Economy
Where is Latin America going?
Analysis of the economic situation between
60s and 90s raise new questions
Luiz Sugimoto
Does Latin America have a future or is the region condemned to underdevelopment? This question, which generated countless discussions and theses in the 60s and came back to the fore in the 90s, guided Corival Alves do Carmo's master's thesis, at the Institute of Economics (IE) at Unicamp, under the guidance of professor José Carlos de Souza Braga .
“In the early 60s – which an Argentine historian called the 'decade of decisions' – there was great enthusiasm regarding the possibility of development along similar lines to those in the United States and Europe”, recalls Corival. But, according to the researcher, as the decade progressed, pessimism took hold, given the consequences of countries opting for the national-developmental project that began to be implemented in the 30s.
“Inflation was increasing, industrialization was not solving social problems, pressure from the urban masses to raise wages was growing and agrarian reform was demanded in the countryside. There was already a whole situation of instability in Latin America”, says the researcher. Some authors would then conclude that Latin America was impossible to develop. Stagnationist theses emerged – about a tendency for the region's economy to stagnate, remaining with low growth rates and a high level of social exclusion. His main defender was Celso Furtado.
Wings further to the left, represented by Theotonio dos Santos and Ruy Mauro Marini, supported the dependency theory, stating that there was no way for the AL to develop within the capitalist regime. “In their view, capitalism had already lost its progressive characteristics: it no longer had the conditions to incorporate the masses, to increase benefits for the population and, therefore, the only alternative would be socialism”, says Corival.
Another current, led by economist Maria da Conceição Tavares and sociologist Fernando Henrique Cardoso, argued the opposite: development within capitalism continued to be viable in Latin America. Exclusion was intrinsic to the system and policies to correct social inequalities and palliative measures should be implemented.
Current scenario – Jumping to the 90s scenario, these same discussions are resumed, notes Corival do Carmo. Once again, the possibility of Latin America developing or not, within this context of globalization, is discussed. Is it possible for the region to progress autonomously? Or will this development simply come as a reflection of the actions of dominant countries, without being able to solve social problems?
“We will find the same type of thesis: some stating that this is unfeasible, preaching another model, socialism; others defending a break with globalization, an autonomous, closed economy, guaranteeing development even under capitalism; and also those for whom, the more they adhere to the dynamics of globalization, the easier the region's development will be”, says the IE researcher.
'We need to negotiate with the world'
Escaping the limits of his dissertation, Corival Alves do Carmo ventures a personal opinion, seeing the chances of overcoming inequalities in Latin America as extremely limited. “To escape from underdevelopment, these countries will need to negotiate with the world, achieve arrangements that result in the commitment of international organizations to adopt solutions to social exclusion”, he predicts.
The researcher is aware, however, that those who fight for this – workers, small landowners, landless people – lack a global articulation to defend their interests, putting this type of discussion on the agenda. “The World Social Forum is a stage for discussions, but as there are several trends and the lack of a single project, this makes it unfeasible, in the short term, for underdeveloped countries to impose themselves and obtain advantages in front of organizations such as the WTO, UN, IMF and Bank Worldwide”.
Corival do Carmo remembers that, despite the differences between countries, Latin America is seen as a unit by the international community, as they all suffer from the same illness. He criticizes Brazil's own position: “Our government is better able to establish itself as a leader and provide solutions, but it has never been willing to do so. It should, for example, make a much stronger defense of Argentina with international banks and, with some effort, give some kind of help to its neighbor. But the country remains isolated in negotiations, without thinking about Latin America as a whole.”
A reflection on the job market
Project makes young people aware of the
role you will play in your field of activity
Maria Alice da Cruz
Insecurity is a common feeling among many young university students or recent graduates who are guided by common factors when choosing a profession. Among the stimuli that interfere in the process of professional choice are the influence of family members and the trend of the job market, argues pedagogue Maria Ana Marabita, from the Faculty of Education at Unicamp. Special work carried out by pedagogical advisors from the Salesian education network with the aim of opening up a range of information and professional possibilities for their students inspired the master's thesis developed by Maria Ana.
Working as a counselor at the Liceu Salesiano Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora, in Campinas, for 12 years, the researcher detected in her day-to-day professional life the need to guide students with difficulties in applying what they learn in the world of education in the world of work. When extracting data from Enem's socioeconomic assessments on the professional prospects of young students from public schools, Maria Ana noticed a common expectation among students from public schools and the Liceu Salesiano: a dignified life, with financial stability, guaranteed by a job that provides conditions to live reasonably.
The first choice still favors elitist professions, as defined by the researcher, such as medicine, dentistry, law, or the most modern, such as hospitality, tourism, biochemistry and nutrition. The interest in these last two professions is associated with recent discussions about quality of life. One of the objectives of the project is to make teenagers reflect on their social role in the area they intend to work in. Within Maria Ana's project, students participate in lectures and visit companies in the region to reflect on their skills. Of the young people evaluated, 92,5% think about professional achievement; 51,8% are already workers. When asked what they needed to become a professional, 72,4% expressed the need to study a foreign language and computing. According to Maria Ana, in the search for clarification about existing vocational theories and the world of education, she realized that human beings need to have opportunities, especially educational ones, to develop their decision-making power.
Maria Ana states that the participation of pedagogues in the professional guidance process was one of the most important changes to the LDB and the PCNs. Following legislative changes, vocational guidance work is no longer restricted to psychologists and educational psychologists. “Specific tests must certainly be carried out by psychologists, but the educational institution can carry out activities so that young people discover them”, says the counselor. For her, the family must participate in this process. She herself holds meetings with parents at the school to discuss vocational issues. The advisor's work must aim to accompany the student so that he does not give up on his plans for the future.
More than presenting paths for choice, the advisor, in Maria Ana's opinion, must guide their students on ways to find ways and manage resources when they are not in a position to realize their dream. “How could a young middle-class person who wants to study medicine spend six years without working?” She is guided by her own life story, in which she had to break barriers to secure her education, her professional career and even earn her master's degree and be nominated for a doctorate course at the Faculty of Education at Unicamp. “The intervention is daily. You have to seek out the potential of human beings so that they can seek the path to achievement, which is full of possibilities that the student himself is unaware of,” she argues.
