Not available in 2014/15
EH451      Half Unit
Latin American Development: Political Economy of Growth

This information is for the 2014/15 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Colin Lewis STC.S486

Availability

This course is available on the MA Global Studies: A European Perspective, MRes in Quantitative Economic History, MSc in Economic History, MSc in Economic History (Research), MSc in Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation, MSc in Global History, MSc in History of International Relations, MSc in International and World History (LSE & Columbia), MSc in Political Economy of Late Development and MSc in Theory and History of International Relations. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Course content

The course examines the principal phases of growth in Latin America since 1900, exploring economic structures, social outcomes and the political arrangements associated with distinct 'development projects'. The first part of the course considers debates about endowments, institutions and the role of the state, and principal theories, including early twentieth-century liberalism, structuralism and dependency, neo-liberal ideas associated with the Washington Consensus and distinct radical approaches of the early twenty-first century. The remainder of the course is organised chronologically, focusing on phases of commodity export-led growth, 'populist' import-substituting industrialisation, 'authoritarian modernisation', democratisation and stabilisation, and responses to current challenges of globalisation and international boom and crisis.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT. 1 hour of seminars in the ST.

Indicative reading

C. Abel & C.M. Lewis (eds.) Exclusion and Engagement: social policy in Latin America (2002); E.V.K. FitzGerald & R. Thorp (eds.) Economic Doctrines in Latin America: origins, embedding and evolution (2005); P. Franko The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development (2007); S. Haber (ed.) Political Institutions and Economic Growth in Latin America: essays in policy, history and political economy (2000); M. Reid Forgotten Continent: battle for Latin America's soul (2008); R. Thorp Progress, Poverty and Exclusion (1998); K. Weyland The Politics of Market Reform in Fragile Democracies (2002). For reference: V. Bulmer-Thomas, J.H. Coatsworth & R. Cortés Conde (eds.) The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America: vol. II; the long twentieth century (2006).

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.

Key facts

Department: Economic History

Total students 2013/14: 15

Average class size 2013/14: 7

Controlled access 2013/14: Yes

Lecture capture used 2013/14: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication
  • Application of numeracy skills
  • Specialist skills