepalista structuralists (policy analysts at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) were alive and well in Latin America in the period 1980-2000. A theoretical case is made for the political economy reading of dependency into the realm of natural resources and environmental issues. It is argued that Latin American history and the region's more contemporary insertion into the global political economy has been determined by its use of natural resources and ongoing degradation of diverse environments. The conclusions emphasize the importance of responding to this historical condition, recognizing the concerns of the structuralists of the 1940s and 1950s and the threats highlighted by the dependentistas in the 1970s, but through the lens of contemporary changes.
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Keywords
eco-dependency, dependency, Latin America, trade, environment, structuralism, ECONOMIC WELFARE ISEW, MARINE FISHERIES, ENVIRONMENT, INDEX, GPI