Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization
In this timely and provocative study, William I. Robinson challenges received wisdom on Central America. He starts with an exposition on the new global capitalism. Then, drawing on a wide range of historical documentation, interviews, and social science research, he proceeds to show how capitalist globalization has thoroughly transformed the region, disrupting the conventional pattern of revolutionary upheaval, civil wars, and pacification, and ushering in instead a new transnational model of economy and society.

Beyond his focus on Central America, Robinson provides a critical framework for understanding development and social change in other regions of the world in the age of globalization. Demonstrating how the very forces of capitalism have brought into being new social agents and political actors unlikely to acquiesce in the face of the emerging order, Transnational Conflicts shows why the Isthmus, along with other regions, is likely to return to the headlines in the near future.
1100872468
Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization
In this timely and provocative study, William I. Robinson challenges received wisdom on Central America. He starts with an exposition on the new global capitalism. Then, drawing on a wide range of historical documentation, interviews, and social science research, he proceeds to show how capitalist globalization has thoroughly transformed the region, disrupting the conventional pattern of revolutionary upheaval, civil wars, and pacification, and ushering in instead a new transnational model of economy and society.

Beyond his focus on Central America, Robinson provides a critical framework for understanding development and social change in other regions of the world in the age of globalization. Demonstrating how the very forces of capitalism have brought into being new social agents and political actors unlikely to acquiesce in the face of the emerging order, Transnational Conflicts shows why the Isthmus, along with other regions, is likely to return to the headlines in the near future.
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Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization

Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization

by William I. Robinson
Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization

Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization

by William I. Robinson

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Overview

In this timely and provocative study, William I. Robinson challenges received wisdom on Central America. He starts with an exposition on the new global capitalism. Then, drawing on a wide range of historical documentation, interviews, and social science research, he proceeds to show how capitalist globalization has thoroughly transformed the region, disrupting the conventional pattern of revolutionary upheaval, civil wars, and pacification, and ushering in instead a new transnational model of economy and society.

Beyond his focus on Central America, Robinson provides a critical framework for understanding development and social change in other regions of the world in the age of globalization. Demonstrating how the very forces of capitalism have brought into being new social agents and political actors unlikely to acquiesce in the face of the emerging order, Transnational Conflicts shows why the Isthmus, along with other regions, is likely to return to the headlines in the near future.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781859844397
Publisher: Verso Books
Publication date: 10/16/2003
Pages: 416
Product dimensions: 5.98(w) x 8.92(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

William Robinson is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of several books, including David and Goliath: The US War Against Nicaragua and A Theory of Global Capitalism.

Table of Contents

Foreword and Acknowledgementsix
Acronyms and Abbreviationsxiii
Introduction: Development and Social Change1
Towards A Globalization Perspective1
Origin of this Study and Methodological and Epistemological Concerns3
Organization of the Book6
1The Dialectics of Globalization and Development9
The Problematic of Globalization and Development10
Globalization as Epochal Shift and Systemic Change10
From a World Economy to a Global Economy13
Beyond Nation-State Paradigms: Towards a New Transnational Studies20
Towards a New Conceptualization of Development28
Contours of Global Capitalist Society35
Global Class Formation: From National to Transnational Classes35
Transnationalization of the State42
Transnational Hegemony and a Global Social Structure of Accumulation48
Conceptualizing Global-Regional-Local Change55
Transnational Processes and Transitions to Global Capitalism56
A Globalization Model of Third World Transitions56
A Model of Transnational Processes61
2The Politics of Globalization and the Transitions in Central America63
Central America as a Site of Transnational Processes64
Central America's Integration into the Global Economy and Society64
Social Structures and Social Forces in Central America: An Overview of the Transitions66
Divergence and Convergence in Paths to Globalization: Country Case Studies71
Nicaragua: From Revolution to Counterrevolution71
El Salvador: Transition Under Direct US Tutelage87
Guatemala: The Paradoxes of the "Counterinsurgency State"102
Honduras: A Divergent Route to Globalization118
Costa Rica: From "Exceptionalism" to Globalization132
3The New Transnational Model in Central America: I: Incorporation into the Global Economy147
Central America in the World Economy Prior to Globalization149
The Crisis of Central America's Post-WWII Social Structure of Accumulation149
Central America's Emerging Profile in the Global Economy156
The Fourth Period of Central American Rearticulation and Expansion156
From ISI to the Maquiladoras159
Non-Traditional Agricultural Exports174
Tourism and Hospitality189
The Export of Labor and Remittances203
Conclusions209
4The New Transnational Model in Central America: II: Incorporation into Global Society214
Restructuring the State and Civil Society214
The Rise of Transnational Fractions and "Technopols" in Central America214
From the "Developmental State" to the "Neo-Liberal State" and the New Hegemony of Capital217
Transnationalization of Civil Society in Central America222
The NGO Phenomenon in Central America226
Structural Adjustment in Central America: Commodification, Financial Liberalization, and Proletarianization235
Financial Liberalization and the New Financial Elite236
Neo-Liberal Social Policies: The Privatization of Social Reproduction244
Rural Transformation, Depeasantization, and Urbanization252
Transnational Social Structure259
Restructuring the Central American Labor Force: Informalization and the New Capital-Labor Relation259
Transnational Migration270
Women and Transnational Processes: Global and Central American Dimensions283
5The Contradictions of Global Capitalism and the Future of Central America295
A New Cycle of Capitalist Development in Central America?295
Can Capitalist Expansion be Sustained?297
The Viability of the Transnational Model300
Global Capitalism and Social Exclusion in Central America303
Maldevelopment for Whom in Central America?308
The Future of Popular Struggle in Central America and in Global Society312
Global Polarization and the Crisis of Social Reproduction312
The Illusion of "Peace and Democracy" in Central America315
A Long March Through Civil Society? The Prospects for Counter-Hegemony319
Final Considerations325
Whither the Sociology of Development? From a Territorial to a Social Conception of Development325
An Afterword on Researching Globalization and Social Change330
Notes333
Index387
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