Economic Development in Latin America and the Methodenstreit: Lessons from History of Thought

Natália Bracarense

Journal of Economic Issues, 2013, vol. 47, issue 1, 113-134

Abstract: Latin America has experimented with two development strategies over the last two centuries. The first is "outward-oriented" development based on exports of primary commodities, while the second relies on domestic industrialization from within. A consensus that both models failed to achieve sustainable development in Latin America opened space for rethinking development theory and policy at the beginning of twenty-first century. Nevertheless, the debate lacks the understanding that history is non-linear, which explains why peripheral countries are emulating core countries to promote development. This paper argues that the recurrent inadequacy of development theory is due in part to the dichotomy between history and economics that emerged with the Methodenstreit — a debate about what method was most adequate to undertake social analyses. Development theory presupposes historical specificity, its raison d'etre being the belief that underdeveloped economies function differently than their developed counterparts. A meaningful theory of development relies on a shift from abstractions based on human nature to historically grounded principles.

Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2753/JEI0021-3624470105 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:47:y:2013:i:1:p:113-134

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/MJEI20

DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624470105

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Economic Issues from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().