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Fall 2006
Volume 06, Number 1

Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy

Book Reviews

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The Impact of Globalized Neoliberalism in Latin America: Philosophical Perspectives
Ricardo Gomez, ed. (Newbury Park, CA: Hansen Publishing, 2004).

Reviewed by Arleen L. F. Salles
St. John’s University

Few issues are as complex as globalization. In the first place, as one author in this anthology points out, there is a terminological quandary: globalization is understood in many different ways. The term globalization is often used as meaning globality or "world system" and in that sense it refers to the phenomenon of living in a politically and culturally interconnected world. The term globalization is also used to refer to a particular ideology: neo-liberalism and its consequences. Finally, the term globalization is frequently used to denote the political, economic, cultural, and technological aspects that shape the role and relationships of governments, corporations, and individual human beings and their quality of life.

But the issue of how to use the term is only the start of the problem. Globalization and the implementation of neo-liberal policies in different countries raise a number of key issues, many of them highly divisive. Is globalization desirable? Are increasing global connections conducive to a more just and equal world? Are social welfare and equality promoted if foreign investment is encouraged, government regulations of wages and working conditions are kept to a minimum, and public services are privatized? For some, the answer is positive. For others, globalization and neo-liberalism promote cultural destruction, financial instability, an increase of the gap between the world’s wealthy and the poor, unhealthy labor conditions, and North American and European cultural, technological, and economic hegemony in the world.

Given the controversial character of these issues and the diverse worldviews and ideologies underlying the arguments for and against neo-liberal globalization, in general, it is not easy to find consensus. Yet, this is what we find in Ricardo J. Gomez’s The Impact of Globalized Neoliberalism in Latin America: Philosophical Perspectives. The volume presents six essays written by Enrique Dussel, Eduardo Rabossi, Arturo Andrés Roig, Lia Berisso, Carlos Paladines, and Ricardo J. Gomez, and a DVD with interviews with four of the authors. According to the editor, the main aim of the volume is "to present a plurality of perspectives about the impact of Neo-liberalism upon Latin American philosophy" (7). But even if the papers are written from different perspectives, they have something in common: they show the authors’ disenchantment with the consequences of globalization, their frustration with the view that globalized neo-liberalism is an unavoidable and natural fact, and their increasing hostility to neo-liberalism.

A second, and timely, theme running throughout the book, and to a great extent the focus of the interviews (conducted by Gomez), is the role that Latin American intellectuals can and should play in shaping a society that appears to be too eager to imitate foreign models. The essays and the interviews thus weave together the issue of globalization, its practical consequences, and the possibility of a critical Latin American philosophy rooted in a genuine Latin American experience, in a globalized world.

The book opens with Dussel´s examination of the historical roots of globalization and his call for a critical attitude toward it. In the following essay, Roig emphasizes the extent to which globalized neo-liberalism undermines the moral basis of society. He sharply criticizes what he takes to be the very passive attitude of Latin American thinkers who, far from rejecting globalization and neo-liberalism, have shown a tendency to accept them. His essay is followed by the articles by Berisso, who concentrates on how globalized neoliberalism has negatively affected workers and their relationship to labor in Uruguay, and by Paladines, who focuses on the negative impact that neo-liberal policies have had on education in Ecuador. Rabossi gives a helpful, if brief, analysis of the interrelation between human rights and the phenomenon of globalization, and Gomez attempts to show that among the negative consequences of globalized neo-liberalism are the increasing poverty and inequality of the already marginalized, and the distortion of crucial moral concepts such as humanity and liberty. The issues raised by the authors are important and worthy of discussion.

Yet the volume has some weaknesses. First, as with any collection, the quality of the selections is mixed. Some authors rehearse arguments available in more developed form elsewhere or fail to examine possible objections to the theses they discuss. At times, political biases appear to replace careful reflection on the issues. More editing would have improved the volume. A second weakness is that the volume lacks a substantive introduction providing context and illustrating how the papers fit together.

Having said this, it is worth noting that the book would make a useful addition to reading lists from classes on Latin American thought. With the necessary context and perspective, it can be a good beginner’s guide to some of the lines of thought and problems that concern Latin Americans.

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