Neoliberalism in Argentina and Chile: common antecedents, divergent paths

Abstract

This paper contrasts the experiences of neoliberalism in Argentina and Chile, exploring why two countries that implemented apparently similar market reforms came to different stances on marketization: a post-neoliberal politics in Argentina, and a tempered neoliberalism in Chile that has only recently come under scrutiny. The paper traces the common antecedents that inspired these reforms and the different outcomes and reactions that they produced. In contrast to recent literature, which emphasizes one or another explanatory factor, this article offers a synthetic comparison of the historical, political, economic, and ideological factors in play, helping to understand how capitalists achieved a hegemonic class position in Chile and not in Argentina.

The Return of International Finance and the Martínez de Hoz Plan in Argentina, 1976–1978

“…Classic measures of previous crises and development bottlenecks were applied. 12 Also, due to political constraints imposed by the military and to the composition of the economic team, in terms of structural reforms, depth of economic stabilization, policy paradigm, and their socioeconomic impact, the program would be less radical than that of the more centralized contemporary Pinochet regime in Chile (Díaz-Alejandro 1985, 1-24; Kedar 2013, 137;Undurraga 2015;and Pryluka 2016, 212-220).…”

Unravelling Hidden Informal Employment in Chile: Towards a New Classification and Measurements to Study Its Public Health Impact

“…Chile was one of the first countries to adopt the neoliberal policies promoted by the Washington Consensus, under the civic-military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)). 13,14 The political agenda shifted from the concept of universal provision of social services to policies targeted exclusively for poor people. 15 With the argument of increasing efficiency, the aim was to decentralise, privatise, and introduce market mechanisms to govern the provision of social services.…”

Diseño universal para el aprendizaje de las matemáticas en la formación inicial del profesorado

“…Dicho aumento se debe a la implementación de políticas educativas neoliberales, creándose diversos programas de acceso inclusivo que promueve el Ministerio de Educación MINEDUC para estudiantes de contextos vulnerables con rendimiento académico destacado. Sin embargo, estas políticas han sido incapaces de disminuir las desigualdades sociales y económicas, continuando con la promoción de un sistema educativo privatizante (Undurraga, 2015), que ha excluido desde la dictadura militar a profesores y estudiantes en la formulación de las políticas educativas (Inzunza et al, 2019). Por lo tanto, la expansión de la matrícula en la educación superior no solo significa un mayor número de estudiantes, sino también una población más heterogénea en cuanto a edades, intereses, origen cultural, experiencias de vida, habilidades y preferencias de aprendizajes (Dean et al, 2016), y que demanda de docentes y estudiantes críticos y propositivos para mejorar la calidad de la educación.…”